Chapter 16: The Exquisite Mother and Son Fume to the Point of Coughing Blood

“Troublemaker, you’re asking for a beating!” Old Mrs. Song, used to asserting herself at home, couldn’t keep her voice down.

As soon as she finished speaking, she raised her hand to strike.

Lu Meiqin shoved her away, “I dare you to hit her!”

“What’s all this noise? I could hear you arguing from far away. Don’t you know the election results will be announced tomorrow? You’re deliberately causing trouble for me!” Song Jianshe heard the commotion from afar and hurried inside.

Seeing someone backing her up, Old Mrs. Song slid down the wall to sit on the floor, patting her thigh. “Jianshe, you’re just in time. Those two—mother and daughter—are bullying me. You need to divorce that useless woman immediately and kick them both out!”

“Mom, my own mother, could you keep your voice down?”

Startled by the loud shouting, Song Jianshe quickly locked the door and pulled his mother into the inner room.

“Tomorrow they’ll announce you as the workshop supervisor. If you raise your voice like that, my chance for the position might be ruined!”

Old Mrs. Song covered her mouth, “Oh? So my loud voice just now didn’t cause any trouble?”

“Do you think it’s nothing? From now on, lower your voice. Don’t make things worse. This affects whether you get to eat meat regularly.”

Old Mrs. Song loved her meat.

During hard times, they could at least get enough to eat, but meat was still a luxury saved for holidays.

Even if she didn’t fully grasp the importance of the workshop supervisor role, she understood the value of eating meat frequently.

Pointing at Wen Ran, she lowered her voice, “How do you even raise children? That girl snatched things from Xin Xin, stole her boyfriend, and just now chased me away! If you can’t even control your own child, becoming workshop supervisor is pointless!”

Song Jianshe twitched at the corner of his mouth, “Mom, let’s not talk about this now. When I become workshop supervisor, you can do whatever you want, okay? Let me go make you some braised pork. You must be tired from the long trip.”

“Let Lu Meiqin cook. If she doesn’t get divorced today, she’ll have to serve you! You’re about to be the supervisor, how can you cook yourself?” Old Mrs. Song scorned Lu Meiqin for not bearing a son, yet wanted to boss her around.

Lu Meiqin knew Song Jianshe was only offering verbal comfort to grandma; they had neither money nor meat coupons. She deliberately provoked them, “Ran Ran, let’s go eat out!”

“Sure!” Wen Ran cooperated eagerly and opened the door.

Old Mrs. Song was so furious she slapped her thigh, nearly stomping, “You spendthrift! How could you marry such a waste of a woman? Divorce her immediately!”

Song Jianshe, already scolded by the factory director, dared not antagonize the mother and daughter further, and lowered his voice, “Let them go. At worst, they’ll eat a steamed bun or some noodles. I’ll make you braised pork.”

Still, Old Mrs. Song wasn’t satisfied, “No, drag them back!”

Song Jianshe didn’t move.

Wen Ran noticed Song Jianshe’s hesitation these days and teased, “Mom, let’s go have hotpot lamb. I heard the hotpot on that street is delicious!”

“No!” Old Mrs. Song lost her mind and rushed to stop them.

Song Jianshe grabbed her quickly, “Calm down! Calm down! Mom, please calm down!”

Old Mrs. Song, burning with anger, slapped Song Jianshe, “You useless thing! Why don’t you stop them? Hit them! They’re your wife and child. How can they fight back? Look at your third brother—so careful with his wife he dares not slack off even a day in the fields….”

Song Jianshe’s face darkened; he endured her scolding without a word.

As Wen Ran and her mother happily left, Old Mrs. Song shouted after them, “Eat yourselves to death! Don’t think about coming back; go sleep on the street!”

Lu Meiqin looked back, “Song Jianshe, if you don’t want to be workshop supervisor, we could just sleep in the director’s office!”

