I Became a Vicious Supporting Role in the '70s-Chapter 238: One Shot, No Response

"Liu Sanjin, no matter how much trouble she causes at home, no matter how she urges Lu Changzhu to talk to Lu Zhenping on her behalf, when she really faces people, she can’t even open her mouth. Before Lu Zhenping had made clear their mother-son relationship, she could still rely on the status of being a mother to order around certain things; now she feels utterly hollow inside.

Especially now that the money sent from Shangjing is getting less and less, she is terrified it would be cut off completely at any moment. Now, with Lu Zhenping frowning in front of her, her heart pounds like a drum. She doesn’t even want to think about sons and daughters-in-law anymore, she’s just scared that Lu Zhenping will bring up the issue of giving her money each month.

"Zhenping, it has been a few months since you came home. Since that time you clarified things with dad and mom, us old folks have rarely come to see you; we didn’t even dare to visit your house during the New Year. You should know in your heart that your parents have been very obedient, haven’t we?"

Lu Changzhu picked up his old dry pipe several times but did not dare to put it in his mouth to smoke. After tremblingly speaking out, his murky eyes stared intently at him.

Jiaxuan is his youngest son, obedient and sensible since childhood, and capable as he grew up. How could his heart not cherish him? Now Lao Si and his wife are spoken of by village folks like rats in a drain, not even daring to step outside, and Lao Si’s wife is still pregnant. If this keeps up, it will definitely lead to trouble.

As a father, he cannot stand by and watch his own children suffer!

"Eldest son, I know you are upset. No matter what, our Lu Family manages the workshop. What difference does it make whether it’s your wife or Lao Si’s wife? You know your brother; all these years, his success hasn’t been without your help. Being the elder brother, you can’t just watch him being insulted like this, right? They both have taken several days off work from the commune, and if they don’t return soon, the gossip will only get worse. Can they still hold their heads up in the village?"

Liu Sanjin choked up in tears, recalling the miserable look of her son and daughter-in-law lying on the kang, refraining from eating and drinking. She felt a pang in her heart. When Shen Meng was managing the workshop before, no one said anything. How come just after a couple of days under their younger daughter-in-law’s management, there’s so much rage? She really couldn’t understand.

"But think about it, Lao Si’s wife is now so skinny and wizened. If things keep going like this, something will definitely go wrong with the child. Eldest son, please do us a favor, please? Mom is begging you, would you want me to kneel down?"

Lu Zhenping raised his eyebrows, his expression mirroring Liu Sanjin’s crying one. This damn thing, he wouldn’t really make her kneel down, would he???

"Eldest son, will you give us a word?"

Lu Zhenping frowned, gazing at the old couple in front of him. He knew that somewhere out of his sight, Lao Si and his wife were probably watching him as well. If he relents today, then more troubles will arise later, one after another, possibly never ending.

Shen Meng hasn’t returned yet. Whether the workshop can be taken over depends on what she brings back from the Provincial City.

"What do you want me to say, that my wife should take the blame, let the villagers curse at her, why should she?"

"This, aren’t we all one family? What’s wrong with helping out? Besides, originally it was Shen Meng who managed the workshop, not Jiaojiao, right?"

After Liu Sanjin finished speaking, Lu Zhenping stood up and walked out, not wanting to listen to any more of this today.

"Hey, eldest son, where are you going? We haven’t finished talking?"

"What else is there to talk about? What Lao Si and his wife are thinking, do I not know? Old lady, making excuses is pointless. The consequences of one’s own actions must be faced. They schemed to get Shen Meng out of the way, watching as outsiders don’t acknowledge them, and the workshop falling apart, now they want to push my wife out? That’s not how things are done. If this is your attitude, then I think our conversation can end here."

"Eldest son, you can’t just leave. For so many years, your father and I have raised you, no credit but at least hard work, right? If you really ignore your brother and sister-in-law, I, I and your father will kneel down to you, really. If people outside hear about this, who knows how they’ll curse you. Eldest son, aren’t you afraid that your own and your wife’s reputation will be ruined?"

Liu Sanjin didn’t want to pressure him, but he really couldn’t swallow his pride. Why did Bai Shuyu oppress him in the past, and now her son was oppressing his son? It was completely unfair, utterly unreasonable.

"The money for going to Shangjing..."

"Don’t think about using that to pressure me. I’ve raised her son for so many years. If she dares not to continue sending money, I’ll definitely go to Shangjing and let everyone know what kind of person she is."

Lu Zhenping’s expression remained utterly impassive, causing Liu Sanjin and Lu Changzhu to be somewhat stunned.

This child, hearing threats against his own mother and not showing any reaction, truly heartless, so cold!

"Zhenping, you’re here. I just came back and heard from the kids that you were with Mom and Dad, so I hurried over to find you. I brought your favorite meat buns and sweet and sour ribs from the State-Owned Restaurant, let’s go home and eat."

"Okay."

Lu Zhenping’s eyes instantly softened when he looked at Shen Meng, melting the ice so swiftly that Lu Changzhu and his wife hardly realized what had happened.

Shen Meng walked over to Lu Zhenping and took his hand, ready to leave, when Zhou Jiaojiao and Lu Jiaxuan, who had been watching the situation from the side room, directly pushed the door and came out.

"Big brother, elder sister-in-law, wait a moment. We, we were wrong, truly wrong. We didn’t realize the consequences would be so severe. We’re all from the same village, seeing each other all the time. Initially, Jiaojiao just wanted to help share elder sister-in-law’s burden and also help everyone increase their income a bit. It was just talk, but we didn’t expect that Aunt Hua and a few others would directly cause a commotion. When Jiaojiao found out..."

"Were you thrilled?"

Lu Jiaxuan, startled by Shen Meng’s sudden retort, stuttered for a moment, then sheepishly laughed twice before continuing: "How, how could that be, elder sister-in-law? Didn’t she come to apologize to you? Initially, both of us were worried that the village might stir up more trouble, so we thought about managing it for a couple of days, stabilizing it before giving it back to you."

"Didn’t expect to mess it up, and directly ran the workshop into the ground, right?"

Lu Jiaxuan: "....."

Always nitpicking, how to even respond, one hit and no peep!

"Elder sister-in-law, I, I didn’t want this. Now there’s nothing that can be done. Let’s treat the past like the north wind, let it be bygones, we are all one family. I’m younger, could you please not take it to heart?"

Shen Meng snorted before saying: "The north wind is not easy to endure, when it blows, it chills you to the bone, truly hard to endure."

Zhou Jiaojiao: "....."

Knew she wasn’t easy to talk to, but didn’t expect her to be this difficult!!!