Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 867 - 857 Settling Accounts

The lamp in the old house stayed lit all night long; Li Hongqi, the son, probably hadn’t felt this anxious even on the day Old Li passed away. Now, it was the commotion over money that kept him awake throughout the darkness.

Early the next morning, the household of Li Hongxing across the street got busy.

An auspicious time had already been calculated, so the neighbors who were going to help had also arrived.

When Li Hongqi, with red-rimmed eyes, opened the courtyard gate, he stood dumbfounded as a large group of people poured in, bustling about as if they owned the place.

"Big brother, second brother, what are you up to?" he finally came to his senses and saw Li Hongxing and Li Hongjun among the crowd.

Li Hongxing wasn’t much of a talker, so with Hongjun there, he simply kept his mouth shut and worked.

"We’re not doing anything special," said Li Hongjun, who also had a sly side. "According to our customs, today’s the day our father should be sent off. Didn’t we ask you a few days ago? You said you had no money for Dad’s funeral. So after consulting with big brother, we agreed that we couldn’t let the lack of money prevent Dad from resting in peace. We’ll put up the money for now, and you can pay us back whenever you have it." Instead of saying he wouldn’t ask for the money back, he had craftily framed it as a loan to the youngest brother, one that would eventually need to be repaid.

Li Hongqi had not expected them to handle things this way, and by the time he realized it, his face had turned utterly dark. Big brother and second brother’s meddling completely ruined his plans.

But at that moment, he couldn’t stop his brothers from doing what needed to be done; if he dared to object, the spit from the people present would be enough to drown him.

Zheng’s mother wanted to brazenly intervene, but a few of the village women had already been tasked with keeping an eye on Zheng’s mother and daughter, so no matter how ruthless or shameless Zheng’s mother was today, she had no opportunity to intervene.

Li Hongxing had found a renowned geomancer, known throughout the surrounding villages, whose proficiency in managing funeral proceedings was unmatched. The Li family’s sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren, all dressed in sackcloth and filial attire, accompanied Old Li on his final journey.

Having escorted Old Li up the mountain, the three brothers—Li Hongxing, Li Hongjun, and Li Hongqi—represented the Li family in briefly thanking the relatives and friends who came to offer their condolences with a feast.

Thanks to the ample money provided by Shen Yunfang and Wang Dan not being miserly, the banquet had plenty of chicken, duck, fish, and meat, which thoroughly satisfied the guests, thus bringing the funeral to a successful close.

After sending off those who had helped, only the Li family members remained in the old house.

The three Li brothers sat in the room once again, and this time their wives sat beside them.

Li Hongqi’s face had not lightened up all day; it was ominously dark.

"Big brother, what are you trying to do? When we divided the family, it was agreed that I would take care of the old man’s pension and funeral. Are you trying to steal that role from me?" He had every reason to be livid.

Even though he hadn’t spent a penny on the old man’s funeral, he also hadn’t received a penny. The cash gifts from the visitors, which were meticulously recorded at the entrance, amounted to a significant figure, but in the end, it all went into his sister-in-law’s pocket. The resentment in his heart was unbearable.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" retorted Wang Dan, full of anger towards Li Hongqi. Now that she finally had the chance to scold him, she didn’t hold back. She vented her frustration with relish, saying exactly what she felt.

"You..." Li Hongqi’s face turned red with anger, but he knew in his heart that he was no match for his sister-in-law when it came to arguing. Therefore, he could only turn to look at his older brother, "Big brother, won’t you intervene? Since when do the wives call the shots when we brothers are discussing matters?" His only option was to instigate his brother to suppress his sister-in-law.

"Li Hongqi, if you talk like that, I won’t stand for it. What do you mean wives can’t make decisions? How did you come into being, hatched from a stone? Weren’t you born and raised by a woman? You claim to be a college-educated man, yet your social awareness doesn’t even match that of a rural woman. Let me be clear with you, the money spent today was all provided by me, your ’old lady,’ totaling five hundred yuan. Take a good look at yourself, you filial son, do you owe me, your ’old lady,’ money? Pay me back the five hundred yuan," Shen Yunfang confronted Li Hongqi with a smile on her face.

"Second sister-in-law, you can’t just say you spent whatever amount and that’s it. Besides, we didn’t ask you to pay. If we had handled it ourselves, we definitely wouldn’t have spent so much," Zheng Huilan’s voice grew softer as she spoke, but she made her point clear.

She was implying that Shen Yunfang was meddling unnecessarily; even without her financial input, they could have managed just fine.

"Stop mumbling there, if you have something to say, speak up," Wang Dan had little respect for this sister-in-law and directly shut her down, "All the expenses incurred today have been recorded. Here, here, we have receipts for everything, and we aren’t afraid of you auditing the accounts. Whoever doubts it can take a look." Wang Dan took out a piece of paper and slapped it down on the kang table.

Zheng Huilan actually picked it up and started to review it carefully.

The room fell silent for a moment as Li Hongqi watched his wife fail to grasp the crux of the matter. Was this the time for a financial review? The Zheng matriarch had long been sent away from the room, so he had to step up himself to look after his interests.

"Since my brothers and my second sister-in-law want to settle accounts so clearly, let’s make sure all the accounts are crystal clear," Li Hongqi looked at his two brothers, then continued, "It seems to me that the cash gifts from today’s visitors were collected by my second sister-in-law, yes? If today’s expenses are considered a loan from my household, then shouldn’t these cash gifts also be considered mine?"

Shen Yunfang said nothing and simply looked towards Li Hongjun, lifting an eyebrow as if to say, ’See? I was right. You say no, but now he’s really here asking for the money.’

Li Hongjun’s facial muscles twitched, but he remained silent.

"Fine, I actually collected the cash gifts at the door just because I saw you and your wife had prepared nothing. Someone has already given me the account book and money during the banquet. Even without you saying so, I would still have had to give you the money." While speaking, Shen Yunfang took out a small pouch from her handbag and also placed it on the kang table, "Here is the account book and the money which I haven’t had the chance to count yet. Since there are many of us here now, let’s count it together to see if the money matches the account, to avoid any rumors of missing money later on."

Li Hongqi’s face darkened even further.

Shen Yunfang didn’t care about his reaction and called over her sister-in-law to count together.

Zheng Huilan couldn’t resist joining in to count as well.

In reality, it wasn’t much money; the total on the account book was two hundred and thirty-six yuan, and after counting, the group confirmed this amount.

Shen Yunfang pushed the account book in front of Zheng Huilan, but she pocketed the money again, "I’ll round the money up to two hundred and forty yuan; this way, you now owe me two hundred and sixty yuan."

"Second sister-in-law, what are you doing?" Li Hongqi watched in disbelief as the money was taken back by her. He regretted not acting earlier; if he had taken the money when he had the chance, perhaps it wouldn’t have been snatched away again, and now the duck that was almost in his mouth had flown away.

To tell the truth, deep down, he never planned to repay the five hundred yuan his second brother and sister-in-law had put forth. If he had been in charge, he wouldn’t have spent more than two hundred yuan. The fact that more was spent was not something he was willing to accept.

He just hadn’t anticipated that his sister-in-law would have the audacity to openly take the money in front of so many people.

Shen Yunfang then asked with a look of astonishment, "What’s the matter? It’s only natural to repay a debt. You said the house would be your inheritance and you would be responsible for the elderly; isn’t it only right that you cover these expenses? I don’t think you’re a shameless person. Just write me an IOU for the remaining two hundred and sixty yuan."