Reborn in '77, I have a job panel!

"Hiding?" Old Liu interrupted him. "You've come hiding here, only to have the Sun family come knocking on your door?"

Liu Fang's mother chimed in, "Your father is right. You've caused trouble and come here. If the Sun family finds out, won't they come after us?"

Liu Fang panicked: "Mom, you're my own mother, how can I just stand by and do nothing?"

"Manage?" Liu Fang's mother sneered. "What can I manage? You came empty-handed, ate and drank my food, and I'm supposed to take the blame for you?"

Liu Fang was speechless.

Liu Dashan, standing nearby, said, "Girl, it's not that we're heartless, but think about it yourself, what kind of thing did you do? You took money from someone and then tried to persuade your own nephew to let the person who hit you go. Is that something a human being would do?"

Liu Erhe also spoke up: "I've heard of Qian Cheng, that kid. He's honest and law-abiding, but he got beaten up and ended up in the hospital."

And you guys, instead of helping, went and tried to persuade the other party to let the person who assaulted them go.

They even charged money. If word gets out, our Liu family will lose all face.

Liu Fang's face flushed red and then turned pale.

Qian Gaofei lowered his head, wishing he could disappear into a crack in the ground.

The two children sat there, barely daring to breathe.

Old Liu finished his pipe and put it down: "Alright, you can stay here tonight, but leave first thing tomorrow morning."

"Dad!" Liu Fang cried out anxiously.

"Don't call me 'Dad'," Old Liu said, looking at her. "I can't bear the shame."

The room fell silent.

Liu Fang's mother stood up, took two quilts from the cupboard, and threw them onto the kang (a heated brick bed): "Make do with these."

The Qian family of four squeezed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and couldn't sleep all night.

Outside, firecrackers were going off one after another.

In the next room, the Liu Dashan family and the Liu Erhe family were laughing continuously.

This year's New Year was absolutely awful.

Qian Gaofei lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), tossing and turning, filled with regret.

If I had known, I wouldn't have been greedy for those thirty dollars.

If I had known, I wouldn't have bothered with this.

Today is Lunar New Year's Eve.

The entire Sun family sat in the main room, around an eight-immortal table.

Several plates were placed on the table, containing cold dishes: shredded cabbage salad, pickled radish strips, boiled peanuts, and a plate of sliced ​​pig's head meat.

The pig's head meat was cooked yesterday, and today it was sliced ​​and placed in the center of the plate. It was the best dish of the meal.

But no one touched their chopsticks.

The atmosphere was so oppressive it was suffocating.

Grandma Sun sat in the main seat, her face long and drawn, her eyes fixed on the dishes on the table, lost in thought.

Sun Xinghua sat next to her, head down, not saying a word.

The other five daughters-in-law sat on either side, their faces increasingly grim.

Sun's eldest sister-in-law's eyes were red and swollen, clearly from crying.

The second, third, fourth, and fifth sisters-in-law all had stern faces and didn't say a word.

The children sat at another small table, the oldest being seven or eight and the youngest three or four, all unusually well-behaved and not daring to make a sound.

Sun Xinghua came here specifically for this occasion.

Her husband is in the police station, and her five brothers are also in jail.

On New Year's Eve, while every family was having a reunion dinner, her house was cold and empty, and she was all alone.

She didn't dare stay at home, so she ran back to her parents' house, thinking that since they were family, they could at least have New Year's Eve dinner together.

When they arrived, they found out that she hadn't even offered them a table.

When Grandma Sun saw her, she didn't even lift her eyelids, only said "You've come," and then ignored her.

When her sisters-in-law saw her, they looked at her with disdain and none of them spoke to her.

Sun Xinghua just sat there for a long time, but no one invited her to sit down and eat.

Finally, it was Sister-in-law Sun who spoke up.

"Hey, some people are really frequenting this holiday season," said Sister-in-law Sun sarcastically. "What's wrong? Nobody's home, so you're here to freeload?"

Sun Xinghua's face turned pale, and she remained silent.

Sister-in-law Sun continued, "If it weren't for a certain family bullying people, my husband wouldn't have gotten involved."

Now things are really bad. It's Chinese New Year, everyone else is at home having a reunion dinner, but my husband is locked up inside, not even getting a dumpling. Who knows how long he'll be locked up.

As she spoke, Sister-in-law Sun's eyes reddened, and tears streamed down her face.

When she started crying, her two sons, one seven years old and the other five, also started crying.

The younger one is too young to understand, but he knows that if his mother cries, he has to cry too, and he screams at the top of his lungs.

The older one cried and shouted, "Dad, I want my dad!"

Sun Ersao chimed in from the side, "That's right. My husband is a bit domineering sometimes, but it's all for the sake of this family."

Now that he's gone in, leaving us three alone, how are we going to get through the New Year?

Sister-in-law Sun said, "Our family is in the same boat. Our two children are still young. Who will do the farm work? How will we survive in the future?"

Sister-in-law Sun said, "I hadn't even given birth yet when the man went in. When he came out, the baby didn't even recognize him."

Sun Wu's wife said, "Who can argue with that? My husband promised to buy firecrackers for the children when he left, but now we haven't seen the firecrackers, and he's gone too."

The women got more and more excited as they talked, and then they started crying.

The children started crying too, and the main room became a complete mess.

Grandma Sun sat there silently, her face expressionless.

Sun Xinghua lowered her head, her hands gripping the hem of her clothes until her knuckles turned white.

She felt incredibly frustrated.

She knew that some of her sisters-in-law were upset with her.

If she hadn't gone back to her parents' home to call for help, her five brothers wouldn't have gotten involved in this matter.

If she hadn't ordered her husband to lead men to beat Qian Cheng, her five brothers wouldn't have been beaten or locked up.

But what could she do?

Her husband was beaten up, how could she just ignore it?

She thought her brothers would go and support her, but who would have thought it would turn out like this?

She thought of asking Qian Cheng to sign a letter of understanding, but who would have thought that the kid wouldn't listen to reason?

She thought she would ask her uncle, Qian Gaofei, to intercede on her behalf, but who would have thought that the couple would take the money and not do anything, and run away faster than rabbits?

What can she do?

She had no other options.

After crying for a while, Sister-in-law Sun suddenly stood up and walked to Sun Xinghua.

Sun Xinghua thought she was going to attack, and shrank back in fright.

But Sister-in-law Sun didn't lay a hand on her; she just pointed at her and cursed, "How dare you show your face here? It's all your fault!"

Her seven-year-old son also came with his mother, standing in front of Sun Xinghua, looking up at her with his little face.

Sun Xinghua thought the child would say something, but the child clenched his little fist and punched her leg twice.

"Get out! You jinx! Don't come to my house!" the child shouted, pounding on the ground.

Sun Xinghua was stunned.

She looked at the child; it was her nephew, her elder brother's son.

When she was a child, she would buy this child candy and small toys when she went back to her parents' home.

During holidays and festivals, she often took things back to her parents' home.

Now this child calls her a jinx?

She looked up at Grandma Sun.

Grandma Sun sat there expressionless, as if she hadn't seen anything.

She then looked at her sisters-in-law.

Sister-in-law Sun was holding her child and was still crying.

Sun Ersao, Sun Sansao, Sun Sisao, and Sun Wusao were all busy comforting their children and wiping away tears; no one paid any attention to her.

Sun Xinghua finally understood.

She was already an outsider in this family.