Chapter 7: A Bit Unreasonable

Mother Lu also looked eagerly at Fang Yuan. Whether this matter was good or not was not for them to decide.

Fang Yuan nodded. “Sure. If Father and Mother think it’s fine, then I have no problem with it.”

The old couple of the Lu family immediately said, “Fine, fine. If you say it’s fine, then it’s fine. We’ll listen to you.”

Li Meng’s face darkened. So everything she had said amounted to nothing.

Fang Yuan said, “As long as your eldest son has no objections and is willing to let this unchaste woman run the household, then write up the document. Let me add one thing. The second branch’s contribution toward supporting the parents will be one hundred yuan.”

The village party secretary nodded. He had not expected the old couple of the Lu family to be so blessed in their later years. Their daughters-in-law were competing to show filial piety and hand over money.

This girl might be troublesome, but she was truly generous. What she was doing was not shameful.

Looking again at the woman who had spoken earlier, after being called unchaste she had not even argued back. She was probably really unchaste.

He picked up his pen to write the agreement, but Fang Yuan spoke again. “Uncle, wait a moment. The money from our second branch for supporting the parents will be paid by this unchaste woman for four years. Make it clear in the document. She also has to sign and state that she agrees voluntarily.”

The village party secretary was stunned. He looked several times at the woman Fang Yuan kept calling unchaste. What kind of fool had he run into? He had never seen a family division like this!

This was truly a bit troublesome and unreasonable.

What, was the child unwilling to be filial?

The village party secretary could not help carefully examining Li Meng a couple more times. Oh, so she was Lu Feng’s former fiancée. She had come to the village before.

On a day like this, the woman who had previously broken off the engagement had entered the household. She really was not very respectable. The more one thought about it, the more suspicious the whole thing became.

Li Meng had never heard of anything like this either. She wanted to buy a reputation for filial piety, and Fang Yuan opened with one hundred yuan. Why should she be the one paying? “Are you crazy, or do you think I’m stupid?”

Fang Yuan’s presence exploded. “What, you only know how to steal someone else’s man? What, as the eldest daughter-in-law, this is how you show filial piety to Father and Mother? You were just shouting that Father and Mother would live with you. So you’re using someone else’s money to support them, while outside you get to claim that Father and Mother are living with you. You get all the benefits.”

Lu Feng was furious and no longer cared about the tangled relationships involved. “Every family does it this way. You’re hopelessly unreasonable. I’m not arguing logic with you.”

Lu Feng’s mind had finally cleared. At a crucial time like this, the most important thing was knowing whose side he was on.

Fang Yuan replied, “Even you know you’re not being reasonable. So your duty as the eldest son is nothing but empty slogans. I spend money to buy you a good reputation, and you think I’m stupid? You think stealing a man from me is that easy? Even if I don’t want him and look down on him, there still has to be an explanation.”

Everyone could tell that the last sentence was the important part.

There was no need for further explanation. The village party secretary understood. No wonder two daughters-in-law had entered the Lu family today. The eldest son’s woman had no shame and had come running over on her own.

Those words from Fang Yuan were like a curse. Li Meng’s face alternated between pale and red. “Don’t go too far.”

Fang Yuan said, “How am I going too far? If I weren’t unwilling to live with an unchaste woman like you, would this family have allowed you to gain a foothold here? Father and Mother living with you is giving you a chance to prove yourself. Otherwise, Father and Mother could live with me, and you’d pay fifty yuan a year for their support.”

Then Fang Yuan added, “If Father and Mother live with me, you can get out. I don’t want your support money for Father and Mother.”

She said it with complete dominance.

See? She might not be very reasonable, but she could do what she said. It was not as if she had given them no choice.

Even the village party secretary began thinking about it. The second son would be attending university for the next few years. Forget earning money, he did not even have enough money for school. No wonder this troublesome girl was taking the opportunity to squeeze them.

Lu Feng immediately said, “I’m the eldest son. Why should Father and Mother live with you?”

