Chapter 58

Shen Guixiang stopped her: “Yue’e, explain yourself. Why are you suddenly taking Xiao Jun away?”

“Your mother-in-law is still in the hospital, and if you don’t leave Xiao Jun here with me, how can you go to work and earn money?”

Without earning money, how can you support the family?

Shen Guixiang was convinced that the only way to get money from her daughter was to keep Xiao Jun with her.

She didn’t raise any demands yet, but when Yin Yue’e came to pick up the child for the new school term, she would keep Xiao Jun and use him to blackmail her daughter into bringing money and gifts, or she wouldn’t let him go back to the county.

Her plan was so well thought out. Shen Guixiang had made up her mind—if Yin Yue’e wanted to take Xiao Jun back to the county, not even the King of Heaven would stop her.

Shen Guixiang still had the audacity to ask her. Yin Yue’e, getting furious, snapped: “Why should I take Xiao Jun? Ask your wonderful daughter-in-law what she’s been doing.”

After being slapped twice by Lu Baiwei, Lu Jiaojiao had locked herself in her room, applying medicine to her wounds!

Shen Guixiang kicked the door open: “Tell me, Lu Jiaojiao, what have you done?”

“Mom, I didn’t do anything, it’s my sister bullying people.”

Lu Jiaojiao refused to admit anything.

She was terrified of Shen Guixiang.

Actually, she was more scared of the combined attack from Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihuo’s family.

Since marrying into the Yin family, her injuries hadn’t healed.

If it wasn’t for the hope that Yin Zhihuo would one day become successful, and she could live a life as a wealthy wife, she wouldn’t be able to stand the constant beatings.

Lu Jiaojiao avoided the main issue, and Yin Yue’e sneered from outside the room: “So you’re pretending to be tough? Why did Xiao Jun get into a fight? Because you were the one who encouraged him to insult the children from the He family in Beijing, calling them orphans.”

“What kind of child would allow themselves to be insulted like that? That’s why my Xiao Jun fought with Tang family’s child.”

“You married my brother, I gave you a Meihua watch, and my sisters and I even pooled money for the bride price. Is this how you repay me?”

“Ah! Sister Yue’e, you gave me the Meihua watch? I didn’t see it!”

“How much was the bride price? Mom didn’t pass it through my hands.”

At that time, Shen Guixiang wouldn’t even allow Yin Zhihuo to register their marriage.

It wasn’t until Shen Guixiang went to the commune to make a scene and threaten him that Yin Zhihuo, fearing being labeled a rogue, finally gave in and agreed to marry her.

Before that, the things promised by his sisters were long forgotten.

So Lu Jiaojiao had no idea that things had turned out this way—that her sisters had even contributed to the bride price, and the eldest sister had bought the Meihua watch.

She had never seen a cent of the money or the watch.

When Lu Jiaojiao heard from Yin Yue’e about the watch and the bride price, she gave Shen Guixiang a suspicious look. After all, Shen Guixiang had hidden the pork before, so hiding the bride price and watch wasn’t beyond her.

Shen Guixiang realized Yin Yue’e had let something slip, so she decided to act first.

Shen Guixiang realized that Yin Yue’e had let something slip, so she decided to act first.

She slapped Lu Jiaojiao hard across the face: “You little tramp, encouraging Xiao Jun to go provoke others, isn’t that just asking to get him beaten?”

“My son married you, and our Yin family is truly out of luck.”

“Look at how the Tang family treats their niece. Xiao Jun comes to the house for the first time, and you let him get beaten. See if I don’t kill you today, you little tramp.”

Yin Yue’e had truly had enough!

This maternal family, this mother, and this sister-in-law felt like tumors clinging to her.

Cut them off and it would hurt, but if she didn’t, it might cost her life.

These tumors felt like they were stuck to her, as if she could never get rid of them.

Thinking about how not only Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihuo would try to get money out of her, but also how her troublesome sister-in-law might cause even more trouble, leaving her sisters to clean up the mess, Yin Yue’e felt that she no longer needed her maternal family.

She knew all too well what kind of person her mother, Shen Guixiang, was.

