I Became a Vicious Supporting Role in the '70s
Chapter 29: I Must Find Her

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: I Must Find Her

Liu Sanjin finished work early in the afternoon, she sat at the entrance of the central room waiting for Xie Jinghao. These past two days, without fail, the third son’s household had been bringing their children to run towards the main house, as if she didn’t know. The gossiping old ladies at the village entrance had told her everything today—that her eldest daughter-in-law had gone to the county and dragged back two large packages. She was certain that it must have been the things her son sent back, but as for what specifically, she needed to thoroughly inquire.

When Xie Jinghao walked in with Xiao Gang, the moment she opened the door and made eye contact with Liu Sanjin, she was startled and her steps faltered.

"Mother, you finished work so early. I’ll go cook right away."

"Wait, come sit down first, I have some questions for you."

Xie Jinghao glanced at her, then walked over with Xiao Gang.

Liu Sanjin was not nice to her daughter-in-law, but she was good to her grandson Xiao Gang; of course, compared to Lu Mingkai, it was like the difference between heaven and earth.

"Xiao Gang, come here, let grandma hold you."

"I want Mommy to hold me, Xiao Gang wants Mommy to hold."

Liu Sanjin’s expression changed, looking at Xie Jinghao with a displeased face. Seeing that her grandson was not close to her, she blamed her daughter-in-law for badmouthing her behind her back to the child.

"Hmph, don’t think I don’t know you’re turning my grandson against me behind my back. My grandson is closest to me, Xiao Gang is closest to grandma, isn’t that right, hehehe;" as she spoke, she glared at Xie Jinghao, "You came from your elder sister-in-law’s house, didn’t she mention anything?"

"Oh, elder sister-in-law, she gave this month’s pension money and also told you not to overwork yourself!" Xie Jinghao, just having returned, was afraid of being scolded and hurried to go cook, forgetting about the matter of the money.

"Hmph, you wouldn’t have mentioned it or taken it out if I didn’t ask. Are there only money? Where are the tickets, the food coupons, cloth tickets, kerosene tickets? And that big package your older brother sent, she didn’t take anything out of it?"

Xie Jinghao licked her lips and said with a forced smile, "Mother, that’s not what my older brother sent. I saw his letter, it was only a remittance slip. The parcel is from a soldier to the children of Mingyang, just some vermicelli, dried mushrooms, and such."

Upon hearing this, Liu Sanjin immediately glared with widened eyes, the old lady with bound feet nearly leapt up. In her eyes, as long as they hadn’t separated households, everything the oldest son sent should be under her control, not even a thread could be left to Shen Meng.

I knew it, when initially I was against building a house, against building a house. Now look, the things her own son sent back were all being hoarded by that black-hearted Shen Meng.

"Don’t bother cooking for the main house tonight, let her go hungry for a few meals, hmph, no, I must go ask for it myself. Those things were sent by the army to Mingyang’s children, if left in Shen Meng’s hands, who knows, they might all end up with her mother’s family."

Xie Jinghao didn’t have the chance to stop her, and she saw Liu Sanjin hastily making her way to the courtyard entrance; this was the first time she had seen her mother-in-law walk so fast!

As she saw no one else around, she took Xiao Gang back to the room, unwrapping a cloth tied around her waist that Shen Meng had given her. Inside, she hid a handful of Golden Monkey brand milk candies and a bag of brown sugar. She quickly put everything away in her cabinet and locked it, finally letting out a long sigh of relief.

Xiao Gang, sensible as he was, nestled up against her bosom. But his mind was on what Shen Meng had said, "Living by ourselves in our courtyard is quite comfortable." She too longed for such a comfortable life. If she could only live separately, she wouldn’t have to sneak to give her child something nice to eat.

Shen Meng was in the house, watching Ming Kai and Ming Fang happily trying on their new possessions, when suddenly, there were loud knocking sounds at the door, causing her eyebrows to frown.

