Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 811 - 801: Just Give Up

"Good for you, Old Li, you’ve finally said what’s on your mind, haven’t you? All these years, I’ve born sons and raised daughters for your Li Family, without merit but certainly with hardship. And now, you actually want to divorce me, how can you say such a thing, has your conscience been eaten by a dog?" Qiu Shuping exploded with a howl.

"You crazy woman, let go of me at once or I’ll have to hit you," Old Li threatened.

When they were younger, Old Li had indeed hit Qiu Shuping, making her subdued and obedient, but as they got older and their children grew up, he stopped being physical with her, and a simple threat was usually enough to maintain his dominance.

But now, clearly, that wasn’t working anymore. "You hit me, go on, hit me as hard as you can. Even if you beat me to death, you’ll still have to pay with your life," Qiu Shuping said, like a madwoman, ramming her head into Old Li’s stomach.

She hadn’t been to prison for nothing; she now knew a thing or two about the law.

"You really are mad, mad," Old Li managed to say, staggered off-balance by her, but in the end, his fist never made contact with her.

"Right, I’m mad, driven mad by you, Chen Shimei. You want a divorce? Fine, give me a thousand yuan and I’ll grant it to you. If you can’t cough up the money, you can forget about sweet dreams. Even in death, I’ll drag you down with me," Qiu Shuping said, gnashing her teeth.

A thousand yuan was a large sum for a rural woman like Qiu Shuping, which is why she made this demand as a form of extortion.

Old Li couldn’t even come up with five yuan, let alone a thousand. So, when he heard her demand, he didn’t take it seriously. He pushed her aside with force and took the opportunity to run out.

"Run, run, if you dare, never come back for the rest of your life," Qiu Shuping shouted, jumping up and down in anger.

She turned around, sat on the edge of the Kang bed, and began to cry woefully, "My life is so bitter, ungrateful children, and now the old man has a wandering heart, he doesn’t want me to live anymore."

Qiu Shuping sat alone, crying and cursing for a good while, before drying her tears and picking up the three and a bit of money scattered on the Kang.

Looking at the cold meal on the table, she picked it up again and started shoveling it into her mouth as though venting her anger.

She couldn’t starve herself; she had to live well to see what ends all those who wronged her would meet.

After eating her belated lunch, Qiu Shuping, with no heart to clean up, simply tossed the dishes on the table and collapsed onto the Kang. She thought about the argument with the old man and suddenly got up from the Kang again.

No, she had to get her second son to come back. Now that the old man had a roving eye, without someone keeping him in check, he might indeed insist on a divorce. She hadn’t struggled her whole life just to watch another woman reap the rewards.

Thinking this, she tidied herself up and went out to the production team office.

The production team leader was there, and when he saw Qiu Shuping, he greeted her with a smile, "Auntie Qiu, you’re here to deliver money, right? I’ve been telling uncle, there’s no need to make a special trip. You can come by anytime when you’re free."

Qiu Shuping couldn’t say what she had prepared, but she had to say something in the end, forced by the pressure, "Gensheng, your uncle hasn’t come home yet. I’ll get him to bring the money when he returns. I need to use the phone to contact your brother Hongjun right away for an urgent matter."

Hearing this, the team leader still wore a smile, but his tone was serious, "Auntie, that puts me in a tough spot. The phone’s for the collective, not my personal use, without money, I really can’t let you make a call. How about this, Auntie, if you have an urgent matter, why don’t you go see my uncle first? You can’t make things difficult for me, right?"

So, Qiu Shuping didn’t get to use the phone that day, which is why Shen Yunfang waited so long at home without getting a call from her mother-in-law.

The next day Wang Dan called Shen Yunfang, begrudgingly sharing the gossip from the old house. Only then did Shen Yunfang realize it wasn’t that the old lady didn’t want to call; she simply didn’t have the money to make the call.

Shen Yunfang silently made up her mind; from experience, she knew that neither the old man nor the old lady were accustomed to frugality. To keep them living quietly, they needed to be poor enough to be scraping by, lest they cause trouble unexpectedly.

Shen Yunfang then shared this with Li Hongjun.

Li Hongjun was speechless about the old house’s situation. The money he sent every year, if managed carefully, was enough for the two elders to live on comfortably, given they also had their own land to cultivate. He wondered how they could end up like this.

Sitting on the couch, Li Hongjun dialed back to Taoshu Village, and Brother Gensheng, as the team leader, picked up.

"Brother Gensheng, it’s Li Hongjun," he introduced himself straightaway.

"Oh, Brother Hongjun, what’s up? Wait a moment, I’ll go get your Uncle Li and Auntie for you," the team leader thought the second son of the Li Family was looking for Old Li or Qiu Shuping.

"No need, Brother Gensheng, I’m not looking for my parents, this call is just to talk to you," Li Hongjun quickly interrupted.

Now it was the team leader’s turn to be surprised, "You’re looking for me? What’s the matter? Just tell me, if I can help, you’ve got it," he knew Li Hongjun had made a decent life for himself outside, and to owe him a favor now might come in handy later.

That’s how you become a team leader; brains aren’t given out for free, you can tell a man’s worth by how he conducts himself.

"Yeah, I heard that my parents had quite a scene today, and I’m too far away to come back and check on them quickly because I’m busy in the military base, so I can only give you a call to bother you, Brother Gensheng," Li Hongjun spoke politely, following the maxim of singing the right tune on the respective hill.

But this request put the team leader in a tough spot. He sucked on his teeth and said with difficulty, "Brother, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but you know your family’s situation. I don’t need to mention your mother’s temper, and your father..." He didn’t finish his sentence, sparing Li Hongjun’s feelings, but the implication was clear to anyone.

Li Hongjun closed his eyes; as a son, he felt embarrassed just hearing about the things his old man had done. If he could avoid it, he wouldn’t intervene, but now no one else could step in. For the sake of family stability, he had no choice but to involve himself.

"I understand and I’m not troubling you, Brother Gensheng. You don’t have to get involved, just when they get out of hand, help to mediate a little. You’ve been the team leader in Taoshu Village for so many years, everyone respects you," Li Hongjun was indeed flattery him.