Lü Chunhuan now looked at Lin Xuan, squeezing a flattering smile onto her villainous face.
"Ah, son-in-law, hehe... Welcome, good son-in-law. Come inside and talk. Now that you're here, that's wonderful. Your brother-in-law, Yulong, is twenty-four already, isn't he? I reckon it's about time he settled down.
Lin Xuan, my good son-in-law, give Mom another five hundred yuan so I can build a new house for Yulong right here in the village, and then he'll be able to take a wife."
Lin Xuan: "..."
He hadn't even stepped through the door yet, and she was already asking for money point-blank. When it came to mothers-in-law, nobody surpassed Lü Chunhuan.
Just then, Tiedan, the village electrician, came walking past with a wrench in his hand and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, flashing a mouthful of yellow teeth. As he passed, he cast a glance straight at Lü Chunhuan's crotch, chuckled, and walked on.
Lü Chunhuan shot the electrician Tiedan a smile and even gave a casual wave. "On your way then, what are you looking at?"
"..."
Shen Yuchu stared at Lü Chunhuan. Right now, she detested this person three times more than she detested her own mother-in-law, Shen Chunfen.
Shen Chunfen wasn't a particularly nice person—she was selfish, malicious, preachy, and loved to nag, wishing nothing more than for everyone around her to live according to her worldview.
Yet Shen Chunfen had one redeeming quality: she was loyal to her husband, and she expressed maternal love toward her children in her own way, even if her method of showing it was a bit hard to accept.
Lü Chunhuan, however, was different. She was utterly selfish and loved only herself.
She didn't love her husband; whenever he went away to the city for work and wasn't home, she couldn't stand the loneliness of the night and ran around the village behaving dissolutely, earning a terrible reputation.
Even less did she love her daughter, wanting nothing more than to squeeze every last drop of value out of her. If she hadn't set her sights on the fact that Lin Xuan was a university graduate and a military officer, she would never have orchestrated this scheme to force the Lin family to marry Shen Yuchu.
Lü Chunhuan claimed over and over again that she loved her son, but what she actually loved was superficial status, or perhaps she just wanted to use her son's prospects to line her own pockets.
Shen Yuchu found Lü Chunhuan revolting; her entire being radiated an indescribable, sickening stench.
Yet she still had to pretend to be affectionate toward her. "Mom, let me tell you, Lin Xuan is getting a promotion! From now on, his monthly allowance will be five hundred yuan!"
"Ahem, ahem, ahem!" A gust of cold wind blew down Lin Xuan's neck, causing him to cough twice.
Shen Chunfen, Lin Hui, and Lin Hui's mother-in-law all stared in astonishment.
Madam Wu blinked and stepped forward. "Really?"
"Of course!" Shen Yuchu said without changing expression.
Shen Chunfen: "Shen Yuchu, if my son..."
"Shut your mouth!" Shen Yuchu cut her mother-in-law off with a single phrase.
Lü Chunhuan was overjoyed. "Oh my, five hundred yuan a month?" she said, stretching out her hands toward Shen Yuchu and Lin Xuan.
"Well... well, in that case, won't that cover Shen Yulong's house and bride price? This is wonderful news! Come on, let's go inside and talk, let's go inside!"
Shen Chunfen: "What? My son's allowance is going to be used to build a house and pay the bride price for your son? What on earth are you thinking?" she blurted out, her voice rising in panic.
Lü Chunhuan shouted at the top of her lungs, "Didn't I raise a daughter this big and hand her right over to your Lin family? If your son had known how to keep himself in check back then, would such a fine daughter of mine have ended up rolling in the hay with him?" Her voice was even louder than Shen Chunfen's, as if she wanted the whole village to come over and watch the spectacle.
Lin Xuan closed his eyes in sheer helplessness.
This matter had happened three years ago, and she was still bringing it up? He didn't want to set foot in this village at all.
Seeing Lü Chunhuan standing with her hands on her hips, looking like a shrew spoiling for a fight, Shen Yuchu walked over and grabbed her. "You, come over here with me!"
Then, Shen Yuchu shot Lin Xuan a look and whispered, "None of you come over."
With a vicious, drooping glare, Lü Chunhuan spat toward Shen Chunfen and snapped bitterly, "Damn it all, coming right up to my face—just because you're leaning on your son, huh?"
"Fuck your mother's cunt, coming into our house and poking your nose into everything without bringing a single damn thing?"
"You motherfucking dog's bastard, turning up at our house empty-handed..."
"Bloody hell, bringing your shameless daughter along too."
"Damn grandmother's corpse, dragging along some brat..."
"Motherfucker, you haven't even rubbed the rural dirt off yourselves yet, and you're trying to act like city folk."
"You're country folk to the core, nothing more than dirt-eaters, yet you think just because you got into the city you can start eating bread, damn it all..."
"..."
Shen Yuchu led the cursing Lü Chunhuan into the courtyard.
She said to Lü Chunhuan, "Why are you cursing my mother-in-law? Her son is getting a promotion right now—has your brain been kicked by a donkey?"
Lü Chunhuan spat on the ground. "I just can't stand that cross-eyed stinking bitch."
Shen Yuchu's expression was grim. With Lü Chunhuan acting like this, she genuinely wished she never had to deal with her for the rest of her life.
Lü Chunhuan's mouth was full of filth, endlessly cursing this person or that. Don't even mention the word "decency" around her, because she didn't have an ounce of it.
Even so, Shen Yuchu forced herself to speak patiently. "Lin Xuan getting promoted is a sure thing. It's set in stone.
His superior has a daughter, and the superior lives in a nice western-style villa in the city.
This time, when Lin Xuan drove back, he wanted to set my younger brother up on a date.
That's a superior's daughter we're talking about, a city girl. The superior only has this one daughter; if we introduce my brother to her..."
The moment Lü Chunhuan heard this, such a stroke of incredible good fortune was "dropping" straight from the sky.
Her eyes flashed with the gleam of dog feces.
She felt as though a wave of unbelievably good luck had finally "splatted" right onto her head.
A massive pile of dog sludge had landed squarely on Lü Chunhuan's head.
Lü Chunhuan split her mouth in a wide grin, revealing a super-repulsive expression.
She grabbed Shen Yuchu's arm with her withered, skeleton-like hands, staring straight at Shen Yuchu with ghostly, unblinking eyes.
Shen Yuchu wanted to pull away in disgust, but she ultimately forced herself to endure it.
"Dead girl, is what you're saying true?"
Shen Yuchu looked into those eyes shining with dog-shit fortune. "Of course it's true. Lin Xuan even drove the car back—the superior is the one who let him take it."
Lü Chunhuan: "Alright then, I'll go make sure Yulong cleans up and dresses nice right now, and he can go with you to the military base."
"What military base?" Shen Yuchu abruptly shook Lü Chunhuan off. "She's a superior's daughter living in a western-style villa! Have you ever even seen a villa on television?"
Lü Chunhuan nodded. She had seen television; the village had a TV set, and every nightfall the village head would carry it out, and all the villagers would gather around to watch.
So she hurriedly chimed in, "Seen it, I've seen it."
Shen Yuchu continued painting a grand picture: "Not only do they live in a western-style villa, they also drive a car. And the daughter is so pretty she puts the Moon Goddess to shame, as gorgeous as a heavenly fairy."
Lü Chunhuan: "..."