QTIMP -Chapter 57 Character Persona – Lazy (Part 5)

People in the village always talk with that sarcastic tone. They think the old couple is foolish—the daughter married far away, can’t lend much help, yet she even sends such a large package along.

Now let’s see who’s really foolish. Her daughter had only been married for two or three months, and already sent back such a big package. But when replying, she had to remind her daughter: don’t spend money so recklessly.

The old couple in the village had food and drink—they didn’t need her worrying.

Meanwhile, the Si Lai family, in the same village, received a letter. It was from Si Lai’s mother, Kong Qingyun. She spat on the ground and went inside.

The envelope was torn open and emptied onto the table. Just as words of complaint were about to escape her mouth, she swallowed them back.

The table was covered with colorful military ration notes. She hurriedly gathered them with her hands and deliberately stepped outside the front gate.

Those with good news quickly came over and asked, “From Old Liu’s family? Did your family send you a letter too? What did they mail you?”

The question carried obvious ill intent—after all, everyone had seen that she only received one letter.

Kong Qingyun slightly lifted her chin and fanned the notes twice with her hand.

“Oh, our Xiao Lai! So sensible, filial, knows how to manage the household. Look, she mailed back these old military ration notes for me. Whatever I want to buy, I can just get it myself, saving the cost of mailing a package. Not like those show-offs—sending such a huge package without knowing if the contents are even worth two bucks.”

Her words had barely fallen when a bucket of swill was dumped on her head. Then a shout came from the wall: Wang Xia was yelling, “You cursed thing! How dare you say my daughter doesn’t look after me—I’ll beat the crap out of you!”

Kong Qingyun wiped her face and quickly turned back into the yard, closing the gate tightly. That woman was crazy—she really hit hard when she struck.

Wang Xia spat at her and climbed down the ladder, handing the bucket of swill to Si Shi on the stairs. “A bunch of old women just gossip about other people’s wives.”

“Exactly, exactly, Xia, let’s go inside and see what’s in the package. It came from far away—better not let it spoil.”

The old couple went inside and quickly unpacked the package. They didn’t look at the items first, but took out a letter. The letter was opened and emptied onto the table.

Once again, the same heap of notes and “Great Unity” coupons were spread across the table. The two didn’t examine them carefully but instead picked up a slightly larger sheet of paper. Most of the letter was filled with descriptions of the items in the package and their uses.

It also mentioned wanting to collect some ginseng but didn’t have enough money this time, so they would send it next time.

Only in the last two lines did she write a sentence saying she was doing well and that her parents needn’t worry.

“That lazy girl is going to kill me. Two extra lines of writing would’ve cost her what? And she says not to worry—when she doesn’t even wash her socks! Lu Hongjun goes on missions, and she wants to stink herself to death!”

She tossed the letter to the old man and began sorting through the package. Si Shi couldn’t read, so he flipped the paper up, down, left, and right, then said:

“There’s enough writing here. Don’t get mad at her—just remind her properly when you write back.”

Wang Xia didn’t even lift her head. “What do you know? The letter just lists what’s in the package and what it’s for. Then she asks you to help collect some ginseng. Only at the very end does she say she’s doing fine—don’t worry.”

“Oh! That’s not much. Next time you tell her, no need to write the beginning—let her replace all that writing with what you want to know.”

Si Shi’s tone was clearly teasing. He didn’t care if he got another eye-roll from his wife.

“Later, divide the items so the two sons can taste a bit, then after it gets completely dark, you send this package to the cowshed. I’ll pack up and make a trip back to my parental home.”

The old man was the village team leader, so going to the cowshed wasn’t a big deal. Even if someone saw him, saying he was “going to check on things” would easily cover it up.

“What are you going to do?”

Wang Xia said while tidying up, “Go inquire about some ginseng for your eldest daughter, of course! Back when we prepared the dowry, we didn’t think of this. Her husband is in the army, so having extra ginseng is definitely necessary.”

“I’ll borrow a cart from the team to take you back,” Si Shi said, putting the tobacco pipe he had just picked up back down and getting up to fetch a cart.

“No need. What are you doing? You still have to get up early for work tomorrow. I won’t come back tonight; I’ll come back tomorrow. Just make yourself something to eat at home.”

Si Shi ultimately didn’t go along. That night he didn’t even eat, just sat on the stone by the main gate smoking. Later, it’s unclear who told Li Xin—or rather, Wang Xia’s son—about it.

Li Xin had his son deliver a meal to the stepfather, knowing full well that even if he called the old man, he wouldn’t come.

Li Xin’s wife wasn’t too pleased. Li Xin frowned, “It’s fine. After all, he raised me for over ten years. By right, providing for him in his old age and sending him off should be my duty.”

His wife sipped her porridge. “It’s not that. I just feel the old couple is a bit biased.”

“Isn’t it natural for them to be biased? That’s their own daughter. Besides, even if my mom is biased, she never spent my dad’s pension on Qiuxiu. During those years of hunger, she didn’t touch that money—otherwise we could have earned that money ourselves. So in a way, my mom is still biased toward us siblings. After all, I’ve lived off my stepdad’s earnings these years, but Qiuxiu hasn’t spent a single cent of my dad’s money.”

His wife wasn’t a bad person. She had little quirks and muttered to herself sometimes, but she never did anything malicious. In fact, she could be quite soft-hearted.

Like this time, delivering food to the old man—though she complained under her breath, she still specially made an egg sauce for him.

When Si Qiu got married, Li Xin even gave her some savings he had kept tucked away. Though she muttered, she didn’t stop him.

As for Si Shi’s son, that wasn’t the case. He thought his father was biased and didn’t interact much. After all, the couple’s contribution at his marriage was a known amount.

But Si Shi himself had no money. His wife died in childbirth, and going to the hospital cost a lot. So the dowry, the luggage, the house he built for his marriage were already very generous by village standards.

He basically felt everything in the house should belong to him, since all the money was saved by the old couple, and Wang Xia earned every bit of her wages honestly.

Back then, they had basically emptied the household and even caused some scarcity. It wasn’t until a few years later that things eased. Wang Xia felt she had done her utmost.

So if she earned more to give to her daughter, wasn’t that only natural?

Thus, the two families’ relationship grew very tense and they rarely interacted. Whether his father had eaten or not, he didn’t care.

It wasn’t surprising that Wang Xia always whispered in Si Shi’s ear that he was an ungrateful son. But just looking at the dried seafood Wang Xia had delivered earlier, he wouldn’t just stand by and watch his own father go hungry—no one could endure that.

So it’s understandable that Si Shi doted on his only daughter, Si Qiu. Though partly due to his wife’s subtle influence, Si Shi wasn’t foolish; he was practical.

Si Qiu didn’t know about the household affairs. Returning home from work that day, she had just started up the stairs after greeting a neighbor downstairs when she noticed her own door was slightly ajar.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise and quickened her pace slightly up the stairs.