Pay Up

"Stop! Stop it now!"

Chen Baozhu stamped her feet anxiously at the door, but dared not go inside because of Zhang Guiying's fierce fighting ability. She turned around and shouted, "Zhang Xia, quickly hold your mother back!"

Zhang Xia rolled her eyes and didn't move.

拉？

What a load of crap!

If the occasion weren't so inappropriate, she would have liked to applaud right there.

Zhao Limin's university studies delayed his marriage, and she married Zhao Chengxin a year earlier than Zhao Limin.

When she entered the family, Zhang Guiying gave her 200 yuan as a bride price, nothing else. But when it came to marrying Chen Baozhu, the old woman gave her 500 yuan as a bride price, along with three turns and a radio.

They are all sons.

Why is there such favoritism?

That's fine.

After Chen Baozhu entered the family, he looked down on her openly and secretly because he was a city dweller and a college student.

really interesting.

Why would Chen Baozhu look down on her?

So what if she's from a rural area in the north? When Zhao Chengxin went to the countryside, if it weren't for her family's help, how many work points could he have earned with his small frame? He would have starved to death long ago.

Moreover.

She gave birth to two great grandsons for the Zhao family; all of the Zhao family's ancestors must remember her kindness.

Unlike the eldest son and his wife.

So what if someone is a college student? So what if they're successful?

If you give birth to a money-losing child, no matter how capable she is, won't all the family property end up going to someone else?

Zhang Xia stood with her arms crossed, not moving, hoping the two old men would kick Zhao Limin and his wife out.

"Bang!"

An unlocked wooden box flew out of the house, landed on the ground, and immediately bounced open, revealing a thick stack of 10,000 yuan bills inside to everyone's view.

Chen Baozhu exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly went to pick up the box.

Zhang Xia was even faster; she shoved the woman aside, grabbed the money from the box, and showed it to the neighbors. "Money! So much money! All 10-yuan bills, this stack must be at least four or five hundred!"

Chen Baozhu grabbed at it, saying, "That's my money! Zhang Xia, if you dare touch my money, I'll fight you to the death!"

"Who cares about your money? Weren't you just complaining to your older brother that you had no money? You casually put several hundred yuan of pocket money in the box. Aren't you going to explain?"

Underneath the money was a bankbook.

Zhang Xia snatched the bankbook, flipped it open, and gasped. "My God, there's a full 7000 yuan in there! Is this what you two meant by being broke?"

The neighbors all gasped.

Zhao Limin and Chen Baozhu have only worked for five years, yet they have saved more than 7000 yuan. What does that mean? It means that what Guiying said is true.

Zhao Limin and his wife have been staying at home with their child for several years without spending a single penny on living expenses.

All I could hear were voices talking.

Chen Baozhu grabbed the passbook, shouting, "Zhang Xia, if you dare to talk nonsense again, our passbook shows 700, not 7000! You've misread it! Give the passbook back to me right now!"

"You're talking nonsense. I may not have had much schooling, but I'm not so bad that I can't tell the difference between 700 and 7000."

Zhang Xia was determined to expose the true colors of the eldest son and his wife. She forcefully threw the bankbook at the gate of the courtyard, saying, "Everyone come and see, so you won't say I'm wronging you."

The passbook was thrown at the front door.

Zhao Limin rushed over nervously, but Zhao Binghe grabbed him and pulled him a few steps forward. He picked up the passbook and checked it. Seeing exactly 7000 yuan on the passbook, Zhao Binghe was so angry that he trembled all over.

"brute!"

Zhao Binghe was furious and slapped Zhao Limin hard across the face. "All the education I provided for you has gone to waste! Is this how you repay me and your mother?!"

The passbook was left aside.

The neighbor craned his neck to take a look and exclaimed, "7000! It really is 7000!"

Faced with the evidence, Zhao Limin's lips moved, but he couldn't utter a single word in defense.

The neighbors looked at him with disdain and pointed at him.

