"You all know Mingyue's situation. We are a family and we don't talk behind each other's backs. Today, I'm going to say it straight. After Mingyue is discharged from the hospital, she will definitely come back to live with us. You all know her physical condition. She can't do any work now, and we need to spend a lot of money to take good care of her."
At this point, Old Man Zhou put down his chopsticks and carefully looked at the expressions of his sons and daughters-in-law. Seeing that none of them showed any dissatisfaction, he changed the subject and continued:
"But Mingyue is my daughter, Zhou Tieshu, and there is absolutely no reason for her to be supported by you brothers and sisters-in-law. So I, an old man, won't talk nonsense. From now on, all the money Mingyue spends and the food she eats will be deducted from the work points earned by your mother and me. I will never let you pay a penny."
Old Man Zhou and Liu Hui are both hardworking people. Although they can't earn full work points every day, they are pretty close.
Add to that the monthly gifts from their sons, and even though the old couple have often subsidized their daughter over the years, they have saved a considerable amount of money, so Old Man Zhou has the capital to be strong.
It's just that the money of an old couple in ordinary families will be left to their son in the future. Old man Zhou specifically pointed this out, and he might have been testing his son and daughter-in-law's intentions.
The Zhou brothers loved their little sister sincerely, and when they heard their father's awkward words, their faces turned unhappy.
Zhou Laosan, who was the most talkative, put down his chopsticks and frowned, "Dad, what do you think of us brothers? Mingyue is our sister. She has suffered so much now. We feel sorry for her, so why would we be afraid of her spending money?" He made the decision, "Besides, money is earned to be spent. If my sister needs anything in the future, you can just call me and Laosi. It's convenient for us to buy things in the city, so we can just mail it back when the time comes."
The fourth brother was still putting food into his bowl, and without even looking up, he said, "Third brother is right. My younger sister is our biological sister, not an outsider. How can we be so distant? When I get back to the city this afternoon, I will immediately go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy two cans of nutritional powder and mail it back. If you see anything else that my younger sister needs, I will buy it all and mail it back."
The eldest and second oldest, who were not good at speaking, just nodded. Although they did not express their sincerity, and although they were not as promising as the third and fourth oldest, they both felt the same way towards the youngest sister.
Mrs. Zhou also said sincerely: "Dad, don't treat us as outsiders. We are all family. My little sister is so popular, and everyone hopes she will be well."
Zhou Ersao's stomach has been uncomfortable for the past two days. She didn't eat much of the delicious food on the table just now. But now she didn't want to fall behind, so she quickly expressed her opinion: "That's right, Mingyue is Erming's sister, and she is also my biological sister. We should be nice to her. Dad, what you said is what really hurts us."
Listening to his son and daughter-in-law's words, Old Man Zhou was very pleased, but he still shook his head and said, "It's good that you have this intention, but you still have to do as I say."
As the saying goes, things far away smell good, things near stink; distant relatives are near enemies. Now that they are far away from Mingyue, of course they think she is good in every way and feel sorry for her.
But when Mingyue really moved in, they became closer, and there were financial interests involved, so naturally there were some conflicts between the two sides.
Old Man Zhou didn't want those external things to damage the harmony of the family, nor did he want his youngest daughter to lose face in front of her brothers and sisters-in-law.
His daughter is not an outsider. She is going home to be with her parents, not relying on the pity of her brother and sister-in-law to have such a place to stay.
The eldest, second and fourth sons of the Zhou family didn't understand what their father meant and opened their mouths wanting to argue.
Zhou Laosan looked at his father's penetrating eyes and quickly understood what his father meant. The elder and second brothers were married men after all. If they continued to subsidize the younger sister, even if the elder and second sisters-in-law didn't say anything, they would definitely feel uncomfortable after a long time. It would be better to let my parents spend the money, so that no one, whether outsiders or family members, would have anything to say.
Zhou Laosan rushed ahead of his brothers and spoke quickly: "I'll listen to you, Dad." Zhou Laoda looked at his third brother disapprovingly, and said in a more serious tone: "Third brother, it's okay for Dad to act recklessly, but why are you following suit?"
The second and fourth brothers also had unhappy looks in their eyes. It wasn't that they suspected the third brother didn't want to pay, but they just felt that this was too awkward.
"Dad's idea is right. After all, we are married and have to consider our wives and children. It is not right to give too much subsidy to my younger sister." Zhou Laosan winked at his brothers again: "However, appropriate subsidies are still possible, but the degree depends on us." Then he looked at his father: "Dad, am I right?"
Old Man Zhou looked at his cunning third son and couldn't help but curl his lips. Soon he deliberately put on a stern face and said unhappily, "Can I stop you from being nice to Mingyue?"
Zhou Laosan then smiled and said in a deliberately weird voice: "I feel relieved with your words."
In fact, Zhou Lao Da and the others still didn’t quite understand, but the third brother had always been the smartest in the family, and they were used to listening to him, so they didn’t object.
It was already 1:30 in the afternoon when the family finished their meal.
Old Man Zhou did not waste any time. He took out the fresh vegetables, pickled mustard tubers, fermented black beans and other home-made specialties that had been packed long ago, and prepared to go to the town with the third and fourth sons.
The eldest and second son Zhou stayed in the house with their wives to sort out the things they brought back from the He family.
When Mingyue met the original owner's third and fourth brothers, before she had time to calm down, the two brothers of the Zhou family were already furious.
Zhou Laosan and Laosi have been working in the city for several years. They only come back once or twice a year. Every time they come, they leave in a hurry. They haven't seen their younger sister for a long time.
Although the two brothers had heard about the things that happened to their younger sister before, they did not have a concrete concept in their minds. It was not until they actually saw their younger sister that the traces left by those things became clear.
The little sister, who originally had some baby fat, now had a sunken face and was as pale as snow without a trace of blood. Her skinny body seemed like it would fall down with a gust of wind, which made people feel distressed when they looked at her.
Zhou Laosi immediately clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and squeezed out a sentence: "I shouldn't have let those little bastards of the He family go today."
If he had known that his younger sister would be in this state now, he would have made life difficult for the He family even at the risk of being reported.
Zhou Laosan had a gloomy look on his face, and in his heart he completely agreed with what Laosi said. He thought that they were too lenient towards the people of the He family today.
Those bastards don't deserve it at all.
(End of this chapter)