Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

Zhang Xiuhua asked Li Jianguo to keep it secret for the time being. "If we tell everyone about this, they will worry about it. Let's wait for them to come back and tell us themselves. We will just pretend we don't know."

Li Jianguo knew her concerns and was afraid that these people would be upset, so he nodded to show his agreement.

After dinner, Xu Chunying came over and asked Zhang Xiuhua to help her deliver a batch of goods tomorrow.

Zhang Xiuhua agreed. Xu Chunying glanced at the phone on the high table and couldn't help but blame her, "It's been so long, and you didn't even bother to call. Are you just abandoning your wife and mother at home and not caring about them?!"

She wanted to tell her husband about her mother-in-law's illness, but she didn't know how to call him back. Li Jiandang always made the calls from a phone booth, which was a long way from their construction site.

Zhang Xiuhua could only comfort her, "It won't be long. Maybe he'll be back next month?!"

Her words came true just one night later.

In the morning, she went to the county town to deliver goods. After checking the accounts with the employees of the convenience store, she drove back on her tractor. When she entered the village, she found that the village had changed.

On snowy days, most villagers would not go out to avoid getting their shoes wet. But now? Many people came out to talk on the village roads, and children's laughter could be heard from time to time.

Passing by Aunt Wang's house, she saw Uncle Wang carrying firewood in the yard. She greeted him, "You're back?!"

Uncle Wang heard the voice and shouted back, "I'm back!"

Zhang Xiuhua parked the walk-behind tractor at the door and took three or two steps into the yard. The gate was locked. She guessed that Li Jianguo had gone to his eldest brother's house.

She did not follow him, but opened the door, deposited the money she collected today into the account, and after making sure it was correct, she went to her eldest brother's house.

When she arrived, Li Jiandang was sitting in front of the bed feeding his mother.

Because the corner of her mouth was crooked, half of the rice porridge spilled on her body, and Li Jianguo used a handkerchief to cover it. Liu Shujun didn't want to eat anymore, so she shook her head and stopped feeding her.

Li Jiandang helped her up and sat her down, and tried to help her down and walk around.

But because she had no strength and her whole body almost needed someone to support her, Li Jianguo walked to the other side to catch her.

Zhang Xiuhua couldn't bear to see the brothers frantically busy. "Take your time. It won't be that fast. Let her sit first. When she feels better, she can come down and walk around."

The two brothers helped the man sit on the bed, but he couldn't sit for too long as his body would become very tired and he would slide down unconsciously and fall asleep in a short while.

They went outside to discuss things.

Li Jianguo asked his elder brother, "How are you doing in the south? Why haven't you called home?"

Only then did Li Jiandang tell the story of how the person in charge of the Sihai Project had fled abroad with the money.

When Xu Chunying heard this, she became anxious and asked, "Did you get the money?"

Li Jiandang sighed, "We have been blocking his door since October, and have been going to collect the debt from time to time. Finally, his family couldn't stand it anymore and paid back half of the money."

Although it was only half, Xu Chunying breathed a sigh of relief, at least her work was not in vain.

Zhang Xiuhua felt strange, "Didn't this person flee abroad without his family?"

"He ran away with his mistress, leaving his wife and children behind." Li Jiandang paused and said, "But when he fled, he left some money for them. Otherwise, they wouldn't have money to give me. But the money is not much, and I owe the workers too much money, so each person can only get half."

Li Jianguo sighed, "At least there is still half. If he is cruel and doesn't leave any money, then you can't do anything to them."

This is harsh but reasonable. Li Jianguo asked him what he planned to do next year.

Li Jiandang glanced inside the house and said, "They are going to ask for the other half of the money. This is a government project. If the person in charge runs away, a new person in charge will come. We must get our hard-earned money back."

Xu Chunying nodded hurriedly, "We have to come back. If they don't give it to us, we will stand at the door and make trouble to see who dares to build a house for them."

