Chapter 1173 - 1215: Get a Grip

Chapter 1173: Chapter 1215: Get a Grip

If she’d known earlier that Ling Shenglan already knew about this hundred thousand and was scheming over it, she wouldn’t have given her the more than one million back even if she’d beaten her to death just now.

She really hadn’t expected Ling Shenglan to be this insidious—first tricking her into bringing out that more than one million, then setting her sights on the hundred thousand.

"Fine, if you won’t give it, forget it. We’ll meet in court then!" Ling Shenglan rolled her eyes at Ling’s mother with contempt, turned around and got ready to leave.

Anyway, whether or not they took out this hundred thousand today, she absolutely would not withdraw the lawsuit! Suing them was just to force them to spit out every cent they’d embezzled from them! But now it was different. After finding out they’d actually spent a hundred thousand to sell her daughter to a cripple, if she could still forgive them, still swallow this rage, then she wouldn’t deserve to be Yueyue’s mother!

No matter what, she had to stand up for Yueyue, send them to prison, make them suffer the punishment they deserved.

Seeing that Ling Shenglan was about to leave, Ling’s father hurriedly grabbed her arm and said anxiously, "Shenglan, don’t go! Your sister?in?law only said that just now because she was worked up! Give me a little time, I’ll keep talking to her, she’ll agree to give the money back to you!"

Ling’s father had barely finished when, before Ling Shenglan could respond, Ling’s mother instantly snapped, "No, no, I’m not giving it, even if you beat me to death I won’t give it! If she wants to sue, let her sue, who’s afraid of who! I don’t believe it, who can prove this hundred thousand is their money!"

Hearing Ling’s mother, Ling Shenglan looked over at Ling’s father and sneered, "You see? It’s not that I won’t give you a chance, it’s that you don’t know how to cherish it! Anyway, everyone in the whole village knows that when Yueyue turned eighteen, you sold her to a cripple for a hundred thousand. I’ll be waiting to see how you can hold your heads high in court and claim that money was yours!" With that, she jerked her arm free from Ling’s father’s hand and left without looking back.

"Shenglan, Shenglan...!" Watching Ling Shenglan go, Ling’s father ran after her for a couple of steps, wanting to grab her, but after a few steps Ling’s mother was still standing there, rooted to the spot, glaring hatefully at Ling Shenglan’s figure as it grew farther and farther away, wishing she could tear Ling Shenglan apart and eat her alive!

Helpless, Ling’s father could only turn back again, looking at Ling’s mother in frustration and scolding her bitterly, "Look at you—after returning more than a million, what are you still clutching this hundred thousand for? Do you really want her to drag us into court? Just think about how much we’ve spent coming to Jin City this time, we’ve got to settle this and be done with it! As long as we give the money back to Shenglan and she withdraws the suit, we can go home! It’s not good to keep leaving Eldest Girl and the others at relatives’ places! No matter what, they’re not their own children. Do you want them to end up like Yueyue?"

"Go back, we’re going back, we’re going back right now. I don’t want to stay in this damned place for even one more minute! Once we’re home, we’ll take this hundred thousand, take Eldest Girl and the others far away, somewhere nobody knows us, so Ling Shenglan won’t be able to find us for the rest of her life! Yes... that’s what we’ll do... leave, leave as far away as we can!" The more she talked, the more Ling’s mother felt this was a workable plan.

And she started to regret it in her heart. If she’d known, she shouldn’t have given in to Ling Shenglan; she should’ve taken the more than one million and gone far away with her husband and children, left Jin City and that god?forsaken countryside behind! Once Ling Shenglan couldn’t find them, she wouldn’t be able to get that money back.

The further she followed this train of thought, the more upset Ling’s mother became, regretting it till her guts turned green.

Listening to her, Ling’s father couldn’t help rolling his eyes. "Are you kidding me? Take a hundred thousand and run? Run where? There are six of us in the family—how long can a hundred thousand last? Other than knowing how to grow vegetables in the countryside, we’ve got no skills for earning money! Once we leave our hometown, we’re just useless out there. When that hundred thousand is gone, what money are we supposed to use to raise Eldest Girl and the others? Don’t say things like that, it’s pure fantasy, it cannot be done!"

Ling’s mother refused to give up. "You can go get a job, I can go get a job too. I don’t believe it—Ling Yueyue, that little slip of a girl, could go out and earn money at sixteen, and we can’t? With our own hands, we can definitely support Eldest Girl and the others!"

"What was Yueyue doing back then? Yueyue was in a restaurant washing dishes for other people. Would you go do that? The pay is at most two thousand a month, and she was on her feet from morning to night without rest! If you’re working day and night, who’s going to look after the kids? Is two thousand enough for them to live on? Even if I go out and do hard labor, I can’t earn much in a month, and with this body of mine they might not even hire me! Besides washing dishes and doing manual labor, what else can the two of us do? We’ve got no education, no diplomas, no experience—why would anyone hire us? Even if we somehow manage to earn more than ten thousand a month, doesn’t rent cost money? Don’t living expenses for Eldest Girl and the other three cost money? Eldest Girl is about to go to college—each semester’s tuition is five digits! And once we get to some new place, what about Third Girl, Second Girl, and Fourth Boy’s schooling? You think schools are willing to take transfer students just like that? With no money and no connections, we can’t even get them into the worst schools! Tell me, can’t you use your brain a little when you talk? Do you really think this is the time to be acting on impulse?" Ling’s father was furious, and in one breath he said a lot, pretty much laying out everything he knew.

He didn’t have any particular strengths, but his one good trait was that he knew himself. He understood very clearly that aside from facing the loess and turning his back to the sky doing farm work in the countryside, he had no other skills at all. If he left his hometown, he’d be good for nothing!

If it were just him alone, a solitary man, he could still manage to survive doing hard labor.

But if the whole big family went out together, there was no way he could support them.

Housing costs money, food costs money, the minute you step outside it’s all money! Back home, at least the rice and vegetables came from their own fields and didn’t cost anything, and the house was theirs too! Just that alone saved a lot.

It wasn’t like no one in the village had gone out to work, but those were all young lads. People their age basically stayed obediently at home doing farm work, and if they were diligent, after covering all their yearly expenses they could still save tens of thousands!

For people in their countryside, that was already plenty!

He also knew his wife was short?sighted, ignorant, a textbook country woman who’d never seen the world.

Normally he went along with her on everything because he loved her, cared about her, and didn’t want to quarrel over every little thing.

But when it came to major rights and wrongs, his head was still quite clear; he understood a lot of principles and could see through things.

After listening to Ling’s father’s long tirade, Ling’s mother was left speechless, unable to force out a single word.