Chapter 196

After Tang Ying exposed the schemes hidden beneath the Wei parents’ facade of familial affection, Wei Juncai felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head. He stood there, numb.

Of course. He had been so caught up in the joy of realizing his parents still cared about him, he’d completely forgotten how much hardship his wife had endured with him after they got married.

To be precise, everything they had now—their so-called “good days”—had not come from any help from his parents. It was all earned by the two of them, through sheer hard work and penny-pinching.

While Wei Juncai was still in a daze, Tang Ying seized the moment and quickly ran through the numbers with Bai Xiuting.

She even pulled Bai Xiuting aside to give her a crash course in dealing with toxic in-laws.

“Here’s the deal. We’ve already talked to your wife. She’s tentatively agreed not to divorce and is even willing to let your parents move in for their retirement. But there’s a condition: your parents and your younger brother must hand over the money they owe you two. And to prevent any backtracking, that money will be temporarily held in your wife’s account.”

Wei Juncai’s expression softened a bit. He and his wife had weathered many storms together, and their bond was still strong. If this matter could be resolved peacefully, of course he didn’t want a divorce.

These days, how hard was it to find a woman willing to suffer through thick and thin with you?

Tang Ying smiled to herself. You think I can’t handle a blindly filial man like you?

You might be on board now, but your parents and that freeloading brother of yours? They won’t be so eager to cough up the cash.

“That’s more like it. Marriage is about compromise. Xiuting’s a good wife—she’s already taken a step back. As a man, you can’t be more petty than your wife, right? So it’s settled. We’ve already done the math for you. Take this and go talk it over with your parents and your brother. Once the money’s transferred to Xiuting’s account, you can bring your parents over tomorrow. Then the whole family can live happily ever after.”

Coming from the queen of clapbacks, Tang Ying’s words stunned her fans. But the moment she handed over the bill, everything made sense.

Even those who didn’t get it at first guessed what was going on when they saw Wei Juncai’s face nearly crack in half.

“What? Why is it so much?!”

The bill listed every single expense the Wei parents and their younger son had dodged over the years.

Since the parents wanted to live with the eldest son in retirement, the house they had built—which was supposed to go to the eldest—should be his. But the younger brother was living in it now, and they couldn’t just kick him out. So, the brother would have to pay for it.

Based on current village land and construction prices, twenty-five thousand yuan for both the land and the house was actually a conservative estimate. The village had developed economically, and a plot that size was worth at least ten thousand—a friends-and-family price.

And land in the village wasn’t easy to buy anymore, even if you had the money. If Bai Xiuting got her hands on that house and held onto it for a few years, the land value alone would double.

Then there was the matter of the annual allowance. According to the Wei parents, if they lived with the eldest son, he’d have to give the younger son twenty thousand yuan a year. Since Bai Xiuting had been married into the family for six years, and the in-laws had never once helped with the kids, that meant the younger brother owed them 120,000 yuan. He’d have to pay that back too.

Just the house and back payments added up to 370,000 yuan.

What average rural family could cough up that kind of money all at once?

And that wasn’t even the end of it.

If they wanted fairness, then they’d go all the way.

When the Wei parents married off their younger son, they gave his wife a bride price of 100,000 yuan, plus 20,000 for the traditional gold jewelry.

When they married off Bai Xiuting, they only gave 30,000 yuan—no gold at all. If they wanted the eldest daughter-in-law to let bygones be bygones and take care of them in their old age, they’d have to make that right.

No need to nitpick. Just round it up to a clean 100,000 yuan to cover the missing bride price and gold. After all, gold prices had nearly doubled since then.

Wei Juncai: “…”

370,000 plus 100,000—nearly half a million yuan. How were his parents and brother supposed to come up with that?

No wonder his wife had agreed so readily to take his parents in. She had been waiting for this moment.

But he’d already made a big show of agreeing. His wife had even taken the first step and shown goodwill. At this point, he couldn’t accuse her of being greedy. He knew he’d be in the wrong.

Seeing he was still a bit indignant, Tang Ying rolled her eyes inwardly. Men really are all the same—double standards galore.