Zhao Limin felt as if he had been stripped naked and paraded through the streets, filled with shame, indignation, and hatred.

Humans are selfish.

With so many children in their family, if he doesn't find a way to grab all the benefits for himself, what will be left when it's his turn?

Do his parents really need to peel off his face and stomp on it?

"dad……"

"I'm not your father, I don't have a heartless son like you, get out of the house right now!"

Zhao Limin didn't want to leave.

He has food and lodging at home, and someone does the housework. Where else can he live so comfortably if he leaves this home?

"Mom, I was wrong."

Zhao Limin knew that Zhang Guiying was in charge of the household. He cried and said, "During those years when I was sent to the countryside, I didn't have enough to eat or wear. I was really afraid of being poor. I saved money to feel secure. I didn't mean to hide it from you and my dad."

Zhao Limin was assigned to work in the countryside in Guizhou after graduating from high school in 72. He returned to the city in 77 after the resumption of the college entrance examination and spent five years in the countryside.

As the first children in their family to be sent to the countryside, Zhang Guiying and Zhao Binghe knew nothing back then and didn't spend money or pull strings to get Zhao Limin assigned to a place closer to the countryside.

Guizhou was poor, and Zhao Limin suffered a lot.

Whenever Zhao Limin mentions those five years in the countryside, his mother feels heartache, and Zhao Limin looks up, waiting for his mother to soften her heart.

But my soft heart didn't get the chance.

They got slapped across the face.

Zhang Guiying rushed out of the house and slapped him twice across the face. "You have the nerve to play the victim with me? During those years you were sent to the countryside, did I not send you enough food coupons and cloth coupons? Did I feed the dogs all the food I saved up from between my teeth?!"

"Your father and I have to take care of seven of you siblings and five grandchildren and great-grandchildren all these years. We've had to stretch every penny to its limit. And you, on the other hand, are sucking your parents' blood to save up your own money, and you still have the nerve to say you're terrified of poverty!"

"Get lost! I can't even look at you properly!"

"..."

They're not giving him any face at all.

Zhao Limin was also furious. He picked up the bankbook, pulled Chen Baozhu along, and said angrily, "Mom, do you have to go to such extremes? Think it through. Baozhu and I are leaving this house and will never come back."

"You want to cut ties with me?"

"Mom, I didn't want this to happen either, it's because of you..."

"Fine, then let's cut ties!" Zhang Guiying waved her hand to interrupt him. "Once we cut ties, your father and I can't count on you anymore. In that case, you must return every penny of the money we spent on you!"

"Old man, get some paper and pen to do the accounting."

"good!"

Zhao Binghe was so angry that he turned around and went into the house to get paper and pen.

"I'll say it, you write it down."

"it is good."

"The law stipulates that once children are 18 years old, parents no longer have an obligation to support them. I won't argue with you about that; let's start counting from the time you get married."

Zhang Guiying calculated the expenses one by one, "When you married Chen Baozhu, the Chen family asked for 500 yuan as a bride price and three turns and one sound, which added up to 1320 yuan. Adding the wedding banquet and other miscellaneous expenses, the total is 1500 yuan."

"After you got married, you and Chen Baozhu lived at home. The rent and utilities were 12 yuan per month for you. You ate lunch at the school cafeteria and breakfast and dinner at home. The living expenses were 20 yuan per month for you."

"When Yuanyuan was born, I'll charge you 100 yuan for the baby's red envelope and the expenses during her postpartum period."

"After Yuanyuan was born, I paid 10 yuan every month to raise your child. Yuanyuan is 4 years old this year, and I have been paying this money for four whole years."

"I'm too lazy to calculate all the miscellaneous expenses, so I'll just consider it a gift." Zhang Guiying turned to Zhao Binghe and asked, "How much is it in total?"

I don't know, I was taken aback.

Zhao Binghe showed the notebook, "Exactly 4000, no more, no less."

Zhang Guiying nodded and held out her hand to Zhao Limin, "Pay up!"