Shen Jinan, with his loud voice, rushed to tattle, saying Shen Qi had returned and slapped Shen Baozhu without any provocation.
Xu Ailian had never hit her children, believing that resorting to violence was a sign of parental incompetence—a means to achieve discipline through force.
But at this moment, she felt her hands itching, eager to slap something.
“Apologize!” Xu Ailian snapped sharply. “Apologize to Baozhu!”
Shen Qi merely glanced at the three of them and went straight to her room.
Xu Ailian was so furious she nearly staggered backward, pounding forcefully on Shen Qi’s door and shouting for her to open it.
Shen Qi acted as if she hadn’t heard, stubbornly refusing to open the door.
For the first time, Xu Ailian was brought to tears by one of her children.
She didn’t even make dinner, just sat on the sofa, waiting for Shen Congjun to return so she could immediately accuse Shen Qi of her wrongdoing.
“She wants everything to be fair—fine, we switched rooms, gave her pocket money. What more is she dissatisfied about? After visiting Old Master Fang in the emergency room, she came back and slapped Baozhu. Is there any reason left in her?”
As she spoke, Xu Ailian’s tears began to fall.
Shen Congjun returned home to no warm meal and had to face his wife’s tears, feeling intensely frustrated.
He had already been somewhat dissatisfied with Shen Qi, but now that mild dissatisfaction had grown tenfold.
A person can’t have everything—always wanting more and more. Such greed is just too ugly.
Shen Congjun strode to the guest room, about to bang on the door, when it suddenly opened.
Shen Qi was crying too, and crying quite unattractively at that.
Her face was a mess of tears and snot.
“Dad, I know I was wrong, but when I think about how I was often beaten for no reason at the Zhou Family, I just feel so miserable…”
“Shen Baozhu looks about fifty percent like her mother. Back at the Zhou Family, her mother would lay hands on me every day—either hitting or pinching me.”
Shen Qi rolled up her sleeve. With the thick winter clothing, she could only push it up to her elbow.
“Dad, look. When I was five, I was a little slow preparing chicken feed, and her mother burned me with a fire poker. I still have the scar on my arm.”
All the anger in Shen Congjun’s heart vanished the moment he saw that scar.
Shen Baozhu, standing behind him, was dumbfounded.
Was this still the father who doted on her?
She had been slapped by Shen Qi for no reason, and the mark on her face hadn’t even faded. Shouldn’t Dad be punishing Shen Qi severely?
“Dad,” Shen Baozhu called out weakly.
Shen Congjun glanced back at her.
He had raised the Zhou Family’s daughter well, never letting her suffer any hardship since she was young.
Yet his own daughter had lived a life worse than that of a slave in the old society while with the Zhou Family.
Before, since Shen Qi never spoke of it, he could pretend not to know. But now that Shen Qi had exposed these scars, no matter how he looked at it, Shen Congjun couldn’t pretend he hadn’t seen them.
“No hitting at home without reason,” Shen Congjun said in a muffled voice.
Shen Qi wiped her tears. “I’ll try, as long as Shen Baozhu doesn’t provoke me.”
Shen Congjun grunted in acknowledgment and instructed Shen Baozhu, “Behave yourself at home.”
Shen Baozhu felt utterly wronged. “Dad, I’ve always been well-behaved at home.”
Just because she wasn’t their biological child, Dad was still siding with Shen Qi, wasn’t he?
In a flash of insight, Shen Baozhu suddenly understood, and her heart swelled with even more resentment and hurt.
How could the adults go back on their word? They promised to treat everyone equally, promised that she, Shen Jinan, and Shen Jibei were all their own children.
Were they giving up the act now?
“Go make dinner,” Shen Congjun said to Xu Ailian.
Xu Ailian’s mind was struggling to catch up.
No way.
Shen Qi had nearly infuriated her to death, and Shen Congjun was just going to dismiss it with a mild remark?
Xu Ailian’s lips trembled as she wanted to say something, but when Shen Congjun shot her a warning glance, she swallowed her words back down.
