Chapter 32: Astonished! Sun Gui: There's such a good thing?

Beside him, Li Guohua was also glaring coldly at Sun Gui. Echoing Li Junsheng’s words, he said, “My dad is right. If it weren’t for Chun Ya, you, an outsider, wouldn’t even have been able to set foot in our house!”

“I really don’t understand what you have to be so arrogant about. At home, it’s just you and your mother, two women alone, with nothing to your names. Do you think our family is lacking in anything yours could provide?”

“If it hadn’t been for your slick words and empty promises to treat Chun Ya well all your life, even going so far as to offer to marry into our family to show your sincerity, do you think we’d have let Chun Ya marry a sickly man like you?”

Li Guohua’s words were no kinder than Li Junsheng’s, but everything he said was true. Sun Gui stood barely one meter sixty, and perhaps because his father had died young and the family was poor, he was as thin as a monkey.

Originally, Li Guohua was against marrying his sister off to someone like that, but Ma Yulian was the one who decided such matters at home. Sun Gui’s mother had coaxed Ma Yulian with sweet talk, and so she agreed to let Chun Ya marry Sun Gui.

As for Chun Ya, she didn’t have many expectations for her future husband; as long as he was reliable and could make a decent life, that was enough for her. Who could have guessed that Sun Gui’s earnestness before the wedding was all just an act?

Seeing both Li Junsheng and Li Guohua look at him with such hostility, and knowing this was the Li family’s home, Sun Gui didn’t dare act out and could only find a way to back down gracefully. Otherwise, even without Li Guojun, just Li Junsheng and Li Guohua would be more than he could handle alone.

“Dad, Second Brother, I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean it. I just like to put up a front but don’t take it to heart, please!” He turned to Chun Ya, pleading, “Chun Ya, please help me beg Dad and Second Brother for forgiveness.”

Though he pleaded, in his heart, Sun Gui recalled his mother’s instructions: the reason for coming to Chun Ya’s family this time was to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn’t bring any good things from their house back to her own family.

So there was no need for him to go head-to-head with Li Junsheng now; he would just muddle through for the time being. Once they were home, he would teach Chun Ya a lesson! If she hadn’t insisted on coming back today, he wouldn’t have gotten slapped by Li Junsheng. Sun Gui could not swallow this humiliation; he vowed to make Chun Ya pay back double for the slap once they got home!

Li Junsheng snorted coldly but let Sun Gui off for now, helping Chun Ya to the sofa to sit down.

At that moment, Ma Yulian pushed open the door, returning from her own family’s home! Seeing Li Guohua and Chun Ya, her two younger children, a flash of annoyance crossed her eyes.

“Mom, you’re back,” Li Guojun said, quickly pulling her aside, eager to learn how much money she’d managed to get from their uncle’s family.

Li Guohua and Chun Ya simply greeted Ma Yulian politely, knowing she only favored the eldest son, and said nothing more. Even so, she still found fault with them.

“You two really don’t understand the ways of the world! One brings a child and comes here to freeload, the other comes empty-handed without even bringing a single thing.”

Just like Junsheng, as clueless as can be!

Chun Ya fell silent, and neither Li Guohua nor Ji Xiaocui knew what to say. Li Junsheng, though, shot Ma Yulian a glare. “Why are you talking like that to the kids?”

Ma Yulian was about to retort when the fourth child, Li Xiaoyu, came in, wearing a homemade dress and her hair in a ponytail, smiling brightly at everyone.

“Dad, Mom, brothers, sister, I’m back! Xiaowei is here too, come give your aunt a hug!”

Li Junsheng’s gaze lingered on his youngest daughter. She was the brightest in the family: optimistic, independent, with a mind of her own. Though she hadn’t been able to continue her studies, she was skilled at sewing and currently worked as a temp at the state-owned textile mill. She had no trouble supporting herself.

Yet such a lively child, in the end, was driven by Ma Yulian to perish with her lover…

Li Xiaoyu, unaware of her father’s thoughts, handed her sister a small baby outfit she had sewn herself. “Sister, look at the little clothes I made for your baby. Since you’re here today, you can take them back and rest instead of sewing yourself.”

“Thank you,” Chun Ya replied, her spirits lifted by her sister’s presence.

With everyone present, Li Junsheng began setting the table, inviting his children to sit while he quickly brought out the sumptuous dishes he had prepared.

Sun Gui had barely sat down when he caught sight of the feast set before him and immediately began to salivate. He hadn’t expected such a lavish meal today: braised fish, stewed ribs, large prawns, and crabs—hardly any vegetables in sight. Even the only cold dish was a platter of pig’s liver and ears, and to top it off, Li Junsheng produced bottles of top-shelf liquor.

Each bottle was worth several yuan at least.

“What kind of family can afford to eat like this?” Sun Gui muttered, and seeing how capable Li Junsheng seemed, he didn’t dare act arrogant anymore.

Chun Ya, too, was surprised at how extravagant the meal was today. Even during the New Year, there hadn’t been so much meat.

“Come, Chun Ya, have some rib soup to nourish yourself. I made it especially for you,” Li Junsheng said. “Xiaoyu, Xiaowei, you two have some too.” He served soup to Chun Ya, Li Xiaoyu, and his grandson Xiaowei, but ignored the eldest son’s children.

Li Guojun, meanwhile, was busy flattering Li Junsheng.

“Try these dishes—Dad picked them all out himself, so you know they’ll taste great.”

Hearing this, Sun Gui scoffed, “Our dinners at home are even better than this. Chun Ya’s never suffered any hardship at our house. Before she was pregnant, her waist was as thick as a water barrel—you should have seen it.”

His disparagement made Chun Ya frown; she wasn’t fat, just out of shape from childbirth.

Ma Yulian, sitting at the table, was seething inside. Li Junsheng really didn’t know how to manage a household, buying so much meat. Fish and ribs were expensive! As if Chun Ya was the only one who’d ever been pregnant and suffered.

“Shut up! No one will mistake you for a mute if you keep quiet!” Li Xiaoyu snapped at Sun Gui, siding with her sister. She heaped food into Chun Ya’s bowl, telling her to ignore Sun Gui and just eat.

Despite boasting that his meals at home were better, Sun Gui ate without hesitation, wolfing down the food, fighting for every bite with Xingxing and Li Guojun, as if they were afraid there wouldn’t be enough.

Halfway through the meal, Li Junsheng broke the silence. “I called you all here today to let you know I’ve sold my job at the machinery factory. I plan to divide the money among you.”

At these words, Li Xiaoyu and Chun Ya, who hadn’t known, were dumbfounded. It was unlike Li Junsheng, who had always cherished his job and was reluctant to give it up. Why had he suddenly sold it?

Li Xiaoyu instinctively glanced at her eldest brother, who had always coveted their father’s position. Yet he showed no anger at having lost it to someone else.

Chun Ya, too, was taken aback, especially since Ma Yulian was always saying that a married daughter was as good as spilled water. She hadn’t expected her father to remember her when it came to dividing the money.

But if he’d sold his job, how would he manage now? Life would surely become much harder.

Sun Gui, who had been devouring his food, was suddenly wide-eyed with excitement at the mention of a cash windfall.