By the time Ye Qiu arrived at the Ye Family's home with his wife and child, they were met with several angry faces, but they were unfazed.
"Mom, this is the clothing I bought for you, perfect for my little sister's wedding. Try it on and see if it fits." Chen Wen, seemingly oblivious to Granny Ye's hostile gaze, placed the bag of clothes on the chair beside the Old Lady.
"And these too. Thinking that the candies and cookies from the city are quite fashionable, we brought back twenty kilograms of each, to be given as wedding sweets and cookies for my sister's marriage." Ye Qiu also put down his backpack.
Then Liu Ping watched as Ye Qiu took out the wedding sweets and cookies from his now empty backpack, looking incredulous.
That's it? Is that all? What about her things?
"Oh, so the elder brother and elder sister-in-law, having made a fortune, only brought a couple of garments for our mother!" Liu Ping sneered, "What, after becoming city folks, you don't recognize your own mother anymore?"
Granny Ye kept silent, presumably also dissatisfied with her eldest son's family.
"Second brother's wife, you can't just say whatever you want. The two garments your elder sister-in-law bought for mother cost us nearly five hundred yuan!" Ye Qiu was no longer the simpleton who would take anything anyone said to heart, putting his mother and nephew first above all else.
"And the sweets and cookies, I brought them back from the city especially for mother to use at my sister's wedding considering the hard work she has done. Your words are inappropriate. Or are you implying that you've bought more for mother? If that's the case, I have nothing to say." Ye Qiu looked mockingly at his younger brother Ye Xiu, as if seeing a complete loser.
"You..." Liu Ping was choked with anger. She was simply envious that her elder brother's family hadn't brought anything for her own household. Why are some people so lucky? Clearly, they went to the city because they had no food, so how did they become prosperous once they were there?
After all, she now needed their help to get rich in the city as well, and though she refrained from scolding, her words carried no semblance of politeness when asking for favors.
"Elder brother, what have you and elder sister-in-law brought for your nephew and our family? It's fine if you didn't bring gifts; a red packet of one thousand yuan for your nephew will do." Saying this, she glanced at Ye Qiu's pockets—forget clothes and toys, cash was what really mattered.
Hearing this, Chen Wen scoffed and remained silent. Ye Qiu expressed his astonishment: "Second brother's wife, what do you mean by that?"
"As children, it's only natural for us to buy things for mother. It's proper to bring some gifts for my sister's wedding, but... do we have to buy something for you too? If we didn't buy anything, do we have to give money instead?" Ye Qiu was utterly innocent.
He then looked at Ye Xiu and said: "Second brother, say something. Although I am your elder brother, we split the family assets. And consider this, did you get more than I did when we split? I didn't mind it back then, since mother, my sister, and your family are living together, but why should a part of your sister-in-law's hard-earned money be divided with you?"
Ye Xiu was extremely embarrassed by this question. He had always been proud and liked to save face. Although he wanted to take advantage of others, he was too ashamed to speak bluntly, so typically such shameless remarks were made by his mother and wife. Only if his interests were truly at stake would he speak up.
Moreover, he wasn't stupid. If he outright asked for money today, the brotherly relationship would collapse, and it would be impossible to receive anything from his elder brother in the future.
A customary naive smile appeared on Ye Xiu's face: "Big brother, elder sister-in-law, my wife speaks without thinking, don't take it to heart. Of course, the money elder sister-in-law earns is for you to manage."
He did not directly refuse, simply saying that they could decide on their own money. Ye Qiu's expression was impartial, but inwardly he felt contemptuous, assuming that Granny Ye was just waiting for her turn to speak up.
Sure enough, the Old Lady didn't disappoint him, finally speaking her mind.
"Why have you only just arrived? Are these two garments meant to appease beggars?" Granny Ye was short and tenacious, her old wrinkled face full of sharp and critical expressions.
In her heart, she believed that since her eldest son had made money, he should give it all to her. Why should outsiders enjoy it?
"Mother, these beggars can't afford such nice clothes, which cost four to five hundred yuan, equivalent to the monthly salary of a city worker." Now, Ye Qiu was no longer willing to indulge Granny Ye's temper. "Go out and ask around, in the entire county there's no daughter-in-law who would buy such expensive clothes for their mother-in-law."
Indeed, he was not wrong. Four to five hundred yuan was almost half a year's income in the countryside; who would be willing to spend that much?
But they were making money now, weren't they? Of course, Granny Ye wasn't content.
"So you only bought these two garments to bring back?" She glared at Chen Wen with a pair of sharp eyes, looking at her with resentment.
