She had wanted to provoke Tang Rubao and make her upset.
Unexpectedly, Tang Rubao turned back and gave her a bright smile. “They’re all for you.”
Seeing that reaction, Tu Xiuxiu felt frustrated, like punching into cotton, with no impact at all.
Her face darkened as she continued trying to irritate her. “Don’t think that just because you’ve become willful and temperamental, Ah Ran will start to admire you.”
“No matter what you become, in Ah Ran’s heart, you’ll never compare to me.”
Tang Rubao rolled her eyes. “If you’re having an episode, stay at home on a leash. Don’t come out biting people.”
“What did you say?”
Tu Xiuxiu froze for a moment before realizing Tang Rubao had just called her a mad dog.
She stomped her foot angrily, glaring at Tang Rubao’s retreating figure.
She knew Zhou Jingran had borrowed three hundred yuan from a comrade to give to Tang Rubao.
Hmph, she was determined to get that money out of Tang Rubao!
Zhou Jingran’s money should belong to her alone.
When Tu Xiuxiu entered carrying the apples, she immediately smelled a strange odor filling the room.
She frowned in disgust.
Standing at the doorway, she looked inside.
Zhou’s mother stood with her hands on her hips, complaining to Zhou Jingran about Tang Rubao like a scolding hen.
Every insult she could think of poured out of her mouth.
Then she widened her triangular eyes and asked, “When did you two have a daughter? How come I didn’t know?”
Zhou Jingran carried the meat into the kitchen. “Anlai was adopted by Rubao.”
“Adopted?” Zhou’s mother paused, then her expression turned even harsher.
“They look so alike, how could she be adopted? She must be that woman’s child with some random man!”
While they were talking, Zhou’s mother noticed Tu Xiuxiu and immediately changed her expression.
Her wrinkled face broke into a flattering smile. “Xiuxiu, you’re here? Come in, come in, Auntie will pour you some water.”
As she spoke, she walked over, took the apples from Tu Xiuxiu, and praised her warmly, “Xiuxiu is so thoughtful, educated, and polite. Whoever marries a woman like you is truly blessed.”
As she said this, she deliberately glanced at Zhou Jingran. “I wonder if my Jingran is lucky enough for that?”
The smell was unbearable.
When Zhou’s mother came closer, her breath made Tu Xiuxiu instinctively turn her face away.
If she didn’t need to maintain a refined and polite image in front of Zhou Jingran, she would have told Zhou’s mother to stay away long ago.
She looked at Zhou Jingran.
He was tall, upright, and strong, with handsome features and an outstanding presence.
How could someone like Zhou’s mother give birth to such an excellent and good-looking son?
Tu Xiuxiu secretly glanced at Zhou Qiong.
Zhou Qiong sat on the sofa, grinning foolishly at her.
She was thin, dark-skinned, and not attractive at all.
No one would guess she and Zhou Jingran were siblings.
“Xiuxiu, you got off work early too?” Zhou’s mother asked attentively.
Noticing Zhou Jingran looking at her, Tu Xiuxiu didn’t dare show any disgust. She smiled gently. “I’ve been rehearsing for a performance recently. I burned my hand, and it hasn’t healed yet. I’ll go back after a few more rehearsals.”
Zhou’s mother looked at her bandaged hand with concern. “Such fair, delicate hands, how heartbreaking to see them burned. It must have hurt a lot, didn’t it?”
She pulled Tu Xiuxiu to sit on the sofa, eager to chat.
Seeing that Zhou’s mother’s clothes were soaked and smelled strongly, Tu Xiuxiu forced herself to keep smiling. “Auntie, your clothes are wet. You should go change into something dry, or you might catch a cold.”
Zhou’s mother waved it off carelessly. “I’m very strong. Back in my hometown, I sweat while working all the time. My clothes are always like this, wet, then dry, then wet again. I’m used to it. No need to change.”
‘Used to it or not, the smell is awful,’ Tu Xiuxiu thought to herself.
She glanced toward the kitchen, and suddenly an idea flashed in her mind.
She quickly stood up from the sofa and hurried off, almost like a rabbit fleeing. “Auntie, you sit here, I’ll go cook for you and Ah Ran.”
She had never done kitchen work before, but just to get away from Zhou’s mother and despite her still-healing burn, she went in anyway.
Naturally, Zhou Jingran wasn’t willing to let her do it.
He went into the kitchen and said, “Your hand hasn’t healed yet, let me cook.”
Tu Xiuxiu raised her eyebrows. “It’s already noon. If Rubao isn’t home for lunch, where did she go?”
Then she turned and asked casually, “She didn’t take the three hundred yuan you gave her and waste it, did she?”
Zhou Jingran shot her a suspicious look. How did she know he had given all three hundred yuan to Tang Rubao?
Did Tang Rubao go to her and show it off?
At that thought, Zhou Jingran’s expression turned cold.
He was just about to say that once the money was given, she could spend it however she liked, but before he could speak.
“What?!” Zhou’s mother’s voice shrieked like a pig being slaughtered, piercing their ears.
They all turned to look.
Standing at the kitchen doorway with her hands on her hips, Zhou’s mother glared fiercely at Zhou Jingran and demanded, “How much money did you give that wretched woman?”
Tu Xiuxiu felt secretly pleased but put on a guilty expression. “Ah Ran, I… I caused trouble.”
Zhou Jingran turned and reassured her, “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
At the same time, another thought crossed his mind.
That money had been borrowed from his comrades, if his mother could get it back from Tang Rubao, that would actually be a good thing.
He still hadn’t recovered the money he had lent out back in the Nanning Military Camp.
In the two years since coming to the Xifu Military Camp, his monthly salary had barely been enough to support Xiuxiu, leaving him with no savings at all.
The only two hundred yuan he had managed to save had already been spent on buying a television for Xiuxiu.
If his mother could recover the money from Tang Rubao, he could use it to repay his comrades.
After all, money taken by his mother from Tang Rubao would be different from money he himself took back.
Zhou Jingran told his mother honestly, “She kept asking for money, so I borrowed three hundred yuan from a comrade and gave it to her.”
“Lent it to her? What does she need that much money for?” Zhou’s mother sneered.
Zhou Jingran couldn’t clearly explain what she needed the money for.
He turned back and continued cooking.
Sometimes Tang Rubao said it was to make up for the bride price, other times she said it was compensation for the divorce.
Ever since she started asking for money, she had been acting strangely.
Tu Xiuxiu shared Zhou Jingran’s thinking, they both intended to use Zhou’s mother to get the three hundred yuan back from Tang Rubao.
Despite the unpleasant smell coming from Zhou’s mother, Tu Xiuxiu walked over and gently helped her sit down on the sofa.
“Auntie, don’t be upset. Rubao is making a fuss and wants to divorce Ah Ran. He gave her three hundred yuan just to calm her down. Auntie, don’t be angry, I’ll wash an apple for you.”
“How can I not be angry?” Zhou’s mother had barely sat down before she stood up again, gritting her teeth.
“That woman shows me no respect at all! She hit me and even poured water on me. What right does she have to take so much money from my son? I’m going to find her right now and get it back!”
As she spoke, Zhou’s mother rushed out of the house, afraid that even a moment’s delay would mean Tang Rubao had already spent all the money.
“Auntie, wait for me!” Tu Xiuxiu hurried after her.
On the other side…