Lu Jingyi stared at her in disbelief.
In her mother-in-law’s eyes, was she always an outsider?
Lu Jingyi deliberately tested the waters, “Mom, Li Hong also gave birth to a daughter. Have you visited her yet?”
“Not yet, I’ll go over in a bit.”
“My mother is here watching over me. Why don’t you go check on Li Hong first?”
“Alright, I’ll head over now.”
Grandma left the things in the hospital room and went out empty-handed.
Lu Jingyi trembled with rage.
All these years, she had a clear conscience regarding Xu Zhijun’s family, never expecting the entire family had been scheming against her.
They never truly considered her one of their own.
Fine!
If she divorced them so easily, she’d be letting them off too lightly.
If she didn’t make this family pay, she wouldn’t bear the surname Lu!
Grandma asked around the hospital before finally finding Li Hong’s room.
She pushed the door open, ready to scold, but saw Xu Zhijun there.
Puzzled, she asked, “Zhijun? What are you doing here?”
Xu Zhijun jumped up in alarm. Fortunately, mindful of being in a hospital, he hadn’t dared to be too intimate with Li Hong.
His mother was at that age—if she found out about him and Li Hong, she’d probably die of anger.
“Since my older brother passed away and you haven’t been back, my sister-in-law has been alone. I came to check on her.”
Grandma nodded, not thinking much of it. She set her luggage aside and remarked casually, “I just came from your wife’s room. I told her to have another child, but she refused. She’s becoming more and more disobedient. You need to keep her in line.”
“Don’t worry, Mom. Her mother is still here now. Once she’s recovered from childbirth, she’ll obediently listen to me.”
“Good.”
Grandma stepped forward and noticed the baby crying.
“Boy or girl?”
Xu Zhijun: “It’s a girl.”
Grandma frowned. “Another girl? What bad luck. Crying, crying, crying—she’s crying away all her good fortune.”
Though she grumbled, she reached out and felt the baby’s stomach—it was flat.
She glared coldly at Li Hong.
“What’s wrong with you? Get up and breastfeed her. Don’t let my granddaughter go hungry.”
Even though she didn’t care for granddaughters, her eldest and second daughters-in-law were different.
Her second son was still alive and could have more children.
But her eldest son’s family only had this one remaining heir—she couldn’t let this one die.
“She’s just a little brat. She cries even when she’s hungry. Let her cry.” Li Hong snapped irritably.
Grandma’s face instantly turned icy. “Say that again? Do you have someone on the side? Are you trying to get rid of my granddaughter so you can go have a child with someone else?”
Her expression was truly fearsome.
Li Hong shrank back at the sight.
Reluctantly, Li Hong picked up the baby to breastfeed.
The baby was desperately hungry.
Li Hong gasped sharply as the baby latched on, then slapped the child across the face.
“Eat, eat, eat! All you know is eating! Starving ghost reborn…”
Before she could finish, a slap landed on her own face.
Smack!
The sound startled Xu Zhijun into dropping the basin in his hands.
“Mom, why did you hit Li… sister-in-law?” Xu Zhijun rushed forward to pull his mother away.
Grandma pointed at Li Hong’s nose and yelled, “My eldest son’s only daughter—how dare you treat her like this? Isn’t she your own child?”
“Let me tell you, if anything happens to my granddaughter, you can pack up and go back to the countryside.”
“Mom, let’s talk this through calmly.” Xu Zhijun hurriedly tried to mediate.
“Are you blind? She’s abusing your niece—your older brother’s only bloodline!”
Xu Zhijun: “Sister-in-law is also a mother for the first time…”
“Don’t give me that nonsense. Who isn’t a first-time mother?”
Xu Zhijun was so anxious his head felt twice its size.
He had called his mother over specifically to persuade Lu Jingyi, so why were the two of them about to come to blows now?
Li Hong covered her face, her eyes red with grievance.
But she was afraid that if her mother-in-law got angry, she might really be sent back to the countryside. Not daring to talk back, she could only secretly pinch the child.
It’s all because of you, you jinx!
When she first married into the family, her mother-in-law had treated her fairly well.
But after Lu Jingyi entered the household, her mother-in-law began to see her as powerless and unattractive, becoming very critical of her.
She had even overheard her mother-in-law and husband whispering about divorcing her to find a city bride.
If not for her husband mentioning that military marriages are hard to dissolve, she might have already been forced into a divorce.
It’s all Lu Jingyi’s fault!
If Lu Jingyi hadn’t married into the family, her mother-in-law wouldn’t treat her this way!
Thinking this, she pinched even harder.
The child started crying again while feeding.
Seeing her mother-in-law’s cold stare, Li Hong quickly explained, “Mom, I didn’t hit her this time. This wretched girl has a weak constitution and is hard to raise—she often cries for no reason.”
Her mother-in-law glanced disdainfully at the child. “Like mother, like daughter. The second daughter-in-law’s child is very well-behaved and cries with vigor.”
Li Hong gritted her teeth in anger.
“I must have been blind. Jingyi, why go through all that trouble if you want to divorce him? I’ll have someone follow him. Once we find evidence of those two acting suspiciously, you can just confront them directly.”
Lu Jingyi paled at the suggestion. “No, Dad! You can’t have anyone follow him. He’s a military officer. If anyone finds out, you’ll never be able to explain it.”
“So we just let him keep mistreating you and Long Bao like this?”
“Of course not. From now on, no matter what Xu Zhijun asks you to do, don’t help him. From what I’ve gathered, he’s about to get a promotion. When that happens, don’t lend him any support. I’ll collect some interest first.”
“Alright.” Grandpa nodded.
He turned and looked at little Long Bao, growing fonder by the minute, so he picked the child up again.
Grandpa: “My dear Long Bao, as long as Grandpa is here, no one can ever bully you.”
【I’m afraid that won’t work, Grandpa. The medicine you’re taking has been tampered with by Dad.】
Grandpa: ?