Tang Xin’er looked at Zhao Meifang and said, “Back then, when you asked me to give her that necklace, you said Sis was getting married soon and that it should be my wedding gift to her. But now Sis isn’t getting married anymore, and instead you’re making me take her place as the bride, so it should be given back to me. I saved up my money for months just to buy it.”
Zhou Youyou thought this younger sister of hers was truly petty. However, compared to Tang Xin’er making a fuss and refusing to marry in her place, she much preferred the idea of Tang Xin’er taking her spot.
After all, Qin Shiyao was severely burned all over now and looked like a ghost. If Tang Xin’er refused to marry him, and the family still wanted that hefty bride price, wouldn’t one of them have to go through with it?
She certainly wasn’t willing! How could a college student like her marry a disfigured man?
“Xin’er, I can give that necklace back to you, but let’s get one thing straight first,” Zhou Youyou said with a gentle tone. “I’m not getting married anymore, so I don’t need a wedding gift for now. Once I return the necklace to you, you have to go through with the marriage. Stop being so headstrong. You don’t know how worried Mom was when you tried to kill yourself—she stayed right by your side the whole time, terrified you might have an accident.”
Tang Xin’er sneered. “That was my thing to begin with. Sis, you took a fancy to it, and all of you pressured me into giving it to you. Now asking for it back somehow makes me the villain? As for Mom… her being worried is a lie. What she’s really afraid of is that if I don’t get married, she won’t be able to return the bride price to the Qin family.”
As soon as those words left her mouth, the faces of both Zhao Meifang and Zhou Youyou darkened instantly.
Zhao Meifang immediately scolded, “What kind of nonsense are you spitting, child? I’m your biological mother! How could I not worry about you? How can you even think that about me?”
“The very moment I woke up, Mom, you told me not to commit suicide and to think of my younger brother. So thinking of you like this, am I wrong?” Tang Xin’er retorted. “If you don’t want me letting my imagination run wild, you could at least treat me a little better. I lost a lot of blood and need nourishing soup. Why don’t you head back, brew me a bowl, and bring back the necklace you guys ‘snatched’ from me?”
She deliberately emphasized the word “snatched.”
Then she added, “Oh, and since I’m marrying in Sis’s place, the dowry that was originally prepared for her—shouldn’t that be brought along with me?”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Youyou instantly grew dissatisfied. “That won’t do! A lot of my dowry consists of things my dad kept from my biological mother, plus items from my grandparents. Those can’t be given to you.”
Zhao Meifang quickly chimed in, “That’s right, Xin’er. Those things were left behind by Youyou’s birth mother, so we can’t give them to you.”
Tang Xin’er was left speechless. They guarded their own things like a fortress, but when it came to hijacking someone else’s spatial necklace, they didn’t hesitate for a second!
Knowing that talking more was pointless, Tang Xin’er had already made up her mind. “Fine, then whatever portion Mom prepared for me, I should at least get that, right?”
Zhao Meifang looked deeply embarrassed. “My child, where would Mom get any money? My monthly salary is only 28 yuan, and it all goes to your younger brother.”
“What about the bride price from the Qin family? Can you let me take that?”
Hearing that she wanted to take the bride price, Zhao Meifang’s expression turned slightly sour. But looking at Tang Xin’er’s face, she still said, “It’s not like you don’t know what that bride price is for—it has to be used to get your brother a wife!”
Heh!
Hearing these remarks, Tang Xin’er felt like she was about to be laughed to death out of pure anger.
If it were the original owner of this body, she probably would have been gaslit and manipulated all over again. Come to think of it, the original owner really knew how to endure; aside from this matter of marrying Qin Shiyao, she had basically let Zhao Meifang lead her by the nose from childhood to adulthood.
If she hadn’t transmigrated here, the original owner’s future days would have been miserable indeed.
“Even if my brother is getting a wife, he doesn’t need this much bride price. You still have to give me some to take with me. If I don’t have a single piece of dowry, won’t people laugh at me?”
Zhao Meifang sprang up from her chair. “What kind of dowry do you need? The only reason the Qin family increased the money is simply so someone marries into their family. Whether you bring anything or not, they won’t hold it against you!”
“Your brother is getting a wife now, and there are plenty of places that need money. Besides, I raised you since you were little…”
Tang Xin’er didn’t want to hear the rest of the speech and cut Zhao Meifang off directly. “Then the least you can do is go back and make me some soup first, right?”
Anyway, she knew that the necklace Zhou Youyou took had a spatial dimension, and that space could hold plenty of items. Since they were unwilling to hand anything over voluntarily, she would just wait until she could get all the valuable items in the house firmly into her own hands.
“Fine!” Zhao Meifang had already agreed to make the soup, but as she stood up, she caught Zhou Youyou signaling her with her eyes.
She blinked in surprise, then belatedly turned her head back. “Xin’er, since you’re already awake, let’s check out of the hospital and go home. You know staying here costs a pretty penny every day, so we should save wherever we can.”
Tang Xin’er felt like she was about to explode with frustration. She had just woken up, yet purely to save a bit of medical expense, they were already rushing to drag her back.
