“Jiang Cheng, I think you’re just ungrateful! If it weren’t for the Lin family taking you in, you would have died out there long ago!”

Lin Jiaojiao suddenly stepped forward, her face filled with arrogance and defiance as she shouted, “For three years, you ate our food and lived under our roof. Do you think that didn’t cost anything?”

“Our Lin family has never wronged you. My brother never liked you in the first place. My mom and grandma were kind enough to want to help you further, but you don’t even know how to appreciate it!”

Mother Lin tugged at Lin Jiaojiao.

“Jiaojiao, stop talking. We’re all family. Don’t ruin the harmony.”

Lin Jiaojiao shook off Mother Lin’s hand and said, “Mom, you’re just too kind-hearted. Why shouldn’t I say it? Our Lin family hasn’t done anything wrong!”

“Yeah, she’s been freeloading off the Lin family for three years.”

“Are you stupid? With six hundred yuan, you could buy anything you want!”

“But money doesn’t necessarily buy food.”

“That’s true, food is precious!”

Lin Jiaojiao’s eyes flashed with triumph. With Jiang Cheng’s foolish appearance, she could easily crush her with a single finger.

Jiang Cheng, who had been berated by Lin Jiaojiao, trembled but forced herself to hold her ground as she asked:

“The Lin family took me in?”

“Lin Jiaojiao, your family brought me into the Lin household under the name of being Lin Chengyuan’s wife. How did it suddenly become ‘taking me in’?”

“When Grandma Lin was sick, and Aunt Lin’s back injury left her immobile, I was the one who cleaned up after them, carrying their waste. And you even took my parents’ death compensation money.”

“For three years, I ate leftovers and drank dishwater. I went three days without even a single cornbread. And now you’re telling me that those leftovers and dishwater cost me six hundred yuan?”

The Lin family’s carefully hidden shame was ruthlessly exposed by Jiang Cheng.

The neighbors in the courtyard whispered among themselves, their eyes mocking as they scrutinized the Lin family.

It was only after Jiang Cheng’s reminder that everyone recalled how the Lin family had been in a hurry to marry Jiang Cheng into their household.

Now that they thought about it, the Lin family had really played a clever game.

They had schemed against Jiang Cheng, an orphan girl, holding onto her compensation money, and brought her into their home under the guise of being a fiancée, making her work for three years, only to turn around and bite her in the end.

“Enough! Let’s not talk about this anymore.”

The patriarch of the Lin family, Lin Chengyuan’s father, Lin Dongsheng, stepped forward with his hands behind his back.

Jiang Cheng: What a despicable old scoundrel!

“Jiang Cheng, let’s not bring up the past. The Lin family has protected you for three years. How else would an orphan like you have survived?”

Threats!

A blatant threat!

But Jiang Cheng wasn’t going to fall for it.

“Uncle Lin, you don’t want to bring it up because the Lin family benefited from it. But I can’t let it go. I’m poor! I want to talk about that six hundred yuan. I need to talk about it!”

“That money was earned with my parents’ lives. Since ancient times, there’s no rule that says the in-laws can take their daughter-in-law’s dowry, especially since you’re not even my in-laws.”

“Or are you saying you want to be my in-laws? Does Lin Chengyuan want to marry two wives?”

Lin Chengyuan’s heart skipped a beat. This was not something to joke about.

However, he glanced subtly at Jiang Cheng, who happened to be looking at him at the same time.

Lin Chengyuan misunderstood.

She was making a scene because she didn’t want to leave him.

What a toad lusting after swan meat! With Jiang Cheng’s ugly appearance, she still dared to dream of being his wife!

What a joke!

Jiang Cheng was indeed looking at Lin Chengyuan, but she was observing just how shameless this man could be.

From what she could see, he was extremely shameless.

Jiang Cheng shifted her gaze to He Dan, who had remained silent all this time.

She wasn’t bad-looking, with a delicate and pleasant appearance, but her eyes were filled with disdain, impatience, and a sense of superiority.

A mistress, and yet so arrogant!

“Nonsense!”

“Shut up!”

Lin Chengyuan and his father spoke at the same time. Lin Chengyuan didn’t want to drag this out and looked at his father with some impatience.

“Dad, give her the money!”

Lin Dongsheng clenched his hands behind his back. Of course, he didn’t want to return the money. Besides, the money had already been spent. What could he use to repay her?

His mind raced, and he put on a hurt expression as he said:

“Jiang Cheng, how could you do this? I’ve always treated you well. What you said about dishwater and cornbread—that’s just outright lies.”

Taking her cue from Lin Dongsheng, Mother Lin quickly chimed in.

“That’s right, Cheng Cheng. Aren’t you just stabbing us in the heart? Every time we ate, didn’t we always let you have your fill first?”

“Exactly! My mom treated you better than her own daughter. You got to eat an egg every day, while I didn’t even get the eggshell. How could you lie like this?”