The villagers all thought the same. The project was about to be completed. There was no way they wouldn't continue to build it. The government had already paid for it, and the remaining balance would surely be paid off.

Li Jianguo nodded, "Then mom..."

Li Jiandang said quickly, "Your sister-in-law is at home, and Hongwen is in the third year of junior high school. She often has to take extra classes and rarely comes home. She takes care of mom, and you still have to go to work, so it's not easy to ask for leave."

Li Jianguo nodded, "Then let's share the mother's medical expenses equally."

Li Jiandang did not refuse. As the eldest son, it was his duty to take care of the elderly. However, the medical expenses had to be divided equally between the two families.

Zhang Xiuhua glanced at her sister-in-law's expression. Xu Chunying pursed her lips, as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately did not speak.

On the way back, Zhang Xiuhua did not tell him about Xu Chunying's reaction, so as to avoid him feeling resentful.

**

The return of the strong laborers in the village brought a lot of liveliness to the village.

The person in charge ran away with the money in October. They collected the debt for three or four months before they got half of their previous wages. They got 1,000 last year, but only 300 this year.

In the past, people would have been satisfied with 300 yuan. But now it is different.

Each family was given a lot of land, and after selling all of it, they could earn thousands. Take Zhang Xiuhua for example, if her family planted all the land with food, they could earn two thousand after deducting food and drink.

However, Zhang Xiuhua's family has many children and they were allocated more land. Of course, other families cannot be compared with hers. However, for a family of three, an income of 500 or 600 yuan is not a problem.

Now, look what happens. I work so hard outside, doing the hardest and most tiring work, but I only get three hundred yuan back.

Many women think it is not worth it. "During the autumn harvest, we worked so hard and expected them to make a lot of money outside, but who would have thought that they would be ripped off. I think it is better for them to stay at home."

There are many people who have this idea.

Many people think that it is so difficult to collect debts, so they just forget about it. It is better to stay at home and farm, raise a few pigs, and live a good life.

Aunt Wang chatted with Zhang Xiuhua, "I don't plan to let him go out to work. He's not young anymore, and working as a handyman on a construction site is exhausting, and he only earns that little money. He's a black-hearted person. He won't have a good death!"

Zhang Xiuhua heard from Ergou that the other party had embezzled millions of project funds. A few million in 1984 was equivalent to hundreds of millions in later generations. It was a huge sum of money. She only hoped that the other party would flee abroad with his mistress, and that he would be kicked out by her soon, and then the money would be stolen, leaving him with nothing.

She cursed countless times in her heart. Seeing how exhausted Second Uncle Wang was, she felt that there was no need for him to work so hard. "Your two children are about to get married. Tiegang has also bought a house in the provincial capital. The money needed for big things has been secured. You can just stay at home and farm and take care of yourself in your old age."

Aunt Wang nodded. "That's right! During the autumn harvest, I worked alone and my waist was almost broken. With him at home, I can at least relax a little."

Uncle Wang's decision is not an isolated one. Many families have clearly stated that they will not go to the south to work next year, nor will they ask for repayment. They will just regard the money as a waste. They accept the loss.

The fare for a trip is seventy or eighty, I really can’t afford it!

If the strong laborer came back and brought them bad news, then the accountant's account division was equivalent to giving them good news.

The laying hens and chickens of the chicken farm were sold, and each family got a share of the money. And this time the share was larger than before. Unlike Zhang Xiuhua's previous chicken farm, where all members only owned 30%, this time they owned 60%. Zhang Xiuhua invested 20,000 yuan, but only owned 30%.

There were no problems with the laying hens this time, as the prices of their eggs and chickens increased accordingly due to the rising prices.

If you invest 1,000 yuan, you can get 2,200 yuan. Zhang Xiuhua invested 20,000 yuan and got 44,000 yuan.

"Finally, there is something happy." Xu Chunying finally had a smile on her face after getting the cash.

The other villagers were similar to hers, and they were discussing how to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.