Clutching her chest, she said, “I… I’m not feeling well. Shen Qi can handle dinner tonight.”
“Mom, you should go rest. I’ll take care of dinner.” Shen Qi knew when to stop, her face full of concern. “Shen Jinan, help Mom back to her room to rest and bring her a cup of hot water.”
Shen Jinan opened his mouth, wanting to retort, “Who are you to order me around?!”
But with Shen Congjun present, he didn’t dare utter a word of protest and reluctantly agreed.
Shen Qi went to wash her face and then headed into the kitchen to get busy.
She hummed a light tune softly, deftly washing and chopping vegetables, and steaming the buns.
Nineteen-year-old Shen Baozhu was just a college student, relatively naive compared to her scheming self in her previous life after marrying into the Fang Family.
Easy to handle.
In her past life, she had been too foolish and naive, which was why she had fallen victim to Shen Baozhu’s crude tricks without any ability to fight back.
She was the Shen Family’s biological daughter, the one who had suffered in the Zhou Family for over a decade in Shen Baozhu’s place. Why should she, the one who had endured all the hardship, have to yield to Shen Baozhu in everything after returning home, while Shen Baozhu acted like the victim?
Were the Shen Family deliberately avoiding the issue, trying to gloss over the facts they didn’t want to face?
Then she would lay those bloody realities bare.
Shen Congjun and Xu Ailian were biased, but they still had basic humanity. It was impossible for them to hear about her suffering in the Zhou Family without being affected.
But such tactics couldn’t be overused. Like the boy who cried wolf, overuse would lead to numbness.
Shen Qi quickly prepared dinner: tomato and egg soup, leftover steamed buns from lunch, stir-fried cucumber with pork, and two plates of pickled vegetables she had made.
Shen Qi proactively served soup to Shen Congjun and Xu Ailian, her tone dripping with sincerity.
“Mom, I didn’t mean to upset you. I just feel so miserable that it’s like my body is being controlled by someone else, making me do things I shouldn’t.”
“I’ll try my best to control it in the future.”
“Mom, don’t be angry. It’s not good for your health.”
Xu Ailian remained unmoved and didn’t respond to Shen Qi.
Only when Shen Congjun gave a light cough did she reluctantly say, “Baozhu is innocent too. You can’t take out your resentment toward the Zhou Family on her.”
Shen Baozhu pressed her lips together, warmth flowing through her heart.
Mom still cared for her the most.
“Speaking of Shen Baozhu, I have something to say too.” Shen Qi sat down, looking directly at Shen Baozhu across the table. “Grandpa Fang arranged the marriage between me and Fang Yi. Everyone in the Compound probably knows about it, right?”
“I assume Shen Baozhu knows about it too. So, even though you’re fully aware that Fang Yi will be your brother-in-law in the future, you still stay very close to him. Dad, in the Troops, wouldn’t this be considered inappropriate relations between men and women? A misconduct issue?”
Shen Baozhu was a few hours younger than her. After returning to the Shen Family, Shen Qi was considered the elder sister.
However, both Shen Baozhu and Shen Jinan always called her by her name and never addressed her as sister.
Shen Jinan objected, “That’s just a verbal engagement. Besides, Yi Ge doesn’t like you. You’re not even in a relationship.”
“Then what are Shen Baozhu and Fang Yi? Are they in a relationship? If they are, does the Fang Family know that Fang Yi has found another girlfriend?”
“If not, Shen Baozhu, weren’t your accusations today just like a dog trying to catch mice—meddling in others’ business?”
Shen Baozhu’s knuckles turned white as she gripped her chopsticks. “I… Yi Ge and I grew up together since childhood. I see him as my own brother, and Grandpa Fang is like my own grandfather. You harmed Grandpa Fang…”
“I’ll say this one last time—Grandpa Fang’s hospitalization has absolutely nothing to do with me. If you insist on dragging the Shen Family into this, then it should be connected to you, Shen Baozhu!”