Zhao Xinde was thoroughly exasperated.
He had originally devised a perfect plan as soon as Song Mianmian reached marriageable age he would have Zhao Zilin marry her.
It would have been ideal since Zhao Zilin happened to be fond of her.
And if he had not? That would have been no matter. He would simply have done as he himself had done taken one or more mistresses on the side in secret.
In that way not only would the Song family’s wealth fall into their hands but Jiang Zheng Zheng Shaohuai and Meng Wanning would also continue to look after their interests.
Song Mianmian had been docile from childhood easily managed and no trouble to him at all.
The problem was Zhao Zilin. He had never been close to his father had a violent temper and could never keep a secret.
So Zhao Xinde had never dared to confide the truth about the Song family fortune or about Jiang Zheng Zheng Shaohuai and Meng Wanning to his son. He feared that Zhao Zilin might let something slip and ruin everything.
What he had not anticipated was that Zhao Zilin would take matters into his own hands and start seeing Du Qinghui without telling him especially since the Du family was notoriously difficult to deal with.
Now he found himself in a most awkward position.
Yet he consoled himself with the thought that the Song family’s true wealth was not the ten thousand yuan in compensation the fifteen thousand yuan in savings the five houses or the allowances from Jiang Zheng and the others. It was what lay inside the bank safe deposit box.
Inside that box were one hundred gold bars each weighing one tael filling half the space. The other half was packed with high quality jewellery. All of it was worth a hundred times more than their visible assets.
So he told himself that it was no great loss to let go of the obvious wealth if he could keep ninety nine percent of what lay hidden in the safe.
But for all his reasoning it galled him to see money slipping through his fingers. It made his liver ache with anger.
And so he hit upon a way to make up for it. The person most responsible for this situation was Huang Jing. It was all her fault for raising such an unreliable son.
He would use this opportunity to divorce her.
The more he thought about it the better the idea seemed. He put on a simple honest smile then looked at Song Mianmian with an expression of guilt and injured innocence.
“Mianmian what you say about these assets is true. They do exist. But I never intended to keep them for myself. The reason I did not hand them over when you turned eighteen last year was I discussed it with your Uncle Jiang and the others. We all agreed it would be best to wait until you were married. But since you have brought it up now I will give everything back to you by tomorrow evening. Would that satisfy you?”
The more he spoke the more he regretted the decision and he cursed Jiang Zheng and his friends under his breath for their good fortune. They had all enlisted in the same year yet when he had been discharged nine years ago he was still nothing but an ordinary soldier. The other three had risen through the ranks one was now a division chief of staff in Jin City and the other two held senior positions in the special forces men he would never dare cross. If not for them he would have found a way to make Song Mianmian disappear long ago.
Song Mianmian knew she could not destroy the entire Zhao family in one stroke. For now she only wanted what was rightfully hers. She pretended to consider the matter frowned and nodded then fell silent.
The onlookers were impressed by Zhao Xinde’s ready admission. Many assumed he had been unaware of the way Huang Jing and her daughters had treated the girl. That was exactly the impression he wanted to create.
As murmurs spread through the crowd he hurried to Huang Jing’s side and lowered his voice. “If you don’t want this family to be ruined you’ll have to take full responsibility for mistreating Mianmian. It’s just a bad reputation nothing more.”
Huang Jing was slow witted. She had not seen this coming. All she could think about was the money that was to be returned how would they manage without it? The thought alone made her feel faint. Now hearing what he said she was completely stunned and could not speak.
Zhao Xinde gave her no time to recover. After whispering a few more instructions he raised his voice so all could hear.
“Huang Jing! Is it true what Mianmian says that you deliberately denied her proper food clothing and care? How could you do such a thing? Even without the forty yuan and fine things Jiang Zheng and the others sent every month the ten yuan I gave you each month should have been more than enough to feed and clothe her well. There was no need at all! And you made her do all the work around the house Why? What were you thinking? Have you lost your senses?”
Huang Jing was bewildered. She knew her family could not stand against Jiang Zheng and his friends. Someone had to take the blame and she was truly devoted to her husband her children and her own relatives. She would not see them suffer.
She steeled herself and said “Yes. It is true. I did all those things behind your back. It was my idea to have Yufang pretend to be ill. Why? Because I never liked Song Mianmian not from the first day I saw her. I spoke against her to Zilin too. That is why he did not wish to marry her.”
She spoke from the heart thinking of her family. She had revealed the truth about Zhao Yufang’s feigned illness because Yufang’s in laws already looked down on her for being delicate. She truly disliked Song Mianmian but she dared not say everything. She envied the girl the comfortable life she had known while she and her own daughters had suffered hardship. It pleased her to see Song Mianmian suffer.
Her words caused a stir. Most found it strange who would mistreat the source of their own wealth merely out of dislike? Yet upon reflection people decided it was exactly the sort of thing a spiteful person might do. They began to speak of her with scorn and then they turned their criticism upon Zhao Yufang.
“Huang Jing is the villain but Zhao Yufang is no better she went along with it.”
“She should have stopped her mother if she had any decency.”
“Just as bad if you ask me. And I hear she pretends to be sick at her in laws’ home too so she need not work. How selfish can you get?”
Huang Jing listened and bitterly regretted what she had said. She had thought that if she claimed the deception was at her instigation it would save her daughter’s good name but it had done the opposite. Distraught she did not know what to do.
Then Zhao Xinde spoke again feigning righteous indignation.
“Huang Jing I thought you were a good woman! I never imagined you could be like this! You have behaved disgracefully and you have set our children a terrible example. We cannot go on like this. For the sake of our children’s future I have no choice. I want a divorce!”
At that same moment Zhao Yufang herself said something that made Huang Jing feel as though she had fallen into an icy abyss.