Chapter 84: Pillow Talk
Li Xiu hurried home. ’I shouldn’t have gone to watch the drama,’ he thought. ’I expected a good show, but I would’ve been better off snuggling with my wife on the warm kang. Even just teasing my darling daughter would have been better than looking at their faces. What a miscalculation.’
He tiptoed into the room to find Zhou Lian leaning back against the kang, reading a book. Their daughter was lying beside her, her little face rosy as she slept. The amber glow of the lamp fell on Zhou Lian’s already delicate and lovely features, making her seem all the more pure, elegant, and utterly enchanting.
As if sensing his presence, Zhou Lian looked up and saw Li Xiu standing in a daze at the door. "What’s wrong?" she asked, a little puzzled. "Come on in. Aren’t you cold standing there?"
"Coming," he said, turning to shut the door properly. He drew some hot water to wash up, then climbed onto the kang and pulled Zhou Lian into his arms. With a contented sigh, he said, "Tell me, am I an idiot? Running over to the old family house on a day this cold just to watch some drama. None of that crap is nearly as nice as being home holding my wife."
Zhou Lian gave him a resigned look. ’What’s gotten into him this time? Did something set him off? No, that can’t be it. Hasn’t he already given up all hope for the people at the old house?’
"What’s wrong with you? Did something set you off again?"
With a resigned look at his wife, Li Xiu’s lip twitched. "Bao’er, go a little easier on your husband. What do you mean, ’did something set me off’? It’s just that they’re too ridiculous. You know, Li Man was making a scene today, demanding to split from the family. He doesn’t want anything—just one thousand yuan. Says he’ll build his own house and find his own wife. Bao’er, what in the world is going on in that head of his?"
Zhou Lian burst out laughing. ’So he’s trying to copy Li Xiu,’ she thought, then asked with a smile, "Li Xiu, is your brother all there in the head? He wants to be like you, but with his timid little heart, would he ever dare to set foot in Daqing Mountain? Surely he doesn’t think one thousand yuan is enough to build a house like ours, get married, and still have plenty left over?"
Amused by Zhou Lian’s sharp tongue, Li Xiu leaned down and kissed her forehead. "The key thing," he said cheerfully, "is even if he wants one thousand yuan, will they give it to him? The old family house has about three thousand yuan right now. If they give him a thousand, they’ll have to give Li Hua a thousand too. That leaves Li Yi, Li Yong, and Li Xin to split the last thousand between the three of them. Those three won’t stand for that. The moment he opened his mouth, he thoroughly pissed off all the younger siblings."
Zhou Lian shook her head. "Three thousand yuan... that’s quite a sum. You were certainly a good earner for them." ’Damn it,’ she thought, ’when we split from the family in our last life, all we got were three thatched-roof rooms, a tiny vegetable plot, rations for two, and a hundred-yuan debt. Was Li Xiu’s brain full of water back then or what?!’
Gently stroking Zhou Lian’s hair, Li Xiu soothed her. "It’s not that I was such a good earner. I had a flock of younger siblings with mouths to feed, a father too sick to manage the family’s affairs, and... well, a mother like her. If I didn’t work myself to the bone, I was afraid we’d become a laughingstock."
Zhou Lian just huffed and said nothing. ’That was all in the last life, after all. I can’t start a fight with him over it now. Besides, he probably didn’t even know his mother had that much money in his last life. How did he find out this time around?’ "Li Xiu," she asked, "when we split from the family last year, how did you know how much money your mother was holding?"
The hand stroking her hair paused. "Didn’t I tell you I realized something was off with my mother?" he said coolly. "I’m not stupid. If I suspect something’s wrong, of course I’m going to get to the bottom of it. I secretly went and checked the ledgers—over a decade’s worth. After all the expenses over the years, I had a clearer picture of how much money she had on hand than the brigade’s own accountant."
"What made you think to calculate how much money your mother had in the first place?" Zhou Lian asked, puzzled. ’Li Xiu isn’t a petty man; he’s not the type to fixate on money.’
"Bao’er, you need to understand something. My methods depend on the situation and the person I’m dealing with. And with a mother like mine, if you let your guard down, she’ll chew you up and swallow you whole, bones and all."
Li Xiu paused before continuing, "Besides, I’m not some high-minded saint. Without money, how am I supposed to provide for my wife and daughter? Splitting off with almost nothing was exactly what I wanted. With my mother, you don’t even have to get involved; just get a little too close, and you’ll end up reeking of her foulness. Before you know it, she’ll be making all sorts of trouble. I could never let her wear down my beautiful wife. She was ruthless, so I was clean-cut. That way, she can’t use her reputation or public opinion to pressure me."
"Bao’er, you have to understand, I couldn’t take that money. She did give birth to me, after all. If I had taken it, she would have used her status as an elder to lord it over us. I know her too well. By using money to sever that connection, if she ever dares to use her seniority to pressure you, I’ll have every right to openly tear into her."
’Li Xiu’s explanation was more or less what I’d figured,’ Zhou Lian thought. ’His eye-for-an-eye personality isn’t a new development. Once he knew his mother was just using him, how could he possibly take it lying down? In his last life, he was simply duped by her sweet talk.’
"Oh, right. Did your parents agree to Li Man splitting off like that?"
"Not a chance, not with how selfish my parents are. But Li Man isn’t me; he’s always been one of the favorites. So now my mother’s offering him 700 yuan to wash her hands of the matter. I bet there’s still a lot of haggling ahead," Li Xiu said with a sneer. "I got tired of listening to their nonsense, so I came back. They can split it however they want. It’s none of my damn business! It’s so much better being home."
’His own split from the family last year had been quick and clean because he hadn’t argued over a single thing. He had just come back to life then, and the mere sight of them was suffocating. He just wanted to get away from them as fast as possible, to a point where he’d hopefully never see them again. Using money to sever that blood tie was the best option. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about money; he just knew he had the ability to earn more, to provide a good life for his wife and child.’
Thinking of her mother-in-law’s personality, and then her brothers-in-law... ’not a single one of them is easy to deal with,’ she mused. ’Splitting this family to everyone’s satisfaction won’t be simple.’ At this thought, Zhou Lian smiled and said, "Your parents and siblings are all cut from the same cloth; none of them will willingly take a loss. There’s plenty of drama still to come! But Grandma and Great-Uncle will probably step in to keep them in line, won’t they? If things get too ugly, it won’t be good for the family’s reputation."
Li Xiu said sarcastically, "Reputation? What reputation? Bao’er, you’re still too naive. When it comes to money, they couldn’t care less about their reputation. Don’t be fooled by all the high-and-mighty things Li Man was spouting. The truth is, they’re all the same. Just you watch. There’s going to be quite a show over at the old house this time."
"But if the fighting gets too intense, won’t Grandma and Great-Uncle ask you to step in and rein in your brothers?" Zhou Lian asked, a hint of worry in her voice. ’Her father-in-law is Grandma’s son, after all, and Great-Uncle’s own brother. Could they really stand by and watch things get completely out of hand?’
"No, they won’t come looking for me," Li Xiu said confidently. "This time, Grandma and Great-Uncle are hoping I stay as far away as possible. I’m the eldest son and eldest grandson, after all. If Li Hua and Li Man were to get the same deal I got when the family split, that would be one thing. But you and I both know that’s not going to happen. So, to keep me from hating my parents even more, Grandma and Great-Uncle will make sure I don’t get involved." He added, ’There are no real fools in this world—very few who are truly stupid, but plenty who play dumb.’