Suddenly hearing Gu Qingchuan’s voice, Jiang Ci turned around, her eyes filled with surprise and annoyance. “I just saw you leave the house! I tried to catch up but couldn’t. I waited for you at Dasheng’s house for a long time. Where did you go?”

He had gone to deal with the fourth son of the Cui family, and this girl didn’t even know she had almost been bullied by a thug. Gu Qingchuan stepped closer.

Seeing him silent, Jiang Ci asked again, “What are you doing here?”

Gu Qingchuan hesitated for a moment, speaking sincerely, “I came to cancel the engagement today…”

Jiang Ci responded with a blank expression.

She didn’t give Gu Qingchuan a good look. “Do whatever you want.” With that, she lifted her leg to leave.

Gu Qingchuan followed behind her. Initially, he had intended to cancel the engagement with Cui Yuanshan, but now Uncle Cui was going to marry Lin Wan. Huh? This Uncle had been paralyzed for more than ten years. He wasn’t sure if he could still compete with Cui Yuanshan. Whether to cancel the engagement depended on whether Uncle Cui could actually get married.

“Chuan, are you really going to cancel the engagement?” the man behind him spoke again, and Jiang Ci felt slightly irritated.

Gu Qingchuan glanced behind her and noticed Mei Baoying, Cui Yuanshan’s wife, approaching. “Someone’s coming; we can talk later.”

The guard at the gate recognized the wife of the retired Political Commissar and saluted her. Mei Baoying waved her hand and led Jiang Ci and Gu Qingchuan into the military compound.

Mei Baoying noticed that the two of them had come together and wanted to speak to Jiang Ci alone. “Brother Chuan, Grandma Mei has something to say to Xiao Ci. You should go to Building Four,” she said.

Gu Qingchuan completely ignored Mei Baoying. He had just helped Fourth Brother Cui with his affairs. Did Mei Baoying even know that her precious son had not returned home all night and that he had plans to harm Xiao Ci?

In any case, this mother-son duo was not a good person.

Jiang Ci responded, “If you have something to say, just say it. Why chase Brother Chuan away?”

The courtyard of the military compound was spacious; this was the officers’ family quarters, and the passing orderlies saluted Mei Baoying as they walked by.

Mei Baoying felt a sense of pride inside. In the past, she had been nothing more than the caregiver to Cui Yuanshan’s wife. After that woman died, she had taken over her man, her house, and everything else. Now, another woman wanted to move into this home and take everything from her; she would not allow such a thing to happen.

“Xiao Ci, you came at just the right time! The old man is throwing a fit at home, disagreeing with your Uncle Cui about your mother’s marriage. You should go persuade your mother,” she urged.

“Why should I persuade my mother?” Jiang Ci asked, puzzled. “In this day and age, marriage is already free. Uncle Cui is unmarried, and my mother is not married either. Just because Grandpa Cui disagrees, does that mean they can’t get married?”

Mei Baoying was taken aback. No wonder Jiang Hongyu said this little girl was sharp-tongued and not easily outmatched in words.

“Child, you’re really foolish. If Grandpa Cui disagrees, Uncle Cui won’t dare to marry you. Mom, if this goes on, Lin Wan will lose her job, too. If this matter gets out, even the Jiang family will lose face. Your grandfather might get so angry that he’ll take back your job and house. Will you two be sleeping on the streets, drinking the northwestern wind?”

She guided gently, “Don’t you think that’s true?”

Jiang Ci picked off a fallen leaf that had landed on her shoulder, pinching it in her palm to play with it. “When Grandpa Cui wanted to take you as his grandson-in-law, his father got so angry he was hospitalized and even pointed a gun at his head, forbidding him from letting you in. I saw that you still got in the door in the end, so Uncle Cui learned from Grandpa Cui. His marriage with my mom is bound to succeed, and all the results you mentioned won’t happen. I’m not worried at all.”

Gu Qingchuan followed behind, wanting to laugh. This girl was always like this, fiercely protective of her own. It could easily offend others. If she didn’t have someone strong to protect her from behind, who knows how many hidden losses she would suffer.

His expression darkened; he could only protect her in secret.

