664 Returning to the Village
Li Xiong did not think too much about it and immediately cut off all ties with his family. Without looking back, he went to the city with Sun Ying to work and happily became the Sun family’s matrilocal son-in-law.
However, when Li Xiong arrived, he found out that Sun Ying’s father was not part of the cadre at all. He was just an old man who worked as a doorman at the recycling center. The job that he found for Li Xiong was nothing cushy either. He worked as a scavenger and collected recyclables to sell.
Even now, Sun Ying and Li Xiong were still living in the dingy part of the alley. Their family of three was squeezed into a house that was only 10 square meters big. They had to share the toilet and kitchen with other families.
The surrounding neighbors were not nice people. Every day, they would quarrel over trivial matters. It was either someone used too much toilet paper belonging to someone else or someone used salt which belonged to another person. The quarrels were endless.
“Let’s leave our child at my father’s place, then we’ll pack up and go back. Your surname is also Li, so half of that house definitely belongs to you!” Sun Ying said.
“On what basis do I fight with them for the house? My eldest brother and fourth sister are the ones taking care of my mother. If we go back and ask for a share of the house now, what will the villagers think of me! They all think that we left and became rich. If we go back now looking so dowdy, we’ll just be a joke!” Li Xiong complained.
“How are we a joke! We still earn more money now than in the village! No matter how bad it is, we can still make at least 30 dollars a month!” Sun Ying said.
Even an amount of 30 dollars was not enough for anything! Fortunately, Sun Ying’s household register was in the city and in turn, so was their son. The food stamps they received every month were enough for the three of them.
After being away for so many years, they had only managed to save 80 dollars. Seeing that their son was about to start school soon, they had a lot of expenses coming up.
The school fees in the village school was only three dollars a year, but the school fees in this city school was six dollars a month! It was simply daylight robbery! The school said that the fees were inclusive of the textbooks, meals, classes and practical lessons, which was why it added up to so much.
Other schools were even more expensive. This one was already the cheapest.
“Then let’s go back and not come back here!” Li Xiong said in a fit of pique.
“Why not! Can’t we just sell your mother’s house and then come back to buy a house in the city? Then Li Le can go to school well,” Sun Ying said.
“We don’t even have any nice clothes. What are we going to wear when we go back!” Li Xiong said.
Sun Ying flipped through their things under the bed and found an old suit. She had picked it up near the office building in the city center just this month. It was torn in some parts, but it was still wearable after patching those spots up.
“What do you think of this? Is it good enough for you?” Sun Ying said.
Li Xiong nodded in satisfaction. If he wore this set of clothes, people would believe him even if he said that he was a big boss.
“Let’s pack our things. We’ll leave tomorrow morning! Send Li Le to your father’s place tonight and ask him to take care of the boy for a few days,” Li Xiong said.
After the two of them were done with their work, they packed their bags and returned to the village. As soon as they entered the village, they attracted a lot of attention. Li Xiong was wearing a suit and holding an old leather suitcase, and his left hand was wrapped around Sun Ying’s waist. Sun Ying was wearing a bright red dress and red lipstick, looking very fashionable.
As the two of them had been away from their hometown for a long time, no one could recognize them. After they walked away, everyone started whispering.
“Who are those two? Why haven’t I seen them before? Are they someone’s rich relatives?” an auntie asked curiously.
“I find them quite familiar. I think he’s the second son of the Li family!” an old man said affirmatively.
“Impossible! The Li family’s second son hasn’t returned for so many years. Didn’t he cut ties with his mother? No way he’s back,” the auntie said disdainfully.
The old man approached everyone and whispered, “Didn’t you hear that Old Madam Li was driven crazy by her daughter using a kitchen knife?”
“Really! I didn’t hear about this!” the auntie said in surprise.
“It’s absolutely true! When I went to the clinic to get my medication, Hai Hua told me that there was a fight because Old Madam Li stole 50 dollars from Li Gui,” the old man said.
As everyone chattered about this matter, the story that went around became more and more ridiculous. Someone even said that Li Gui wanted to kill Old Madam Li to take revenge!
