Chapter 3 – Do You Even Have a Conscience?

Li Mu stared at her daughter in disbelief. Was this really her daughter—the one who never talked back, never dared to argue?

But then she quickly remembered that there wasn’t a single grain of rice left at home, and the whole family was counting on her to get some money from this daughter to buy food. Her attitude changed immediately.

“You silly child, I was just saying those things without thinking. You actually took them seriously? Just think, if your father and I really treated you badly, would we have raised you all these years? Would we have found you such a good husband? Would you be living such a good life now?”

Li Yiyi let out a cold laugh when she heard that. “Mom, stop trying to take credit where it’s not due. Jiang Hong wasn’t someone you found for me—I found him myself. If I hadn’t shamelessly begged him to marry me back then, you and Dad would’ve already sold me off to some poor mountain village to be shared as a wife by now.”

Li Mu’s face flushed red and then turned pale as her daughter exposed the dirty thoughts she’d once hidden in her heart.

“But we did raise you! That counts for something, doesn’t it? I don’t care. Your dad and I are starving. You must give me some money today to buy food. Your husband sends you so much money every month, there’s no way you can spend it all yourself.”

At that, Li Yiyi burst into laughter. The more she laughed, the louder it got.

Li Mu, who just moments ago had been so full of self-righteousness, was startled silent by her daughter’s laugh.

“Mom,” Li Yiyi said coldly, “search your conscience. How much money have I sent back to my maiden family every month? And look at this place—does it even look like a home? And these two kids, so skinny, smaller than other children their age. That’s all because of hunger.”

Li Mu glanced at the two grandchildren hiding behind her daughter, then quickly looked away, completely indifferent. “They were just born small. You were the same when you were little. Must’ve taken after you.”

“Hurry up already. Your big brother and the rest haven’t eaten in two days. They’re starving!” she added impatiently.

Li Yiyi’s expression darkened, her voice even colder. “I don’t have any. Not a single cent. In fact, I was just planning to go back to my maiden home this afternoon to properly settle accounts—every cent I’ve given over these years. I want at least half of it back. I need money to get through these next few days too.”

Li Mu shouted in disbelief, “I don’t believe you! How could you not have any money? Look at the food you eat, even white rice! And you say you’re broke? You ungrateful wretch! We raised you, and now you won’t even help your own family? Aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning?”

“That’s right—I am refusing to help you,” Li Yiyi snapped. “And I’m telling you now, I want back every penny you took from me.”

Li Mu screamed in rage and lunged at her, trying to headbutt her. But Li Yiyi immediately grabbed an empty bowl from the table, smashed it in half, and held one sharp piece out in front of her.

“Come on then! You wanna ram into me? Go ahead! If you’re not afraid to die, come at me! Worst case, I kill you and pay for it with my own life!”

She gripped the shard so tightly that it sliced into her palm. Blood began dripping down her fingers, staining the floor.

Seeing her daughter like this, looking like she didn’t care about her life, Li Mu was so scared she didn’t dare move another inch.

“What’s going on here? In-law, what the hell are you doing? Trying to drive someone to death?”

Just then, Jiang Hong’s mother and his two sisters-in-law burst in through the door.

Li Mu’s eyes flashed with panic when she saw the three women charge in. She knew this woman wasn’t someone easy to mess with. She still remembered how, back when her daughter had pulled a stunt by pretending to fall into a river so she could get Jiang Hong to save her, Jiang’s mother had stormed into the Li household with a kitchen knife, swearing she’d kill them all for trying to trap her most promising son with a lazy daughter.

If Jiang Hong hadn’t stepped in at the last second, promising to marry her, things might’ve really turned deadly back then.

Ever since that incident, Li Mu always felt nervous whenever she saw this in-law.

Now, watching her storm in with that fierce expression, Li Mu quickly hid her hands behind her back and stammered, “I—I wasn’t doing anything! I didn’t do anything!”

Jiang’s mother gave her a skeptical once-over.

“Oh my god, Yiyi! Your hand—why is there so much blood? Quick, we need to wrap that up!” Jiang Hong’s eldest sister-in-law rushed over in shock and ran into the house to grab supplies.

Little Jiang Yueyue and Jiang Xiaobao finally peeked out from behind their mother. When they saw her bleeding hand, they clung to her clothes and burst into tears.

Hearing her grandchildren cry, Jiang’s mother was furious. She glared at Li Mu and shouted, “In-law, just what do you think you’re doing? Yes, Yiyi is your daughter, but she’s also our Jiang family’s daughter-in-law. If you’re going to bully her, don’t you think you should at least give some face to the Jiang family? Or do you think we’re all dead?”

Li Mu panicked, her words stumbling out of her mouth, “I—I didn’t! She—she’s the one bullying me, her own mother! Don’t talk nonsense!”

But her excuses meant nothing in the face of Li Yiyi’s bloody hand.

Jiang Hong’s second sister-in-law crossed her arms and stood in front of Li Mu, scolding her loudly. “What ungrateful daughter? Don’t think we don’t know how much Yiyi’s been sending to your Li family all these years! You’ve been living off my third uncle’s military salary, and now you have the nerve to come here and bully her? Pay up! If you don’t give the money back today, we’ll go straight to your village and demand an explanation from the brigade!”

“That’s right! And didn’t I hear your youngest son is still in high school in town? I’m pretty sure that money came from my third brother’s army paycheck too, huh? You sure have the gall—to use his money and then come here and bully his wife and kids,” she added coldly.

Li Mu turned pale the moment her youngest son was mentioned. In the Li family, their entire future rested on that boy. The whole household was counting on him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just came to visit my daughter and grandkids,” she said, quickly changing her tune.

Li Yiyi, who was getting her hand wrapped by Jiang’s eldest sister-in-law, snorted coldly when she heard that shameless line.

“Mom, people are watching, and so is heaven. I know exactly how much money I’ve sent to the Li family all these years. So go back and tell Dad—I’ll be visiting home in the next few days. You’d better have my money ready for me when I get there.”