Shen Mingzhu froze. She… she wanted to take her… away?
Wang Xiulan’s face turned pale. “Mingzhu, don’t listen to her nonsense! Mom has found you a good match, it’s about to be settled—the logistics director’s family—”
“The logistics director’s idiot son,” Feng Wan cut her off. “His brain was damaged when he was fifteen. He drools and hits anyone he sees. Last time he was set up on a blind date, he knocked out the girl’s front teeth. Everyone in the factory knows about it. And you want to marry her off to such a thing?”
Shen Mingzhu’s face instantly turned as pale as paper. “I won’t, I won’t…” Her lips trembled. “Mom said… Mom said he’s just honest…”
“So honest he needs to be tied up for a blind date?” Feng Wan sneered. “Auntie Wang, your heart is truly biased. You schemed to give your stepdaughter’s job to your eldest son, sold the Shen family’s biological daughter to the countryside to fulfill your family’s marriage arrangement, and now you’re selling your adopted daughter to an idiot’s family to exchange for a job for your youngest son. What, are the Shen family’s daughters all destined to be trampled on?”
Wang Xiulan was both anxious and furious. She stepped forward to grab Shen Mingzhu. “Mingzhu, don’t listen to her stirring up trouble! Mom is doing this for your own good—”
But Shen Mingzhu abruptly pulled her hand back. She looked at Wang Xiulan, then at Shen Baoguo, tears falling in large drops.
Didn’t she know whether it was for her own good or not?
Life in the countryside had been hard, but her grandmother had never let her do any heavy work. Whenever there was an egg at home, it was always saved for her. After her grandmother passed away, the family house and private plot were taken over by relatives, forcing her to return.
But since coming back, she had to do all the laundry and cooking. The promise to let her continue her studies never materialized. The couple took turns complaining to her, pressuring her to give up her job for her older brother.
She had retreated step by step, afraid that her parents would abandon her and drive her away. In the end, it turned out she wasn’t even the Shen family’s biological daughter. Feng Wan might be fierce, but at least she had never targeted her—her anger was always directed at Shen Baoguo and Wang Xiulan.
Though they claimed to care for her, they never treated her as a person. In the Shen household, she lived like a servant. When the logistics director’s family came to see her, the man was held down on a chair by two adults, staring blankly at her, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth…
She was terrified, scared to death!!
But she didn’t dare speak up. In this family, no one would listen to her.
“I…” Shen Mingzhu’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s. “Where can I go…”
“Come with me,” Feng Wan said. “I have money and ration coupons. At worst, we can go to the countryside together—there’s always a way to survive. The path is ours to walk. It’s better than being forced to marry an idiot and risk being beaten to death later.”
Shen Mingzhu looked at Feng Wan. This sister, barely older than her, had hardly spoken to her in the half-month since she returned, always shouting and acting carelessly. But now, she stood at the doorway holding a kitchen knife, her back straight, her eyes shining like stars forged in fire.
As if possessed, Shen Mingzhu nodded.
“How dare you!” Wang Xiulan shrieked, lunging forward.
Feng Wan pulled Shen Mingzhu behind her, holding the kitchen knife in front of her. “Go pack your things. I’ll wait here. Let’s see who dares to stop you!”
Shen Mingzhu nodded firmly and dashed into her room, packing her belongings in a flurry of noise.
Wang Xiulan let out a wail as she plopped onto the ground. “Ah, someone come quick! They’re rebelling! Feng Wan, you little bitch! I’ve fed you and clothed you, and now you’ve grown a spine, huh? Not only are you leaving on your own, but you’re dragging my daughter along too? I’ll fight you to the death, wuwu…”
With a sharp thwack!, Feng Wan slammed the cleaver down onto the corner of the square table, and a chunk of wood splintered off.
Wang Xiulan’s cries instantly cut off, her face flushing red like a hen being choked.
Shen Baoguo’s face turned ashen, but he didn’t dare move. He was calculating—better not let this escalate and become a laughingstock for the neighbors. Tomorrow, he thought, he’d coax them back. They’d have to return eventually.
When Shen Mingzhu came over, Feng Wan grabbed her with one hand and held the cleaver across her chest with the other, backing slowly toward the door. As she pulled it open, the late autumn night wind rushed in, making both of them shiver.
“Feng Wan!” Wang Xiulan shrieked from inside the house. “Come back! Both of you, get back here! You wretched things! Do you even know what you’ve done? Ah~! My son’s job! That perfect match I arranged—ruined! All ruined!”
The door slammed shut behind them, cutting off Wang Xiulan’s wails and Shen Baoguo’s roars.
The courtyard was dimly lit. Many had heard the commotion between Feng Wan and the Shen couple, poking their heads out or peeking through cracks in their doors to watch the drama. Since the Shens had never been decent people, aside from the onlookers, no one lifted a finger to help.
Shen Mingzhu, wrapped in a thin coat, trembled from the cold but clung tightly to Feng Wan’s sleeve.
“Sis…” she whispered, her voice choked with tears. “Where are we going?”
Feng Wan didn’t answer. Holding Shen Mingzhu’s hand, she walked step by step out of the textile factory compound. The night was deep, the streets nearly empty. Under the dim yellow glow of the streetlights, their shadows stretched long behind them.