In the blink of an eye, it was the day of Su Ya and Song Zhiqiang’s wedding.
Their wedding had been secretly arranged by Old Madam Song. She booked five tables at the state-owned restaurant, and it pained the old lady terribly to spend that much money.
Many relatives from the Song family came. Song Zhiqiang also invited quite a few people from the Revolutionary Committee, including Li Zheng and the others who had gone to the Lin residence that day. In order to salvage a bit of her reputation, Su Ya invited several of her former close sisters as well.
Lin Zhitang attended the wedding together with Lu Ming’an. The moment they arrived, they saw Su Yun standing beside Wu Jianguo.
Su Yun looked exhausted. Upon closer inspection, there were even faint slap marks on her face that makeup could not completely conceal. Her entire person radiated gloominess, no longer carrying her former gentle and delicate appearance.
It seemed that Su Yun had been living extremely miserably in the Wu family these past few days.
Ever since Su Yun married Wu Jianguo, Old Madam Wu had been constantly thinking of ways to torment her.
Before five in the morning, she would drag Su Yun out of bed while she herself went back to sleep. Su Yun had to clean the house, wash the entire family’s clothes, and prepare three meals a day in different styles. If there was even the slightest problem, she would be forbidden from eating. Before bed, she still had to bring foot-washing water to Old Madam Wu, and the old woman could always find endless excuses to curse at or pinch her.
Wu Jianguo’s three children treated her like a plague. They cursed at her, threw things at her, and spat on her.
It wasn’t that she had never fought back, but the moment she resisted, Old Madam Wu would wail and cry dramatically while the three children rolled around throwing tantrums. Whenever Wu Jianguo found out, he would beat her viciously without another word.
After exhausting herself all day, she still had to serve Wu Jianguo at night. If she was even slightly uncooperative and he failed to enjoy himself, another beating awaited her.
In just a few short days, her body hidden beneath her clothes had become covered in bruises and wounds of every size.
Su Yun had wanted to ask Su Ya for help, but Old Madam Wu watched her closely and never allowed her to go out alone.
A few neighbors around the Wu family had tried speaking up for her, but Old Madam Wu cursed them into silence. After trying several times and seeing nothing changed, they simply pretended not to see anything. As for the neighbors who never intended to interfere in the first place, they treated it entirely as entertainment.
Su Yun did not want to live like this for even a single day longer. In the midst of this suffering, her hatred toward Lin Zhitang grew deeper and deeper.
“Brother Jianguo, I just want to attend my mother’s wedding. My mother has always treated me so well. How can I not be present at her wedding? I want to personally give her my blessings.”
“You really want to go that badly? What if you run away?”
“Yun’er already married you, so naturally I belong to you now. Don’t worry, I’ll stay by your side and won’t run off.”
“Fine. Make me happy first, and I’ll agree to let you go.”
Wu Jianguo’s hand wandered over Su Yun’s body.
“Alright.”
In order to attend Su Ya’s wedding and find a chance to take revenge on Lin Zhitang, Su Yun could only endure the disgust and cater to him, doing everything possible in bed to satisfy Wu Jianguo.
After serving him the entire night, Su Yun’s whole body ached. Her skin was covered in mottled marks from head to toe. She even woke up early to make Wu Jianguo his favorite food. Only then did he finally agree to let her attend Su Ya’s wedding.
Since she herself could not make a move, she planned to persuade Su Ya to attack Lin Zhitang again.
She had to make Lin Zhitang suffer retribution.
She wanted Lin Zhitang to end up a thousand, ten thousand times more miserable than herself.
Even now, Su Yun still believed that Lin Zhitang cared deeply about Su Ya as her mother.
As long as she cared, then once she learned that her suffering had been orchestrated by the mother she treasured, how utterly devastated would she become?
Just imagining Lin Zhitang collapsing in despair filled Su Yun with joy.
The cruelest torment was never physical pain, but the destruction of one’s spirit.
Meanwhile, Wu Jianguo looked completely refreshed and pleased with himself. Though Su Yun was only the Lin family’s adopted daughter and had vicious thoughts, she had still been raised with the Lin family’s money and refinement. Her temperament naturally surpassed ordinary girls.
Ever since Su Yun entered the Wu family, his vanity had been immensely satisfied. At night, his desires were fulfilled in bed, and both body and mind felt thoroughly content. Every inch of him radiated smugness.
Now, whenever Su Yun looked at Lin Zhitang, the hatred in her eyes was completely undisguised. When she looked at Lu Ming’an, there was still admiration there, but her desire for revenge against Lin Zhitang had already surpassed her desire to marry Lu Ming’an.
Moreover, she knew that with the Lu family’s status, it was now impossible for her to marry Lu Ming’an.
But she would never allow Lin Zhitang to marry him smoothly either.
Su Yun forcibly squeezed a smile onto her gloomy face and said through gritted teeth, “Little sister is here. Your complexion looks rosy. Seems you’ve been living quite well lately.”
Why is it that I’m suffering while you’re living so comfortably?
Su Yun’s smile looked sinister.
“Yes, life’s worry-free, so naturally I’m doing very well. On the other hand, older sister doesn’t seem to be doing too well.”
Lin Zhitang returned an enormous smile, her tone cheerful, carrying only the most insincere concern.
Su Yun, look—I’m merely treating you the same way you treated me.
