Liu Lao Si waved his hand and shoved Lin Meiyu aside. “You damn woman, what nonsense are you talking to this worthless girl? She’s probably secretly hoping my son suffers.”
Lin Meiyu quickly waved her hands. “No, no, Jiaojiao isn’t that kind of person.”
“Spit! She—”
Ruan Qiaoqiao directly cut him off. “Liu Lao Si, I’m here to take my money and my luggage.”
Hearing this, Liu Lao Si’s eyes flickered. “What… what money? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The one hundred yuan Su Mai told you to give me!”
“Nonsense! I never saw that money. Are you trying to extort me?”
“Oh?” Ruan Qiaoqiao nodded. “Then it seems Su Mai was lying. I’ll go to the county and settle accounts with him. But if he really did give it to you, I suggest you pack your things and run quickly. He’s not like the now-declined Fu Wenzhou.”
“He’s a key state-supported researcher in the military. If you’re holding onto his money and lying, once he reports it, you’ll be thrown in jail.”
Liu Lao Si stiffened his neck. “You… don’t try to scare me.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao sneered. “Scare you? He told me that when he gave you the money, many villagers saw it. If you refuse to admit it, he’ll report it. What does that have to do with me?”
Liu Lao Si didn’t want to mess with someone like Su Mai, who was a government cadre, and immediately changed his tone.
“He did leave one hundred yuan for you, but you’re already a married-out daughter. That money naturally can’t go with you—it has to be left for your mother’s retirement.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao wasn’t angry. She just looked at him coldly.
“I didn’t receive it. Then the money still belongs to him. If you don’t give it to me, I’ll tell Su Mai. Liu Ercheng stole Fu Wenzhou’s money before, and you said it was bride price. But now I’m divorced from Su Mai, and you’re still holding onto his money? That’s embezzlement.”
Liu Lao Si gritted his teeth, furious that she wouldn’t budge. “You worthless girl—”
“Liu Lao Si, shut your damn mouth!”
“You let your son cause trouble and now use someone else’s daughter to pay the debt? You’ve got no shame, huh? Fine, I’ll make it happen for you.”
With that, she turned and ran out of the yard, shouting at the top of her lungs down the street:
“Everyone come and see! Liu Lao Si is forcing his stepdaughter to a dead end!”
She sat down on the ground, slapping it and crying loudly, throwing a full tantrum.
A few villagers passing by stopped.
Ruan Qiaoqiao had lived in this village for years, so everyone recognized her.
“What’s going on, Qiaoqiao?” someone asked.
“Auntie Seven, Liu Ercheng stole someone’s money. Liu Lao Si promised to use his own daughter to repay it, but now he’s going back on his word. He’s forcing me to divorce and remarry in place of his daughter. My ex-husband felt sorry for me and gave me compensation, but he’s refusing to return it and even called me worthless… I… I can’t live anymore!”
Standing at the gate, Liu Lao Si felt embarrassed and didn’t notice the wording she had twisted. He kicked Lin Meiyu. “You damn woman, what are you standing there for? Are you waiting for her to ruin my reputation completely? Go drag her back!”
Lin Meiyu hurried over, trying to pull Ruan Qiaoqiao up. “Qiaoqiao, don’t shout. Mom’s begging you. Talk to me.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao refused.
Blushing, Lin Meiyu crouched beside her and lowered her voice. “At least… for your real father who loved you most, come talk to me privately, okay?”
Ruan Qiaoqiao paused, wiped away the fake tears she had squeezed out with effort, and stood up reluctantly, walking with Lin Meiyu to a quiet corner.
Lin Meiyu spoke anxiously. “Qiaoqiao, you know your stepfather. He’s greedy. That money he took won’t be returned. Can you… just pretend this never happened and drop it?”
“Why should I? Am I really your daughter? Why are you always biased?”
“I’m not biased! I’m in a second marriage, it’s difficult for me too, I can’t help it!”
Ruan Qiaoqiao laughed coldly. “Because you remarried and because it’s hard for you, you stayed silent even though you knew what Liu Ercheng did to me back then, didn’t you?”
Lin Meiyu lowered her head, unable to speak.
Ruan Qiaoqiao’s eyes turned red too—this time not for acting, but from real pain.
“Other mothers love their children. Why don’t you love me?”
“Qiaoqiao, what about you? Have you ever thought about me? If you insist on taking that money today, he’ll beat me after you leave!”
They stared at each other, locked in confrontation.
When she was younger, Ruan Qiaoqiao had no way to escape this family. She had asked her newlywed sister to help her find a spot in a hospital to study medicine, just to stay away from them.
Later, she married Su Mai and, although she lost those three years of memory, at least she didn’t have to return here and live in fear.
Now, after her divorce, she had gone to Fu Wenzhou for shelter.
But no matter what, the person who helped her escape this hell had never been her mother—the one she should have been able to trust most.
So…
“Mom, when I needed you most—when I was hiding under the blanket, terrified of Liu Ercheng and too scared to sleep all night—you chose silence. I lived in darkness, and no one ever saved me. So I never learned how to save others. I saved myself back then… so you should save yourself too.”
She pulled her hand out of her mother’s grip coldly, turned, and walked back to Liu Lao Si’s gate, her gaze sharp and even a little vicious.
It was the first time she had ever looked at him like that, and it made Liu Lao Si feel an inexplicable pressure.
But he quickly hardened again. “You damn girl, you want to—”
“I’ll give you one last chance. Give me the money, or not. If not, I’ll cause trouble here today. Tomorrow I’ll go to the village office. The day after, I’ll go to the town. If you still refuse, I’ll keep going until everyone in this township knows the name Liu Lao Si!”
“You’ve become quite shameless.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao smirked. “I learned it from you, didn’t I?”
“You—”
“Cut the nonsense. Money or humiliation. Choose.”
Liu Lao Si stared at her for a long moment, grinding his teeth. Then he turned and went inside, bringing out the money.
In front of the villagers, he handed it to her. “Everyone see this! I didn’t take my stepdaughter’s money—I’ve returned it!”
Ruan Qiaoqiao counted it. One hundred. Correct.
She looked up again. “Not enough.”
“What?”
“That’s only Su Mai’s hundred. I never touched it.”
“And Fu Wenzhou’s sixty-eight. Give it to me too.”
“That was bride price money!”
Ruan Qiaoqiao crossed her arms, smug.
“Is that so? Then I’ll just have to report you for marriage fraud.”