Chapter 12: A Heartwarming Journey to the Countryside

“Money?” Lu Meiqin retorted, “You don’t even know where your money went, so why ask me?”

“Don’t play dumb. Did you take my money?” Song Jianshe’s eyes reddened with urgency.

Hiding even a small stash of secret savings wasn’t easy; the place had to be well concealed. After all these years, it had never been discovered. Now that it had suddenly disappeared, the first suspicion naturally fell on Lu Meiqin, who cleaned the house every day.

Lu Meiqin scoffed, “I think you’re the one playing dumb. What money exactly are you looking for?”

Song Jianshe narrowed his eyes, sensing that her reaction didn’t fit someone who had taken the money. If she had found out, there would have been an uproar by now.

He shifted tactics. “How much do you have on you? Give me twenty now.”

“Twenty? Are you kidding me? Do you think I’m a bank?” Lu Meiqin grew angrier by the second. “Don’t say I don’t have it. Even if I did, I wouldn’t give it to you! How much have you ever given me in all these years of marriage? I’ve seen through it all—no matter how much I give you, you’re an ungrateful wretch! You want twenty bucks? Dream on!”

“You… you’re just a shrew,” Song Jianshe snapped, furious and humiliated. “Xinxin is leaving, and you’re her nominal mother. You can’t even spare this little money?”

Lu Meiqin sneered coldly. “Whether she leaves or not is none of my business!”

...

Their argument escalated in volume. Just as they had settled down, Wen Ran put on her jacket and walked out from the inner room, standing silently before her mother.

Song Jianshe immediately turned to Wen Ran. “Did you take my money?”

“Money in the house?” Wen Ran feigned ignorance. “Mom even went to borrow money a few days ago. If you had money, why didn’t you bring it out earlier? You made Mom worry so much!”

Song Jianshe was at a loss for words, his face flushed.

Wen Xin simmered with anger, wishing they would start fighting right there. She stepped forward to provoke them: “Dad, I haven’t spent much of the money you give me. Five yuan is enough for my rural stay. I give the rest to you. Don’t argue with Mom. She can’t stand to see me happy, but I don’t blame her. It’s just my bad luck.”

“You only have about ten yuan anyway. Keep it for yourself; Dad won’t spend it. We’re poor, but I’ll go borrow some from Old Chen next door.”

Song Jianshe glared fiercely at Lu Meiqin, almost wanting to slap her twice.

He completely forgot that several times when the family was struggling, he refused to borrow money because he couldn’t bear the shame. It was Lu Meiqin who risked humiliation to borrow on his behalf.

Lu Meiqin’s anger flared. She threatened, “Song Jianshe, if you dare to borrow money again, I’ll go to the factory office tomorrow to demand a divorce. Let’s see if you can still be workshop director. Ten bucks isn’t enough? Does she think going to the countryside is a vacation?”

Song Jianshe was displeased. “Stop scaring people!”

“Who’s scaring you? If you’re so capable, go ahead and borrow,” Lu Meiqin snapped. She had planned to wait until after the election to divorce him, preserving the last shred of their marital relationship. But with him acting like this, she couldn’t wait a single day longer.

...

Song Jianshe was speechless.

He hesitated, refraining from snapping back immediately.

Right now, he was counting on winning the workshop director position to turn things around. If she caused trouble and the divorce happened, it would be a disastrous loss.

Wen Xin, reading his compromise, sighed deliberately. “Dad, don’t go borrow money. If you do, Mom really will divorce you! Don’t damage your relationship for me. If you divorce, what will you do? This family can’t be without Mom.”

“Who says we can’t do without her? Anyone can live without her!” Song Jianshe suddenly perked up. “She’s a shrew. Without her meddling, you wouldn’t have had to go to the countryside. She doesn’t deserve you calling her ‘Mom’!”

Lu Meiqin, furious, laughed bitterly. “Who cares? I’m not without daughters! Whoever doesn’t get a divorce is the fool. If you’ve got the guts, go file for divorce at dawn!”

“Fine, then divorce!” Song Jianshe stormed out, slamming the door.

Wen Xin, having achieved her goal, almost laughed, though she still wiped away tears to maintain the facade of sorrow.

Wen Ran wanted them to divorce as soon as possible.

Only by distancing themselves from Wen Xin and Song Jianshe could the mother and daughters live a better life.

But she understood that before the election results came out, divorce was impossible. Song Jianshe would never agree first.

With his mindset, he wouldn’t let the divorce affect his election.

His talk of borrowing money was probably just empty words.

Sure enough, just as she expected, Song Jianshe did not borrow money. The next day, he found an excuse to take Wen Xin somewhere, claiming he had no time to handle the divorce.

Wen Xin’s face visibly darkened in anger.

But she was good at self-comfort and quickly returned to normal.

Early in the morning, before the train, Fu Kaiyu arrived at their home to see Wen Xin.

They were not married, but this only deepened Fu Kaiyu’s infatuation, even bringing him to tears.

Young lovers in the throes of passion often grow stronger against resistance.

They also despise and resist any obstacles.

Even though Wen Ran did nothing but quietly prepare to wash up and go to work, Fu Kaiyu took it as a deliberate provocation.

He didn’t believe Lu Meiqin’s words from the day before, thinking she said Wen Ran didn’t like him just to save face.

Helping Wen Xin carry her luggage, he lowered his voice behind her and said, “You don’t need to dress up. No matter how good you look, I won’t like you. My heart belongs only to Wen Xin.”

“Are you crazy?” Song Wen Ran kicked him, making him stagger.

Wen Xin’s luggage fell to the ground.

Lu Meiqin hurried over from the inner room.

Song Jianshe and Wen Xin, walking ahead, also looked back.

Wen Ran sneered, “I always thought you were an honorable man. The childhood engagement is off, that’s that. But I never expected you to be so despicable. Wen Xin hasn’t even left yet, and you’re already making a move on me!”

“What? He dares to make a move on you?” Lu Meiqin slapped Fu Kaiyu twice, leaving him seeing stars.

Fu Kaiyu clutched his face, helpless, “Who said I was making a move? I only said one sentence!”

“You usually ignore me, but now Wen Xin is leaving, and suddenly you have something to say to me?” Wen Ran looked down on him, her tone dripping with disdain.

The hallway was full of people, none aware of the true situation. They all assumed Fu Kaiyu was trying to have it both ways and had been ruthlessly exposed by her.

She knew she had thoroughly offended Fu Kaiyu today.

To be precise, she had offended the entire Fu family.

The Fu family cared deeply about their reputation. They wouldn’t openly retaliate, but they would definitely sabotage Song Jianshe’s bid for workshop director.

If yesterday’s events hadn’t crushed Song Jianshe’s hopes, today certainly would.

She wanted to stand up for herself and, in the process, cut off all chances of Song Jianshe becoming workshop director.

She didn’t even want this father anymore. Why should she care about his future?

What a joke!

Song Jianshe hurried to help Fu Kaiyu, but Fu Kaiyu shook off his hand. Forgetting to seek Lu Meiqin’s explanation, he stood up first to explain to Wen Xin, “She’s talking nonsense! Xinxin, don’t believe her!”