"Mom, this isn't fair at all. You worked hard for this money too. But you work yourself to the bone, and Dad is only willing to buy meat once or twice a month. And every time, he only buys a tiny little bit and insists on taking it all to Grandma's house to eat together. He says, 'Filial piety is the greatest of all virtues,' and that we have to think of our elders when we have good food.
But there's nothing wrong with being filial, and it shouldn't mean we have to be so hard on ourselves. Every time we go to Grandma's, Dad is the only one who gets to eat meat. If I even take an extra bite of minced meat, Grandma will stare daggers at me and then mutter curses for the longest time. And don't even get me started on you, Mom."
The clearer these long-buried memories became, the stronger the indignation in Gu Nuan Nuan's heart grew.
'No way. Why should we leave all the passbooks for them? If they want to call the police, let them. Who's afraid? Besides, that scum dad told Mom himself at the hospital that he had no money. There were several doctors and nurses there who can prove it.'
'These passbooks are bearer-type, so anyone can withdraw the money. At worst, we can find someone else to help us withdraw it later. That's still better than leaving it behind for those lowlifes.'
Zhang Minzhen clearly hesitated.
"Mom, Dad is clearly using a double standard. He's always going on about being filial to his elders, but he always turns a blind eye to Grandpa and Grandma. Even his New Year's visits are just for show. You two would fight if he brought them even a little something extra..."
Seeing her mother wavering, she pressed on, "Besides, this is our family's money. If we leave it, we're just handing it over to Lin Jiayi and Lin Jia Bao. Why should we?"
"Then let's leave the five-hundred-yuan passbook, and some food coupons." Zhang Minzhen gritted her teeth. Although she was still insistent, she had softened her stance. "It's not realistic to leave nothing. What if he calls the police and they come to investigate? We can't possibly say the family has zero savings. Besides, your dad's face still needs treatment... Even a cornered dog will jump a wall."
"Then why don't we leave the three-hundred-yuan passbook instead? We can also leave seventy or eighty yuan in cash and a few food coupons. How about that?" Gu Nuan Nuan suggested mischievously, her eyes darting around.
She sighed to herself. 'No matter how reasonable Mom's words are, they can't hide the fact that she's just not ruthless enough. Oh well, I shouldn't push her too hard.'
'Given her personality, it's already impressive that she's come this far. I have to look on the bright side. Being soft-hearted isn't always a good thing, but still having a soft spot in her heart is better than being completely ruthless, right?'
'It's just like Mom said: it's not worth turning into someone you don't like or can't accept just because of those lowlifes. So, if Mom wants to hold on to a little bit of compassion for that scum dad, then let her. At least that way, she'll have a clearer conscience later and will be able to let go more completely.'
"You... you're full of so many mischievous ideas. Who do you take after? Sigh... fine, we'll do it your way." Zhang Minzhen gave her daughter a deep look and quickly understood the purpose behind her suggestion. As she nodded, she began to worry again—her daughter was clearly smart, but the smarter she was, the more she feared she would go down the wrong path.
"Thank you, Mom."
Gu Nuan Nuan broke into a smile when her suggestion was accepted. She had proposed it because she suddenly remembered a case she'd heard about in her past life. There was a thief who never stole everything, always leaving a portion behind. As a result, when the victims saw that money was missing, their first reaction was often to suspect a family member had taken it, rather than calling the police right away.
'This cupboard came from the Gu Family. I bet Grandma knows its secret. Although we're all in the same town, the homestead plot the Gu Family was originally assigned is quite a ways from here. If Grandma is going to stay and take care of that scum dad, she'll have to live here, right?'
'Hehe, when that scum dad finds money missing, his first suspects definitely won't be his "clueless" wife and daughter. It'll most likely be the people who know the secret, like his mother...'
"Mom, when the time comes, no matter what Dad asks, don't admit we took the money. Not only can you not admit it, you have to act really angry and shocked. Otherwise, there will be no end of trouble for us and for Grandpa and Grandma..." Gu Nuan Nuan thought for a moment and couldn't help but remind her mother.
'Life is a stage, and it's all about the performance.' She was genuinely afraid her mother would blow her cover, so she continued to drone on, "Mom, if you can't get angry enough, just think about those twins. Think about how I never get to eat meat, how I've cried because I wanted meat so badly..."
"From now on, we'll be in charge. Mom will buy you meat to eat every week."
Zhang Minzhen's heart ached. She remembered when her daughter was only three or four and saw her cousins from her husband's sister's and brother's families secretly eating meat in the kitchen and wanted some too.
