Chapter 5: Getting Back My Wages and Coupons!

Since the original host was six years old, cooking meals at home had been her responsibility.

She was just a tiny child, barely taller than the stove, yet she had to hover around the pots all day.

At first, she was too young and often served undercooked rice.

Wang Xiuqin was disgusted, saying she was wasting food, and even beat her nearly to death a few times. But after the beatings, she still made her cook.

Later, as time passed, the original host learned how to cook properly and gradually got better at it.

She ended up cooking for over ten years.

Su Mujin had inherited these memories, and now she just snorted coldly, “Cook my ass! Whoever wants to eat can cook. I’m not doing it.”

Although she didn’t know why she’d transmigrated into a book and become Su Mujin, she was absolutely not going to play the role of some soft pushover.

She wasn’t about to tolerate a single one of these people in the Su family.

Wang Xiuqin hadn’t expected Su Mujin to speak like that at all. After hearing her words, she was momentarily stunned.

“You… What did you say? Say that again if you dare!”

Su Mujin stared straight at Wang Xiuqin and repeated clearly, “I said, I’m not cooking. Whoever wants to eat can cook.”

Wang Xiuqin’s face flushed red with rage. She strode toward Su Mujin like a storm.

“You damned girl, you’ve turned the sky upside down, huh?! How dare you talk to me like that! I’ll deal with you properly today!”

As she spoke, her large palm like a fan was already raised, ready to slap Su Mujin across the face.

But Su Mujin had no intention of standing there waiting to be hit, and she didn’t plan to fight her mother head-on either.

After all, Wang Xiuqin was her biological mother, an elder. If she physically fought back, it would only hurt her in the eyes of others.

So instead, Su Mujin quickly turned and bolted out the door, then began crying loudly on purpose for everyone to hear.

“Mom! Don’t hit me! I’ll give up Song Liancheng to my sister! As long as she can marry well, I don’t mind marrying a cripple!”

“I know she’s smarter than me, has bigger eyes, speaks better. I can’t compare to her in anything.”

“Today when she accidentally pushed me into the river, I finally managed to climb out—and I even saved someone who fell in! But when I saved him, my sister said I was improper for hugging and touching a man, and said I was unchaste, that I don’t deserve to marry Song Liancheng. I think she’s right!”

“Mom, I know I only deserve to marry a cripple. If Sister can marry Song Liancheng, that’s the best! That way you and Sister can both be happy! I just beg you not to hit me again—don’t kill me with a knife!”

Su Mujin sobbed and wailed dramatically, her voice loud and clear, echoing through the entire four-story communal building.

It was just after working hours in the afternoon—the time when everyone was home preparing dinner—so every household was around.

The moment they heard such explosive drama, they all stepped out to watch the show.

As more and more neighbors gathered outside, Wang Xiuqin panicked and quickly reached out, trying to cover Su Mujin’s mouth.

Su Mujin quickly dodged to the side and easily avoided the blow.

“Mom, I know you like my sister more and don’t like me. I’ve been cooking three meals a day for this family since I was six years old, and I’ve been doing everyone’s laundry. You and Dad found my sister’s job through connections, but I got mine through my own hard work—and I guess I just deserve that.”

“Even after I started working, I’d come home every day to cook and clean, while my sister just waited to eat. I had to hand over all of my salary, and you still told me I was mooching off the family, scolded me for eating for free. My sister only turned in ten yuan, and you still praised her for being capable.”

“I put up with all of that. Now I’m even willing to marry a cripple so my sister can marry Song Liancheng. So why do you still want to hit me, Mom? What do you want me to do to finally make you happy?”

“Is it only if I die that you’ll be satisfied? If that’s what it takes, then I’ll jump right now!”

As she spoke, Su Mujin started climbing over the railing.

The aunties and grannies nearby watching the drama rushed up to stop her in a panic.

“Mujin, don’t do anything stupid! Your mom is your real mother—how could she possibly want you dead?” said Chen Fengmei, the woman who lived next door to the Su family.

Chen Fengmei and Wang Xiuqin were both team leaders in the same textile factory, and had always competed with each other, both wanting to be named Outstanding Group Leader.

Now that this big mess had broken out in the Su household, of course Chen Fengmei was more than happy to stir the pot.

“Mujin, listen to Auntie,” Chen said, putting on a serious, concerned tone. “You and your sister are both your mom’s daughters. And your mom’s a modern woman, a team leader! Whether in her work or her thinking, she’s ahead of the pack—how could she be so biased?”

Tears welled up in Su Mujin’s eyes. She looked at Chen Fengmei pitifully and said, “Auntie Chen, do you really mean that? My mom really doesn’t hate me? Then why does she only make me cook and do laundry, and never my sister? Why have I worked for two years and never seen a cent of my salary, while my sister gets to keep all of hers?”

Chen Fengmei’s eyes sparkled with mischief. She was enjoying this immensely, and decided to play along.

“You silly girl! Of course it’s because your mom’s doing it for your own good! Us women—we all have to get married and have kids one day. Your mom’s been training you to cook and clean from a young age, so you won’t have to struggle to learn it later in life.”

“Your sister doesn’t know anything. Now she’s about to get married and has to learn it all at once. But you—you’ve already mastered everything! You’ll live comfortably when you marry.”

“And as for your salary, your mom wouldn’t take that from you! She’s been saving it up for your dowry!”

Su Mujin widened her eyes in exaggerated shock. “Is that true? I earn thirteen yuan and fifty cents a month, so after two years, that’s three hundred and twenty-four yuan. Is my mom really going to give me all that money as a dowry?”

“Of course!” Chen Fengmei said with a straight face. “That’s your own salary! Your mom might even add a bit more on top and make it a round number. I bet she’ll give you a whole six hundred yuan as a dowry!”

Another aunt nearby overheard and gasped.

“Wow! No wonder Xiuqin is called a modern woman! She’s out here trying to be an Outstanding Group Leader, and look at her thinking—absolutely fair and progressive! No favoring boys over girls! None of us can compare with her! When the time comes to vote for team leader, I’ll be the first to cast my vote for Xiuqin!”

Chen Fengmei grinned and added, “That’s right! With how well Xiuqin treats Mujin, if anyone dares say she’s unfit, I’ll be the first to stand up and argue back!”

The building they lived in was a four-story “H”-shaped communal block. Each floor had more than a dozen households, with the whole building housing eighty to ninety families—all employees of the cotton mill. The lowest rank among them was team leader, and some were even deputy factory directors.

Right now, the whole building had come out to watch the drama unfold. One by one, everyone started praising Wang Xiuqin to the skies, completely putting her on the spot.

Her face turned red, then green, then purple—she couldn’t say a single word.

Su Mujin looked at Wang Xiuqin with eyes full of hope and asked softly, “Mom, is that really true?”