Back To The 80s-Chapter 307 - 317: Disappointment_1
Upon hearing Lu Ruixue’s accusations, Lu Aiguo felt unspeakably disappointed. His initial rage dissipated all at once and he felt a chilling emptiness in his heart. Furiously, he declared, "We’ll settle this matter today. After this, whether you live or die, I won’t interfere. If I do, I wish to be hit by a car the minute I step out."
Chen Dajun anxiously interjected from the side, "Brother, can we talk this out? We’re all family here, there’s no need for such harsh words."
Lu Aiguo pointed his finger at Chen Dajun’s nose and said, "You, stop playing innocent. You two tell me, what do you really want? There’s no way I’m giving you the house."
Lu Ruixue snorted and said, "If you’re not giving us the house, then you need to give us money." This was a plan that she and Chen Dajun had planned back at home. If they couldn’t take back the house, then they should at least get some money. Both of them were out of work and they were living off the pension from their mother-in-law.
Lu Aiguo coldly laughed and said, "Alright then, you two must have decided on an amount. Tell me, how much do you want?"
Seeing the expression on her older brother, Lu Ruixue was suddenly a little scared. Chen Dajun gave her a slight shove from the side and she mustered up the courage to say, "Ten thousand. Give us ten thousand and we’ll let this matter go."
Looking at his sister who was making such a big demand, Lu Aiguo laughed. It turns out that sibling love is only worth ten thousand. After laughing, he said, "Ten thousand, you two really have the nerve. In consideration of our familial ties, I’ll give you five thousand."
Lu Ruixue and Chen Dajun exchanged a look. Chen Dajun nodded and Lu Ruixue gritted her teeth and said, "Five thousand it is, but you have to give it to us tomorrow."
Lu Aiguo chuckled lightly and said, "I can do that, but you’ll have to write me a note stating that if you ever bring up the house again, we’ll see each other in court. And Ruixue, remember this, henceforth, no matter what happens to you, don’t come to me for help because you brought it on yourself."
All of a sudden, Lu Ruixue lost all her arrogance. Looking at her big brother, who suddenly seemed like a stranger, she felt some regret. Yet, she still stubbornly said, "Fine, I won’t ask for your help. I don’t believe that we can’t live without you."
Lu Aiguo just laughed, his heart aching. His younger sister, whom he had watched grow up, was acting like this. His eyes welled up and he shook his head, and said, "Alright, I’ll deliver the money tomorrow. Prepare the note. And if you two cause any trouble again, I’m not giving you a dime, no matter how much you make a scene." Having said that, he stormed out.
When Lu Aiguo returned home, everyone had already had dinner. Gu Xiaobei and Lu Zhanguo were in the bedroom, playing with the two kids.
Lu Aiguo, looking upset, knocked on the door and said to Lu Zhanguo, "Brother, come with me and have something to eat."
Lu Zhanguo nodded, placed Xiaopang on the bed and followed Lu Aiguo down to the kitchen.
Lu Aiguo didn’t say a word, but found some raw peanuts, fried them, pulled out two bottles of strong liquor and sat down with Lu Zhanguo at the small table in the kitchen to start drinking.
Lu Aiguo took the lid off one of the bottles with his teeth, knocked back half of the bottle in a single breath, grabbed a handful of peanuts, and only then did he turn to Lu Zhanguo with his eyes red and say, "Brother, my heart really hurts, it really does."
After Lu Aiguo finished speaking, he took several more swigs of booze. Begrudgingly he muttered, "How did Ruixue get so confounded? When she was young, she listened to everything I said. So why is she now so disobedient? Can’t she see that I’m doing all this for her good?" As he spoke, he lifted the bottle to take another swig of booze.
Lu Zhanguo halted him, speaking quietly, "Drink less, be a man."
When Lu Aiguo heard his brother say this, tears started falling. Wiping his tears he said, "Brother, you don’t understand. Ruixue and I depended on each other for survival when we were growing up. Dad was never home and mom had to undergo "re-education" because of her political background, so we were like orphans."
"Back then, I would skip school and get into fights, and Ruixue would always be right behind me. She was so tiny. To spare me from being beaten up, she crawled onto me and got kicked by the kids from the coal mine. Her face was all scraped and bruised. At that moment, I thought that I would protect my sister with my life." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
"Later, we went to live with our aunt in the borderland. Brother, you have no idea what life was like there - we didn’t have enough to eat, and every day before dawn, we would go to the mountains to collect cow dung. Ruixue would secretly save a piece of bread every day to give to me, afraid that I wouldn’t have enough to eat."
"Whenever the New Year came, our mom didn’t come to see us, and Ruixue would miss her. On New Year’s Eve, she would walk for more than ten miles, saying that she wanted to see our mom. But back then, we didn’t know where our mom was being "re-educated". So Ruixue would stubbornly walk all the way to our old home, and I had to follow her. We used to spend the New Year in our old home, without anything to eat or drink, or any way to keep warm. We would curl up in each other’s arms. Do you know how pitiful we were back then?"
"Later on, I thought that once I had the ability, I would not let my sister suffer the slightest grievance. But she was in love with that bastard Chen Dajun. Brother, can you tell me what’s so good about that bastard? He doesn’t listen to what I say, and was insistent on marrying him. Fine, if Ruixue is happy with that, then let her marry him. I was afraid that she might suffer after getting married, so I bought a car and a sewing machine for her. But the result was that they sold everything within half a year. Their life is just like begging, what does Ruixue get out of living like that?"
Lu Aiguo rambled on, then, after downing a couple of mouthfuls of liquor, his eyes bloodshot with anger, he said, "I feel so upset looking at her living like this. And yet at the end of the day, I’m the bad guy no matter what."
Lu Zhanguo quietly listened, his heart torn as well. He had always been with his grandfather, not worried about food and clothing, and when his grandfather passed away, he went to join the military, so he hardly paid any attention to Lu Aiguo and Lu Ruixue. When he was in the military in Capital City, he could only see them once every six months at most, and he didn’t know how his brother and sister were living. In his mind, Lu Aiguo and Lu Ruixue were growing up with their parents and were much happier than him.
Wen Xiuqing was standing outside the kitchen, listening to her third son’s words, tears streaming down her face. She always knew that her children resented her, but she really didn’t know how to be good to them. At times, she couldn’t control herself and would lose her temper. When they were little, due to the unresolved issues in her heart, she didn’t take care of both of the children.
When she was being "re-educated", she dared not contact the children for fear of affecting them. When she came back from the countryside, both children had grown up and had distanced themselves from her. Every time when Lu Ruixue accused her of not being their real mother, it hurt her more than anything - but she couldn’t say anything because she truly was an unqualified mother.
After downing a bottle of liquor, Lu Aiguo’s eyes began to swim. With hiccups from the alcohol, he said to Lu Zhanguo, "Brother, we brothers must have a good relationship and must not hurt our brotherhood over some meaningless things. What is money? Even if we didn’t have any money, we still have each other’s affection, which can’t be bought even with money."