"Ming Fang, put away the things quickly, stay in the house to watch your brother, Mommy’s going out to have a look."

Lu Mingfang’s face turned pale with fright. She quickly got off the kang and hid her clothes and shoes in Shen Meng’s cupboard. She didn’t know why, but since her mother said so, there must be a reason.

The knocking was so loud that even the neighbors on both sides craned their necks to see, thinking something had happened.

"Third Auntie Sanjin, what’s wrong with you? What happened?"

Liu Sanjin wiped the corners of her eyes and choked up, "Daqing’s mother, it’s just that Zhenping wrote a letter back home, and for a whole day, I didn’t know what he wrote. Zhenping’s wife is keeping it from me, and I am really worried!"

Daqing’s mother, Wang Lianhua, rubbed her hands together and looked at Liu Sanjin with a touch of sympathy.

"Yes, Third Auntie Sanjin, it’s been several years since Brother Zhenping came home, but he does write once a month. Don’t get upset. Mingyang’s mother is not feeling well. Let’s wait a bit more, she’ll come out soon, and then we can ask about the situation, alright?"

I thought Wang Lianhua was going to follow my lead and badmouth Shen Meng, but unexpectedly, she came to say kind words. Annoyed, I found myself knocking harder.

"Elder sister-in-law, what’s wrong? Has Zhenping’s wife made you angry again? In my opinion, she deserves a beating. Beat her until she listens. Look at Lianhua, Xifeng, and the others, they listen to me well. You are just too soft-hearted, like dough, that’s why your daughters-in-law walk all over you."

Hearing her mother-in-law’s words, Wang Lianhua shuddered and hurried back into the courtyard to work.

Chen Zhaodi watched the back of her second daughter-in-law and spitefully spat on the ground.

Liu Sanjin brushed her hair and said, "I don’t have your luck, it’s just that my eldest son isn’t very filial. But Xiang Lan and Jiaojiao are very filial. They think of me with any good food they have. Jiaojiao and Jiaxuan even moved back and let me live in the big house. Oh, such pity."

A good daughter-in-law she might be, but her heart ached for her son. Jiaxuan had mentioned building a courtyard before. Since he became the warehouse manager of the production team, he never took a penny for himself. If they were to build a courtyard now, it would cost a significant amount of money. The money I had was for my coffin and couldn’t be touched. That’s why the cost would have to be covered by Zhenping. As the elder brother, it wouldn’t make sense to live in a brick house and let the younger brother live in a mud hut!

Apart from Chen Zhaodi, several other families also came out to see what was happening upon hearing the noise. Shen Meng stood behind the door with her arms crossed, listening for a while before finally opening the door. She appeared pale and ghostlike in the dim light, as if she had just jumped out of a grave.

"Ah, my goodness!"

"Good heavens, that scared me to death!"

"Zhenping’s wife, what happened to you? How did you end up looking like this?"

Liu Sanjin was also startled, watching Shen Meng lean against the door frame. She subconsciously took a couple of steps back, fearing Shen Meng would suddenly fall onto her.

"Auntie, I, cough cough cough... I received Zhenping’s letter and was so happy I wanted to ask someone to collect the parcel for me. But I was worried about missing work, so I went myself. When I came back, I felt all sorts of discomfort and laid down for an afternoon before getting up."

"Ts, what about Mingyang and Mingliang? You’re sick like this, and none of the kids are taking care of you?"

Shen Meng shrunk her neck as if scared and said, "Zhenping’s comrade sent some mushrooms and vermicelli, all from Diannan. We were all so hungry at noon today, we skipped lunch. Those things, none of Mingyang’s kids know how to prepare, and they didn’t want me to exert myself, so they had Ming Fang look after me, while the two of them went fishing. They haven’t returned so late, and I am really worried."

Liu Sanjin had a bellyful of words left unsaid when she was blatantly slandered by Shen Meng. Seeing the suspicious looks from those around, a well of rage rose in her chest, one she couldn’t spit out.