“Sigh! This old lady never lies. Cheng Cheng, you can’t do something so dishonest!”

The Lin family members took turns, each adding their piece, painting Jiang Cheng as a liar and a fraud.

The neighbors around them began to waver. After all, they didn’t know what went on behind closed doors.

The Lin family’s meals had always seemed decent.

That was exactly what the Lin family was counting on. As long as they denied it, how much credibility would Jiang Cheng’s words have?

“Fine! Jiang Cheng, you’re actually lying!”

Lin Chengyuan pointed at Jiang Cheng angrily, his eyes filled with disappointment.

Hidden within that disappointment was a hint of smugness. She was willing to do anything to marry him.

Jiang Cheng took two steps back, disgusted, afraid that Lin Chengyuan’s stupidity might rub off on her.

Jiang Cheng sneered. She had been waiting for this moment!

She dashed into the house and, in the blink of an eye, came out carrying a stack of newspapers.

Mother Lin: Where did those newspapers come from?

“What’s she doing?”

“Reading the newspaper?”

“Is she going crazy?”

Jiang Cheng ignored the murmurs around her. She pulled out one of the newspapers and began to read aloud.

“February 17th, Thursday, sunny.”

“I woke up at four in the morning. Mom said she wanted fried breadsticks from the state-run restaurant in the south of the city. Jiaojiao wanted soy milk from the north of the city. I had to go early to buy them.”

“Today, there were three leftover pickled mustard greens. Not bad.”

“They went to work. Grandma asked me to wash the bedding. My hands are cracked, so it’s a bit slow.”

“Dad said the floor needs to be scrubbed on my knees to get it cleaner.”

“I haven’t eaten all day. The family said there wasn’t much food, so I should let them eat first.”

“After fetching everyone’s foot-washing water, Grandma asked me to massage her shoulders, beat her legs, and wash her feet. Jiaojiao’s underwear still needs to be washed—”

“Jiang Cheng!”

Lin Jiaojiao’s face flushed with shame and anger as she snatched the newspaper from Jiang Cheng’s hands and tore it to shreds.

Jiang Cheng calmly pulled out another newspaper and continued reading.

“March 18th, Saturday, cloudy.”

“After making breakfast, I waited for everyone to finish eating. Today, there were leftover chicken bones. They were delicious, with a bit of meat on them.”

“Jiaojiao took the money I earned from making matchboxes again.”

“Grandma said her legs hurt, so she asked me to help her with her bowel movements and wipe her bottom.”

“Stop reading!”

Grandma Lin banged her cane on the ground, and Lin Dongsheng stepped forward to grab the newspapers.

Seeing this, Jiang Cheng threw the newspapers into the air like confetti.

The neighbors eagerly caught the fluttering newspapers and began reading them.

Wow! What messy handwriting!

“Take a look, everyone!”

“This is my life!”

For the first time, Jiang Cheng straightened her hunched back and stood tall in front of the Lin family.

Her eyes were filled with bitterness.

“These are my diaries. I didn’t have money for paper, so I wrote them with charcoal on old newspapers.”

“I didn’t know how to read, so I learned character by character from a dictionary. That’s why the writing is so ugly.”

“I originally thought that if I learned to write, I could send letters, but in the end, it was useless.”

Jiang Cheng lowered her head.

It hadn’t been easy!

Finally, she had a legitimate reason for knowing how to read and write.

Lin Chengyuan’s heart twinged with a momentary pang of guilt.

Had she learned to write just to send him letters?

Did she really like him that much?

Lin Chengyuan looked at Jiang Cheng, but she was fully immersed in her performance and had no time to pay him any attention.

“For three years, I dare say I, Jiang Cheng, owe the Lin family nothing.”

Jiang Cheng’s thin figure exuded both fragility and resilience.

Damn it, her wrists were almost broken from writing all those diaries this past month!

Knowing the plot in advance, how could she not have been prepared?

“My goodness! This is like the behavior of the old landlords!”

“They really treated Jiang Cheng like their servant.”

“Who would have thought they seemed so decent on the surface but did such things behind closed doors.”

The Lin family’s faces grew increasingly grim. The slight sympathy Lin Chengyuan had felt for Jiang Cheng vanished in an instant, replaced by anger.

“Jiang Cheng, that’s enough!”

Jiang Cheng looked at Lin Chengyuan.

“Lin Chengyuan, there’s no relationship between us. Without any status, you’re not qualified to bark at me!”

“And as for your Lin family, you keep saying you don’t want to let me go, that it’s for my own good. But not only did you take my compensation money, you also slandered me!”

“Your hypocrisy is nothing more than fear of losing a servant. All the scheming in the world seems to have gathered in your Lin family.”

“I, Jiang Cheng, would rather beg on the streets and starve to death than stay with the Lin family!”

For the first time, Jiang Cheng spoke such sharp words, extending her hand toward Mother Lin.

“Give me back my money!!”