Chapter 136 He Was Terribly Wrong (1/2)

Granny Li was rooted to the spot by those bloodshot eyes, her heart skipping a beat. She had never seen that look on the face of her eldest son, who was always blindly obedient to her parents. It wasn't anger, nor resentment, but a desolate, maddening silence, a silence emptied of all faith.

"Jian...Jianjun, why are you looking at me like that? What did that little slut say to you? I knew she was no good, full of bad intentions..." Granny Li shouted fiercely, trying to gain the upper hand with her usual tantrum.

Liu Jianjun didn't speak. He simply walked slowly, step by step, back to the table and picked up the ledger he had tossed aside. His long, slender fingers, with distinct knuckles, traced the neat and elegant handwriting on the ledger, his fingertips trembling slightly.

This is the culmination of Liu Fen's efforts over the past five years.

"On the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, cabbage is three cents a pound. Buy five pounds for one and a half cents."

"On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, my daughter developed a fever, and I bought medicine for 12 cents."

"On the seventh day of the third month, I will buy two feet of cloth to make a shirt for you, for one dollar and forty cents."

"..."

He turned the pages one by one, each account like a small knife slowly slicing through his heart. He saw how a woman stretched every penny in half, how she carefully maintained the family's dignity even in their most difficult circumstances. And he, oblivious to all this, took it all for granted, even complaining that she wasn't generous enough and didn't know how to manage a household.

“Five years.” He finally spoke, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper was rubbing against the ground. “I will give you fifty yuan of my salary every month. In five years, after deducting all expenses, our family should have at least… fifteen hundred yuan.”

He raised his head, and two eerie blue flames ignited in his lifeless eyes, shooting straight at Granny Li. "Where's the money?"

"I...how would I know! Your brother needs money for building a house and getting married. I'm his mother, how could I not care? As the older brother, shouldn't you help your brother out?" Seeing that she couldn't hide it anymore, Granny Li simply gave up and started to argue.

"Help me out?" Liu Jianjun suddenly chuckled softly, his laughter filled with endless sorrow and self-mockery. "Yes, help me out. I use the money my wife and children saved by enduring hunger and cold to help my able-bodied, idle brother buy a TV and a wardrobe, to save money for his unborn son's milk powder!"

His voice suddenly rose, like a cornered beast driven to the brink of despair, letting out a painful roar: "What about me? What about my home? What about my daughter? When she was crying from hunger in the middle of the night, didn't you ever think of helping her? When Liu Fen's leg was scalded by boiling water and she couldn't walk because of the pain, did you ever think of her as your daughter-in-law? For fifty yuan, you're going to sell my own daughter to give money to your youngest son? That's my daughter, not some commodity you're using to fill your bottomless pit!"

"Wasn't I doing that for your own good?!" Granny Li took a step back, intimidated by his imposing manner, but still refused to admit her mistake. "That Liu Fen, she's a barren hen, and Nannan is a money-loser! I was thinking of sending her away to get some money so you could marry another one and give our Liu family a son to carry on the family line! Who am I doing all this for?!"

"For me?" Looking at his mother's face, which was full of harshness and showed no remorse, Liu Jianjun felt the last bit of warmth in his heart turn completely cold.