“Little Sister Zhitang…” Wu Jianguo greeted Lin Zhitang and Lu Ming’an.
As for Wu Jianguo, Lin Zhitang could not even be bothered to spare him a glance. Lu Ming’an was even less inclined to acknowledge him.
The two walked inside.
The moment Su Ya saw them arrive, she was overjoyed.
Lu Ming’an came from an extraordinary background, and his presence today would naturally bring her prestige and satisfy her vanity.
“Tangtang, Ming’an, you’re here!”
Su Ya grabbed Lin Zhitang’s hand with a bright smile.
The Song family relatives looked at Lin Zhitang and Lu Ming’an, especially Lu Ming’an in his military uniform, and immediately raised Su Ya’s status in their hearts. They all decided they had to maintain a good relationship with her.
After all, having a military officer as a son-in-law meant valuable connections.
“Mom, you look beautiful today. You’re a gorgeous bride. I wish you and Uncle Song happiness.”
Lin Zhitang smiled sweetly, appearing exactly like a little girl hoping for her mother’s happiness.
Ever since Su Ya married into the Lin family, she had never mistreated herself. She maintained her appearance exceptionally well. Though no longer young, she was still charming and graceful.
Without beauty, how could she have captivated Song Zhiqiang so thoroughly that he remained obsessed with her for more than ten years?
Seeing Su Ya, the Song family relatives finally understood why Song Zhiqiang had never forgotten her all these years and looked down on other women.
It turned out they simply weren’t beautiful enough.
Song Zhiqiang invited a small Revolutionary Committee official to act as the witness for the ceremony.
Su Ya and Song Zhiqiang bowed before the portrait of the Great Leader and recited a few quotations, and the ceremony was considered complete.
As the two were going table to table offering toasts, several people suddenly barged in.
The moment they entered, they looked around everywhere. Their clothes clearly marked them as rural farmers.
“Who are you people? There’s a wedding going on here. Hurry up and leave!”
The guests finally reacted and began trying to drive them out.
One of the younger men said, “We’re looking for someone. We’re Su Ya’s relatives.”
Everyone instantly turned toward Su Ya in shock.
Su Ya herself was utterly stunned.
Though many years had passed, she recognized them immediately.
She had never contacted them, so why had they suddenly appeared?
Before she could even react—
The old woman rushed forward and slapped her across the face.
Everyone present was stunned by the sudden scene.
“Su Ya, we finally found you! You damned girl! Enjoying life in the city and forgetting the family back in the countryside, huh? Oh ho, marrying your old lover? Must be real happy, aren’t you? No news from you for years—I knew you were deliberately refusing to acknowledge us poor relatives! Looking down on country folk, are you? Don’t forget, you’re a country girl yourself! And the Song family are country people too! Look at how full of yourself you’ve become!”
The old woman unleashed a barrage of insults, instantly exposing a massive secret.
The moment the guests heard this, excitement erupted.
Su Ya hurried forward and grabbed Old Madam Su.
“Mother, why are you here? Who told you?”
Lin Zhitang exchanged a glance with Lu Ming’an, and the two quietly slipped to the side.
Looking at the chaos before her, Lin Zhitang secretly felt delighted.
The grand gift she prepared had arrived.
Lu Ming’an instinctively felt that today’s incident had something to do with Lin Zhitang.
But as long as the little girl herself hadn’t been schemed against, that was enough.
If she was scheming against others, then clearly that was their problem.
Even if it was her own mother.
Besides, he never had a particularly good impression of Su Ya to begin with.
“What, your mother can’t come? If you hadn’t been born with a decent face, I would’ve drowned you in a piss bucket the moment you were born! You little brat! Playing tricks on your own mother now?”
Everyone stretched their ears eagerly to listen.
The old woman perfectly embodied the image of a shrewish village woman.
“Raised you for nothing! Didn’t even get my bride price money back! You shameless little slut! Back then you got pregnant before marriage and gave birth to a bastard child! I told you to marry, but you ran away the moment I wasn’t paying attention! Made me lose money instead! Girls really are nothing but money-losing burdens!”
“Mother, since you’re here, sit down and eat something. Stop talking nonsense here!”
Su Ya yanked hard on Old Madam Su, shouting in humiliation and fury.
The moment the crowd heard those words, whispers exploded everywhere.
This was truly shocking gossip.
If this were true, then the Lin family had truly been wronged.
A country girl who was fortunate enough to marry into the Lin family, raised with fine food and comfort—
Only for her to turn out to be second-hand goods already used by someone else.
Song Zhiqiang shot Su Ya a meaningful glance, signaling her to make the old woman shut up.
Su Ya knew she absolutely could not admit to any of this. She was just about to speak when the old woman continued again.
“Who’s talking nonsense? I never lie! Right, where’s that little bastard child? You abandoned her when you wanted and took her away when you wanted. How exactly did I wrong you? I worked hard raising you, and not only did I never recover my costs, I even helped raise your bastard child for several years! Yet instead of gratitude, you left cleanly after tossing me that tiny bit of money like I was some beggar!”
The old woman was not kindhearted at all.
To put it nicely, she had only kept the girl because she looked pretty. As long as she was fed enough not to starve to death, she could still do chores around the house. Once grown, she could also be exchanged for bride price money.
Each sentence from the old woman was more explosive than the last.
The crowd was thoroughly entertained listening to it all.