Chapter 20: Threatening Xia Qingshan
"Of course, during these two years, I will give you living expenses every month," Xia Qingshan added.
Lin Yue frowned, "You’re not coming back?"
Xia Qingshan remained silent for a moment, "I live in the city. The mine got shut down, so right now, I’m still trying to find a job in the city."
Lin Yue nodded and fixed her gaze on Xia Qingshan, "You also know that the children need a complete set of parents the most right now. Even though I can stay and take care of them, having their father around is also a must."
Xia Qingshan was somewhat surprised and caught off-guard by what Lin Yue said. At his silence, Lin Yue angrily said, "I don't know why you're so busy. Don't forget, they're your children. As their father, you don’t even care about them and go about your business. Yet you expect someone else to take care of them, but how well can an outsider take care of them?"
Lin Yue continued, "Let me be frank with you. Right now, I’m their stepmother and as a stepmother, most of us are very vicious. If you don't come back to see the children often, who knows, maybe one day I'll even sell them,” she threatened him harshly, “Even if I don't sell them, I'll mistreat them very cruelly - not giving them food, making them work, punishing them by standing up, starving, and even freezing."
"You dare?" Xia Qingshan snorted angrily at Lin Yue’s words.
Just as he was about to explode from anger, Lin Yue suddenly felt a cool breeze on her back. At that moment, she even felt that the man in front of her was not just a simple coal miner but an executioner emerging from a sea of corpses.
But what Lin Yue didn’t expect was that Xia Qingshan's anger came and went quickly.
He remained silent for three seconds before calmly saying, "Okay, I'll come back and stay overnight once every three days."
Lin Yue breathed a sigh of relief.
She wasn't a saint, but Xiu’er was simply too pitiful. She couldn't bring herself to remain indifferent.
With Xia Qingshan’s return, Lin Yue could completely disregard everything.
Xia Qingshan went to the cripple’s house. How they had negotiated remained unknown, but since that day the cripple had quieted down and stopped mentioning Xiu’er.
However, every time he saw Lin Yue, he couldn't help but spit at her fiercely.
Lin Yue turned a blind eye. After all she was a blind bear, and with that naturally came skin thick enough to withstand anything.
"I'm going back to the city tomorrow. I'll leave the two children to you. Here's five catties of grain and ten yuan. Consider it the living expenses for this month,” Xia Qingshan handed the grain coupons and money to Lin Yue.
Lin Yue glanced at them. "Do you think this is enough for us to eat? Now, each person gets only one and a half catties of rice and flour per day. Considering our family is now two people, we'll need at least nine catties of grain coupons per month."
"You're giving us so little. Who do you want to starve?" Since they had already torn their faces apart, Lin Yue decided not to give the other side any face.
He was leaving less than a day after coming back. Did he still consider this his home?
Lin Yue decided to take advantage of the situation and ensure the children had enough food. Who knew how long it would take for this scumbag to come back once he left?
Xia Qingshan frowned. "Isn't there also the grain distributed by the village committee? I asked about it. They distribute it every half month, and it's going to be distributed again in five days. With these grain coupons, it should be enough for you to eat for a month."
Lin Yue sneered. "Talking about grain distribution so easily. Since I married into your Xia family, I haven't even seen what grain distribution looks like."
"What do you mean?" Xia Qingshan's face grew even uglier.
"Do I still need to explain? When it's time to collect the grain, it's your elder brother who goes. Since the head of the household isn't there, someone else has to do it. They did it on behalf of us, and by 'on behalf of us,' I mean they took it home themselves." she elaborated.
Xia Qingshan understood.
"Fine, pack up, and let's go to my elder brother's place together to clarify matters about the betrothal gifts and grain distribution."
Lin Yue was actually eager for Xia Qingshan to solve all the problems while he was still around – hopefully this would help her avoid greater problems in the future.
As for Xia Qingshan's promise to come back every three days, she didn't believe it at all.
A scumbag's words couldn't be trusted. If they could, pigs would fly.
Indeed, Lin Yue did hold a tiny bit of favour towards Xia Qingshan, as well as slight infatuation she felt for him by the river. However, that had all vanished from Xia Qingshan's earlier questioning.
What's the big deal with finding a job in the city? Sure, this is the countryside, but it only takes an hour and a half to commute from here to the city by bus. It wasn’t as if he would be unable to make it back in time for work.
Back when Lin Yue was struggling in the city, she commuted to work every day by bus, subway, and bus again, and it took at least two and a half hours to get back home. Didn't she still go back to her tiny four-square-metre room every day?
So, in Lin Yue's view, Xia Qingshan's words were all excuses.
She suspected that this man might have hooked up with another woman in the city.
What's with taking care of the children for two years? Wasn't it just because he was afraid no one would take care of them, affecting his dates?
Thinking this, Lin Yue couldn't help but spit at Xia Qingshan.
"Damn scumbag."
Lin Yue was in a bad mood and didn't want to pay attention to him. On the way to their elder brother's house, she didn't say a word.
Their elder brother, Xia Guodong, and their second brother's houses were both in the east of the village, while Lin Yue's house was in the west. It just so happened that they were in opposite directions. As they passed by the village committee office, the loudspeaker broadcasted: "With a red heart towards the Party."
When they arrived at Xia Guodong's house, Xia Guodong was picking his toes. Seeing Xia Qingshan, he didn't seem to have any intention of stopping. He rubbed his toes between his fingers, visibly forming a ball of dirt, which he then threw onto the ground before continuing to pick between his other toes.
Lin Yue watched this scene with wide eyes, almost throwing up her dinner.
Xia Qingshan took a seat, then turned to Xia Mingtian, who was doing homework on the side, and said, "Mingtian, go to your uncle's house tomorrow and ask them to bring the IOU over for settlement."
Xia Mingtian looked up at his father, Xia Guodong.
Xia Guodong had just finished picking his last toe. "Go."
Xia Mingtian agreed and hurried away.
Xia Guodong, still barefoot and without socks, simply slipped on his sandals and walked over.
"When did you come back? How long are you staying this time?" Xia Guodong said as he took out the tea canister from the window sill, pinched a small handful of tea leaves, and put them in a teacup. Then, he poured some hot water from the thermos.
Then he handed the cup to Xia Qingshan.
"Tomorrow, I'll leave. I found a job in the city," Xia Qingshan said, taking the cup and passing it to Lin Yue.
Lin Yue frowned. "Drinking tea at this hour will cause insomnia."
But she was disgusted by Xia Guodong's hand that had just picked his toes.
Being poor was okay, but at least they should be clean. It was so disgusting to pick toes and then handle tea leaves.
Lin Yue sneered inwardly, unable to say anything, and could only remain silent with her head bowed.
"Finding a job in the city is also good. Speaking of which, the village party secretary approached me today. He said that it's been a month since my third sister-in-law came here, and she's received rations once, but she still hasn't gone to work for the production team. Others are starting to complain." Xia Guodong continued.
T/L: Bro this Xia Guodong sounds like he has a bone to pick with Lin Yue
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