Reborn as a Tough Army Wife

Chapter 612 - 607: The Luo Family’s Difficult New Year

Luo Dashan, although he had been living in the city for a while and had not had any contact with his family, was always worried about them in his heart.

He knew Zhou Yunmei and Luo Zhiming, that couple. Zhou Yunmei was never someone who liked to work. At most, she would help Luo Dashan do some fieldwork during the busy farming season and would grumble for a long while even just doing housework on normal days. She seemed to expect everyone to orbit around her while she worked and couldn’t stand being idle.

The couple of Luo Zhiming just weren’t the types to do household chores. Luo Zhiming hadn’t earned a single cent to bring home in all these years, except for a few months working in the city with Luo Zhiyong and marrying Fang Xiu, and the money he made then ended up being lost to others. All along, he had been relying on Luo Dashan and Luo Zhiyong for support.

Not to mention Xu He, who would just take money from home bit by bit as soon as she knew there was some, and then spend it all on clothes.

The three of them were only good at spending, not earning. Where would the money at home come from? Even if Zhou Yunmei had some, it’s likely that she had also nearly spent it all. He guessed that the family was certainly going to have a tough time by the New Year.

Upon hearing Luo Dashan’s words and seeing his worried expression, Luo Honglan’s face darkened, and she said displeasedly, "Dad, why do you still bother about the family affairs? Even if they are not doing well, what can you do about it?"

If Luo Dashan himself had the capability, perhaps he would like to take care of things, to go back and see them. Even though Zhou Yunmei had let him down, Luo Zhiming was still his son, and his son having children meant he now had grandchildren.

There’s a saying that raising a child for a hundred years means worrying for ninety-nine. In the hearts of parents, no matter what wrong their child has done, they can be forgiven.

But since he was now depending on Luo Zhiyong and Luo Honglan for food and shelter, he felt it wasn’t right to say much. So he just waved his hand to Luo Honglan with an embarrassed look and said, "It’s nothing, just talking casually."

Luo Honglan was helping Yu’er pack up things while glancing at Luo Dashan and instructed, "Dad, let me tell you, you’ve been in the city for quite a few months now, and our lives have been pretty good. We’ve had a peaceful few months without getting mixed up with those people. You should just settle down here from now on and not think about going back. Don’t worry about their matters."

Hearing this, Luo Dashan gave a wry smile, "Silly child, how can I not go back? Like fallen leaves returning to the root, one day I will have to go back, no matter what, and on the day I grow old, I will have to return to my own home."

Upon hearing him say such inauspicious words, Luo Honglan pouted and looked at Luo Dashan, calling out unhappily, "Dad..."

Hearing this, Luo Dashan chuckled, "I know, I know. We’ll talk about the future when it comes, at least wait until your older brother comes back, alright?"

In fact, Luo Dashan’s concern was not without reason. At this time, there was truly not a hint of New Year’s festivity at the Luo family in Luojia Village.

To put it bluntly, describing the current situation at home as ’not even being able to lift the pot off the stove’ was not an overstatement.

Since Luo Dashan left for the city, Luo Zhiyong and the others had completely cut off relations with this side, and naturally, Luo Zhiyong had stopped sending money back.

And Luo Zhiming and Xu He had always been idle and lazy, having lived comfortably in the Luo family before solely because of the money sent back by Luo Zhiyong every month.

Even if the money Luo Zhiyong sent couldn’t provide them with a wealthy life, it could at least support the family without issue. Besides, with Luo Dashan doing farm work at home, during the busy farming seasons, he would also insist that Zhou Yunmei and Luo Zhiming go out to work a bit. No matter what, they had enough food for the entire family.

Now that Luo Zhiyong’s money had stopped, there was no more food at home, and the Luo family had no other sources of income. These past few months, the family largely depended on Zhou Yunmei’s money.

Zhou Yunmei had privately saved some money, the exact amount of which she would never disclose. However, the 100 dollars given during the separation was known to Xu He and Luo Zhiming.

Therefore, Xu He and Luo Zhiming ate and lived carefreely, taking each day as it came, confident that even if Luo Zhiyong truly cut ties with Zhou Yunmei, he would never let her starve to death. Should such a day come, they believed other solutions would be found.

After Luo Dashan left, Luo Cuilan let her child stay over with the Luo family and gave Zhou Yunmei 15 dollars a month for babysitting. Luo Cuilan’s child was young and didn’t eat much. Luo Cuilan had calculated it: some of the cheaper milk powder from the city, mixed with some homemade rice slurry, would cost at most seven or eight dollars a month, and the remaining money was considered Zhou Yunmei’s childcare fee.

But Zhou Yunmei, trying to save money, didn’t bother buying milk powder for the child. Instead, she ground up some rice into a slurry and made a paste from flour, giving these to the child every day.

The child, tired of the same meals daily, started crying and refused to swallow. Initially, Zhou Yunmei didn’t pay much attention, thinking that when the child was hungry enough, it would eat.

However, the child from Luo Cuilan’s family wasn’t in the best health and after going hungry for a few days, became seriously ill. Zhou Yunmei had no choice but to take the child to the hospital.

The doctor said the child had low resistance due to malnutrition. The child wasn’t as robust as others and needed to consume city-bought baby formula every month to maintain proper nutrition.

As a result of the child’s illness, Zhou Yunmei dared not tell Luo Cuilan and had to pay for the medical expenses herself.

The child’s illness turned out to be a costly affair; Zhou Yunmei calculated that treating the child had cost more than the amount she had saved.

There was no choice; she had to take good care of the child. Otherwise, if Luo Cuilan found out she had pocketed the milk powder money to provide for Luo Zhiming and Xu He, who just stayed at home eating, she would have taken a desperate stand against her.

In the future, she might not even be given the child to care for, meaning she would truly have no source of income.

However, this meant the money from Luo Cuilan was no longer enough to provide for the entire family’s needs.

With their living situation worsened, Xu He definitely wouldn’t stand for it. She initially directed Luo Zhiming to talk with Zhou Yunmei, but seeing no change in the household’s standard of living, especially as the New Year approached—while other families were busy buying meat, fish, sunflower seeds, peanuts, and the like, bustling with activity—

Zhou Yunmei, however, claimed that there were fewer people at home this year and she didn’t want to bother. She planned to just buy some pork from someone in the village slaughtering a pig on New Year’s Eve and make dumplings with it, saving money where possible.

Moreover, while saying this, Zhou Yunmei held Luo Cuilan’s child, Little Zhuzhu, in the courtyard, all the while mumbling and complaining about Xu He, saying she knew how to spend money but not earn it. She even egged on Luo Zhiming in front of her, pestering him for money. The Luo family truly had married a disaster into the house.