Chapter 19: Sold the Job for a Thousand? Li Guojun: Where's the Money!
Thinking about how to make the business legitimate, Li Junsheng only managed to doze off as dawn approached. He hadn’t slept long before a clamorous noise woke him. Glancing at the old clock on his bedside table, he saw it was only seven o’clock!
“Can’t they let anyone have some peace in the morning?”
Li Junsheng turned over, not intending to meddle in whatever was happening outside. Yet the noise was only getting closer and closer to his room.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His door was suddenly assaulted with such force that it was more of a battering than a knock! The racket made it impossible for Li Junsheng to fall back asleep.
“What’s all this commotion so early? Can’t a man get any sleep?”
He thought if he just shouted at Li Guojun, the boy would go away.
But outside, Li Guojun’s furious voice continued to ring out.
“Sleeping? Get up and open the door!”
“I ripped up the proof yesterday, and yet you still went to the factory to get another certificate. You owe me an explanation for this!”
Li Junsheng sat up immediately, his tone irritable. “You little brat, your mother, to repay Chen Dazhu for saving your life, went behind your back to give the job to Chen Zhiyuan and forced me to sign the papers. Why don’t you go after her—what are you pestering me for?”
Li Guojun, fully awake now, retorted, “Are you saying this has nothing to do with you? My mother told me herself: she discussed giving the job to Chen Zhiyuan with you first!”
“If you hadn’t agreed, no matter how much she wanted to hand that job to Chen Zhiyuan, it wouldn’t have happened!”
“But instead, yesterday you didn’t mention any of this, letting her take the full blame. What exactly are you up to? Are you trying to drive a wedge between me and my mother? To tear this family apart?”
The words reeked of Ma Yulian’s coaching!
Li Junsheng’s expression turned stony. He said nothing, lighting a cigarette for himself first.
Through the swirling smoke, his eyes grew cold and sharp as blades.
He’d always known that after successfully transferring the job to Chen Zhiyuan, Ma Yulian—free of worries—would come looking for trouble.
Li Guojun wasn’t her son at all; he was simply the tool she wielded against him.
Yet Li Junsheng had long since prepared for this and wasn’t the least bit afraid of Ma Yulian’s schemes.
Outside, seeing that Li Junsheng remained silent, Li Guojun grew even angrier and kicked the door again.
“Say something! Is it true or not? Am I even your real son?”
“Why are you treating me this way? You’d rather give a good job to an outsider than to me!”
While Li Guojun fumed, Li Junsheng suddenly threw open the door and kicked Li Guojun hard in the stomach.
“Can you stop pestering me?”
Wang Xiuhua, standing nearby, hurried to support Li Guojun, shocked and fearful. “Dad! How could you hit him?”
She’d noticed her father-in-law was a changed man these past two days—quick to use his fists at the slightest provocation.
Li Junsheng ignored his daughter-in-law and turned his gaze to Ma Yulian, who was now sitting on the floor, wailing about being made a scapegoat.
Seeing Li Junsheng come out, Ma Yulian’s performance only grew more dramatic.
“Li Junsheng, you heartless man! You’ve wronged me and driven a wedge between me and Guojun.”
“With Zhiyuan, all I asked was for you to let him temporarily take the job at the factory. He just wanted it as a credential to help him marry—he said he’d give the job back.”
“You’re the one who insisted on selling the position instead and demanded a thousand yuan! I never saw a cent of that money, and now you’ve put all the blame on me and washed your hands of it!”
Ma Yulian’s wailing was shrill and desperate, though not a single tear fell. All the while, she furtively watched Li Junsheng’s expression.
Li Junsheng saw through her instantly—she was scheming for that thousand yuan, trying every trick to get it back.
He couldn’t help but curse her inwardly. If murder weren’t against the law, he’d never tolerate her cunning right in front of him.
Meanwhile, Li Guojun picked himself up, forgetting about the kick as his mind spun with Ma Yulian’s words.
Good heavens!
His father, who always seemed so honest, had actually taken a thousand yuan from Chen Dazhu over this? That was a fortune!
His eyes darted about, but instead of questioning Li Junsheng, he hurried to help Ma Yulian up and asked urgently, “Mom, is it true? Dad took a thousand yuan from Uncle Chen?”
“It’s true. If you don’t believe me, ask your Uncle Chen yourself. I was against selling the job from the start—I just wanted Zhiyuan to borrow it for a while, and then the job would still be yours.”
“That way, your uncle’s request would be solved, and you wouldn’t miss out. Who knew what your father was thinking, asking for so much money and insisting on selling the job!”
“You’re my own child—how could I not think of you?”
Ma Yulian spoke to Li Guojun with syrupy sincerity, playing the emotional card at which she excelled.
As expected, Li Guojun began to waver, but Wang Xiuhua nudged him from behind.
He turned to see his wife pointing to the scratch marks on her face.
Remembering the slap Ma Yulian had given him, Li Guojun hesitated, not immediately believing her.
Seeing this, Ma Yulian didn’t panic. Instead, she swore an oath.
“Guojun, I swear to you—if I’m lying even a little, may I be hit by a truck as soon as I step outside!”
“I was only upset yesterday because of you. I care about you the most—don’t ever doubt that. Another thing is, your father never explained anything yesterday.”
“He and your Uncle Chen spoke in riddles and never mentioned the money. If he’d just told you about it, you wouldn’t have gotten so mad or said those hurtful things to me, right?”
She kept shifting all blame toward Li Junsheng.
Li Guojun thought it over—after all, if someone had paid good money for a job, there’d be no reason to keep it secret.
No wonder Chen Zhiyuan had brought it up to his face. It was his father, in truth, who didn’t want him to know about the thousand yuan.
He must be favoring the second son, planning to secretly give him the money!
With that, Li Guojun’s spirits rose again.
“Dad, why did you do this?”
“Why did you hide that money from me? Who are you planning to give it to?”