AYLS – Chapter 73

Li Ermei took advantage of their guilty looks and read the contents of the letter aloud. She couldn’t read many characters, but she could read this letter. She emphasized and exaggerated Xu Yuanzheng’s misconduct as she read, then looked at Su Weizhen with obvious pride.

She looked unbearably pleased — it wasn’t an act anyone could fake.

So Mother Xu and Xu Xiaomei didn’t for a moment think Li Ermei was acting.

They thought she was using them to ruin their son and daughter-in-law.

Su Weizhen: “……”

As for Xu Yuanzheng, even though he had already seen the letter before, Li Ermei’s passionate performance quickly pulled him in. The chill in his heart rose again; his eyes reddened as he looked at his mother and finally asked the question he’d been holding back: “Mom, did you really say this? How could you invent something about your own son?”

“I—she tricked me, it’s not something I wrote, I can’t write,” Mother Xu hurriedly denied. Right — a letter is just a letter; if she denied it, what could anyone do? What else was there to do?

Li Ermei said, “You can’t write, but your daughter can. In our unit they’ll definitely be able to tell handwriting right away. If you won’t admit it, I’ll take it to the leadership now.”

Hearing that, Mother Xu quickly asked her son and daughter-in-law, “Can they really tell?”

Su Weizhen answered coldly, “Yes.”

“……!!!”

Mother Xu hurried to stop Li Ermei. “Don’t go.” She even tried to snatch the letter.

Li Ermei shoved it into her own bosom. “Keep trying to grab it and I’ll shout for people. If others come and this gets out, it won’t be controllable.”

The military dependents’ neighborhood was compact; if she yelled, people really could hear.

Mother Xu didn’t dare make a move. She ground her teeth, furious: “You’re shameless, you wicked woman.”

“Compared to you, old lady, you’re the worst — you’d even harm your own son and daughter-in-law. Why can’t an outsider like me do it?” Li Ermei shot back.

Mother Xu was too angry to retaliate but too afraid to pick a fight with Li Ermei. She turned and slapped her own daughter. “It’s all your fault — why did you write that letter? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have let you go to school.”

Xu Xiaomei sobbed, “You told me to write it.”

Mother Xu was about to hit again, ready to put on a show of suffering, but Su Weizhen and Xu Yuanzheng both wore cold faces and showed no intention of stopping it.

Li Ermei, impatient, snapped, “Later you can teach your daughter a lesson, but finish my business first.”

Su Weizhen couldn’t stand her smug expression and said, “Don’t be so pleased with yourself. Since you didn’t go to the leadership and came straight to me, you didn’t just come to tell me, did you?”

Xu Yuanzheng added, “Comrade Li Ermei, does Old Chen know about this?”

“He—does he have the right to control me? I’m telling you now: you can’t tell him. If you do, I’ll just go all out — nobody will get anything from me then.”

Hearing that, Mother Xu became even angrier. That was the very threat she had once used against Su Weizhen, and now it was being used to threaten their family.

She panted, furious: “What exactly do you want?!”

Li Ermei smiled smugly. “If this goes to the leadership, Xu Yuanzheng won’t be able to stay here, right? This is an accusation written by your own mother and sister. Even if later they deny it, it’ll be because you convinced them to — if you truly didn’t do it, would your own mother and sister randomly slander you? Even animals wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Mother Xu and Xu Xiaomei: “……”

Xu Yuanzheng clenched his fists.

Li Ermei continued, “So don’t think you can just let this slide easily. Originally I wanted both Su Weizhen and Xu Yuanzheng to leave here together — go back to the countryside to farm would be best. But on second thought, that wouldn’t benefit me much.”

Mother Xu immediately said, “Yes, yes, that wouldn’t benefit you — Comrade Ermei, don’t go doing anything foolish.”

“I’m not being foolish. I’ll want something in return.”

Mother Xu: “……What do you want?”

“You’ll give me Su Weizhen’s job at her unit. And Xu Yuanzheng has to give me thirty every month.”

Hearing that, Mother Xu and Xu Xiaomei’s faces turned red; they glared at Li Ermei as if her shameless demand had taken their breath away.

“You’re dreaming!” Mother Xu snapped.

Li Ermei said, “Fine, I’ll take this to the military leadership. Using your position to demand things from others — that’s not just a transfer, might even be a prison offense, right?”

At those words Mother Xu panicked and looked anxiously at Xu Yuanzheng.

If their second son went to prison, the Xu family would never be able to raise their heads again. The honor of eight generations of poor farmers would be gone.

“Yuanzheng, is she making this up? Can it really be like that?” Mother Xu asked.

Xu Yuanzheng looked at her expressionlessly. “Before you do these things, didn’t you think about the consequences?”

“…I—I was tricked, I didn’t know the consequences, otherwise I definitely wouldn’t have done it,” Mother Xu cried, regretting it deeply. She had warned them before but how had she been so foolish now?

