In the main room, Shen ng sat on a chair with Lu Mingyang, Lu Mingliang, and Lu Mingfang sitting in order from her left, and Lu Mingkai clinging tightly to her right. His little hands were wrapped around her arm, and his face buried in her bosom—he was angry.
Shen ng’s head was aching, her hand constantly pressing down on the wound where a nerve was throbbing at this mont.
Lu Zhenping placed his bag on the ground and was about to turn around to talk to his wife and children when the courtyard gate was knocked on again. Seeing his wife and the four children sitting in a row, showing no intention of getting up, he decided to go out by himself.
Lu Jiasheng stood at the doorway, sowhat nervously holding twenty-eight yuan. He had just told Xie Jinghao that his elder sister-in-law had been beaten twice. In anger, his wife had bent down to pick up a shoe from the ground and hurled it at him, which made him also feel guilty.
The door creaked open, and just as he was about to put on a smile, he saw Lu Zhenping. His expression imdiately froze on his face; he was a bit afraid of his elder brother.
"Big brother, that, uh... Mom asked to bring you money, and there’s also eight yuan from Lao Si’s wife."
Lu Zhenping raised an eyebrow and calmly took the money, "Alright."
Lu Jiasheng was actually very happy about his big brother returning ho, their bond as strong as ever despite the long absence.
"Big brother, it’s been hard on elder sister-in-law while you were away. My Jinghao just had a baby girl. Without elder sister-in-law’s help, the mother and daughter might not have made it. Brother, I think what you did just now was right. If parents treat the elder sister-in-law like this, and if you don’t stand by her, life will be even harder when you go back to the army."
"Mhm, Jiasheng, I’ve just returned and wasn’t aware you had another child. I’ll co and visit the baby when I have ti later."
He finished speaking and was about to close the door, but Lu Jiasheng had more to say. Lu Zhenping was clearly getting impatient. He had just returned ho, his wife and children had suffered greatly, and now he needed to comfort his wife and console his children. This tactless younger brother was going on about sothing incessantly.
"Big brother, I have another matter."
"Hurry up, I have things to do!"
Lu Jiasheng pursed his lips and said, "Big brother, I want to split the family property. Mom and Dad didn’t agree, and now that you’re back, I was hoping you could decide on it, heh heh heh..."
"I got it, got it. We’ll talk about it later. My wife’s head still hurts, and if I don’t go back now, I might not even be able to get through the door later."
"Rember that, I’m going ho to tell Jinghao now. She’s mad at because I didn’t stop Dad from hitting elder sister-in-law a few tis, big brother..."
"Snap!"
Lu Jiasheng touched his nearly squeezed nose and sheepishly turned to go ho.
Lu Zhenping strode into the main room, only to discover that his wife and children, who had been sitting in a row before, were now gone. He cleared his throat awkwardly, realizing that they were upset.
This was the mont when approaching them would likely result in a harsh scolding, yet staying away would leave him feeling even more anxious than death.
He placed his own bag on the square table, opened it, and took out model cars, tanks, and airplanes for the kids. These were all made by skilled people in the military; he thought these were the kinds of toys boys should play with, so he brought them back.
For Ming Fang, he brought a new set of clothes. He found a girl of similar age in the compound to try them on with Ming Fang, and bought a set of larger size clothes, thinking that they should fit seeing the child just now.
The rest were so snacks that Ma Xiang gave him from other sisters-in-law, and he planned to make another trip to the county to pick up a parcel in the next two days. The dried rice noodles, dried mushrooms, and such should arrive soon, and then he would go collect them.
At the very bottom of the bag, there was a red dress. Although it might be a little cold to wear alone at this ti of the year, he had taken a liking to it the mont he saw it at the Cooperative Society, thinking that Shen ng would look very beautiful in it.
He carried the clothes and walked towards the room on the eastern side, hesitated for a long ti before finally knocking on the door.
Shen ng was lying on the kang bed, suffering from a severe headache. Just now, Lu Changzhu had really not held back when he acted, her back was burning with pain too. She was not very satisfied with how Lu Zhenping had handled the situation just now. She was an educated person, unable to bring herself to raise a fist against the elderly, yet she still felt uncomfortable inside.
Was she short of money? Or lacking in belongings? Her space was full of good things for her to use, so she didn’t think much of the bits and bobs at the Lu Family’s. This matter was definitely not over, or else how could the anger in her heart be quelled.
Mingyang and the other kids were anxiously gathered at the head of the kang, extrely worried. They had just seen their mother walking unstably, and given her already frail health, they feared that these blows could lead to sothing serious.
They even began to resent their father who had just returned.
"Mom, how are you, do you need to see a doctor? Should I call Uncle Chang Hong over?" Lu Mingyang tried hard to control his emotions, blinking vigorously, afraid that his tears would fall.
"No need, mom just needs to lie down for a bit. You all go out, mom can’t rest well with you staring like this."
"Okay."
Lu Mingyang fiercely wiped his eyes with his sleeve, then waved for Ming Liang and Ming Fang to go down, too. He pulled the youngest, Ming Kai, to his side, put shoes on him, and held him in his arms. The brothers were just about to leave when they heard knocking on the door, followed by their dad pushing the door open and walking in.
The children looked stubbornly at Lu Zhenping, not showing the slightest intention of calling out to him.
Lu Zhenping: "...."
What’s going on? They used to be so affectionate, calling out "Dad, Dad" so endearingly!!!
His eyes lifted to the woman lying on the kang, and for so reason, even though he was holding the gifts he brought, he just couldn’t bring himself to say anything, feeling guilty.
Lu Zhenping cleared his throat twice and said to the kids, "Go out and play, Dad brought you gifts, they’re all on the table in the main room. I want to have a word with your mom."
"Don’t bully my mom." Lu Mingfang looked nervously at Lu Zhenping and then worriedly at Shen ng. She didn’t want to leave at all.
"I won’t bully your mom, I don’t even have enough ti to feel sorry for her. Hurry out, as children you need to be sensible and not disturb your parents’ conversation."
Shen ng: "...????"
This man looks all stern and proper, but why does he give off such a shaless vibe when he talks???
A mont of embarrassnt flashed across Lu Mingyang’s face. He knew what the term ’the couple’ implied. He had heard it from Gao Gao before; he woke up in the middle of the night wanting to pee and saw his dad hugging and nibbling at his mom, and his mom telling his dad to keep it down. His dad said they were a couple and that they needn’t care about the little brat.
Right now, he and his siblings were the little brats, and his dad was probably about to do ’couple’ things with his mom.
"Dad, keep it down, mom is injured, don’t hurt her by nibbling."
Lu Zhenping: "...."
Shen ng: "...."
What are you even saying, you little brat, you shouldn’t know so much!!!
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