Rebirth 90: The Long Road to Finding a Son

The old lady Qian, who was lying on the cart, was very quiet on the road, for fear of making any noise and attracting more people to watch. By the time she got home, she was so angry that she almost exploded.

"Old lady, hurry up and boil some water for me to take a bath!" Old Mrs. Qian yelled to her eldest daughter-in-law Yu Min.

Yu Min was very disgusted with this mother-in-law who always managed the family and was very strong. But she knew that living with the old lady had many advantages. The younger sister-in-law Qian Jinling was very filial to her parents and often gave money and things to them. The old couple would squeeze a little out of their fingers, and their family would have enough food and drink.

In this way, she could save more money to marry her son. She knew that her dead husband Qian Jincai was having an affair with Widow Ma. But what if she knew? Divorce? She had no family to support her, and she would have nowhere to go if she got divorced. Her son would have to find a wife in a few years, and her daughter was only ten years old and had to go to school. It was a time when money was needed. How could she, a woman, live with two children? Moreover, according to the Qian family's virtue of favoring sons over daughters, it was impossible for her son to go with her.

She couldn't bear to leave her children, so she could only endure it now. When the two children grew up, if they could have some success, it would be worth the humiliation she had endured in the Qian family for them.

Hearing the old lady's shouting, Yu Min was angry, but she didn't show it on her face. She came over and asked the old lady with great concern: "Mom, what's wrong with you?"

The old lady said unhappily: "Stop talking nonsense and go boil some water for me!"

Qian Jincai looked at Yu Min, who was almost fifty years old and looked old, and followed his mother's arrogant words: "Just do whatever I tell you to do, why don't you go quickly? Your brain is as slow as a pig..."

Even though Qian Jincai said such insulting words, Yu Min felt nothing in her heart. She had long been accustomed to it. Her heart did not turn cold in one day; it was the result of a very long and painful process.

When she was young, she had quarreled, made a scene, and even went crazy, but in the end, she had almost become a mute in front of Qian Jincai, and their relationship with her husband had long since become dead in name only.

After filling a large basin with bath water for Old Lady Qian, Yu Min called out to her again, "Mom, the water is ready, come over and take a bath!"

Old Madam Qian said nothing. She still wore her filthy clothes and went to the simple bathroom in the yard. After entering, she took off her clothes, threw them out, and shouted, "Old man, go wash my clothes!"

The smell of that set of clothes could make people breathless from a distance. In the hot summer, the smell spreads quickly and people's noses are sensitive. Yu Min was naturally very reluctant to do this. It was okay to wash clothes at other times, but there was really no need to wash the clothes today.

She said with some disdain, "Mom, why don't you give up this dress? I'll buy you a new pair of pants when we go to the market tomorrow!"

This sentence really ignited Mrs. Qian's powder keg, and she started cursing in the bathroom: "You cheap bastard, do you really think that the good life you are living now is blown by the wind? Then buying clothes doesn't cost money? Where does your money come from? It all comes from our Qian family.

I'm going to buy you something for me, bah! You've been married for so many years, is all the money in the family earned by you? What? You think my clothes are dirty and you don't want to wash them? You're just too lazy! No wonder your husband wants to cheat on you. You can't control your husband, and you want to take it out on me, an old woman. Wait and see how I'll deal with you when I get out!"

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were in a stalemate when Qian Longbin came back from watching a movie with his sister Qian Meijuan.

Qian Longbin is now 17 years old. He stopped going to school after graduating from junior high school last year. At that time, his total score in the high school entrance examination was over points. But this eldest grandson is like the lifeblood of the Qian family. How can he not go to school?

The old lady asked her second son Qian Jindou and her youngest daughter Qian Jinling, who were both doing well, to find out if there were any schools that would accept him. Of course, if she had to pay, she would have to count on them.

Qian Jindou has an old woman named Zhan Jinhua who takes advantage of him and never gives out. Besides, he is not the kind of person who can afford to suffer a loss. So he can ask about the school and give him money, which is fine. But asking him to pay for his nephew's schooling? No way.

Qian Jinling, the aunt, was quite concerned and found a technical school in the provincial capital for Qian Longbin, but Qian Longbin refused to go and said that his aunt looked down on him and believed that he could only do hard labor for the rest of his life. This offended Qian Jinling, so she simply ignored him.

So, Qian Longbin stayed at home after graduation, wandering around the village every day and waiting for food and drink when he returned home.

However, he is the treasure of the family. Although Old Lady Qian looks down on her eldest daughter-in-law Yu Min, she is very good to her eldest grandson. She has said more than once that all her money and property will be left to her eldest grandson, saying that her eldest grandson's parents are incompetent and she has to make plans for her eldest grandson.

Therefore, this is also an important reason why Yu Min did not dare to act rashly in front of the old lady.

When Qian Longbin and his sister entered the house, they heard the old lady cursing their mother in the bathroom again. She asked, "Grandma, how did my mother offend you again? You are almost seventy years old, why are you still so angry? Calm down, being angry is not good for your health!"

Qian Longbin took good care of old lady Qian and knew how to make her happy. As long as he could make his grandmother happy, he didn't have to do anything and still got some pocket money every day that made his younger brothers envious.

The old lady didn't want her grandson to know about her embarrassing appearance, so she hurriedly said, "Xiao Bin, go back to your room first. It's nothing serious. Don't worry about me!"

Qian Longbin said "oh" and was about to walk into the yard. It's not that he didn't want to stand up for his mother and let her stand up straight at home. When his mother was scolded by his grandmother and beaten by his father when he was a child, he would still protect her.

But later, he found out that his mother was just like his grandmother said, a "cheap bitch". Even though she was treated like that, she still stayed at home to wash clothes and cook for them, and did all kinds of work at home and in the fields. So he had become accustomed to such a mother, and had long been accustomed to the various unfair treatments of his mother in the Qian family.

But the ten-year-old Qian Meijuan couldn't bear to see her mother being bullied all the time. She smelled a very unpleasant smell and pinched her nose and said, "What's that smell? It stinks!"

If Qian Meijuan hadn't said anything, Qian Longbin wouldn't have paid special attention to the smell. When his sister mentioned it, he unconsciously took a deep breath and almost vomited with a "ugh" sound.

When the old lady heard her eldest grandson's vomiting sound, her face instantly turned red. Now she was too embarrassed to scold him anymore, and her tone became better to Min: "Old eldest daughter-in-law, please throw the dirty things on the ground into the trash can quickly, don't suffocate my grandson."

Yu Min heaved a sigh of relief at this time, and to save the old lady's face he sent his daughter and son back to the house. Then he shoveled up the disgusting clothes with a shovel and went straight to the garbage dump in the village which had recently been built with bricks and cement.