Chapter 15

Li Huilan was thinking of getting a job for free—how could she be willing to spend money to buy one?

Seeing her reluctance, Xin Qi glanced meaningfully at Xin Shan and said slowly, “This job was originally found for me by Second Sister. Just have her help Xin Liyi find one too.”

“We’re all siblings—sisters and brothers—Second Sister’s capable, so she can do more.”

Hearing this, Li Huilan was tempted. She had previously approached Xin Shan to help Xin Liyi get a job.

Xin Shan had married well. Even though it was her second marriage, Lu Qingshan was competent, so that second marriage didn’t really count as a flaw.

Since getting married, Lu Qingshan had never visited his in-laws during the holidays, and Xin Shan always reminded them not to trouble the Lu family. The Xin family had never benefitted from having a neighborhood committee director as a son-in-law.

Over the years, Li Huilan had only once asked her daughter for help regarding a job for Xin Liyi, and she was firmly rejected by Xin Shan.

But now it turned out that Xin Shan had secretly arranged a job at a state-run department store for Xin Qi, who was a money-draining daughter. And once Xin Qi got married, she would be like water thrown out—wasn’t this just throwing money away?

All three daughters were ungrateful. The eldest son’s heart had been taken over by his wife. Only the youngest son was truly considerate.

Might as well give the job to Liyi, the son who would carry on the family name. When the couple got old, he would be their security.

Because Xin Jianjun always sided with Zhang Lan, Li Huilan had long disliked her eldest son. Her youngest, sweet-talking and street-smart, had been spoiled by her since he was a child. She planned to rely on Xin Liyi in her old age.

Seeing that Xin Qi had turned Li Huilan’s thoughts onto her with just a few words, Xin Shan grew even angrier.

Looking at Li Huilan’s wavering expression, Xin Shan sneered inwardly. Just look at what kind of person Xin Liyi was—greedy, lazy, spoiled beyond reason.

Ever since they were kids, he’d always snatched food from his older siblings. If he didn’t get it, he’d throw a tantrum or tattle.

Xin Shan had a fiery temper, and because of Xin Liyi, she’d taken many beatings while growing up. Of all her siblings, she hated Xin Liyi the most.

There was no way she’d help him get a job—not even if someone held a knife to her throat.

“Mom, it took me a lot of effort to get Xin Qi this job,” Xin Shan said. “Now that she doesn’t appreciate it and the job is gone, didn’t she sell it for 1,000 yuan?”

“Then just use that money to buy a job for Liyi.”

“It’s still 500 short—I’ll make up the rest.”

As she spoke, Xin Shan patted her handbag, looking every bit like a caring sister thinking of her siblings.

The large sum of 3,000 yuan wasn’t easy to openly reclaim, so Xin Shan planned to start by recovering 1,000 yuan, at least to get some of it back.

Once she had the money, she could casually fob off the job situation.

But Xin Qi saw through her plan instantly. Her eyes flicked to Xin Shan’s bulging little purse, and she deliberately provoked her.

“I have the money. I just won’t give it to you. Let that drive you mad.”

Xin Shan’s face turned bright red with anger. She didn’t argue any further and called over Li Huilan to start searching through Xin Qi’s belongings.

Such a large sum of money had to be hidden in Xin Qi’s luggage.

Xin Shan and Li Huilan tore through Xin Qi’s things like raiders turning over a house, leaving a complete mess.

Xin Qi kept shouting, but she stayed far away.

It was just the time when people were getting off work, and voices could already be heard downstairs. The neighbors were returning home.

Xin Qi seized the moment, flung open the front door, and pinched her thigh hard. Her eyes welled up with big, fat tears.

She wailed loudly, “Mom, Second Sister, I don’t have any money—I really don’t have any!”

The workers just getting home downstairs heard her crying from upstairs.

They looked at each other with concern and all rushed over to the Xin family apartment.

When Xin Guoping returned home, he found three layers of people crowding around his house—neighbors from the same building, even a few from other buildings, workers and their families alike.

Xin Guoping’s heart sank. He hurriedly pushed through the crowd and squeezed into the house.

The small living room had no room to stand. He was sweating as he forced his way in and saw his wife and two daughters sitting on the sofa.

Xin Qi was crying like a flower in the rain, pitiful beyond words. Li Huilan sat with her head down, her face purple with embarrassment. Xin Shan sat bolt upright, her face iron-gray with rage.

Wang Fengying, grinning from ear to ear, was gesturing and talking to the others about Li Huilan. When she saw Xin Guoping, she animatedly described the entire drama that had just unfolded.

Thanks to eyewitness Wang Fengying’s storytelling, the whole crowd soon knew:

The Xin family’s second daughter, who married well, had returned to her parents’ home and instigated her mother to ransack her younger sister’s belongings—

Just to steal the younger sister’s hard-earned savings from five or six years of rural labor, so they could buy a job for the youngest son.

Xin Shan glared at Wang Fengying, her eyes bloodshot, but she didn’t explain.

Any explanation would be useless. Everyone had seen her turn Xin Qi’s room upside down while Xin Qi had stood off to the side like a delicate white lotus, crying with grievance.

Crying while distorting the facts—dumping all the blame squarely on Xin Shan.

What made it worse was they didn’t even find the money. Xin Qi, that wretched girl, even claimed she was missing 500 yuan.

Wasn’t she just accusing Xin Shan of stealing it?

Xin Shan was furious, grinding her teeth, but when no one believed her, she simply shut her mouth and refused to admit anything.

Xin Guoping felt like he was going to faint. The Xin family had become a public laughingstock again.

Being ridiculed right in his own home, Xin Guoping just wanted to get rid of these gawking spectators as fast as possible.

His face was dark as a storm cloud. He lowered his voice with a warning edge: “Xin Qi, have you made enough of a scene? Don’t go too far.”

But Xin Qi wasn’t afraid in the least. She wailed louder: “Dad, I’m your daughter too—I’m not some weed you can trample on!”

“If you won’t stand up for me when I’m being bullied, then I’ll go to the women’s committee, the factory director, the Party secretary, or even the police!”

She had nothing to lose. The rest of them had jobs and reputations to protect—she was basically jobless and homeless, so she had no fear.

Xin Shan was about to explode. Since marrying Lu Qingshan, she had never been so humiliated.

If it weren’t for the crowd, she’d have beaten Xin Qi right then and there. All those big names—factory director, Party secretary—even the police station chief was a close friend of Lu Qingshan.

She’d love nothing more than for Xin Qi to walk into her own doom.

“Go ahead. Let’s see if the police believe your nonsense.”

Her arrogance sparked the crowd’s resentment.

“Being the director’s wife sure gives you airs.”

“She’s got connections at the police station—we common folk are no match.”

“So heartless—doing that to her own sister.”

Xin Guoping felt like his head was going to explode. “Xin Shan, stop stirring things up.”

Seeing she was still full of resentment, he added in a hushed voice, “If this gets any bigger, it’ll affect Qingshan’s promotion.”

That finally sobered Xin Shan from her rage. Lu Qingshan was just about to be promoted again—it really wasn’t the time for scandal.

Grinding her teeth, Xin Shan made her decision.

She was used to saying the right things in public, used to putting on a pleasant face—especially in front of people in power.

But now she had to bow and apologize to the one person she looked down on most, someone she had bullied without restraint—Xin Qi.

It felt especially humiliating, especially degrading.

All because she had grown used to standing above her family, looking down on them.