Xu Yuanzheng said, “You harmed me without even knowing what the consequences might be… Mom, do you still regard me as your son?”

“Yuanzheng, I didn’t mean to — Li Ermei fooled me,” Mother Xu sobbed, tears and snot streaming. She was truly frightened. In all her life she had never seen such a spectacle; she was terrified now.

Li Ermei cocked her mouth in discontent. “What are you doing? Don’t act for me—hurry up and say whether you agree. Otherwise we part ways: I report it, and maybe I’ll even get a commendation.”

Mother Xu looked at Xu Yuanzheng. “Yuanzheng, what should we do?”

Su Weizhen looked at her and said, “What do you want? For Yuanzheng to go to prison?”

Then she looked at Li Ermei. “You can have my job.”

Xu Yuanzheng said, “I agreed to thirty yuan too. When will you give us the letter?”

Li Ermei quickly hid it away. “How could I give it to you? I have to keep it with me. Don’t worry, as long as you don’t go back on your word, I’ll keep it safe. It’s no use to me if I take it out anyway, I’m not that stupid. By the way, you’ve really made up your mind? Don’t you go regretting it tomorrow.”

Su Weizhen glared at her. “Once we’ve agreed, we won’t regret it!”

“That’s more like it.” Li Ermei pouted, gave a couple of snorts, and walked off. Her heart was bursting with joy. Oh my, if this really works out, how wonderful would that be.

Should I really do it for real?

No, no, if Lin Qiao finds out, she’ll definitely make me a widow.

She had already sacrificed too much for Old Chen.

That heartless dog of a man.

Thinking of Instructor Chen, then thinking about how she had helped Su Weizhen sort out her family’s mess while her own problems were still a disaster, Li Ermei instantly felt upset again. When she got home, she found everything about Instructor Chen irritating.

Instructor Chen was reading the newspaper. Seeing her like this, he asked curiously, “What’s wrong? You go out for a bit, and when you come back you’re giving me that kind of look.”

“I despise you, dog man.”

Instructor Chen: “……”

Next door, the Xu household was as cold as an ice cellar.

For once, Mother Xu and Xu Xiaomei didn’t say a single word, just sat there feeling guilty.

This whole thing had blown up too much. Even if they went back to their hometown, they wouldn’t be able to explain it.

If the old man found out that because of them Yuanzheng had to hand over so much money, and even caused his wife to lose her job, he would never forgive them.

Mother Xu started crying, saying she felt so wronged, that she had never thought things would turn out this way. Then she pointed at Su Weizhen’s nose and scolded, “It’s all your fault. If you hadn’t always refused before, would I have had to go ask outsiders for help? You useless, money-wasting woman.”

Su Weizhen: “……”

Even Xu Yuanzheng couldn’t stand listening anymore. At first, he comforted himself by thinking he had tricked his mother too, and tried hard not to dwell on it. But seeing her attitude afterwards, how could he not feel chilled?

“Mom, what more do you want to make a fuss about? If Weizhen hadn’t agreed to give up her job, your son wouldn’t even be able to sit here right now. Do you want to push her into regretting it? If I go to jail, Weizhen still has her job—she could close her eyes and easily find someone better than me.”

Hearing that, Mother Xu really didn’t dare make a sound.

Xu Xiaomei was still unwilling. “Brother, are we really going through with this? Can’t we ask her husband to teach her a lesson?”

Su Weizhen shot her a cold look. “Haven’t you heard the saying, a broken jar just smashes harder?”

“……”

Mother Xu and Xu Xiaomei’s faces instantly turned even more bitter.

They weren’t easy to mess with in the village, but they had never run into someone like Li Ermei—so sly, so good at putting on an act, shameless, vicious, and unreasonable.

It would be one thing if she were just a shrew, but unfortunately she also had brains.

For people like Mother Xu and Xu Xiaomei, who bullied the weak and feared the strong, Li Ermei was simply terrifying.

Mother Xu didn’t dare to come up with reckless ideas anymore. She tried to comfort herself—at least her son wasn’t going to jail, he could still do business in the future. As for her daughter-in-law… since she could find one job, she could always find another later…

Now she was only afraid her son would tell the family back home. “Yuanzheng, don’t tell your father about this, his health hasn’t been good these past two years.”

Su Weizhen sneered inside. Her father-in-law’s health, not good? As if.

She said, “We can leave this matter unsaid, but the money we give to the family must definitely be reduced. Since you came and failed to accomplish anything, when the family asks, what will you say? In the end, they’ll accuse Yuanzheng of being unfilial.”

“……”

As if he wasn’t already unfilial. If he had agreed from the start, none of this would have happened.

Mother Xu, guilty at heart, didn’t dare argue back. She could only say, “We’ll just tell them you’re struggling too, the burden is heavy. That will be easy enough to explain.”