He thought his own mother had it tough, but never once considered how much his wife had suffered all these years. Now he wanted to guilt-trip her into helping him fulfill his filial duties?

Was this what they called outsourcing filial piety?

Clutching the deceptively light piece of paper, Wei Juncai trudged off into the night to ask his parents and brother for the money.

Anyone with half a brain could guess he’d come back empty-handed. Sure enough, less than an hour later, he returned, looking utterly defeated.

He saw Bai Xiuting still in the kitchen, cooking a late-night snack for the mediators. Everyone was chatting and laughing. Anger surged in his chest.

“Well, are you happy now? My parents said they’re not coming to live with us anymore!”

That’s it?

No way.

Bai Xiuting didn’t believe for a second that her in-laws would give up on their obedient, dutiful eldest son so easily.

Sure enough, Wei Juncai continued, “They said they’ll stay with my brother. But starting this month, the two of us have to give them 3,000 yuan a month for support. And we’ll split any medical expenses equally between the two families.”

He said it like it was a done deal, as if Bai Xiuting had no choice but to agree.

She shot him a cold look.

Tang Ying had been right. The battle was only just beginning. As long as she and her husband lived better than the younger brother’s family, the in-laws would never leave them alone.

Feeling her icy gaze, Wei Juncai grew annoyed and snapped, “They’re living with my brother now, and we can’t take care of them directly. What’s wrong with giving them a bit more money? It’s not like I’m asking you to wait on them.”

Bai Xiuting sneered inwardly. She turned around, and when Wei Juncai took out 3,000 yuan for his parents, she went to the biscuit tin where they kept their cash and pulled out another 3,000.

“What are you doing with that money?”

“Giving it to my parents.”

“Your parents?”

“Yep. You said your parents are getting old and need our support. I have no problem with that. But my parents are getting old too. My brother and sister-in-law don’t earn much. It’s only fair we help out a bit too, right?”

He couldn’t argue with the logic, but—

“Of course we should show some respect to your parents too, but 3,000 all at once? Isn’t that a bit much?”

Bai Xiuting laughed in disbelief. “Too much? Wei Juncai, has your conscience been eaten by a dog? Around here, who marries off a daughter for just 30,000 yuan? My parents felt sorry for you and only asked for that much. They even gave me back 20,000 after the wedding so we wouldn’t struggle. Go ask around—who else got a wife for just 10,000 yuan?”

“And now you’re giving your parents 3,000 a month, but I can’t give mine the same? Tell me—do I earn less than you? Do I contribute less to this household?”

Each word hit him like a hammer. Wei Juncai, who had just moments ago felt so righteous, was now completely stunned.

He had never been a decisive man. His parents had always guilted him, saying as the eldest son, he had to take care of his brother and shoulder the family’s burdens. So he gave all the good stuff to his younger brother.

Now his wife was saying her parents had treated him well, and he should repay them too. That didn’t sound wrong either.

“Fine, fine. We’ll give both sides the same from now on.”

Watching him cave like dough, Bai Xiuting almost softened. But then she remembered Tang Ying’s words and steeled herself again. This family cannot be drained dry by his parents and brother. If her husband wouldn’t stand up, then she would.

From that day on, Wei Juncai, who had once thought they were doing pretty well financially, began to feel the pinch.

There wasn’t always work in the village. Even in a good month, the two of them together might make just over 10,000 yuan. First, they had to subtract the 6,000 yuan going to both sets of parents.

In the past, Bai Xiuting might have been frugal with the rest. But now? The moment she thought about how any unspent money might end up benefiting her in-laws and brother-in-law, she didn’t hesitate—spend it!

When the kids came home on weekends, she’d buy whatever they wanted: pork knuckles, stewing hens, roast duck, braised pork, all kinds of fish and shrimp. Whatever they craved, she bought it. And when they went back to school, each kid carried a box of milk and a box of instant noodles. No one was going to go hungry—not her children.

She used to be too busy to visit her parents, but now? The moment Bai Xiuting realized that no matter how much money she earned, it would end up benefiting someone else, she began making weekly trips back to her parents’ home. Every time, she brought several pounds of meat, a basket of farm-fresh eggs, and other goodies. If she didn’t spend her hard-earned money on her own parents, was she supposed to hand it over to someone else’s?

