Thinking it over, Zhuang Chaoying made up his mind: at least for the next two years, while he paid off his debts, he wouldn't send any more money home. Grandpa and Grandma Zhuang both had money, after all, and Zhuang Ganmei and his wife both had jobs.
Zhuang Chaoying felt that even without his twenty-odd yuan, they wouldn't have a hard life.
But he was being far too naïve. He thought that if he temporarily stopped giving them money, his parents might scold him, but he was their own son, and surely they would understand.
Yet on the day Zhuang Chaoying collected his wages, he didn't rush to deliver the usual twenty-odd yuan. The very next day, Grandma Zhuang came knocking and demanded money without even letting him get a word in.
Zhuang Chaoying had been happy to see his mother at first. He'd even said it was a good chance for her to see how they were living. But when he heard that she'd come to ask for money, he could hardly believe his ears.
Pointing at the dried radish on the table, he said incredulously, "Mom, your son, grandson, and granddaughter have started eating dried radish. We can barely get enough to eat as it is. Are you trying to drive us to our deaths?"
Grandma and Grandpa Zhuang lived with Second Brother's family. They could only get Second Brother's family to listen to them because they had money. Even so, Grandma Zhuang still had to help clean the house before Second Brother's family would show her the slightest kindness.
So Grandma Zhuang couldn't possibly give up Zhuang Chaoying's money if she wanted Second Brother's family to keep living with them peacefully. That was why she'd come over to make a scene.
Seeing this, Huang Ling didn't say