Su Weizhen said, “That’s not even a lie. Before, the burden wasn’t heavy. But now… who knows if we’ll even have enough to eat.”

Her words left Mother Xu unable to argue.

After thinking for a while, she asked again, “Yuanzheng, about the ten yuan we send home… is that still possible? We can’t reduce that, in case your father asks.”

Xu Yuanzheng didn’t give a clear promise. “I’ll handle it as best as I can. We can’t be starving ourselves and tightening our belts just to send money home. All I can say is I’ll try to keep it the same.”

Mother Xu grew anxious. “That won’t do. What if it’s less?”

“All you care about is money. Aren’t you at all worried that your son’s weaknesses are in someone else’s hands, that they could ruin me whenever they want?”

“……” Mother Xu opened her mouth but had no rebuttal.

Xu Xiaomei looked at her brother, then at her mother, nervously twisting her fingers. “Or… you could find me a good match, and in the future I’ll support you instead?”

Mother Xu’s eyes lit up with hope, thinking this was a great idea.

Su Weizhen was utterly speechless. She nearly choked on her own breath.

Even Xu Yuanzheng laughed in anger. “You’ve only been here a few days and already caused such a huge mess, and you think I dare keep you here? Tomorrow I’ll go buy tickets and send you back. If you cause any more trouble, I’ll have Dad come and fetch you.”

At that, the mother and daughter finally fell silent.

The family back home knew about money being sent, but they didn’t know about this huge loss.

That night, the Xu household was once again eerily quiet. Only this time, apart from Su Weizhen, no one else felt at ease.

The next morning, Xu Yuanzheng went out early to buy tickets.

Su Weizhen also got up early. She wanted to go find Lin Qiao, but halfway there she turned back, thinking Lin Qiao was probably still asleep at this hour.

In fact, Lin Qiao had been awake for a long time. She had been fretting about it all night, which made Gu Huayuan unhappy. But Lin Qiao didn’t care—this was important.

She got up early in the morning, and when Gu Huayuan returned with breakfast for her, he was surprised to see she was already washed and ready. “So early?”

“I’ve got serious business to do.”

Gu Huayuan chuckled. “What serious business? Plotting against old Xu’s wife together?”

“…” Lin Qiao widened her eyes at him. “Did I talk in my sleep? Otherwise how would you know? Or did Sister Ermie betray us?”

Gu Huayuan set breakfast on the table. “What are you even talking about? With the little things you’re up to, I just need to catch a hint of something and I can figure it out.”

There wasn’t much change in the compound. The only thing different was the mess with the Xu family. Add in the unusual behavior of Li Ermei and Su Weizhen, and it was easy enough to connect the dots. He just didn’t know the exact method.

Lin Qiao looked at him speechlessly. “Now you’ve made me feel like I have no sense of accomplishment at all.”

Gu Huayuan laughed. “Actually, I was just bluffing you just now.”

Lin Qiao: “…”

“So, remember this in the future—if you don’t want others to know something, don’t ever admit it.” He felt his wife was really clever, just not wary enough.

“Hmph! I’ll remember that!” Lin Qiao puffed out her cheeks in anger.

After breakfast, Lin Qiao stomped off to the chicken farm in a huff.

Before going to work, Li Ermei hurried over to find her.

Lin Qiao pulled her excitedly into the room. “Well? How did it go?”

“Settled.” Li Ermei clasped her hands behind her back, brimming with pride, and then gave herself a heavy round of praise—how cleverly she outwitted Old Mother Xu, how she left the woman completely dumbfounded. Her act was so convincing, there was no room for doubt.

“I knew you could do it, Sister Ermie.” Lin Qiao happily gave her a hug.

“Sister Ermie, you’re the hero among the three of us, a true warrior. Just like when you saved Su Weizhen before. I wasn’t wrong about you—you really are a good person.”

Li Ermei: “…Ahem, don’t praise me like that. I only did it because Su Weizhen said she’d treat me to a meal.”

“Of course she has to treat you. Good deeds deserve rewards. You repay kindness with kindness, right?”

Li Ermei was bursting with pride, then asked Lin Qiao, “Hey, what if we just keep this letter and make Su Weizhen cook us something delicious every day?”

“…” Lin Qiao narrowed her eyes at her. “Are you serious?”

Li Ermei quickly said, “I’m joking! I’d never do something like that.”

“Hand me the letter.” Lin Qiao held out her hand.

Reluctantly, Li Ermei pulled the letter out. “Honestly, don’t you trust me?”

Lin Qiao thought to herself, The temptation is too great. I’m afraid you won’t be able to resist. Better to cut off any possibility altogether.

She stuffed the letter into her own pocket. “Later I’ll tell Su Weizhen you gave it to me of your own accord. That way, she’ll see how sincere you are and invite you to more meals.”

“Now that sounds more like it.”