Chapter 115.1

“Qinglan, you tell me—who will you listen to? Me, or someone else?”  Wen Nuan asked calmly.

Hearing this, Zhao Wuzhu exploded. She turned to Gu Qinglan with confidence and said, “Qinglan is my daughter! How could it make sense for her not to listen to me?”

“This isn’t up for discussion anymore,” Zhao Wuzhu continued. “Qinglan is no longer young. She’ll be 25 after the New Year—a proper old maid! Do you think, as her mother, I’d ever harm her? I’m doing this for her own good!”

Gu Qinglan, furious, took a deep breath and raised her voice. “You wouldn’t harm me, but you don’t care about me either.”

Without missing a beat, she declared, “Let me make it clear right now—I’m listening to my sister-in-law.”

Zhao Wuzhu was so enraged by this that she practically shouted, “Oh, Gu Qinglan, have you forgotten who raised you? When your deadbeat father kicked the bucket without leaving me a thing, who was it? Me! It was me who worked myself to the bone, raising you and your brothers and sisters!”

“And now, look at you! You’ve grown wings and are turning against me, siding with an outsider? Of all people, you’re listening to an outsider? You ungrateful fool! You’d be sold off and still help count the money for the person who sold you!”

The tension that had been simmering at Wen Nuan’s house over the past few days was one thing, but Zhao Wuzhu couldn’t tolerate this. Gu Qinglan was her *own daughter*. There was no way she’d allow Wen Nuan to interfere in her parenting.

Moreover, she was convinced that Wen Nuan had been the one to ruin Qinglan’s matchmaking last year. Wasn’t it Wen Nuan who’d caused trouble and even managed to knock out one of the state cadre’s teeth? It was nothing short of sheer stupidity and malice!

A perfectly good marriage had been sabotaged. Instead of helping Gu Qinglan secure such a match, Wen Nuan had deliberately messed it up. What could her motives possibly be?

Wen Nuan took two steps forward, watching Zhao Wuzhu’s face grow red with fury. Feeling that this situation needed to be addressed directly, she interrupted her. “From the way you’re talking, it sounds like you don’t even consider me part of this family, is that it?”

Gu Qinglan, already seething, became even angrier. “Mom, how can you say things like this? We’re family with my sister-in-law. What’s this nonsense about ‘outsiders’? That’s completely out of line!”

She was starting to regret not sending her mother back to their hometown the very first day she arrived.

For a moment, Zhao Wuzhu was at a loss for words, silenced by the two women’s sharp rebukes. But then she remembered how Wen Nuan had supposedly ruined Qinglan’s marriage prospects last year. Unable to hold back, she yelled, “If she really thought of us as family, then why did she ruin your matchmaking last year? Tell me, does a good sister-in-law do that? That was such a great match—where are you going to find someone like that again?”

A state cadre from Beijing, gone just like that! It was unforgivable.

“If things had worked out back then, she would already be in Beijing! There’s no way she’d have ended up stuck in this godforsaken northern place!” Zhao Wuzhu growled in frustration.

Gu Qinglan finally snapped and roared, “That’s because I already have someone! My sister-in-law stepped in to help me clean up the mess, or else the whole hospital would’ve gossiped about me endlessly! And now you’re slandering her!”

“Let me tell you—don’t ever try to make me meet some cadre again. I don’t care about it at all!”

Zhao Wuzhu, already furious, grew even angrier at Gu Qinglan’s defiance. She was convinced Wen Nuan had filled her daughter’s head with nonsense, and she lashed out, yelling, “Shut your mouth!”

She pointed a trembling finger at Gu Qinglan and shouted, “You ungrateful wretch! If I’d known you’d turn out like this, I would’ve broken your legs back then! Look at you—you’ve completely changed since coming to the North. You can’t even tell right from wrong anymore!”

“Let me tell you this—your so-called ‘boyfriend’ doesn’t count. I’ve already asked around, and you never filed a relationship report. What kind of relationship is that? If you insist you have someone, then fine—bring him here right now! If you can’t, then tomorrow you’re coming with me to meet this cadre!”

Wen Nuan saw Gu Qinglan about to argue back, so she stepped in, gently grabbing her hand and whispering, “Let me handle this.”

