Chapter 223: I’ll Send You Back

Hao Rong’s face was dark.

"Mom, Qin Tuan’s surgery was a success. You can’t just make wild guesses and spout nonsense."

Just look at how she was acting—if anyone had seen her, who knows what kinds of rumors would have started.

Mrs. Hao waved her hand impatiently. "Alright, alright, I get it. I’m your mother, not some kind of fool."

Then, something else occurred to her. "Oh, right, I forgot to mention something last night. Your wife has two jobs now, doesn’t she? She only graduated from junior high—what right does she have to be a teacher? Won’t she just be leading the children astray?"

"I think your sister-in-law should have the job. She’s a high school graduate, after all. You need to talk to your wife, tell her to give the teaching position to your brother’s wife—"

"We’re all one family. When you’re doing well and your brother’s family is doing well—that’s when our entire family prospers!"

Cui Meihong was just about to step outside when she overheard what her mother-in-law was saying.

She froze on the spot. She wasn’t angry. Instead, she waited—ready to hear how her husband would respond.

If he really did what his mother wanted—Cui Meihong clenched her fists.

’If he really dares to make me give my job to his sister-in-law...’

’...Then I’ll divorce him.’

From her next-door neighbor, Fu Mingxue, she had learned a valuable lesson—’A woman has to have her own career.’

She never again wanted to be in a position where she couldn’t even scrounge up five yuan to get her child medical care.

Meanwhile, Hao Rong’s expression was one of pure disbelief as he listened to his mother.

"Mom, what are you talking about? Even if you’re biased toward my brother and his family, you can’t just hand every good thing over to them, can you?"

Mrs. Hao was very displeased. "You’re the older brother! Shouldn’t you look out for your younger brother? You’ve been here serving as a soldier all these years while he’s been at home taking care of your father and me. If he hadn’t been home being a filial son in your place, do you think you could serve here with a clear conscience?"

Hao Rong was flabbergasted.

"I send you thirty yuan every single month! You haven’t even been spending five yuan of it on my wife and our two kids. Isn’t it true that you’ve been giving all of it to my brother’s family?"

"I send money home. How is that not being a filial son?"

As Hao Rong spoke, his eyes began to redden.

’He’d never imagined his own mother could be so cruel to his wife and children.’

He had always thought that since it was so difficult for his wife to raise two children alone back home, his parents and his brother’s family would help her out.

That was why he sent thirty yuan home every month.

In every letter, he had specified that fifteen yuan was for his parents, and the other fifteen was for his wife.

But as it turned out, his mother had been taking all of it.

Mrs. Hao felt a flicker of guilt, but she immediately puffed up with self-righteousness. "Don’t your wife and two children need money to eat and drink? How can you say I spent too little on them? If I was really starving the three of them, would they look so healthy and clean?"

"Enough. Let’s not talk about this anymore. I’m asking you—what’s your decision on the job?"

Hao Rong’s expression turned grim as he flatly refused. "Mom, don’t even mention it again. It’s impossible. My wife found that job on her own. The fact that she passed the school’s test proves she’s capable. The school recognized her abilities."

"If you really miss my brother and his family that much, then you should just go home tomorrow!"

"You—you ungrateful son! You’re trying to kick your own mother out again—"

Seeing that she was about to launch into her usual routine of tears and tantrums, Hao Rong felt a massive headache coming on.

He took a deep breath and said, "If you go, I’ll send you ten yuan every month."