Kang Li was just talking about this when a shrill, tearful voice ca from Su Man next door in the Wen Family Courtyard, "Mom! My sister is your daughter, and so am I. You and Dad used to adore the most. Why did you suddenly change?
Is it just because my sister is having a hard ti away in the countryside that you feel sorry for her and think I owe her? That you keep asking for money ti and again, to help her out?"
"You still rember how your dad and I used to adore you. But we’ve adored you for over ten years, and now we just want you to help your sister, and you have so many complaints. Do you want to see your sister without money for treatnt, dying in the hospital?"
"But how am I supposed to help? The last few tis you ca, I’ve already given you at least two hundred yuan, and this ti you co asking for three hundred, saying my sister needs major surgery, and if we can’t pay, the hospital won’t operate..."
"Mom, I’m just her sister Su Qing, what obligation do I have to pay for her surgery and hospital fees? Moreover, I don’t have that much money, where am I supposed to get it from?"
"Siyuan earns a good salary every month, I don’t believe you haven’t saved any money. Manman, you know our family’s situation; if your dad and I could help your sister, would I be running to you repeatedly?"
"Mom, don’ t cry poor in front of . I said I don’t have it, and even if you stay here today, I can’t produce it."
"Manman, do you have no conscience? From childhood, how much has your sister put up with because of you, have you forgotten it all?"
"Did I make her suffer?"
"What do you an by that? Are you blaming and your dad for doting on you more than your sister?"
...
The mother and daughter completely ignored whether they might be overheard fighting, their voices growing louder, apparently not caring about being heard.
"Did Educated Youth Su and Zhou Weimin get married?"
Kang Li asked her mother.
"It happened in the last month of the year you left."
Cai Xiufen said, chuckling coldly, "Ruining your own marriage proposal, and then competing with Chunxia over that bastard from the Zhou Family, causing gossip throughout the village; by the last month, from the Educated Youth Spot to moving into the Zhou Family, Granny Zhou was so stingy that she only set up two tables. I heard there were only five dishes in total, four vegetarian and one at, and that at dish barely had any at visible, clearly showing Granny Zhou’s attitude toward this daughter-in-law."
Kang Li: "Wasn’t Zhou Weimin’s mother quite pleased with Educated Youth Su? How co she didn’t put on a good face when she was marrying into the family?"
Cai Xiufen: "Who knows what madness struck her."
"So, how is Educated Youth Su’s life at the Zhou Family? The Zhou family’s life is considered good in Aoli Village; they have a heritage, and Zhou Weimin works at the town’s supply and marketing cooperative, drawing a salary every month, so it shouldn’t be impossible to afford his wife’s dical bills."
"She cos ho from work and still has to cook and wash clothes. You tell if that’s a good life. From your mother’s perspective, ever since Su Qing entered the Zhou Family’s door, she’s not looked as sprightly as she did living at the Youth Educated Institute."
Listening to his mother say this, Kang Li paused, as if talking to himself or perhaps to his mother: "Zhou Weimin’s mother doesn’t seem like soone who would be harsh on her daughter-in-law."
"People close doors and are harsh, who else could know."
Saying this, Cai Xiufen shook her head: "Let’s not talk about the trouble with the Zhou family anymore, it doesn’t concern us anyway."
At that mont, the phone rang.
"Hello, yes..."
Kang Li picked up the receiver. Before she said much more, she heard the person on the other end rattling on, causing her expression to change, and Cai Xiufen couldn’t help but get anxious: "What happened?"
"Alright, I understand. I’m going to pack so things and head over right now... Yes, goodbye."
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