Mei Baoying hated it most when people brought up the past. Her marriage to Cui Yuanshan wasn’t glorious.

Cui Yuanshan’s father had even died from the anger over it. Old friends only recognized the woman in front, Cui Laofuren. Even now, she couldn’t squeeze into the circle of the Cui family’s wives.

If Lin Wan had entered the family, she would only have been further marginalized. The little girl might be envious of the Cui family’s high status. Although Cui Pingzhou was disabled, his military rank was no joke. If he had a daughter, what kind of good son-in-law would he not be able to find?

She quietly pointed behind her. “Gu Qingchuan’s family background isn’t good. His father died with the reputation of being a traitor. Soon, he’ll be sent down to a lower position, too. Cui Pingzhou doesn’t truly want to marry you. Mom, they’re reluctant to let Cui Duoduo go, so they came up with this idea to make you take this marriage. You mustn’t be fooled.”

“Are you afraid that you’ll lose your position once my mom enters the family?” Jiang Ci’s gaze was sharp. “Do you really think you can deceive people like they’re three years old? Your methods aren’t that clever.”

Mei Baoying had lost her patience. “If you want to marry Gu Qingchuan, you don’t care about your mother’s life or death. Cui Pingzhou is a cripple. If you let Lin Wan marry him, you’re being unfilial.”

They had already arrived at the three-story villa. Jiang Ci knocked on the door, standing beside Gu Qingchuan. “Just wait and see. Uncle Cui’s leg will definitely get better. Instead of worrying about him, you should pay attention to your precious son and make sure he doesn’t hurt others. Sooner or later, retribution will come back to him.”

In her previous life, that delinquent youth had done many wrong things, and in the end, his legs were crippled by someone. Cui Yuanshan had made quite a fuss trying to investigate, but in the end, it came to nothing. Jiang Ci had once thought it was Uncle Cui’s doing.

Last night, when she hadn’t seen Lao Si return, Mei Baoying’s heart skipped a beat. What did Jiang Ci mean by that? Did she want to take revenge on Lao Si? Why? Just because she was the granddaughter of a retired factory worker?

The little girl truly knew nothing about power. Even with ten Grandpas Jiang, they couldn’t touch the hair of her precious son.

Suddenly, she felt a chill. If Lin Wan married Cui Pingzhou, she could very well ask Cui Pingzhou to deal with her son. From what she knew, that cripple had quite a few tricks up his sleeve…

The nanny opened the door, and Mei Baoying immediately rushed upstairs to find her son. She checked the bedroom on the second floor but didn’t see her precious son. She barged into the room of the third son, who had just climbed into bed with his wife. They quickly pulled apart when their mother entered.

Cui Jiu put on his clothes. “Mom, can you knock before you come in next time?”

“Get out! I have something to discuss with your wife,” Mei Baoying said anxiously. There were some things she had only told the third daughter-in-law; this good-for-nothing son with no ambition didn’t know anything.

“I worked the late shift yesterday.” Cui Lao San wanted to sleep a bit longer, but Mei Baoying insisted he leave. “You should stay out for a few days.”

Cui Lao San was filled with frustration. His mother always favored the fourth brother, thinking of him as a burden and a disgrace since he had no blood ties to the Cui family. She usually treated him coldly, and when she ordered him to leave, he had no choice but to go. His wife loved living in the big house and had refused to move into the dormitory at the factory despite him mentioning it several times.

He packed a few clothes and left in a huff.

Mei Baoying closed the door behind him. “Lao Si didn’t come back last night? Where did he go?” Jiang Ci’s words always made her uneasy; she feared someone would target her son.

Tan Xueru hurriedly got dressed. “Lao Si said he had something important to take care of.”

“What was he taking care of? Didn’t we say he shouldn’t get involved in dirty business?”

“Uh, he…” Tan Xueru hesitated. Lao Si’s ideas were too ruthless but effective, so she hadn’t advised against them.

“Fourth brother said he went to find Jiang Ci, to drag her into some corner and sleep with her, and then go to the Jiang family to propose. Once he marries Jiang Ci, let’s see if the second brother still has the face to marry Lin Wan.”