Pulling Gu Qinglan behind her, Wen Nuan looked Zhao Wuzhu straight in the eye and said firmly, “Qinglan listens to me. You don’t get to call the shots here.”

Zhao Wuzhu looked like she wanted to rip both of them apart, grinding her teeth as she retorted, “And why’s that? You’re just her sister-in-law! Qinglan’s life decisions aren’t up to you! If Qinghan is dumb enough to listen to you, that’s his problem. But Qinglan is *my* daughter, and her future is for me, her mother, to decide!”

“Why?” Wen Nuan suddenly laughed coldly. “You’re claiming you care about Qinglan’s well-being, right? Then let’s talk about just how ‘good’ you’ve been to her.”

Her voice sharp and unwavering, Wen Nuan continued, “Back when the government arranged for Qingsong to be sent down to the countryside during the youth labor movement, the street committee had already finalized it. But you? You secretly switched his name for Qinglan’s. Did I lie? Back then, how old was Qinglan? Fourteen, maybe fifteen—a mere child! What kind of mother does that?”

“And despite everything, Qinglan never held it against you or Qingsong. A few years ago, when she finally visited home for the New Year, you didn’t even hesitate to beat her half to death just because Lin Meizhi fell and got hurt. You didn’t ask questions, didn’t care what really happened—you just lashed out. When she first arrived in the North, she was so badly hurt she nearly didn’t survive. Do you know that? Of course you don’t! Because the only person you’ve ever cared about is your precious son, Gu Qingsong!”

“And what about when Qinglan was sent to the countryside? Did you ever ask her how she was doing there? Did you even care about why she left the rural area and ended up working as a nurse in the military? Did you ever ask her about that? And now, the moment you see a man, you want her to marry him. Do you even know what’s going on with that man? Do you know his hidden issues?” Wen Nuan’s tone grew sharper with every word.

“All you see is your precious son, Gu Qingsong. Have you ever genuinely cared about Qinghan or Qinglan? Do you know that Qinghan nearly died in a plane crash years ago? Did you care? No! All you cared about was asking us for money to support Gu Qingsong. Qinglan spent years in the countryside, barely surviving, often going hungry, and even nearly falling victim to hooligans. Did you ever ask about her? No, you didn’t! What kind of mother are you? I’m embarrassed for you!”

Wen Nuan stepped forward, shielding the quietly sobbing Gu Qinglan behind her. “Let me make this clear—Qinglan’s military status? I fought tooth and nail to secure it for her. I pulled her out of that hellhole, and I say she’s not going, so she’s not going!”

Wen Nuan’s words were like daggers, laying bare all the outrageous things Zhao Wuzhu had done over the years. Zhao’s face went pale as the weight of the truth bore down on her. For years, Wen Nuan had held her tongue, but today, she couldn’t anymore—not after seeing how Zhao Wuzhu had shamelessly favored Gu Qingsong while neglecting the rest of her family.

In the past, with distance between them, their paths rarely crossed, and Wen Nuan could let things slide. But now that Zhao Wuzhu had come to the North and started meddling in everyone’s lives as if she ruled the roost, Wen Nuan wasn’t about to let it happen.

“You…” Zhao Wuzhu’s face shifted between green and white as she struggled to respond. She glanced at Gu Qinglan, who was hanging her head, quietly crying, and found herself speechless for a long moment.

Still, when she looked back at Wen Nuan, standing there self-assured and defiant, her anger flared up again. She scoffed, “Stop taking all the credit for yourself. Qinglan’s position in the military? That was thanks to my eldest son’s help, not you!”

At that moment, Gu Qinglan stepped forward, her tears suddenly replaced by fury. She exploded, “Get out! What kind of mother are you? My sister-in-law has taken care of me all these years—what about you? All you’ve ever cared about is yourself and Gu Qingsong!”

“Stop meddling in my life! I won’t listen to you, and if you dare insult my sister-in-law again, don’t expect me to act like a filial daughter!”

Zhao Wuzhu, now red with anger, puffed up like a furious pufferfish. Unable to control herself, she raised her hand to strike. “Gu Qinglan! If I don’t teach you a lesson today, then I’ve been a mother for nothing!”

“Enough!”

Gu Qinghan’s stern rebuke startled Zhao Wuzhu into stunned silence.