Liang Yurou blocked the doorway, her eyes flickering with a burning intensity as she reached out to grab Nan Jin, her gaze fixed on the jade pendant in Nan Jin’s hand.
Her stare was so invasive that Nan Jin couldn’t ignore it.
Now she finally remembered why the fake nurse at the hospital had seemed familiar.
It was Liang Yurou.
But why did she want the original owner’s jade pendant? Did she know there was something special about it?
How could she have known?
There was no time to dwell on it. As Liang Yurou lunged for her, Nan Jin stuffed the pendant into her pants pocket—actually, she took the opportunity to store it in her space.
Want it? She wasn’t about to let her have it.
As Liang Yurou reached for her hand, Nan Jin swiped at her face instead.
A sharp, stinging pain made Liang Yurou cry out in surprise, instinctively closing her eyes and raising her hands to claw back.
In that moment of distraction, Gu Qingya, who had been behind her, caught up. She yanked Nan Jin’s hair back with one hand while trying to scratch her face with the other.
Nan Jin slammed backward, driving her elbow hard into Gu Qingya’s ribs.
She put all her strength into it, striking Gu Qingya squarely in the side.
Gu Qingya gasped in pain, stumbling back from the impact. The burn on her stomach hadn’t healed yet, and the collision made it hurt even more, instantly bringing tears to her eyes.
“You bitch! You vicious woman! I’ll kill you!”
Despite the pain, she didn’t let go of Nan Jin’s hair, yanking it back with even more force.
Nan Jin had no choice but to lean back with the pull, reaching over her head to grab at Gu Qingya’s eyes.
Gu Qingya’s grip loosened slightly from the pain, the searing agony in her eyes making her burst into tears.
Finally free from her grasp, Nan Jin didn’t even glance back, because Liang Yurou was charging at her again.
Her eyes narrowed as she quickly dodged to the side, tumbling onto the bed.
Liang Yurou, unable to stop herself, ended up clawing at Gu Qingya’s face instead.
Already in pain, Gu Qingya let out a shriek and instinctively flailed her hands wildly.
Nan Jin seized the chance to scramble up and head for the door. Downstairs, the siblings who had been chatting warmly hurried upstairs upon hearing the commotion.
Seeing Nan Jin emerge pale-faced, Yuan Limei was the first to scream.
“You bitch! What have you done now?”
Nan Jin’s eyes darkened. She had known coming back to pack wouldn’t be peaceful, but being ganged up on still made her feel sorry for the original owner.
“What could I possibly do in this state? They teamed up to attack me.”
She wisely ducked behind Yuan Zheng. If there was anyone who could and would protect her, it was probably Yuan Zheng, the soldier.
“You bitch! You must have provoked them. Why else would they team up against you?”
Yuan Limei was so furious she was practically shrieking. This woman was becoming more and more infuriating.
Yuan Zheng said coldly, “Elder sister, watch your language.”
Yuan Limei: “…”
She tried hard to calm the rage in her chest, but the screams coming from the room made her tremble with fear.
Liang Yurou was still carrying her grandchild, after all.
She hurried to the doorway, where the two women inside were still clawing at each other while yelling for the other to stop.
“Both of you, stop this right now!”
She was furious at the scene. Weren’t they supposed to be teaming up against that little bitch Nan Jin? How did they end up fighting each other?
Liang Yurou was the first to let go, but Gu Qingya grabbed her again, leaving her face stinging with pain. She even felt beads of blood.
Gu Qingya wasn’t faring much better either—her face was crisscrossed with bloody scratches that looked horrifying.
Tears and snot streamed down their faces, making them as wretched as could be.
“Mom, it’s that venomous woman Nanzhu—she’s the one behind all this. You have to avenge me,” Gu Qingya sobbed, throwing herself into Yuan Limei’s arms. “First, she scalded me, and now she schemed to make me fight with sister-in-law. She’s nothing but a complete viper.”
Yuan Zheng approached slowly, and Nan Jin followed cautiously by his side, peering in warily.
Hearing Gu Qingya’s words, Nan Jin felt no ripple of emotion. For those who disliked her, no matter how hard she tried to please them, she wouldn’t receive a single friendly glance in return.
Her eyes fell on the lucky fan atop the table inside, and she thought of the radio, the 28-inch bicycle, and the sewing machine at home.
To her vast mall, these items were barely a drop in the bucket.
Yet in this era, they were considered quite valuable.
A wicked thought began to stir in her mind. Weren’t they calling her a venomous, lowly woman?
She would show them what a truly venomous woman was capable of.
But she was about to leave, and with people around, opportunities would be hard to come by.
“Nanzhu!” Yuan Limei’s furious voice shattered her dark thoughts.
She grinned, baring her teeth. “I’m not deaf yet.”
“You poisonous wretch! Scalding Qingya wasn’t enough—do you want to kill her?”
Nan Jin shrugged innocently. “What did I do? I only came back to pack my own clothes before leaving. They couldn’t bear to see me go and insisted on stopping me from packing.”
“I just got out of the hospital—how could I possibly have the strength to harm them? They started the fight because they wanted to snatch my things.”
Gu Qingya pointed at the door panel that hadn’t been put back in place and yelled angrily, “You even tore down our door! How can you say you did nothing?”
Only then did Yuan Limei notice the half-dismantled door nearby, her expression turning grim.
Even Yuan Zheng glanced at Nan Jin in surprise—this girl was truly a troublemaker.
Nan Jin shrugged again, feigning innocence. “I hid some things behind it earlier. Since I’m leaving, of course I’d take my belongings with me.”
“I assume you wouldn’t want me coming back here every other day, right?”
“You’re talking nonsense! You clearly have ill intentions,” Gu Qingya snarled like an enraged lioness, itching to pounce and tear her apart.
But recent events had made her somewhat wary of Nan Jin. This wretched woman had become strangely unpredictable—she couldn’t afford to confront her openly anymore.
Nan Jin sighed helplessly. “Do you really think I’d dismantle the door just to take it with me?”
Yuan Limei wanted to say yes, but under Yuan Zheng’s sharp gaze, the words stuck in her throat.
The excuse of taking the door away was indeed far-fetched.
The atmosphere grew eerily tense until the telephone rang downstairs.
“Qingya, you and Yurou go apply some medicine first,” Yuan Limei said, pushing Gu Qingya aside as she strode downstairs.
Yuan Zheng was merely an observer, but before descending, he shot Gu Qingya a warning look.
Meeting her uncle’s stern gaze, Gu Qingya felt so wronged that tears streamed down her cheeks.
She was clearly the one who had been hurt, and she was his own niece by blood—so why did her uncle insist on siding with that despicable Nanzhu?
Nan Jin glanced at the two of them and clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “Tsk, tsk, that was truly ruthless—trying to claw her to death, weren’t you? Such a delicate, charming young girl, and now she might be left with all these hideous scars on her face…”
“Ah! Nanzhu, I hate you!” Gu Qingya could no longer bother to argue with her. Covering her face, she dashed downstairs.