Chapter 44

The sewing machine wasn’t actually that loud. He Shanshan was just feeling unhappy because she hadn’t gotten any malt extract earlier and was deliberately picking a fight.

Xia Qingning hated being interrupted when she was making clothes. She didn’t try to reason with her like before, but said directly:

“If you find it noisy, you can go back to your own house.”

He Shanshan didn’t expect Xia Qingning to dare to tell her to leave. Her face fell, and her sharp voice rang out:

“Why should I go back? Who are you to tell me what to do?”

Xia Qingning’s delicate eyebrows furrowed, her impatience evident on her face. She was about to speak when she heard Lu Jingzhe’s usual cold voice:

“Why? Because she’s the mistress of this house!”

He Shanshan saw Lu Jingzhe and her arrogance instantly diminished. She didn’t know why, but whenever he stood there, she felt like the air around him was cold.

Lu Jingzhe walked in from outside, standing beside He Shanshan. His gaze was filled with a hint of disgust. He said in a deep voice:

“You better understand your place. You’re just a guest, staying in someone else’s house. You should try to behave yourself.”

He Shanshan stood there, biting her lip tightly, her face full of grievance, but she didn’t dare to say another word. Just then, Wang Mingfang walked in from outside.

Seeing her mother, He Shanshan couldn’t hold it back anymore. She burst into tears.

“Shanshan, what’s wrong?” Wang Mingfang rushed over to protect her daughter and asked.

He Shanshan sobbed and said that Xia Qingning was stepping on the sewing machine too loudly, disturbing her rest. She said she had just kindly reminded her, but Xia Qingning told her to move out.

“Qingning, it’s already late, why don’t you stop? Look, everyone needs to rest, you’ve been working all day too.”

Wang Mingfang wasn’t as stupid as He Shanshan. She pretended to be concerned about Xia Qingning. After saying that, she suddenly changed her tone:

“And don’t keep telling her to leave, it’s hurtful. This is also her brother’s house, isn’t it? You were almost her sister-in-law, you should give face to the Buddha if not the monk, right?”

Wang Mingfang was using this incident to be nasty again. Both Lu Jingzhe and Xia Qingning’s faces changed. Lu Jingzhe was about to speak, but Xia Qingning stood up before him. She didn’t seem angry at all, but instead said apologetically:

“It’s my fault, I didn’t think it through. I shouldn’t be using the sewing machine here and disturbing everyone.”

Seeing her soften, Wang Mingfang smiled. She was just about to praise her for being sensible when she saw Xia Qingning suddenly pick up the sewing machine and start to walk away.

“Hey, hey, hey, Qingning, what are you doing?” Wang Mingfang asked, confused.

“Don’t you find it too noisy here?” Xia Qingning said sincerely. “I’ll move it to my room, it shouldn’t disturb you guys.”

“That won’t do!” He Shanshan, who was standing nearby, became anxious and immediately objected. “If you move it to your room, how will we use it?”

Xia Qingning looked at her, smiling, and said:

“Why don’t you buy another one?”

Then she looked at Wang Mingfang, her delicate face even more harmless with a smile:

“Wouldn’t that be great? Everyone uses it in their own rooms, and no one will disturb anyone.”

“No, Qingning…” Wang Mingfang immediately understood her intention and quickly smiled. “It’s not that noisy, why don’t you just use it here?”

Xia Qingning quickly shook her head and refused, her face full of apology:

“That’s not good! It’s so inconsiderate of me to disturb you, I feel bad about it.”

Then she didn’t hesitate and carried the sewing machine forward.

“No, you can’t move it.” Seeing that she was really going to move it, He Shanshan became anxious and pressed down on the sewing machine.

Xia Qingning’s face immediately changed. She brushed her hand away, her eyebrows furrowed, and she asked in a deep voice:

“Why can’t I move it? The sewing machine is mine, I’m moving my own things to my own room, what’s it to you?”

After saying that, Xia Qingning didn’t give her another glance and carried the sewing machine away.

But what she didn’t expect was that the old-fashioned sewing machine was so heavy. She had only taken two steps when she started to struggle.

But it was too embarrassing to give up at this point. Just as she gritted her teeth and tried to hold on, a pair of large hands reached out and took the sewing machine from her. It was easily carried into the room.

Wang Mingfang and He Shanshan watched helplessly as the sewing machine was carried away. They could only stand there, unable to do anything.

“Mom, do something! She really took the sewing machine to her room.” He Shanshan said to Wang Mingfang anxiously, seeing Xia Qingning close the door.

“Who told you to be so noisy!” Wang Mingfang, who had been outsmarted, didn’t have a good expression on her face. She looked at her daughter and said, “If you hadn’t provoked her, would this have happened?”

“But Mom…” He Shanshan looked wronged and still couldn’t accept it. “Are we just going to let her take it?”

“What else can we do? The sewing machine is hers. Now she wants to move it to her room, can I go and snatch it from her?”

Wang Mingfang looked at her daughter, who hadn’t inherited any of her intelligence and was always causing trouble for herself. She said resentfully.

He Shanshan stomped her foot angrily, her eyes filled with resentment. She said to Wang Mingfang:

“Mom, why do we have to put up with her? Like before, let’s just knock her unconscious and throw her on that director’s bed. That way, I’ll have my job, and I won’t have to look at that b*tch’s face anymore.”

“Shut up!” Wang Mingfang’s face turned green with anger. She pushed He Shanshan into the room, closed the door, and then lowered her voice, saying:

“You little devil, did a donkey kick your brain? I’ve told you so many times, don’t mention this, don’t mention it. Are you deaf or stupid?” She couldn’t help but reach out and rap He Shanshan’s head a few times.

He Shanshan covered her head, which was hurting from the blows, but she still wasn’t convinced. She didn’t understand and asked:

“Why could we do it before, but not now?”

Wang Mingfang, after all, was an experienced person and saw things more clearly than He Shanshan. She said to He Shanshan, exasperated:

“What do you know? Before, no one cared about her. We could do whatever we wanted to her. But now, what’s Lu Jingzhe’s attitude towards her? Didn’t you see? If anything happened to her, do you think Lu Jingzhe would let us off easily?”

She didn’t say that Xia Qingning had become much smarter than before for some reason. Now, even she couldn’t get the better of her, let alone He Shanshan, who was not very bright.

He Shanshan seemed to understand what Wang Mingfang meant, but she also seemed not to understand. The grievance in her heart and the pain from being hit made tears stream down her face.

She didn’t understand why her status in this house had plummeted since Lu Jingzhe came back.

Seeing her daughter cry, Wang Mingfang felt a little sorry. She patted her back and said:

“Don’t cry anymore, you have a blind date tomorrow. Your eyes will be swollen, it won’t look good.” Then she looked at her daughter and asked, “You got into a fight with Maimiao today, didn’t you?”

“She started it.” He Shanshan immediately defended herself.

“Think about it, if the guy comes tomorrow, he’s initially satisfied with you, but someone runs to him and says something, wouldn’t the marriage be off?”

He Shanshan belatedly became anxious.

Seeing that she understood the seriousness of the situation, Wang Mingfang comforted her:

“That Li Qiulian doesn’t like me, but she’s not the gossiping type.” Then she warned again, “Shanshan, you can’t be so reckless in the future. As for Xia Qingning, I have plenty of ways to deal with her when Lu Jingzhe leaves.”

“You must dress up nicely tomorrow. I heard from the matchmaker that this guy’s family is very wealthy. She worked hard to find him for you. You must seize this opportunity. Only if you marry well will you and I have a good life.”