Chapter 10 I can’t control you

Tang Wanning knew her mother was worried she might be suffering grievances, so she smiled sweetly and replied, “No, of course not. Besides, I only married into the Xu family, I wasn’t sold to them. Why wouldn’t I be able to come back to my own home?”

Seeing that her daughter’s expression didn’t show any signs of distress, Su Meijuan finally let out a sigh of relief. “I can see you’ve lost quite a bit of weight lately. Why don’t you just eat at home these next few days? I’ll cook something delicious for you every day.”

Thinking about how she had eaten chicken yesterday and braised pork today, Wanning figured Bai Xiuying probably wouldn’t prepare anything nice for her anymore. Whether she went back there for meals or not made no difference—in fact, not going back would be better.

“Okay,” Tang Wanning smiled. “Oh, right, Mother, when is little sister coming back?”

“She went to your uncle’s house to see your cousin. She probably won’t return until school is about to start.” Mentioning her younger daughter gave Su Meijuan a headache. “I don’t know what’s wrong with that girl, her heart is too wild, always running around instead of staying home.”

Thinking of her little sister’s fate in her previous life made Tang Wanning’s heart ache. This time, she would not only make sure her younger brother got into the university he wanted, but also completely change her little sister’s life!

Happy moments never last long. After finishing the wontons, Tang Wanning stayed at her parents’ house for a little while before slowly making her way back to the Xu family.

As soon as she walked into the main room, she saw Bai Xiuying sitting on a stool, smiling at her. In a warm tone, she said, “Wanning, come sit.”

Tang Wanning cursed silently. She had thought that if she returned late enough, she could avoid the two old foxes of the Xu family, but Bai Xiuying was actually waiting there for her. Still, she didn’t let it show on her face, and obediently sat down opposite her mother-in-law, pretending not to know. “Mother, why are you still up so late?”

Bai Xiuying affectionately took Wanning’s hand, speaking in a heartfelt tone: “Wanning, I know you’re a good child. It’s just a pity that Zhenhua wasn’t blessed. He died in the line of duty only a few days after marrying you.”

In her past life, Bai Xiuying had constantly brought this up, afraid Wanning would forget that Xu Zhenhua had supposedly been “cursed to death” by her. Every time, Tang Wanning would cry her eyes out and promise again and again that she would never remarry and would spend her life taking care of the old couple.

Now looking back, she realized how utterly foolish she had been—tricked for an entire lifetime by such heartless, shameless people.

Seeing Tang Wanning lower her head without responding, Bai Xiuying wasn’t fully satisfied with her reaction, but didn’t press further. She assumed that Wanning might indeed be thinking of remarrying, and her silence now was from guilt.

“I know you’ve suffered a lot this past year. But your father-in-law and I have long since treated you as our own daughter.” Bai Xiuying’s voice even choked up. “If… if you do want to remarry, we won’t stand in your way. We’ll even prepare you a generous dow—”

Not wanting to hear another word of this nagging, Tang Wanning suddenly stood up, her eyes red. “Stop! I will never remarry!”

With that, she ran back to her room in tears, without caring that she had startled Bai Xiuying and accidentally knocked over her stool, sending the old woman crashing to the ground.

Back in her room, Wanning cried loudly, her sobs drowning out Bai Xiuying’s “ow, ow” cries of pain.

Lying on the floor, Bai Xiuying felt no joy at all, even though she had gotten the answer she wanted. The fall had really hurt. She couldn’t believe how strong that little wretch was—she had managed to trip her stool, yet somehow her own legs and feet were completely unharmed, while Bai Xiuying was left dizzy and sore.

Groaning and clutching her waist, she dragged herself back to the bedroom.

But Xu Dingbang, lying in bed, didn’t even glance at her. To him, it didn’t matter—he already had the answer he wanted, nothing else was important.

Bai Xiuying knew he was awake, but she also knew better than to expect anything from him. Asking him to help apply medicine was out of the question. With no other choice, she found some ointment and rubbed it on herself, then collapsed onto the bed, cursing Tang Wanning viciously in her heart.

—

The third day after her rebirth.

Tang Wanning woke up early. Before Bai Xiuying and Xu Dingbang were even out of bed, she hurried back to her parents’ home.

Inside, Bai Xiuying heard the commotion and smugly assumed yesterday’s talk had worked. Curling her lips proudly, she thought, Hah, as if I can’t control you.

Though she had rested through the night, she still felt like her body was falling apart. Best to stay in bed a bit longer.

Only when Xu Dingbang eventually woke did she get up quickly to dress.

When the couple came out, the house was silent, not a sound to be heard. Seeing this, Bai Xiuying’s heart sank. Ignoring the aches in her body, she stormed around the house, even checking Wanning’s room.

But aside from the two of them, the house was empty. No trace of Tang Wanning at all. A chill prickled her scalp.

Sure enough, the very next moment, Xu Dingbang’s scolding came crashing down:

“What kind of useless mother-in-law are you, can’t even keep an eye on a daughter-in-law? I swear your whole life’s been a waste. Useless!”

Hearing his insults, Bai Xiuying shrank like a quail, not daring to move, and once again cursed Tang Wanning bitterly in her heart.

But Xu Dingbang grew even angrier at her silence. “What are you standing around for? Go make breakfast! Or are you planning to starve me to death?”

Startled by his shout, Bai Xiuying scrambled toward the kitchen. In her heart, however, her hatred for Tang Wanning only grew deeper. If not for that wretch’s laziness, she wouldn’t have been scolded like this!

As expected, once the one being exploited left, another was immediately forced to take their place. Without Tang Wanning around, Bai Xiuying’s days were destined to never be as comfortable as they had been in the past life.

—

Tang family.

Seeing her daughter return so early, Su Meijuan’s smile nearly overflowed with joy. “Ningning, you’re here so early. You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? Perfect, I just made your favorite egg pancakes.”

Tang Wanning beamed and leaned close, sweet words spilling from her mouth like they cost nothing: “No wonder they say children with mothers are treasures. Having a mother really is the best.”

Her words filled Su Meijuan’s heart with warmth. “You’re just greedy for good food. Here, this one just came out of the pan—eat it while it’s hot, but be careful not to burn yourself.”

“Thanks, Mother.”

After quickly eating breakfast with her family, Tang Wanning turned eagerly to her younger brother. “Xiao Xu, I feel like eating fish. Let’s go to the river near the brigade later and do some fishing, okay?”