Old Mrs. Song was so furious she nearly fainted, and Song Jianshe almost coughed up blood.

He was supposed to be making braised pork—he had no mood left!

Touching his slapped cheek, he said, “When I become workshop supervisor, there’ll be tears—but not today.”

Old Mrs. Song was speechless.

No matter how angry, she had to admit her eldest son Song Jianshe was her pride in the hometown, only flaw being he hadn’t fathered a son.

Her second son had been demoted due to his wife’s misfortune and had a grandson in the countryside.

The third son farmed in the countryside, had two grandsons, and another on the way—seemed to be a boy.

She didn’t know where Lu Meiqin got her confidence, but it made her heartache from head to toe.

This time, her efforts were unsuccessful; she couldn’t control the older one, while the younger was brazen.

Thinking of the look Wen Ran gave her, she wanted to strangle her.

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Wen Ran never expected to win Old Mrs. Song’s favor; she knew well that the old lady disliked her.

Today her mother behaved well, but once outside, she couldn’t bear to spend money on hotpot lamb—they would just satisfy their craving and blow off steam.

This month’s meat coupon had already been used for braised pork; even if they wanted to eat lamb, they couldn’t afford it, plus they still owed over ten yuan.

Wen Ran took out twenty yuan and a food coupon, handing them to her mother. “Mom, take this money.”

“Where did you get it?” Lu Meiqin was puzzled. “The hospital wouldn’t be kind enough to pay early. Even if they did, it wouldn’t be this much.”

Wen Ran said bluntly, “This is my father’s secret stash. He has a total of 103 yuan and several food coupons. I only brought twenty yuan with me today because it was urgent.”

Lu Meiqin stood frozen. “Your dad hid so much money? No wonder he asked me for money the other day—I thought you took it. It’s ridiculous. After all these years of marriage, he never treated me like family! I never had a penny; when I asked him, he said he had none. When I asked him to borrow some, he refused. He just watches me worry and gets no pity. He must have been hiding that money for more than a year. The love between us was long gone. I shouldn’t have had any hope.”

Wen Ran linked arms with her, “Mom, you still have me! No matter what, I’m always by your side.”

Lu Meiqin brightened. “Then let’s have some noodles. We need to eat well to have strength to fight your dad and grandma to the end.”

“Alright!” Wen Ran readily agreed.

They each ate a bowl of lamb offal noodles at a state-run restaurant.

Even without the meat, their clothes still carried the scent of lamb.

When they returned home, Old Mrs. Song, who had only eaten a bowl of plain noodles, was so furious her nose almost emitted smoke. She thought they actually ate the lamb hotpot.

The more she smelled it, the angrier she got, mumbling, “Spendthrifts! I’ll divorce you soon—don’t think you can live here in comfort!”

Song Jianshe feared his mother’s temper would flare again, so he quickly tried to calm her.

Old Mrs. Song sprawled herself across the double bed, defiantly glancing at Lu Meiqin. “I’m sleeping in this bed tonight!”

Since learning about Song Jianshe’s secret stash and his plan to give it to Xin Xin, Lu Meiqin felt sick even sleeping in the double bed they once shared.

But she wasn’t about to give it up so easily. With hands on hips, she said, “Song Jianshe, if your mother sleeps on the double bed, I’ll cause a scene at the factory meeting tomorrow and demand a divorce!”

Song Jianshe was overwhelmed, “Lu Meiqin, be reasonable. She’s my mother, your mother-in-law. Showing filial piety to elders is a virtue!”

“Nonsense! If you want to be filial, do it yourself. We’re getting divorced, so don’t use ‘virtue’ to pressure me,” Lu Meiqin refused to back down. “I didn’t give you a son, but you don’t have to guard me like a thief!”

“Divorce! Divorce her!” Old Mrs. Song was eager for her son to separate quickly. “Just in time. When you become workshop supervisor, marry a young wife and have a bunch of sons to make her furious!”