Chapter 2: It's All About Money

By late August, the lumberyard was in a period of relative idleness. After more than three months of heavy labor, most of the work in the fields was done, leaving only the waiting period before the autumn harvest. 

Although every household wasn't exactly idle during this time, the tasks were largely left to the women, who were busy preparing dried vegetables like green beans and potatoes for the winter. So, most people were at home.

As soon as they heard the commotion from the Li family, the neighboring women quickly put down their work and popped their heads out over the courtyard walls like groundhogs to see what was going on.

Li Qing had a very mild temperament, what people in the northeast called "you" (meaning indecisive or sluggish). He never had a clear opinion, which is why he always ran home whenever there was a fight at his place.

When faced with his brother-in-laws' shouting at the gate, he immediately slipped into the house. Seeing this, Li Xian scratched his head, signaled with his eyes for Li Pi to hold them off, and then followed his brother inside.

In a key moment, Li Pi rose to the occasion. Before the "reinforcements" could reach the gate, he stepped forward and greeted them, "Oh hey! Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, no work in the fields today? What's going on?"

...

"Big Brother, what exactly happened?" Inside the house, Li Xian grabbed Li Qing and asked.

Facing his younger brother, Li Qing finally let out all his pent-up grievances.

The root of the conflict, this time, wasn't really his fault. 

The issue started because one of Wang Feng's close friends got married earlier this year. The newlyweds set up their new home right behind Li Qing's, with three spacious brick rooms, plus front and back courtyards. According to the standards of the lumberyard, this was the "norm" for newlywed couples.

Seeing her own house, with just one small room and a toilet no more than five or six meters away, Wang Feng was displeased. Since the beginning of the year, she had been pestering Li Qing, insisting that the current house was too small and proposing that they switch houses with Li You.

Could Li Qing agree to this?

Of course not—such a request was utterly absurd!

Even excluding his younger brothers who were away at school, moving five people, including their grandfather, parents, younger sister, and Li Qing's own daughter, into a single room while he and his wife occupied the old two-room house? 

If this became reality, how would he ever hold his head up again? In such a close-knit community, the label of being unfilial could stick with him for life!

When Li Qing refused, Wang Feng finally revealed her true intention: if they couldn't switch houses, then they should at least build two new rooms and expand the courtyard! 

But how could Li Qing agree to that? 

Even if he wanted to, they simply didn't have the means.

The cost of a new house, including the plot and yard, plus the necessary furnishings, would be at least four thousand yuan. Where would they get that kind of money?

Wang Feng's answer was obvious: "If you don't have the money, ask your parents!"

Li Qing knew very well the financial situation of his parents. With both younger brothers' school fees covered by the family, relying solely on the meager wages from Li You's job as a nursery technician and their younger sister Li Jie's position as a radio operator in the lumberyard, how could there be any savings?

And so, for more than half a year, the couple had been bickering. Finally, on this particular day, when Li Qing wasn't working in the fields, the subject of the house came up again.

One had been plotting this for a long time, while the other had reached the limit of his patience, and so a major conflict erupted. Although it was Wang Feng who first made the move, in his rage, Li Qing, who had never hit his wife before, finally slapped her.

That's how it all happened.

Li Xian, who had initially intended to enjoy some gossip, now found himself feeling rather angry. 

He wasn't unaware of what his elder sister-in-law was like. In his memory, this woman had never done any hard work. Apart from helping with meals during the busy farming season, she spent almost all her time playing mahjong.

Even before Li Xian's time travel, whenever he returned to his hometown, he would always find this self-proclaimed "Chairwoman of the Mahjong Committee" playing mahjong, often smoking and playing through the night.

But what he hadn't realized was that the Wang Feng he knew was actually the toned-down, more laid-back version of her older self. When she was younger, she was apparently even worse.

"Big Brother, you stay inside. I'll go deal with them," Li Xian said, noticing that Li Pi was already having trouble holding the line outside. He pushed Li Qing onto the kang (a traditional Chinese heated bed).

"Second Brother, don't get into a fight with them!" Li Qing hurriedly warned, seeing his brother storming out with a fierce look on his face.

Li Xian turned back to give his brother a disappointed look and thought, *You're giving me too much credit.*

Outside, Li Xian's only teammate was a half-grown 15-year-old named Li Pi, plus a thin little dog named Bao Bao. With this lineup against six farm-hardened men, the odds of winning seemed pretty slim, don't you think?!

"Don't worry, Big Brother, our Li family has always been about winning people over with virtue."

Leaving behind this comment, which left Li Qing shaking with emotion and feeling that it completely aligned with his henpecked attitude, Li Xian stepped outside.

By this time, Li Qing's six brothers-in-law had already pushed aside the sweat-drenched Li Pi and stormed into the courtyard.

When they saw Li Xian come out, the eldest brother-in-law, Wang Qinghe, glared at him with bulging eyes and shouted, "Li Lao Er, get your brother out here! I know he's at home. He's got the guts to hit his wife, but not to face us? What kind of man is that?"

Wang Qinghe wasn't very tall, but his body was strong from years of farm work. He wore a white vest with a hole in the front, and his labor pants were rolled up, revealing well-defined muscles.

The other five men looked much the same.

This only strengthened Li Xian's resolve to "win them over with virtue."

"My brother hit my sister-in-law?" Li Xian asked, acting surprised. "Why would he do that?"

This question stumped Wang Qinghe.

The lumberyard wasn't big, just about seven or eight li (a traditional Chinese unit of distance) from end to end. Gossip spread fast in a place like this, and Wang Qinghe was well aware of his sister's behavior over the years.

He knew very well whether his sister's demands were reasonable or not. 

But still, his sister had been hit, and even if she was in the wrong, she was still his sister. He had to stick up for her.

Besides, the whole situation was already humiliating—his sister had married a divorced man, and now she was getting beaten? No matter the reason, he had to make a fuss about it.

"Why? Your brother knows why! My sister was delicate from a young age, protected by our parents and brothers. She never had to lift a finger. Now that she's married into your Li family, she gets beaten? Is your brother even human? When he married my sister, what promises did he make? Now he's just eating his own words!"

*Oh wow!* 

Li Xian couldn't help but admire Wang Qinghe's skill in redirecting the conversation to the fact that his sister had been hit, instead of the root cause of the conflict. No matter what, hitting your wife is seen as disgraceful, and it's something you just can't justify.

Li Xian cleared his throat and kept up his clueless act, "Could there be some misunderstanding? Big Brother Wang, it's normal for couples to have disagreements, but you said this fight was serious. What was it about?"

Wang Qinghe hesitated as Li Xian steered the conversation back to the core issue.

But Wang Lao Si, who was already boiling with anger and itching for a fight to show that "the Wang family is not to be messed with," stepped forward and yelled so loudly that the entire west end of the lumberyard could hear him.

"Damn it! My sister, a pure, untouched girl, married into your family, giving your brother a great deal. Now she wants to ask your parents for money to build two new rooms, and he can't even provide for his family, so he hits her? What a coward!"

"Ohhh!!"

Li Xian's eyes widened as he pointed at Wang Lao Si, pretending to have just realized something shocking. "So my sister-in-law wanted to ask for money to build two new rooms, and my brother refused, which led to the fight!"

The neighboring families, hearing this, all gasped, "Ohhh! So Li Qing's wife wanted to ask for money to build two new rooms, and Li Qing refused, which started the fight!"

"You idiot!"

Wang Qinghe slapped his thigh in frustration, feeling like he could strangle his younger brother right then and there.