“That’s right, Xin’er,” Zhou Youyou chimed in from the side. “Let’s check out and go home. Once we save that money, wouldn’t it be even better to use it to stew some chicken soup for you?”
Not wanting to look at Zhou Youyou’s hateful face another second, Tang Xin’er turned her head away, staring at the blank white wall with a lifeless expression.
Fine, whatever. I’ve already transmigrated into this novel, so I can only take it one step at a time. Getting ticked to death by them isn’t worth it.
“Then go handle the discharge papers!” Tang Xin’er forced out an extremely ugly smile. “I just hope that the moment I walk back home, I’ll see my necklace waiting for me.”
Zhou Youyou’s expression had just started to soften a bit, but hearing this sentence made her face darken once more. She muttered under her breath, “Isn’t it just a cheap necklace? What’s so great about it? Going on and on about it!”
“You definitely wouldn’t care, Sis, but I have no money. I need to have at least something presentable to my name, or wouldn’t I just feel inferior?” After saying that, Tang Xin’er closed her eyes, refusing to speak to them any further. Zhao Meifang had no choice but to go handle the discharge procedures.
The paperwork was finished quickly. Before leaving, the doctor looked at Tang Xin’er’s condition and instructed, “Make sure she rests properly and takes good care of her health when you get home.”
Anxious to hurry back, Zhao Meifang gave a few perfunctory responses, grabbed Tang Xin’er by the wrist, and dragged her away while the doctor shook his head in a sigh behind them.
“You’re hurting my arm!” Unlike the old Tang Xin’er, she immediately yanked her arm back out of her grip.
Zhao Meifang glanced back at her, feeling a strange sense of oddness. Her once-obedient daughter seemed like a completely different person. Could it be… that she was frightened after going to see that child from the Qin family?
Not only did Zhao Meifang think this, but Zhou Youyou thought so too. Having arrived at this conclusion, Zhou Youyou vigorously shook her head. When she went to see Qin Shiyao herself, he was barely human-looking; for this younger sister to get that terrified just from a single visit meant that Qin Shiyao’s condition must have gotten even worse.
She patted her chest as if she had just narrowly escaped death, comforting herself with a mutter, “Phew, thank goodness I don’t have to marry him.”
Before long, they arrived at a small residential building. The neighborhood wasn’t particularly nice, and as they walked in, they could hear a chatter of noisy voices.
They climbed up to the corner of the second floor, and the moment the door opened, they were greeted by an extremely cramped home—completely matching the layout in her memories.
Old-fashioned objects imbued with a strong sense of the era were everywhere. Tang Xin’er swept a glance across the room and walked over to sit on the sofa.
Barely two minutes after she sat down, the door swung open again. Entering were the forty-something Zhou Zhigang and her nineteen-year-old younger brother, Zhou Yaozu.
Zhou Yaozu had been pampered by the entire family all his life, resulting in a plump, bulky build. Combined with his heavy meat consumption, breakouts of acne covered his rough face, giving him an oily appearance.
With a brief glance, Tang Xin’er withdrew her gaze, feeling a wave of nausea churn inside her.
“Mom,” Zhou Yaozu said without even looking at Tang Xin’er, walking straight into his room. “Stew some chicken soup for me this afternoon, will you? I’m dying of cravings!”
“I remember the Qin family sent quite a few good things over, right? Toss some of those into the pot to nourish me too!” Zhou Yaozu exaggerated wildly. Listening from outside, Tang Xin’er found it utterly laughable.
He was already this fat and well-nourished, yet he still wanted a tonic? Weren’t they afraid he’d burst from over-nourishment!
“Alright, our Yaozu works so hard, you deserve it! Go sit down, Mom is going to chop up the chicken right now and throw all the best ingredients into the soup!” Zhao Meifang didn’t hesitate for even a second as she pulled out the chicken she had bought a couple of days ago and started hacking away at it.
Tang Xin’er leaned against the sofa with her eyes closed. Zhou Zhigang sat down beside her. “Xin’er, are you feeling a bit better?”
Though it sounded like words of concern, Tang Xin’er knew Zhou Zhigang’s true motives. The man was a total old fox, a smiling tiger through and through. The only reason he was asking was because he was worried she wouldn’t be willing to go through with the marriage.
“I’m fine. I just want to drink some nourishing soup, otherwise I might not last a few days after I get married!” After saying this, Tang Xin’er threw a sideways glance at Zhou Zhigang.
The moment Zhou Zhigang heard that, he knew she was willing to marry, and his face instantly broke into a wide, beaming smile. “That’s the spirit! If you want nourishing soup, drink a bit of what your make-shift mom prepares later and rest up well.”
With that, he stood up and walked away, completely devoid of any genuine paternal affection.
Tang Xin’er didn’t care to talk to them either. Hearing Zhou Youyou step out from the adjacent room, she immediately opened her eyes and held out her hand. “Sis, it’s time to give my necklace back.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Youyou rolled her eyes dramatically.
She had no idea what was wrong with this younger sister of hers. Why was she so utterly low-class? Wasn’t it just a piece of trashy jewelry? She kept demanding it back like some sort of pauper!