This time, she couldn’t hold back anymore and decided to strike back: “Mom, did you not give the bride price we collected for my sister-in-law and the Meihua watch I gave, to Zhihuo and Jiaojiao?”

“The last time you hid the pork, it caused a scene and made us lose face in front of relatives and friends.”

“You said you’d never do anything so cheap and miserly again, and in the county you managed to convince Xiao Jun to come to the house, everything seemed fine.”

“So this is how you act, huh? A different story behind closed doors?”

“What did we sisters do in our past lives to deserve a mother like you?”

“Mom, I’m really done with this. I’m utterly disappointed in you. From now on, I won’t have a mother like you. This is the last time I’m bringing Xiao Jun back to Xiangyang Brigade. Don’t come looking for me in the county either. I won’t be going back to Xiangyang. Pretend you never had a daughter like me!”

Yin Yue’e, who had always been obedient to Shen Guixiang, exploded in anger.

When an honest person finally loses their temper, they’re not to be messed with.

Shen Guixiang was stunned by Yin Yue’e’s sudden outburst.

Taking advantage of the fact that her mother was still in shock, Yin Yue’e grabbed some clean clothes, took her son Xiao Jun’s hand, and said, “Let’s go, Xiao Jun. I’m sorry, Mommy almost sent you into the tiger’s den.”

“We’re leaving, going back to the county.”

Before Shen Guixiang could react, Yin Yue’e, shouting and causing a scene, grabbed Xiao Jun’s hand and stormed out.

Shen Guixiang wanted to stop them but saw Yin Yue’e’s determination and knew she wouldn’t care if the whole brigade heard about it.

Meanwhile, Yin Zhihuo, who had been slacking off in the mountains during work, now lazily came home after pretending it was lunchtime.

He almost bumped into Yin Yue’e and her son as they were leaving and hurriedly called out, “Sis, why are you leaving without eating?”

“Didn’t you say Xiao Jun was going to stay with me for a few days?”

“Didn’t you say Xiao Jun was going to stay at my house for a few days?”

Yin Yue’e didn’t even bother to respond. She quickly grabbed Xiao Jun’s hand and left in a hurry.

Yin Zhihuo, trying to catch up, stopped Shen Guixiang as she was about to chase after them. “Mom, what’s going on with Sis? Who’s she mad at?”

“Who else? Your wonderful wife!”

Shen Guixiang was furious at Lu Jiaojiao for driving away her money tree.

She added fuel to the fire, “Your wife encouraged Xiao Jun to fight with the Tang family’s kids!”

“The Tang kids are all united, and they’ve even learned martial arts from their elders.”

“What was Lu Jiaojiao trying to do? Is she trying to get my grandson killed?”

With a venomous look, Shen Guixiang hissed, “Son, you married this woman—what a disaster for the family.”

“What should we do? She’s always causing trouble!”

Yin Zhihuo didn’t care much. His sister had left, but she’d be back next time. Surely she couldn’t ignore her own brother?

But ever since the wedding, his sisters seemed reluctant to bring food back to the family. He hadn’t had meat in a long time because of Lu Jiaojiao’s fuss. That, he couldn’t tolerate.

“Mom, stop getting upset. We need to deal with her properly. Give her a good beating and lock her in a dark room for a few days.”

Lu Jiaojiao was terrified of being locked in a dark room—it reminded her of the nightmares from her past life.

In that moment, nothing else mattered.

Lu Jiaojiao knew Yin Zhihuo wouldn’t listen to her explanations.

In desperation, she climbed onto the windowsill.

The windows in the Yin family’s house were different from others. Though they had been built when the family was wealthy, the windowsills were high to prevent theft.

Yin Zhihuo angrily kicked the door, and Lu Jiaojiao, startled, lost her balance on the windowsill and fell heavily.

“Ah!”

There was a loud scream, followed by silence.

Shen Guixiang rushed outside and saw Lu Jiaojiao lying on the ground, her face covered in blood.

“Zhihuo, hurry up, that wretched Lu Jiaojiao has fallen to her death!”