Chapter Thirty-Six: Living as a Widow

“What?! A hundred thousand?!” As soon as Mrs. Lu heard the number from her husband's lips, she sprang up from her chair and pointed at Lu Jun, cursing him, “You wretch! You lied to me all this time! Didn't you say your parents’ burial plot wasn’t worth anything—that your brother sold it for only ten or twenty thousand? Now you say it was a hundred thousand? You know exactly what our family’s circumstances are! All that money, swallowed up by Lu Min, wasted on who knows what! You didn’t stop him, didn’t try to do anything—you even helped him cover it up! How could you do this to me, or to your parents who have passed? Lu Jun, search your heart and ask yourself: Is this right?”

She burst into tears as she spoke.

Lu Jun hadn’t expected such a violent reaction from his wife and was at a loss, hands nervously reaching forward, unsure whether to approach or not.

“Get a wet towel and wipe her face,” Qin Ruonan, seeing Lu Jun’s confusion, handed tissues to Mrs. Lu and gently prompted him.

Lu Jun regained his composure, responded quickly, and rushed out of the living room into the kitchen.

After a while, Mrs. Lu’s sobs quieted. She used the tissues Qin Ruonan had handed her to wipe away her tears, and when she looked up to find both of them standing in front of her, she felt embarrassed, lowered her head, and stared at her shoes, sniffing and occasionally dropping more tears.

“I’ve made fools of myself,” she said after regaining some control over her emotions, her sobs subsiding. She addressed An Changpu and Qin Ruonan, then glared fiercely at her husband, who was hurriedly returning with a warm towel. “It’s not that I’m greedy or obsessed with money, or that I’d stoop to coveting even the elders’ burial plot. If no one had disturbed my parents-in-law’s grave, I wouldn’t care even if someone offered twenty or thirty thousand for it. But Lu Min went and sold it without asking, and now the grave is gone, so how can I not care about that money?”

At the mention of the ten thousand from the grave sale, her anger flared anew. She wiped her face roughly with the towel and threw it forcefully at Lu Jun, who took it quietly and went back to the kitchen to tidy up.

“You can see what our family’s like—broken down, lacking everything. My husband and I, we’ve never had much ability, but as long as we get by, have enough to eat and wear, we’re content. But you can’t live only for yourself, right? I have two daughters! Both older than Lu Min’s children, sensible and hardworking, never giving us any trouble. Even when they got married, they knew our situation and didn’t ask for much. But recently, when my eldest had a child, her husband’s family wanted us to give a little something, but we couldn’t afford it. All we could offer was to help care for the baby, but they weren’t pleased, saying we were too rough and couldn’t hold the child properly.”

Here, Mrs. Lu’s tears fell again. “If we’d gotten a share of that money, we could have given our daughter something when her baby was born and her in-laws wouldn’t have complained so much! Because of all this, my daughter cried every day during her confinement. My heart aches! If only Lu Min hadn’t kept all the money to himself…”

“Money, money, money! All you talk about is money! Our daughter’s problems are because her mother-in-law is snobbish, not because of us! Are you trying to show everyone that your husband is useless?” Lu Jun returned from the kitchen, heard her words, and suddenly lost his temper. “Our daughter and grandson are fine! My brother is dead now, and you won’t let it go—am I supposed to sell his grave and get the money back for you?!”

His sudden rage startled Mrs. Lu. Whether she was intimidated by his anger or unwilling to quarrel further in front of the guests, she didn’t argue back. Instead, she stood up and strode out of the living room in a huff. As she passed Lu Jun, her shoulder slammed into him, sending him stumbling—whether intentional or not, it was hard to say.

“Please don’t take it to heart; couples bicker all the time—that’s just life. Once you’re married and reach our age, you’ll understand,” Lu Jun said awkwardly after Mrs. Lu stormed out. He tried to explain, sighing helplessly. “My wife isn’t usually greedy; she was just pushed too far this time. My eldest daughter’s in-laws are real pieces of work.”

An Changpu wasn’t interested in the situation with Lu Jun’s daughter’s in-laws; what mattered now was Lu Jun’s own thoughts. He smiled sympathetically. “Every family has its own troubles. We all go through rough patches—no need to explain.”

This seemed to relieve Lu Jun, who slowly sat down.

“Why didn’t you tell your family before that Lu Min sold the grave and pocketed a hundred thousand?” An Changpu asked gently once Lu Jun had settled.

“I was afraid my wife would fixate on the money,” Lu Jun answered quietly, glancing toward the doorway to make sure Mrs. Lu wasn’t eavesdropping. Only then did he relax a little. “It’s not that she’s greedy, but as you can see, we really need the money. When I heard Lu Min had sold the burial plot, I thought about asking for my share, but I gave up. Lu Min was always lazy, and after surgery, became a woman—there was no man in that household anymore. Ding Mulan worked hard, up before dawn, out in the fields, then back home at noon to make lunch for my useless brother and care for the children. No matter how poor we are, with me here, we won’t starve. After Lu Min spent what was left, I figured it was like helping out the three women in his household. Who could’ve guessed Lu Min would go too far, blow through the hundred thousand, and end up owing loan sharks?”

“You sympathize with Ding Mulan?” Qin Ruonan was surprised. When they’d been at the police station for DNA sampling, Lu Jun and Ding Mulan had barely spoken to each other and seemed quite distant. Now, hearing Lu Jun explain why he didn’t demand his share of the money—out of consideration for Ding Mulan and her daughters—caught her off guard.

“Miss, do you think it’s silly that I worry about others when I can barely manage my own affairs?” Lu Jun misunderstood Qin Ruonan’s question.

She didn’t reply, neither explaining nor denying it.

Lu Jun took her silence as agreement, rubbed his head, and tried to justify himself. “Don’t mind what I said before about Ding Mulan not being strong enough to control Lu Min—that was just frustration! For a woman, Ding Mulan’s done more than enough. If I’d been in her shoes, I might not have managed at all. After Lu Min had breast surgery and came home all strange—neither man nor woman, neither human nor ghost—people in the village advised Ding Mulan to remarry. There were single men interested, waiting for her to divorce Lu Min so they could be introduced. We all heard about it. At the time, we thought, well, if she wants to remarry, we shouldn’t stop her. After all, Lu Min’s situation was so odd—why should a decent woman have to live with a fake one?”

“What was Ding Mulan’s attitude?”

“She refused, no matter who advised her. She said she still had a bond with Lu Min—maybe not love anymore, but still family ties. She wouldn’t listen to anyone, insisted on staying with him. Imagine—a woman choosing to live as a widow rather than leave our family. How could I, as the elder brother, chase after her for money?”

Just as Lu Jun finished speaking, Mrs. Lu reentered from outside. Her eyelids were still swollen, but her spirits had recovered. She shot Lu Jun a sideways glance as she entered, dropped heavily onto a chair, and snorted, “You know nothing! Who said Ding Mulan is living as a widow?!”