But her mother-in-law not only refused, she started screaming curses, saying Nuannuan was so gluttonous you'd think she hadn't seen meat in eight lifetimes. She even cursed at Zhang Minzhen, saying she didn't know how to raise a child... Back then, she had been foolish and proud. She had snatched her daughter away and sworn that they would never touch meat at her in-laws' house again. She taught her daughter to avoid their meat as well. When she was little, her daughter didn't understand and had cried about it several times, only becoming more sensible when she got older.
"Mom knows what to do. I won't give us away, so stop worrying about it." She nodded firmly, as much to convince herself as to promise her child. She felt no guilt taking this money. The ones who should feel guilty were Gu Lihui and the rest of the Gu family.
"Mom, let's pack up and go straight to Grandpa and Grandma's house now. I know their house is a little far from my school, but school will be out for vacation in a few days anyway. In the meantime, you can go to work and I can go to school by riding Uncle's bicycle into town. It'll only be inconvenient for a few days."
Seeing her mother's reaction, Gu Nuan Nuan felt a sense of relief, but her heart tightened again at the mention of her uncle. It was almost July 16th, the day her uncle had his accident. She remembered the date so clearly because her uncle was one of the few people who had been genuinely good to her during her childhood.
When he passed away, she had been small, but she knew she would never see her uncle again. Another person who truly loved her was gone. At the time, she had cried even more heartbrokenly than her uncle's two sons, nearly fainting from grief. Every year after that, on the anniversary of his death, her mother would take her back to her grandmother's house to burn joss paper for him.
After she and her mother left their hometown, her mother would still hold a small memorial at home every year on that day. Her mother's greatest regret back then was that they couldn't return to pay their respects on her parents' and eldest brother's death anniversaries every year...
The year her uncle had his accident was also when her mother was disfigured, and that scum dad was clamoring for a divorce, though it hadn't been finalized yet. It was her uncle's death that dealt her mother such a huge blow that she finally lost all hope. She no longer wanted to fight for anything and agreed to the divorce.
Gu Nuan Nuan clenched her fists, her expression turning resolute. 'When that day comes, even if I have to throw a shameless tantrum, I must stop my uncle from getting on that fatal bus. Even if... even if people become suspicious of me because of it, I don't care. This lifetime, I will absolutely not let this tragedy repeat itself.'
"Aren't we going to the hospital?" Zhang Minzhen asked reflexively. The words were barely out of her mouth when she saw her daughter's eyes fly wide, and she wished she could just slap herself. 'Why am I so pathetic? Why did Gu Lihui get acid thrown on him? And I'm still thinking about going to the hospital at a time like this? Am I really going to rush over there and wait on that man hand and foot?'
Once she'd thought it through, she nodded readily. "Alright. I'm furious right now, so it's perfectly reasonable for me to take my child and go back to my parents' house in a fit of anger. We'll do as you say."
As she spoke, she divided the money, food coupons, and passbooks. She stuffed one portion into the cloth pouch and put it back in its original spot. The rest she wrapped in a handkerchief and pushed directly into her daughter's hands. "Mom keeps her word. You'll be in charge of this money now."
Gu Nuan Nuan took the handkerchief from her mother and couldn't help but want to smile. 'Why don't I sense any sadness in Mom's voice at all?'
'Shouldn't she be at least a little sad and upset about the divorce?'
'Could it be that deep down, Mom has been dissatisfied with that scum dad for a long time, but just never showed it? That's why she was able to come around so quickly? Ugh, I won't think about it. Whatever the reason, this is a good thing. So many relationship problems in this world get worse and worse because the people involved can't let go, and they end up trapping themselves in their own mess. It's such a relief Mom isn't like that.'
She breathed a sigh of relief, no longer so bothered by her mother's insistence on leaving a passbook for that scum dad. She opened the cloth pouch, grabbed a small stack of ten- and five-yuan bills and some food coupons, and placed them in her mother's hand. "Mom, we should contribute some money for food and things at Grandma and Grandpa's, right? Now that we have money, it wouldn't be right to freeload."
"You're right. My daughter is like a little head of the household now. You understand everything."
Zhang Minzhen was lost in thought. 'If I go back to my parents' house like this, I definitely won't be able to hide the divorce. When I'm living there, my sisters-in-law definitely won't be happy. They'll make some nasty, sarcastic remarks. I can take being treated unfairly, but I can't bear for my daughter to suffer along with me.'