Chapter 17 How can people be so bad?

Even though Bai Xiuying had spoken in a flowery, convincing manner, Su Meijuan never relented. After all, this was about raising a child, not some cat or dog. Even with a pet, once you’ve spent enough time caring for it, you can’t just throw it away. And if a child is brought into your home and raised day and night, even if not biologically yours, it’s not something you can easily let go of. Bai Xiuying was blatantly trying to use a child to bind Tang Wanning. Watching Bai Xiuying’s pretentious act, Su Meijuan almost couldn’t help but want to throw her out. How could a person be so vile?

Su Meijuan took a deep breath and, with a smile, said, “Fine, you and your husband can discuss it. We have no objections.”

Seeing Su Meijuan agree so easily, Bai Xiuying was momentarily stunned. When she realized what had happened, she was ecstatic inside.

“Alright, then it’s settled. My husband and I will leave early tomorrow morning,” Bai Xiuying said, pausing before continuing, “Over the next few days, Mother-in-law, you’ll need to help us with the house and the fields.”

Su Meijuan just smiled and didn’t respond. Tang Wanning, however, spoke up, “Do you need me to go with you? The journey is long, and if anything happens along the way, I can help.”

Upon hearing this, Bai Xiuying became flustered. “No, no. My husband and I are in good health. We don’t need anyone to take care of us.” Of course not! She was going to see her son and daughter-in-law—why would she bring Tang Wanning along? That would be ridiculous.

Tang Wanning didn’t bother arguing and simply agreed, “Alright, I understand.”

Afraid that staying any longer might lead to trouble, Bai Xiuying quickly excused herself, “Then it’s settled. Nothing else, I’ll go now.”

“Wait.” Hearing Tang Wanning’s voice, Bai Xiuying’s heart skipped a beat. Wasn’t everything already agreed upon? Could there still be a change? But Tang Wanning had spoken, and Bai Xiuying couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard.

“Wanning, do you still have concerns? If you do, just say it. As long as I can manage it, I’ll agree.”

“No,” Tang Wanning replied calmly. “I just want to stay home tonight.”

Hearing this, Bai Xiuying discreetly relaxed. As long as she wasn’t stopping Tang Wanning from seeing her son or preventing her from taking the grandchild later, it was fine.

“Alright, take this time to spend more time with your father and mother-in-law.” Seeing the happy smile on Tang Wanning’s face, Bai Xiuying was delighted. “Then I have nothing else. I’ll be leaving now.”

Watching Bai Xiuying’s departing figure, Su Meijuan spat fiercely. “Ugh, what a wretch! She still wants our Tang family to serve her Xu family as beasts of burden? Dream on!”

Su Meijuan then looked at her daughter worriedly. “Wanning, what’s gotten into that old vixen? Why does she want to adopt a child? Didn’t you say Zhenhua isn’t dead?”

Tang Wanning snorted coldly. “If I’m not mistaken, she’s testing our limits. If we didn’t refuse, later when her good daughter-in-law has a child, she could take the child away. Although Xu Zhenhua and I only held a wedding feast in the village without officially registering it, I stayed in the Xu family for over a year, taking care of the elderly couple day and night. Legally, that already counts as a common-law marriage. Now that he wants to marry another woman, it’s bigamy. If the army found out, he’d be discharged immediately. That’s why Xu Zhenhua has to hide everything from everyone, especially from our family. If we caused trouble at the military, his future would be ruined. But this also means he can never return to Taoyuan Village. So Bai Xiuying wanting to take the child back is somewhat understandable.”

Hearing her daughter’s analysis, Su Meijuan was furious. “Shameless… this entire family is utterly shameless!” Her voice choked. “Wanning, the Xu family wants you to serve them like beasts for life. How can there be such wicked people?”

Thankfully, Wanning had overheard that phone call. Otherwise, her daughter’s whole life would have been completely manipulated by the Xu family. Poor girl—how did she end up married to such a scoundrel?

Su Meijuan’s heart ached with guilt. “Wanning, it’s my fault. I didn’t protect you. I let you marry into the Xu family’s den of wolves.”

Seeing her mother’s reddened eyes, Tang Wanning hurriedly comforted her. “Mom, it’s not your fault. The Xu family is just too good at acting.”

Standing at the doorway, Tang Dehou and Tang Huaixu’s father were so furious their eyes seemed ready to shoot fire. Tang Wanning spent some time comforting them, finally calming the three down.

After the family happily finished dinner, Tang Wanning washed up and went to her room to sleep.

At three in the morning, most people were in deep sleep—a perfect time for sneaky moves! Thinking about the important task ahead, Tang Wanning was extremely excited. She first slipped her feet into the plastic bags she had prepared earlier, tiptoed carefully out of the house, and rushed toward the Xu family’s home.

Finding a hidden spot, she activated the system shop.

“Use 20 points to exchange for System Scan? Confirm/Reject.”
“Confirm.”
“Use 20 points to exchange for Telekinesis? Confirm/Reject.”
“Confirm.”

“Congratulations, host. You have obtained one-time System Scan and Telekinesis abilities. Remaining points: 231.”

After the exchange, Tang Wanning wasted no time and looked toward the Xu family’s elderly couple’s room. Everything in the Xu household became visible to her.

Just as she was marveling at the system’s power, she suddenly saw two completely naked bodies, making her shiver. Truly eye-popping!

As she was about to look away, she noticed an iron box hidden under a brick beneath the bed. Inside were stacks of cash, both loose bills and bundles. With a thought, the iron box floated into her storage space.

She didn’t immediately check the contents. Instead, she carefully scanned the entire Xu household, knowing that the two-minute duration of System Scan and Telekinesis was limited.

It turned out the old vixen was cunning—she had hidden money in several places, even under the kitchen stove. But no matter how she scattered it, it couldn’t escape the scan.

Tang Wanning activated Telekinesis for every item she scanned. By the end, the entire Xu household was empty, except for the bed the elderly couple slept in.

Looking at the now-empty Xu house, Tang Wanning almost laughed out loud.