As for herself, Tang Ying had once quietly given her a tip: if she was worried her in-laws might trick her into handing over cash, she could convert it into gold jewelry by weight—preferably pieces that could be easily resold later. Sure, there might be some loss in value, but with gold prices rising, it was still better than letting that money fall into the wrong hands.

So, while her husband was still feeling guilty toward her, Bai Xiuting didn’t hold back. She made up for the traditional “three golds” she never received at their wedding. She even prepared a set of gold jewelry as dowry for her daughter in advance, and bought two small gold bars for her future daughter-in-law. When her son gets married, they can melt the bars down and make whatever style she likes. Bai Xiuting had no intention of becoming one of those nasty, stingy mothers-in-law.

In less than half a year, Bai Xiuting had spent nearly all of the 100,000-plus yuan the couple had painstakingly saved.

By the following year, her mother-in-law finally couldn’t help herself and started eyeing their savings. She sent her younger son to borrow money, saying he wanted to buy a small truck for delivery work. That’s when Wei Juncai pulled out the family’s passbook.

There was less than 10,000 yuan left?!

“Where’s all our money?”

“It’s all spent. Just the monthly support for both sets of parents costs six thousand. We’ve got two kids in school. A family of four—eating, drinking, living—where doesn’t money go?”

Seeing her brother-in-law’s face turn an ugly shade of green, Bai Xiuting couldn’t have felt more satisfied.

Spending money? Who doesn’t know how?

You leech off your parents and now you want to leech off your brother too? Sucking the life out of our whole family? Believe me, I’ll knock your teeth out before I let that happen.

After a complete revamp, The Rebirth of Housewives became a massive hit!

The addition of Tang Ying, dubbed “the fiercest mouth in the universe,” sparked a wave of unconventional conflict resolution across the internet. Viewers were sick of those wishy-washy peacemakers and old-school mediators who always tried to smooth things over. Netizens with a strong sense of justice absolutely adored the no-nonsense “Tang the Roaster.”

Y Province TV Station had finally cracked the code to viral success. Before fans could even start clipping scenes themselves, the station launched its own side account, posting highlight reels of Tang Ying tearing into toxic mothers-in-law, bizarre relatives, and scumbag husbands. The videos racked up views and likes like crazy.

Countless tongue-tied viewers flocked to the show. Some not only studied the clips repeatedly, but also tagged their friends to learn from them. After all, who doesn’t have a few nightmare relatives in their family?

What really had people cheering was the show’s “bonus segment” at the end of each episode: follow-up visits with past guests.

Take Bai Xiuting from episode one, for example. Who would’ve thought that after she learned to spend freely, her endlessly tolerant husband—who used to bend over backward for his parents and younger brother—would suddenly turn stingy?

He didn’t dare cut off the support for his mother-in-law, because his wife had made it clear: you pay for your own parents. The 3,000 yuan a month for her mom came straight from Bai Xiuting’s own pocket. So, in the name of “cutting expenses,” he unilaterally stopped giving his own parents their monthly 3,000 yuan.

His reasoning? “Other people only give their parents 3,000 a year. Why are you two so wasteful?”

And so, the Wei parents were left with just 500 yuan a month, no longer able to squeeze money from their eldest son to support the younger one.

Even funnier, it used to be Wei Juncai’s younger brother who constantly cornered him to borrow money. In the bonus segment, the show’s drama-loving producers deliberately edited together several scenes of Wei Juncai chasing after his brother for money.

His logic was perfectly sound: “Since we’re both chipping in for Mom and Dad’s support, and you and your wife have been hogging their house and land all these years, shouldn’t you be giving us some money every year? My family’s struggling too, you know!”

From then on, the younger Wei brother never dared show his face again. Every time he saw his big brother, he bolted like a rat spotting a cat.

The audience? Bursting with laughter!

(End of Chapter)

Translator’s Notes

• “three golds”: The ‘three golds’ is a traditional element of Chinese weddings where the groom’s family gifts the bride three gold items—typically a ring, bracelet, and earrings—symbolizing wealth, good fortune, and family commitment.