Chapter 25: Demanding Money from Ma Yulian to Split the Family? She Was So Frightened She Started Stammering!

Li Junsheng turned to Ma Yulian and shouted angrily, “You shut your mouth! Stop trying to confuse things here. The money I have left is to be divided among my children!”

“The money for Xiaowei’s treatment isn’t included in that. According to you, you’d better hope you never fall ill, or else the eldest will take away your life-saving money too. What will you do then?”

Ma Yulian was the perfect example of someone making light of others’ suffering because she was unaffected herself.

Hearing Li Junsheng’s words, Ma Yulian’s expression shifted slightly. If the eldest really took her life-saving money, that wouldn’t do at all!

Even though this was what she thought, Ma Yulian still retorted stubbornly, “How could my son ever ignore my life or death? You just can’t stand the eldest, so you’re making a fuss over nothing.”

“In my opinion, we’re all family here. The second son didn’t even come to ask Guojun for money—so what are you making a scene for?”

With Ma Yulian defending him so staunchly, Li Guojun felt even more emboldened, determined not to return the money to Li Junsheng!

Li Junsheng, on the other hand, was burning with rage. This wretched woman, Ma Yulian, even wanted to interfere in how he disciplined his own son.

And the eldest was nothing but a selfish fool.

Taking a deep breath, Li Junsheng said furiously, “It’s precisely because we're family that he’s able to stand here unharmed. If he’d cheated someone else like this, they’d have called the police and had him locked up long ago.”

“Do you want him to end up in a labor camp? I’ll discipline him—don’t you interfere!”

Li Junsheng pulled Ma Yulian aside and shoved her to the ground.

With a cry, Ma Yulian glared up at Li Junsheng, cursing him under her breath.

“If you hadn’t insisted on holding the money and playing head of the household, this never would have happened. I managed our finances for years without any such chaos.”

“Everything was fine until you demanded to divide the family. If you ask me, you should just hand over the money and let me run things!”

Ma Yulian was nearly beside herself with hatred for Li Junsheng.

In her heart, she cursed his ancestors eighteen generations back. This man was holding onto a pile of money without giving her any, and now he wanted to siphon it off and divide it among the children.

How was she supposed to explain this to Old Chen?

The more she thought about it, the more resentment clouded her face.

Her words struck a chord with Li Guojun too!

His own father was impossible to serve; getting money out of him was a struggle. He’d be better off with his mother—at least she was easier to coax.

Almost at once, Li Guojun aligned himself with Ma Yulian, joining her to demand money from Li Junsheng!

“That’s right, Dad, you really don’t know how to manage things. Give the money to Mom instead—she’d never give the second brother’s family that much. I wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble to get it, and maybe you wouldn’t have hit me today either.”

Li Guojun’s tone dripped with mockery.

Li Junsheng shot a cold glare at the scheming Ma Yulian—this foolish, conniving woman!

If it weren’t for her—always favoring sons over daughters, stirring up trouble, plotting behind his back, spoiling the eldest, and mistreating the other three children—the family would never have become such a mess in his previous life.

Truly, a single woman can ruin three generations!

If the eldest had simply been sulking with him, Li Junsheng wouldn’t have minded.

But with Ma Yulian sowing discord, that was unacceptable!

Since Ma Yulian insisted on making a scene, Li Junsheng decided to see it through. He would blow things up even more today and see who came out on top.

He wasn’t bothered either way—he’d just see if Ma Yulian could handle the consequences!

“Since you mentioned all those years you managed the money, why don’t we settle accounts today? If we’re dividing the family, let’s split up the savings you’ve squirreled away all these years as well!”

At these words, Li Guojun was stunned. Was his father really willing to go that far, to split everything down to the last cent?

He even wanted to include the money his mother had saved over the years!

Instantly, Li Guojun forgot all about the eight hundred yuan in his father’s hands. Greed flashed in his eyes as he looked at Ma Yulian.

His own mother had managed the family finances for years, always penny-pinching. She must have saved up a tidy sum—who knew how much, but surely more than eight hundred!

Only Ma Yulian herself knew the truth: she hadn’t saved a thing all these years.

Every penny had been funneled to Chen Dazhu and his son!

At this thought, Ma Yulian immediately rejected Li Junsheng’s proposal and tried to cover for herself.

“No, I absolutely refuse to split up the family. You’re the one insisting on this. And now you want to divide up my savings as well?”

“These kids all take after you—not a single one knows how to manage money. If you split it up, they’ll squander it all at once! Better let me keep it, so I can put the grandchildren through school and help them make something of themselves!”

Wang Xiuhua’s eyes lit up at the thought—if her mother-in-law’s money was divided, she’d never have to bow and scrape for it again.

She immediately stepped forward to support Li Junsheng’s suggestion.

“I think Father’s right. Every generation has its own fate, Mother—you ought to worry less. Guojun and I wouldn’t let your grandchildren go without an education, would we?”

Ma Yulian, usually glib and quick-witted, was suddenly at a loss for words.

Li Junsheng seized the opportunity, echoing her previous argument, “You say I can’t manage money—fine. If we’re going to divide it, then let’s do it properly. Everyone can manage their own family’s finances and there’ll be no more complaints!”

“Isn’t that just what you want? I won’t manage the money anymore—I’ll even enjoy a little peace, and you won’t have to blame me again.”

Ma Yulian opened her mouth but could only repeat, “No, I refuse to split all the family’s money! They don’t know how to manage it at all—you just want to ruin them!”

She stuck to this line, even as Wang Xiuhua promised she’d manage the money well; Ma Yulian refused to give in.

Li Junsheng knew perfectly well that she couldn’t produce any savings from all those years!

With that in mind, he flung her own words back at her.

“Don’t act like some miser, clutching the money and refusing to let go. When you’re gone, it’ll all belong to the children anyway. Why not hand it over now, when they’re in need, and let everyone have their share?”

“Saying they can’t manage money isn’t an excuse. People need to have money in their hands to learn how to spend it and manage a household!”

At these words, Li Guojun and his wife immediately voiced their approval.

Exactly—if they had money in their own hands, there’d be no need to curry favor with the elders. They could spend as they pleased.

Li Guojun thought, in the end, it was his father who was generous. He was nearly thirty—it was high time he was head of his own household!

“Mom, I think Dad is right. I’m almost thirty—I’m not going to waste money. Just bring out whatever the family has saved up over the years and let’s split it.”

“Yes, that way you and Father won’t have to argue about money all the time. How much have we managed to save over the years, anyway?”

Li Guojun and Wang Xiuhua stared hungrily at Ma Yulian, eager to know just how much money the family had in total.

Both of them figured that, with Li Junsheng working at a large factory, he must have managed to save quite a bit each month.

After all these years, surely there must be at least several hundred, if not a thousand!

But as Ma Yulian saw the situation spiraling out of control, her face turned ashen and her words faltered.

“I—I have no money to give you!”