novelraw Chapter 158
Chapter 158
"They haven't come over these past two days." Hearing Yang Dafu's words, Yang Mingwan's frown deepened.
"They haven't come over these past two days? Isn't their village in a rush to get electricity connected? Why wouldn't they come?" Yang Dafu was a bit puzzled.
"I'm not sure either. Anyway, I've been staying at the production brigade these past two days, but I just haven't seen them." Yang Mingwan's brows were tightly knitted.
"What do we do if they don't come? We still want to get their canning technique out of them." Yang Dafu grew anxious.
"What are you panicking for? Can't you be a bit more composed?" Yang Mingwan shot him a glaring look.
Yang Dafu instantly fell silent.
Although he was his father's only son, his father was truly ruthless when he decided to use his fists.
"Go call Jingmei over," Yang Mingwan said after a moment of silence.
"Jingmei is still sleeping," Yang Dafu muttered.
"Still sleeping? What time is it already? Does she really need that much sleep? Hurry up and get her out of bed!" Hearing that Mu Jingmei was still asleep, Yang Mingwan blew his beard and glared in anger.
He had already returned from half a day's work, and she was actually still sleeping.
"Oh." Not daring to disobey his father, Yang Dafu turned around and went into the room to call Mu Jingmei.
The curtains in the room were drawn tight, making it impossible to tell day from night. Only a slightly bulging silhouette could be vaguely made out on the bed.
Yang Dafu went over and gently nudged the sleeping Mu Jingmei.
"Jingmei, get up quickly. Dad needs you for something."
"Don't bother me," Mu Jingmei mumbled.
"Hurry up and get out of bed. Dad is waiting for you outside." Yang Dafu pushed a bit harder.
Mu Jingmei finally opened her eyes impatiently. She rolled over and glared at Yang Dafu in exasperation.
"What does your dad have to do with me? Didn't you promise before that as long as I married you, I wouldn't have to do anything?"
"Yes, yes, yes, I did promise. But isn't this because my dad has something to discuss with you? It might be a good thing. Hurry up and get up." Yang Dafu lowered his stance.
Being newlyweds, he still had a lot of patience with Mu Jingmei.
Hearing that it might be something good, Mu Jingmei's anger mostly subsided. She rested in bed for a moment before slowly crawling up.
By the time she finished getting ready and stepped out, over half an hour had passed. Yang Mingwan was waiting outside, his face livid.
Seeing him like this, Mu Jingmei guessed that it probably wasn't anything good. She turned around to go back inside, but Yang Dafu was quick and grabbed her arm.
"You're already out, just ask him what it is. I'll take you to the city this afternoon," Yang Dafu whispered.
Hearing this, Mu Jingmei's expression improved slightly. Somewhat reluctantly, she called out to Yang Mingwan.
"Dad."
"Mm." Yang Mingwan stared at Mu Jingmei, the knot between his brows never loosening.
This daughter-in-law of his had been married into the family for a while now, but every day she did nothing but eat and sleep. She didn't do a single chore around the house.
He originally thought that since she was pretty and had been sent down from Beijing, she must have some strengths. Now it seemed her only strength was her face.
However, thinking about what he was about to say, he temporarily suppressed his impatience.
"You've been married for so long, but you haven't made a visit back to your maiden home yet. Pack up this afternoon and take Dafu back for a visit," Yang Mingwan said.
"A visit home?" Mu Jingmei froze. Remembering that she had run away from home, her face turned a bit ugly. "I've been married for months now. Who does a return visit at this point?"
"What's wrong with doing it now? Before, you ran away because you had a conflict with your family. Now that so much time has passed, all the anger should have faded. You are still your parents' child; it's only right that you go back and see them." Yang Mingwan looked incredibly serious as he said this.
"Dad, if Jingmei doesn't want to go back, let it be. Her family members all bully her," Yang Dafu chimed in.
The main issue was that Song Nianchu was Mu Jingmei's sister-in-law. If they ran into her on this trip and got taught a lesson by her again, he would have to lie in bed for another few months.
"Shut your mouth!" Hearing Yang Dafu undermining him, Yang Mingwan shot him a death glare.
Yang Dafu only felt more wronged. He hadn't said anything wrong. Why force them to visit her family out of nowhere?
Yang Mingwan forced down the anger in his heart. Looking at the two idiots in front of him, he felt like he must have committed some grave sins in his past life.
If he had known that Mu Jingmei was such a useless vase that only looked good, he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to marry her into the family.
"You need to understand that our village's harvest this year is very poor. Every time we go out to sea, we catch fewer and fewer fish. The New Year is approaching, and soon the village won't even be able to pay the public grain quota. For the New Year, we'll only be able to gnaw on cornbread." Yang Mingwan decided to make things clearer. After all, if he spoke vaguely, these two fools wouldn't understand.
"Our family isn't that poor, right?" Yang Dafu frowned slightly.
"Our family isn't much better off!" Yang Mingwan glared.
This fool. If everyone else in the village was so hungry they couldn't even eat one meal a day, and their family was eating meat and fish every day, wouldn't that just be asking for someone to report them?
"So what does all this have to do with visiting her family?" Yang Dafu muttered.
"How is it not related? Don't you know? Qinghe Fishing Village gave out dividends to their entire village last time. I heard the highest payout was five yuan, and even the lowest was one or two yuan." Yang Mingwan gritted his teeth.
At this point, Yang Dafu finally realized what was going on. He looked at Yang Mingwan with a face full of pleasant surprise.
"Dad, are you trying to get us to use the family visit as an excuse to scout out their village's situation?"
Seeing that Yang Dafu had finally caught on, Yang Mingwan didn't feel much joy; he only felt exhausted.
"Exactly. Isn't that Song Nianchu Jingmei's sister-in-law? Have her go snoop around and see exactly how their village makes the canned fish. It would be best if you could... steal their secret recipe back. Then our village can make canned fish too, and you guys can enjoy the wealth along with us." Yang Mingwan deliberately lowered his voice toward the end.
"That sister-in-law of mine has never liked me. She definitely won't be willing to tell me much." Mu Jingmei was naturally tempted, but she also knew it was highly unlikely.
"Just because she didn't like you before doesn't mean she won't like you in the future. Just sweet-talk her a bit. Besides, with their village making so many canned goods, it's impossible that Song Nianchu is the only one making them. If she doesn't work out, don't you know how to figure out a way with the others?" Yang Mingwan scoffed coldly.
Mu Jingmei wanted to say something else, but Yang Dafu grabbed her arm and beat her to the punch, promising Yang Mingwan.
"Dad, don't worry. I guarantee I'll complete this mission."
"Alright, I'll go prepare some things for you. You guys will set off shortly." Yang Mingwan stood up and walked toward the house.
As soon as he left, Mu Jingmei shook off Yang Dafu's hand.
"Why did you agree to your dad? Do you think that secret recipe is going to be that easy to steal?"