Chapter 52: Chapter 52 Nominal Adoption
The remarks were given without any courtesy, but the Yue Family was not one to be trifled with either.
Lin Chunju stood up at once, pointing at Zhang Tieniu’s nose.
“Say that word again, and I swear I’ll chop you up with a kitchen knife!”
Her voice was loud, startling Niu Lihua into retreating a couple of steps.
“You, you wouldn’t dare.”
Lin Chunju scoffed, “Why don’t you try me and find out?”
Yue Jiannan taunted in a mocking tone, “Mom, no need for you to dirty your hands, I can handle it. I heard someone say I’m not of age yet, so even if I did something, I probably wouldn’t get a heavy sentence.”
Such an assured tone indeed frightened the two of them.
Yue Jiandong spoke coldly, “Once Yingzi married into our family, she became one of us. What are you to criticize her ?”
Zhang Tieniu trembled with anger, not expecting his useless daughter to be so well protected.
Niu Lihua completely lost face and finally realized that Lin Chunju’s reputation for being fierce in the village was not without basis.
If it weren’t for the thought of scouring something from the Yue Family, she would have turned and walked away.
Niu Lihua was ultimately a forbearing person and quickly plastered on a smiling face as if nothing had happened.
“Just joking around, we’re all family now, no need for this.” She pretended to nudge Zhang Tieniu.
“Old Zhang, what’s with the temper, really.”
Being a couple with a significant age gap, Zhang Tieniu had always been submissive to Niu Lihua and now hung his head in silence again.
“Yingzi, your brother has been close to you since he was little, and he even cried for a while when he knew you were married off. Now that it’s his turn to get married, as his sister, you should contribute some money too, that’s only right, isn’t it?”
Zhang Ying had been silent until now, but after her daughter was insulted, she finally couldn’t hold back anymore.
“When has your child ever been close to me? You were afraid I’d do something to them when they were young, always forcing me to sleep on a straw mat in the outer room. In the dead of winter, you wouldn’t even let me light the stove. I would wake up from the cold several times every night.”
Niu Lihua’s countenance darkened, “You’re too ungrateful. It’s been so many years, how can you remember everything so clearly?”
She’s truly an ungrateful beast!
Lin Chunju sneered, “Fine, if we won’t talk about the distant past let’s talk about recent events. Over the years you never allowed Yingzi to come back for a visit, you even left her outside the door during New Year’s. Any affection that might have been there must have faded by now.”
Yue Jiannan then realized what this family was after and spoke up with a stern face.
“Furthermore, that brother of yours, Zhang… what was his name, Zhang River or something? Whenever he met our family, he never showed a friendly face. Forget about a simple greeting; he’s never even called her ‘Sis’ in all these years. Now that he’s getting married, he remembers he has a sister? Is it our Yue Family marrying or your Zhang Family?”
Niu Lihua and Zhang Tieniu’s faces were ashen from being rebuked, if they hadn’t heard that the Yue Family’s life was getting better day by day and that they had taken a contract for the village fish pond, that day they planted the seedlings, they would never have bothered coming all this way.
The Yue Family used to be so poor they weren’t even worthy of a visit, were they?
With the conversation having reached this point, even thick-skinned people might find it hard to stay any longer.
But Niu Lihua still wanted to make a final struggle. She secretly pinched Zhang Tieniu’s arm, signaling him to speak up.
Zhang Tieniu chewed on his back teeth over and over before finally parting his lips.
“Yingzi, I know you bear some grudges, but I did indeed raise you and marry you off when you were of age. Now that the household is in difficulty, you can’t just wash your hands of us.”
“Besides, like your mother said earlier, the baby you picked up outside…” He swallowed the words forcefully and changed what he was about to say, “We don’t know where that child comes from. What if his biological parents come looking for him one day? He might just pack up and leave.”
Yue Jiannan said sarcastically, “What’s it to do with your family? Mind your own radishes, it’s none of your concern.”
Zhang Tieniu didn’t even glance at him but continued to speak directly to Zhang Ying.
“You have a daughter in your house, and she can’t carry on the family name. Jiandong can’t die without someone to drop the offering lid for him. Let me tell you the truth, your brother’s wife is already pregnant. We paid for a secret check, and it’s a boy in her belly.”
“Once the child is born, your mother and I can officially adopt him over to Jiandong. Wouldn’t you have a son then?”
Carrying on the family line was of utmost importance in the village; any family without a son couldn’t hold their head up high.
Ever since the country allowed only one child, families with only daughters were subject to ridicule.
Niu Lihua refused to believe that, with such a big bait dangling before the Yue Family, they could resist taking the bite!