Thinking about it, if it weren't for this venomous woman, his eldest son would definitely still be as caring as before, giving her any money he had. That money should all be for his eldest grandson.
Chen Wen had long been accustomed to Granny Ye's dissatisfaction with her, and she was no longer the timid daughter-in-law who lived by watching Granny Ye's face. Anyway, she was only back for two or three days; there was no need to argue with these ignorant people.
"Mom, what you said is really not appropriate. What do you mean by just buying two outfits? In order for you to look good at my younger sister's wedding, Chen Wen went to several places in the provincial city to pick these out. Look at this fabric, these patterns, what's not good about it?"
Granny Ye of course didn't think there was anything wrong with the clothes; she was just not satisfied because she didn't get the money and was deliberately nitpicking. Ye Qiu certainly wasn't going to indulge her.
"Then when your little sister gets married, you just buy some wedding candy and wedding cakes and that's it?" Granny Ye's face was tense, her eyes looked murderous.
"There's more to it than that." As soon as Ye Qiu said this, the Old Lady's face looked a bit better, but immediately after, it turned uglier upon hearing what Ye Qiu would say next.
"Back when we split the family, we agreed that when my little sister got married, whatever my second brother's family contributed, I would contribute the same amount. I still remember that clearly."
"Big brother is making big money, how can we compare? I bet my little sister will have an opinion on this too." Liu Ping held back for a long time and finally couldn't bear it anymore.
"I haven't made any money; it's your elder sister-in-law who has earned it. Your big brother here is just living off a woman's support! As the elder sister-in-law, she has bought the wedding candy and cakes for the little sister-in-law, and even gave her dowry money, what is she still dissatisfied with?"
"That won't do, you must take out that money and give it to me, at least Thirty thousand." After pulling this for quite a while and seeing the eldest son and his wife had no intention of giving money voluntarily, Granny Ye, unable to contain herself, bitterly made a demand.
Everyone, including Liu Ping, was shocked by Granny Ye's bold demand. Thirty thousand yuan was not a matter of one thousand or one hundred; they only earn one thousand after working hard for a whole year! She really dared to ask for such an amount, but the thought of that thirty thousand yuan entering her pocket made their hearts instantly warmer.
Ye Qiu sneered: "Mom, you really dare to ask. Even if you sold me, you wouldn't get that much money."
"Don't bluff me; without fifty thousand yuan, that car of yours couldn't have been bought. Thirty thousand, not a penny less." In fact, Granny Ye herself wasn't sure, she only vaguely heard the value of the small car when she was in the county.
"Mom, back when our family of three couldn't even afford food, I didn't see you lend a hand to me. You're asking for thirty thousand yuan just like that, even if I had it, why should I give it to you?" At this point, Ye Qiu wasn't pretending anymore, now that the facades had been torn down, he couldn't care less about being polite.
"Because I'm your mother! I gave birth to you and raised you! You have to be filial to me!"
"It's true you're my mother, and I'm grateful that you brought me up, but when we split the family, we had an agreement. I gave all my farms to my second brother to tend, without taking his money or grain. The contract for your support was also in there. We signed a contract with my second brother; otherwise, we can bring the village chief over and let him judge."
"So are you refusing to give it?"
"I won't give it, nor do I have the money to give. That car was bought with a bank loan. You're asking for thirty thousand just like that, are you trying to kill me?"
"Then how much money do you have in hand, give it all to me."
Ye Qiu was about to be amused by the Old Lady's brazen attitude: "Mom, like I said in the beginning, I'll match whatever second brother's family contributes for my little sister's wedding, not a penny more."
"So are you disowning me as your mother?" Granny Ye stared at Ye Qiu fiercely, gnashing her teeth.
"How am I disowning you? Did I give you your support money? I did, and moreover, you ask around, no one in the village has given as much as I have. What more do you want from me?"
"Has Chen Wen treated you badly? When we lived together before, didn't she do everything? Everything was taken care of perfectly for you, everyone in the village said she was good. Just because we don't have thirty thousand yuan for you today, you deny everything we've done?"
"Mom, what goes around comes around, I, Ye Qiu, can face myself without any guilt!"
"You... are you really going to oppose me?" Granny Ye was left speechless with anger.
"Mom, it's not that I'm opposing you; it's that you're too biased. I've done all I should do. You think about it. I won't stay longer today, I'll come earlier on the day my little sister gets married." Saying that, Ye Qiu hugged Ye Manman and took Chen Wen by the hand, leaving without looking back.