Never mind the money. If word got out, the villagers would curse him to death.

Li Meng already knew that if she wanted peace today, she would have to pay this money.

Gritting her teeth, she comforted herself. In the future, money won’t even be worth much. What’s one hundred yuan? It won’t even buy enough soy sauce to choke anyone. Besides, it’s only four years.

“Fine. I’ll pay.”

She agreed boldly. What were three hundred or five hundred yuan? When she became a wealthy lady in the future, she would throw around even more than that.

Lu Feng felt the woman had gone mad. “Do you think earning money is easy?”

The village party secretary’s gaze toward Lu Feng immediately changed. If earning money was hard, did that mean he did not have to support his parents?

Lu Feng hurriedly explained, “No, no, that’s not what I mean. Supporting parents is a son’s responsibility. The amount of money isn’t the issue. How can someone else do it on your behalf?”

That actually made sense. It was the most sensible thing Lu Feng had said so far.

Fang Yuan replied, “Listening to you, you sound like someone who understands. Since you understand, how did you manage to do something so immoral? That makes your crime even worse. You did something shameful, yet you let a woman step forward and take the lead. You think that means it has nothing to do with you? Could a woman get pregnant all by herself?”

This was what she despised most about Lu Feng.

All the money was being spent by that loose woman, and all the blame was being carried by that loose woman.

Meanwhile, he, a grown man, was acting like the victim, as though he had suffered some enormous loss. Wasn’t it you who did it? Wasn’t the child yours?

Those were things outsiders should not be hearing. The village party secretary’s mouth practically fell open.

That useless Lu San suddenly chimed in, “Second Sister-in-law, women are said to be pregnant. Only little pigs are said to be carrying a litter.”

With a single sentence, he had picked his side.

Mother Lu glared. “What does this have to do with you?”

Still, her eldest son had stood by from beginning to end while two women argued everything out. He had not taken responsibility for anything. No wonder Fang Yuan looked down on him.

Li Meng snapped, “Watch how you talk. My Brother Feng is reserved and profound. I’m paying this money, so stop talking nonsense.”

Fang Yuan let out a cold snort and spat in Lu Feng’s direction.

What a disgrace.

The village party secretary was having a difficult time. How was he supposed to write this family division agreement? This was difficult. He had never encountered anything so unusual.

However, it also confirmed that this eldest daughter-in-law really was unchaste. Otherwise, how could she be so completely at Fang Yuan’s mercy? As for Lu Feng, he was even worse.

Did Fang Yuan really care about this money? When it came to supporting the elderly, could she possibly do worse than Lu Feng? The people of the Fang family never did things that would make others point fingers behind someone’s back.

The family division document was being written this way so she could keep control over that shameless man and woman in the future.

She was not afraid that they would refuse to admit it later.

She could not guarantee what the future would be like, but for these next few years, she absolutely would not allow Li Meng to become arrogant right under her nose. This was a tightening headband for Li Meng.

At this point Mother Lu also spoke. “Let me say something too. Third Son is still young. For now, the two of us will live with him. After we find a wife for Third Son, the two of us will live on our own. The support obligations of the eldest, second, and third sons should all be written this way.”

Father Lu immediately raised his head to look at his wife. What was she doing? Not living with the eldest son was basically stepping all over him.

Even the village party secretary glanced at Mother Lu. This woman was usually quiet, but when it was time to be clever, she was quite clever!

He just did not know whether the Lu family couple would continue supporting Lu Er’s education in the future. It would probably be best to ask privately later.

After saying this, Mother Lu looked at Fang Yuan. “Girl Fang, what do you think?”

Fang Yuan nodded. “This is good. You can live with Third Son. It’ll sound better for your reputation, and it’ll be easier for Third Son to find a wife later.”

Her manner of acting like the head of the family left even the village party secretary somewhat bewildered. He thought that in the future, this second son’s wife would probably be the one running the Lu family.

Li Meng nearly ground her silver teeth to pieces. This woman was criticizing their reputation again.

It was infuriating and hateful.