CHAPTER 76: CHAPTER 76: THE CURRENT SITUATION OF THE LIU FAMILY

The next day, Lin Qin went home at noon and took the children to the barbershop in Friendship Square.

The lady boss clearly remembered them and greeted them warmly, "Haven’t seen you in months, the kids have grown quite a bit, and look stronger too. Who’s getting a haircut today?"

Lin Qin pushed Chen Ping’an forward, "Him, just a buzz cut for school."

The lady boss was a bit surprised, "Wow! Starting school already! That’s amazing, needs to be done nicely. Sit tight; I’ll see how to make it stylish. Which school will you be attending?"

Lin Qin started chatting with the lady boss.

Once Chen Ping’an’s hair was done, Lin Qin took them to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy two school bags, spending eight yuan. Noticing that the children’s shoes didn’t fit well, she bought them two pairs of sandals for five yuan. Liu Yaya wanted some red hair ties, so Lin Qin picked one out.

There were also pencils and notebooks, adding up to a total of seventeen yuan spent.

On the way back, Lin Qin thought of buying some candy and snacks to celebrate and went to Aunt Jinhua’s house.

After not visiting for a few months, Aunt Jinhua was delighted to see them and naturally started gossiping about the Liu family with Lin Qin.

"Did you know that Liu Yongming got a work assignment after graduation?"

Lin Qin shook her head honestly. After the revenge, she no longer paid attention to the Liu family’s affairs and was busy building a house, rarely coming near this area. In her previous life, she remembered Liu Yongming was assigned to the land bureau after graduation and did quite well.

This lifetime, she knew Han Dongcai at the land bureau, who was Zheng Guoxing’s brother-in-law. Since Zheng Guoxing never mentioned it, it seemed Liu Yongming did not go to that unit.

Aunt Jinhua, realizing Lin Qin didn’t know, looked enthusiastic and eager to spill all the gossip, even giving each child a malt sugar candy to keep them quietly occupied.

Lin Qin couldn’t stop her.

"Let me tell you, the woman Liu Yongming married later got arrested, leaving a child with Ma Cuihua. Liu Yongming himself went back to school, hiding there for two months. I heard he wanted to go to the land bureau and even pulled some strings, but everyone there knew the dirty deeds he’d done; they didn’t want him at all.

Thought he might at least end up in another city office, but somehow he ended up as a secretary in a village committee in Nansheng County, which infuriated Ma Cuihua when the news got back.

She endured two months of grievances for a good job assignment for Liu Yongming, and now he’s off to a poor county village position. What’s the use? She even went to the street committee head to complain, saying she wanted to petition, causing quite a ruckus at the office and pissing off the head."

Aunt Jinhua spoke with much inflection and emphasis, while Lin Qin listened, her eyes sparkling with mischief, "Serves him right! Honestly, someone like Liu Yongming doesn’t even deserve the village secretary position, the Liu family should count their blessings!"

Aunt Jinhua nodded in agreement, "I think so too. Everyone’s unhappy with Liu Yongming’s job, and even that little girl got neglected, nearly starving.

Granny Liu happened to pass by and heard something wrong with the child’s cries and insisted on checking it out, saving the child’s life. Even the street office head went over to warn them.

The Fang family also came over. Don’t know what was said, but the child was taken by the Fang family, and Ma Cuihua acted like she’d won a battle. Mark my words, her life’s only going to get harder."

Lin Qin raised an eyebrow, puzzled, "Why’s that?"

Aunt Jinhua glanced at the alley’s exit and lowered her voice, "Liu Li has stopped going to school and got involved with a hoodlum, even brought him home to show Ma Cuihua, saying she wanted to marry. Ma Cuihua disagreed and chased Liu Li with a stick the first time. But Liu Li was tough and ran away with the guy, never returned."

"Never came back?" Lin Qin was greatly shocked; this kind of thing never happened in her previous life, Liu Li’s changes were too drastic!

Aunt Jinhua nodded heavily, "That’s not all! Previously, Liu Yongming’s troubles cost the Liu family a lot of money. Xu Manzhi tolerated it, waiting for Liu Yongming’s job allocation, but when he was sent to a poor county, Xu Manzhi snapped, scolded Liu Yongming in front of Liu Yongguo and Ma Cuihua.

She demanded Liu Yongming pay back the money, which he didn’t have. So Xu Manzhi wanted to split the family assets, meaning everything at home was to be theirs, and the second room couldn’t share anything. If not, she threatened divorce.

Ma Cuihua couldn’t let Liu Yongguo’s marriage end in divorce, which would make the Liu family a huge joke. So, in the end, they granted Xu Manzhi’s wishes. Liu Yongming got pissed off and hasn’t contacted the family since moving to Nansheng County.

Look, Ma Cuihua has three kids, two of them won’t come back, and the eldest and their spouse blame her for favoritism, argue every day over money—how can her life not be miserable?"

Lin Qin nodded in agreement, "It’s her own karma; Auntie, thanks for sharing so much with me. Could you also make more salty pastries? My dad likes them."

"Sure thing! By the way, isn’t it just you and your sister in your family? Your sister got married far away. Have you considered bringing your husband to live at your mom’s place? Having a house and some land is better than staying on the boat all the time."

Aunt Jinhua was quite warm-hearted despite her gossiping.

Standing alongside, Liu Yaya shouted loudly upon hearing this, "Granny, we have a house! Uncle bought land and built a big house, two stories high! And a huge yard, Uncle said he’d make us a swing to play on."

"Really!" Aunt Jinhua was amazed and sought confirmation from Lin Qin.

Lin Qin smiled modestly, "The house has just been finished, not quite 200 square meters, with two floors."

"Wow!" Aunt Jinhua gasped, "My goodness! You really turned your luck around! Weren’t the Dang people supposed to be poor?"

Lin Qin didn’t know how to explain and gave a vague reply to brush it off.

Aunt Jinhua didn’t pursue it, just glanced at Liu Yaya and reminded Lin Qin, "Now that you have a house and life’s settling down and Yaya’s going to school, you might consider changing her last name to stop others from gossiping behind her back at school."

Lin Qin paused, not having gone to school herself, she didn’t know what was customary.

Aunt Jinhua saw her reaction and knew she didn’t understand, so she gave an example, "The butcher who married a widow with a daughter, that child got bullied at school, people calling her a burden or something, turning that poor kid into a little housewife-like figure, you better pay attention to that."

Lin Qin thanked Aunt Jinhua and pondered the matter on the way back.

Discussing it with Chen Wenjun, "What do you think about changing Yaya’s name to your last name?"

Lin Yi turned his head surprised, not understanding why Lin Qin suddenly wanted to change Liu Yaya’s name.