Wu Li didn't dare to tell Li Jianmin that it was her who paid for her brother to stay in the hostel.
She was afraid of upsetting Li Jianmin.
She had no job and not much money on hand. Before, she still had Sheng Lan's inheritance to tide her over. Now, she had nothing and could only live frugally.
Wu Li didn't even dare to mention that she had promised to help Wu Gui find a job. She just stammered, "A few days ago, I went back home and casually mentioned to them that Li Chuchu was coming back for her job. Wu Gui went to find Li Chuchu on his own to ask about this. I didn't expect that as soon as Li Chuchu saw him, she called the police. My brother was then arrested by the police."
Li Jianmin leaned back on the sofa, supporting his head with his hand.
His fingers rubbed his temples forcefully, and his expression showed a bit of impatience.
Wu Li quickly stepped forward attentively to massage his head and softened her tone. "Oh, my brother is just too trouble - making. I must take him to apologize to Chuchu. Alas, I'm not a good step - mother. I've made the child feel embarrassed in the middle."
Wu Li knew very well that Li Jianmin was most susceptible to her submissive and gentle ways.
Sure enough,
Li Jianmin's eyebrows gradually relaxed.
He said a couple of words to defend her.
"Li Chuchu is also wrong. No matter what, Wu Gui is her elder. She should have told me first before making any decision when something happened. What kind of girl is so domineering and independent?"
Wu Li's eyes lit up. She thought there might be a glimmer of hope for this matter. She leaned in front of Li Jianmin and said meekly, "I want to ask Li Chuchu to write a letter of understanding. My brother's family are all from the countryside. They don't understand these things. They thought it was okay to be casual in the city just like in the countryside. If my brother gets a criminal record, they are all counting on me."
As she said this, she silently lowered her head and her eyes turned red.
When she drooped her eyes, she actually looked quite pitiful.
Wu Li's greatest strength was her ability to be submissive and know how to satisfy a man's vanity.
Sure enough, Li Jianmin, who was still a bit angry, softened his heart when he saw Wu Li like this.
"Oh, forget it. It's just that Li Chuchu is an ignorant child. I'll go and talk to her tomorrow and ask her to sign the letter of understanding."
Li Jianmin put his arm around Wu Li's shoulder. Wu Li leaned into Li Jianmin's arms, coquettishly acting like a young girl.
While most middle - aged couples would feel awkward with a kiss, they, an old married couple with many wrinkles on their faces, still behaved like young lovers.
...
The next day, Li Chuchu was packing up to get off work when Mu Qing happened to come in with lunch. She casually pointed outside. "Chuchu, there's someone outside looking for you. It seems to be your father."
Li Chuchu looked in the direction she pointed and, as expected, saw Li Jianmin.
She thought it was Wu Li who came to find her. She didn't expect that Wu Li could even persuade her father, whose face was more important than anything, to come in person.
Tsk, she didn't expect Wu Li to have such a great influence and be able to coax her step - father around.
Li Chuchu didn't give him a good look.
She brushed past him.
Li Jianmin's face showed a bit of displeasure. Seeing that Li Chuchu was really about to leave, he finally forced himself to speak. "Li Chuchu!"
Li Chuchu turned around, slightly raising her eyebrows. "Oh, why are you here? What do you want?"
Li Jianmin's face changed several times.
Finally, he lowered his voice and thought he was being patient as he said to Li Chuchu, "You've been making a fuss for so long. It's time to stop! Your Aunt Wu's brother has been sent to the police station by you. What does this look like?"
It was the time when people got off work and there were a lot of people. Many people were looking in their direction.
What new gossip had happened in their factory?
Seeing a few passers - by pricking up their ears to listen,
There was a bit of mockery in Li Chuchu's eyes.
"My step - father, why don't you go and find out what really happened before criticizing me?"
Li Jianmin frowned slightly, looking a bit puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
The mockery on Li Chuchu's face grew stronger. "Do the police arrest people for no reason? Do you really think I have the ability to send him to the police station with just a few words? If I had that kind of ability, would I still be in a situation where I'm bullied and scolded by you?"
As Li Jianmin listened to these words, his eyebrows frowned deeper and deeper.
He found that he couldn't understand his daughter anymore.
More and more people were watching from the side. Li Jianmin didn't want to say more. Now that he was the workshop director, he had to pay attention to his image. So his tone became a bit softer.
"Your Aunt Wu has been crying at home every day these days. We're all family. There's no need to take things to the police station. You sign the letter of understanding first. Then I'll ask your Aunt Wu to come and apologize to you."
In Li Jianmin's mind, no matter what, it was enough for an elder to do this.
Li Jianmin was born in the countryside and was deeply influenced by the traditional rural concepts since childhood.
In the family, children were required to be obedient and wives were required to be gentle.
But Li Chuchu obviously inherited her mother's independent and opinionated personality, so the conflict between father and daughter had always been deep.
Hearing this, Li Chuchu couldn't help laughing.
The stench of male chauvinism was almost overwhelming. Who gave him the right to make decisions for her?
"According to what you said, if someone wants to rob your job and beats you up when you don't give it to them, and then comes to your house with the whole family to apologize, you'll just let it go?"
"How could that be..."
Li Jianmin hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly realized that Li Chuchu was setting a trap for him.
He immediately felt angry at being tricked.
Just before he exploded in anger, Li Chuchu suddenly changed her tune. "It's okay if you want me to write the letter of understanding. The house was left to me by my mother. If you give the house to me now, I'll sign the letter."
Li Jianmin didn't expect Li Chuchu to be so bold. He said angrily, "Li Chuchu! I think you're crazy about money!"
"I'm just asking for what belongs to me. Is that being crazy about money? Then what do you call it when you occupy my mother's house?"
Li Jianmin roared red - faced, "This is the common property of husband and wife!"
Taking advantage of the large number of people around,
She shouted loudly, "That house was allocated to my mother by the unit because of her contributions to the factory. It's not for you to support other women!"
"My mother made contributions to the factory! What right do you have to drive me out now!"
Li Chuchu did this on purpose. The more people who knew, the better. She hoped that everyone could see Li Jianmin's ugly appearance.
Some old employees knew Sheng Lan and immediately recognized that this was Li Chuchu, Sheng Lan's daughter.
"Oh, this is Sheng Lan's daughter, right? She's grown up so much!"
"I've always heard that there's a young and beautiful female announcer in our factory recently. So it's her! No wonder."
"Didn't the factory give her family a pension and a house? Why are they having a dispute?"
"Sheng Lan's husband remarried later. His biological daughter was driven out. It seems that she was bullied outside, but her father didn't care. Instead, he's making things difficult for her here."