Jiang Li clenched her teeth tightly, forcing herself not to expose them on the spot.
Mother Lü slammed her hand on the table.
“Jiang Li, I’m warning you—Xiaoxiao is staying here. If you dare bully her, I’ll break your legs.”
Father Lü chimed in,
“All the good things in this house must go to Xiaoxiao first. She’s suffered for you all these years.”
“Tomorrow, go to the seed station and hand over your work. From now on, in this family, you’ll be responsible for taking care of Xiaoxiao and Weiguo. You’ve enjoyed enough blessings over the years—you should be satisfied.”
The same speech as in her previous life.
But this time, Jiang Li would never fall for it again.
She let out a cold laugh.
Calmly, she looked at them.
“When the child was switched back then, I was just a baby. No matter how you look at it, none of it was my fault. Since you insist on holding it against me, then let’s sever ties.”
Everyone was shocked.
Mother Lü stared at her in disbelief.
“Are you crazy? You dare to cut ties with us? Even though you married Weiguo, your household registration hasn’t been moved. Don’t you want your city residency anymore?”
In that era, a city household registration was something countless people fought desperately to obtain.
But Jiang Li simply fetched paper and pen and quickly wrote a letter to sever ties.
Then she went next door and brought over Director Liu from the neighborhood committee.
“With a leader here, sign it.”
Mother Lü hadn’t expected her to actually go this far.
Song Weiguo frowned and scolded,
“Jiang Li, you’ve gone too far.”
“Too far? I’m just doing what everyone wants.” Jiang Li’s eyes were cold, no trace of her former submissive self.
“Since the Lü family refuses to acknowledge me as their daughter, there’s no need for me to shamelessly cling to you. I’ll move my household registration out in a few days.”
Director Liu had been somewhat familiar with Jiang Li and wanted to persuade her.
But Mother Lü could no longer hold back her anger.
“Sever ties? Fine. Old Lü, sign it. Let’s see how she comes begging us when she can’t survive.”
This wretched girl probably didn’t even know that her marriage certificate with Song Weiguo was fake. If she tried to move her registration to the Song family, let’s see if Song Weiguo would allow it.
After signing, she grabbed Lü Xiaoxiao and prepared to leave.
But just as they were about to step out—
“Wait.”
Mother Lü sneered.
“Regretting it already? Want us to recognize you again? Then you’d better think carefully about what you should be doing!”
She thought Jiang Li would be scared.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Li ignored her completely, quickly wrote another severance letter, and handed it directly to Lü Xiaoxiao.
“Lü Xiaoxiao, since I have nothing to do with the Lü family anymore, then you must have nothing to do with the Jiang family either. You should sign this too.”
In her previous life, Jiang Li didn’t know that the Jiang family had been relocated capitalists forced to live in the village.
They weren’t native farmers.
Nor did she know that in that drafty, broken courtyard, there were valuables hidden—antiques of considerable worth.
Later, Lü Xiaoxiao discovered them by accident and used them as the starting capital for her rise to success.
This time, Jiang Li would never hand them over again.
Mother Lü looked disgusted.
“Cheap to the bone. Even a rundown rural house is something you covet.”
Director Liu, already sympathetic to Jiang Li, frowned at this.
With a stern face, she scolded,
“Sister Lü, Chairman Mao said that the working people are the most honorable. With your attitude, do you want to attend ideological re-education classes?”
Mother Lü’s face flushed red with anger. After holding it in for a while, she finally said to Lü Xiaoxiao,
“Xiaoxiao, go sign it. Let the Jiang family deal with their own debts. It has nothing to do with us.”
Lü Xiaoxiao’s heart stirred.
She could already imagine Jiang Li being hunted and wanted for fleeing a military marriage.
Without hesitation, she stepped forward and signed.
After seeing off Director Liu and the Lü family,
Jiang Li ignored Song Weiguo entirely, took the severance letter, went into the bedroom, and slammed the door shut.
Since the marriage certificate was fake, she could go wherever she wanted. No one could stop her.
Since she started working, her income had basically been spent as soon as she earned it.
Before, she subsidized the Lü family. After marriage, she had to support daily expenses. She had never managed to save anything.
She packed everything she could use into a small bag and checked the wardrobe.
Ever since Lü Xiaoxiao returned, everything she owned had already been taken by Father and Mother Lü.
All she wore every day was the navy-blue work uniform issued by the seed station.
It had already faded from washing.
Yet all her tolerance and sacrifice
had only been repaid with endless deception.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Song Weiguo pushed it open and walked in.
“Wife, still angry?”
The man sat by the bed, gently reaching for her hand, but she quickly avoided him.
Behind his glasses, his eyes darkened slightly.
Still, he coaxed her softly,
“You’re angry at the Lü family, but now you’re ignoring me too? We’re husband and wife. No matter what, I’ll always stand by your side.”
“I’m about to be promoted to section chief. Didn’t you always want to move to the family housing at the Agricultural Research Institute? What’s so special about this shabby seed station dorm?”
“In the future, just stay at home as the wife of a section chief—wash clothes, do housework. This is a blessing many people couldn’t earn in several lifetimes.”
Looking at his righteous and respectable appearance,
Jiang Li wanted nothing more than to slap him.
In her previous life, she had been deceived by this very gentle and honest facade,
and had given him her whole heart.
They had graduated from university together.
Song Weiguo was assigned to the seed station, while she was recommended to the Agricultural Research Institute.
But Song Weiguo complained that the seed station was mostly women and said he didn’t want to talk to any woman other than her.
He persuaded her to give up her position at the institute.
He even took all her seed cultivation research data as his own.
The updates for all three seasonal seedling data each year were done by her.
Otherwise, with Song Weiguo’s qualifications, how could he have risen to section chief so quickly?
That damned bastard!
Seeing her silent,
the man thought she had been coaxed successfully.
A trace of smug satisfaction flashed in his eyes.
He pointed to the messy living room outside and the clothes on the wooden sofa that hadn’t been washed since last night.
“It’s almost noon. Hurry up, clean up and go buy groceries and cook. It’s the weekend—I want to have a drink. Buy more fish and meat. I’ll go read in the study. Call me when it’s ready.”
He spoke as if it were only natural.
All his sweet words were nothing more than a way to keep her as a free servant,
taking care of his daily needs.
Jiang Li suddenly reached out and grabbed him.
“Weiguo, I’ve run out of money. Since you want me to quit my job and stay home, shouldn’t you hand over your salary so I can get used to it in advance?”
The man froze.
His brows immediately furrowed.
“It’s not even halfway through the month—how did you spend it all so quickly?”
Jiang Li sneered inwardly, but on the surface, she let go and looked aggrieved.
“Forget it. I’d better keep working. I don’t like asking others for food—it makes me feel like a beggar.”
The man was momentarily speechless.
Thinking of what he had promised Lü Xiaoxiao, his attitude quickly changed.
He pulled out a small stack of loose bills and ration coupons from his pocket and handed them over.
“What are you saying? We’re husband and wife—what’s mine is yours. This is…”
Jiang Li immediately smiled, pushed away the less-than-ten-yuan stack of money, and extended her hand.
Her words came out rapidly, like beads on an abacus, as she accurately listed exactly how much money the man currently had saved, down to the smallest amount.