Mei Baoying felt a wave of dizziness and slapped her daughter-in-law across the face. “Why didn’t you stop him? What if she accuses him of being a lecher? That’ll land him in serious trouble!”

Tan Xueru covered her face and cried, “I couldn’t dissuade him! Lao Si said we were just causing trouble and that his plan was the best. The Jiang family wouldn’t dare to report him. He’s infatuated with that pretty girl and is determined to marry her. What can I do? By the way, Mom, Lao Si hasn’t come back yet. Maybe he succeeded, and you won’t have to worry about Lin Wan not being able to enter our family.”

“Succeeded? Nonsense!” Mei Baoying was filled with rage, with nowhere to vent her frustration. “That little wench Jiang Ci is down in the living room right now, and her hair isn’t even a bit out of place.”

Lao Si was the foundation of her stability in the Cui family. Without this son she shared with Cui Yuanshan, she was nothing.

Tan Xueru grew fearful. She said in a low voice, “Mom, what should we do now? The plan was to have Cui Duoduo adopted by the second brother so that our Qiaoxing could take her place in the art troupe. But now Cui Pingzhou wants to marry Lin Wan, who’s a burden. You can’t let the old man agree to the marriage between Cui Pingzhou and Lin Wan. Otherwise, will we have any good days left in this family?”

She cursed, “If only the second brother had died on the battlefield like his brother.”

After Mei Baoying married Cui Yuanshan, her son changed his surname to Cui, making him the third in line of the Cui family. Later, she had a fourth son with Cui Yuanshan. Tan Xueru was her third daughter-in-law, and Cui Qiaoxing was her biological granddaughter, but she wasn’t Cui Yuanshan’s biological granddaughter.

Mei Baoying used the excuse of blood ties to persuade the old man to abandon the idea of adopting the third daughter into the second son’s family, insisting instead that Cui Duoduo be adopted.

Tan Xueru wore an expression of resentment. “Cui Pingzhou, that cripple, clearly has plenty of connections. He won’t even help Qiaoxing with something as small as joining the art troupe. Cui Duoduo is his niece, so isn’t Qiaoxing also?”

Mei Baoying cast a faint glance at her daughter-in-law. “Lao San isn’t the old man’s biological son. I went through a lot to have him change his surname to Cui. I know you complain that I favor Lao San and treat him coldly. You should think about it; the better I treat him, the more Cui Yuanshan resents it. I can let you live in the military compound, so be grateful. Cui Pingzhou despises you all; how could he possibly help Qiaoxing?”

She understood her mother-in-law’s words but felt discontented. The plan had not gone smoothly, and Tan Xueru was filled with regret.

“That girl, Jiang Ci, is really lucky. You had Jiang Hongyu find an opportunity to push her down the mountain, hoping to kill her. Lin Wan has a heart condition; if her daughter dies, she’ll surely have a heart attack and die too. If Lin Wan dies, the second brother will have no hope of living. Then we could marry Cui Duoduo off to that landlord’s wolf cub, and the whole Cui family would be ours.”

“It was supposed to work perfectly, but who knew Jiang Ci wouldn’t die from falling down the mountain?”

The plan had been completely disrupted. That damned Jiang Guozhu had returned with a woman and divorced Lin Wan. With Cui Pingzhou marrying Lin Wan, wouldn’t that cripple’s ambition only grow stronger in the future?

Mei Baoying listened closely; downstairs in the study, she could hear the deafening argument between Cui Yuanshan and Cui Pingzhou.

“Cui Pingzhou is stubbornly refusing to let the old man find connections to get Lao Si into the army, trying to block my son’s future. He needs to consider whether a cripple like him is worthy of that,” Cui Yuanshan shouted.

She had endured this for twenty years. Over the years of whispering in his ear, Cui Yuanshan’s heart had gradually drifted toward her side. Any guilt Cui Yuanshan had toward that crippled son had long been worn away by Cui Pingzhou’s relentless attitude.

“Your father places great importance on blood ties. Even if the second brother wanted to marry and adopt a daughter, Cui Yuanshan would never agree. The second brother can’t outmaneuver the old man; they won’t be able to finalize this marriage today.”