Chapter 7 It’s not your turn to interrupt

At this point, Zhou Shuchen fell silent. He had enough self-awareness to know that once he left the Zhou family, he would be nothing. His cowardice was enough to make Shi Meijiao despise him, but she kept reminding herself to endure—after all, if she married him, she would become the factory director’s wife.

Zhou’s mother continued: “We had originally set aside 700 yuan, intending to buy you a job once you married Shuchen. But since this happened, consider this money as compensation. I’ll bring it to you first thing tomorrow morning.”

Huang Jinxiu’s eyes lit up greedily at the mention of 700 yuan. But then, thinking further, her excitement faded—there was no way An Ruoyan would hand over the money. “No way! Shuchen isn’t going to the countryside—he’s still going to marry Jiajiao! And that money isn’t going to An Ruoyan either; it belongs to my Jiajiao!”

The Zhou couple looked at Huang Jinxiu as if she were an idiot. She stubbornly stood there, locking eyes with them. Zhou’s father could only say, “This is a family matter—it’s none of an outsider’s business.”

Zhou’s mother added, “Hmph, we never intended for Shi Meijiao to marry in anyway.”

Shi Qiang, who had been weighing the pros and cons, exploded: “What do you mean? My daughter was wronged by your son, and your Zhou family doesn’t want to take responsibility? Aren’t you afraid I’ll press charges against your son for being a delinquent?”

Earlier, Shi Qiang had thought Zhou Shuchen wasn’t good enough for his daughter. But now, seeing Jiajiao and Zhou Shuchen both soaked and hugging each other, he realized that if this got out, Jiajiao wouldn’t find any good match. Better to just have her marry Zhou Shuchen.

Zhou’s father, still angry and initially ready to disown his son, glanced at Shi Qiang and said: “Fine. A slap takes two hands, anyway. I can accuse your daughter too. Let them go to the countryside together and reform themselves.”

Shi Qiang opened his mouth to protest, but Shi Meijiao quickly spoke up: “Dad, don’t complicate things. I’m willing to go to the countryside with Shuchen.”

Shi Qiang glared at Shi Meijiao, frustrated—did she even realize how harsh rural life was? She had been pampered all her life; she wouldn’t survive the farm work, especially in the frigid northeast winters.

The Zhou couple, having made their decision, dragged Zhou Shuchen home. Whether Shi Meijiao would actually go to the countryside was none of their concern—they were determined for their son to learn some hardship. They didn’t believe Shi Meijiao would remain devoted to Zhou Shuchen if she weren’t there to help him.

Shi Qiang called Shi Meijiao into the study to have a serious talk. Only Huang Jinxiu and An Ruoyan were left in the living room. Huang Jinxiu glared angrily at An Ruoyan: “Are you satisfied now? Your Uncle Shi must hate me to death. You ungrateful girl! I gave birth to you, raised you, brought you into such a capable family, and this is how you repay me!”

An Ruoyan looked at her with contempt: “Hmm… seeing you get beaten like this actually makes me a little happy.”

“You…” Huang Jinxiu raised her hand to slap her.

An Ruoyan firmly grabbed her wrist: “What? You still want to hit me? Do you even deserve it?” She then swung her other hand and gave Huang Jinxiu a sharp slap across the nose.

“Ah~ the world’s turned upside down! The child hits the mother!”

Shi Qiang and the others came out of the study, yelling sharply: “Stop screaming! Isn’t this embarrassing enough?”

Huang Jinxiu felt utterly wronged. She was such a good woman, yet the whole family bullied her. Ignoring Shi Qiang, she wailed: “Life’s unbearable! What kind of sin did I commit to give birth to you!”

By now, An Ruoyan had opened the front door, revealing the crowd of onlookers.

The neighbor lady next door asked: “Ruoyan, what’s wrong with your mom?”

When An Ruoyan opened the door, she pinched herself hard, tears welling up and making her look pitiful.

Shi Qiang’s voice thundered: “An Ruoyan, close the door!”

She ignored him and sobbed: “Because of what Shi Meijiao did, my mom and Uncle Shi blame me and even sent me to the countryside. Just now they even forced me to say I was jealous and slandered Shi Meijiao. Everyone here knows Zhou Shuchen is my boyfriend—I’m not lying!” She buried her face and cried loudly.

“An Ruoyan is your biological daughter—how can you not stand up for her?” someone said from the crowd.
“She’s really wronged, poor child.”
“That Huang Jinxiu, once married in, only knows how to flatter her daughter and please the man.”

Huang Jinxiu, scowling, pointed at the doorway: “Shut up! None of your business. An Ruoyan, stop pretending to be pitiful—you slapped your mom yourself!”

An Ruoyan cried even louder: “You’re trying to kill me! I listened to you, didn’t ask for pocket money, didn’t even take meat at home. How could I hit you?”

The crowd supported her: “Exactly! Everyone knows she’s filial.”
“Of course! Huang Jinxiu always brags about having a good daughter.”
“And claims An Ruoyan hit her! What a joke. If she dared hit, she wouldn’t even dare eat meat!”
“The injuries on her are from Shi Qiang! I live next door and heard everything, yet she’s still trying to slander her.”
“No, she really did hit me—please believe me!”

Huang Jinxiu was left speechless. Shi Qiang trembled with anger: “Jiajiao, go close the door!”

The useless Huang Jinxiu had hoped to ruin An Ruoyan’s reputation. Shi Meijiao closed the door; An Ruoyan had nothing more to say. Before the door was fully shut, someone added: “Don’t hit An Ruoyan! The neighbors are watching!”

Shi Qiang had no choice but to swallow his anger. Though he was a deputy director, he couldn’t punish her with so many people united against him.

An Ruoyan glared at the three of them: “Enough talking! Go cook! Are you still waiting for me to serve you?”

Shi Qiang shot her a dark look. An Ruoyan couldn’t be kept around—best solution, in his mind, was for her to die out in the countryside. Jiajiao and Zhou Shuchen going together was fine; then they could plan something against An Ruoyan… thinking this, Shi Qiang calmed slightly.

“Still standing there? Your good daughter is waiting for you to cook!”

The words “good daughter” were so heavily emphasized that Huang Jinxiu shivered.

“Fine, fine, I’ll go now,” Huang Jinxiu stammered.

Shi Qiang added: “Make all the good food in the house.”

Since he had agreed to send Shi Meijiao to the countryside, of course he wanted to properly nourish his daughter—but with departure only two days away, time was extremely tight.