At Fu Dayong’s house.
“Ah—!”
“Hubby, spare me, don’t hit me anymore!” Sun Xiaoqian cried and begged for mercy.
However, Fu Qiang acted as if he heard nothing. His face was twisted with rage as he gripped a thick stick, yanked Sun Xiaoqian by the hair, and beat her relentlessly.
“Damn it, are you going to talk or not? Who is the adulterer?
You gave birth to another man’s child behind my back. Do you know how much face you’ve made me lose?”
During this period, the news that Sun Xiaoqian’s eldest son was not Fu Qiang’s blood had already spread throughout the entire village, and even people from neighboring villages had heard about it. As a result, the Fu family all believed that Sun Xiaoqian had been having an affair with another man.
Standing at the doorway and watching the drama, Li Honghua egged him on.
“Qiangzi, hit her harder! This little slut sends so many things back to her maiden family every day, and she still cheated on my son behind his back. We, the Fu family, raised another man’s child for him.
Sun Xiaoqian, you really deserve to die.”
Sun Xiaoqian’s face had been beaten beyond recognition, and she could barely speak.
“Mother… Hubby… I didn’t, I didn’t.
Hubby, don’t you know what kind of person I am?
How could I ever do something to betray you?
It was Xue Zhi! It’s all Xue Zhi. She slandered me.
She’s deliberately taking revenge on our Fu family. Can’t you see that?
Mother, Hubby, back when she lived here, I bullied her so much. She must be getting revenge now.”
Sun Xiaoqian’s words made Fu Qiang stop. He looked up at Li Honghua, only to see her expression turn ugly as she snarled viciously.
“That’s not impossible.”
Fu Qiang frowned in confusion.
“Mother, what exactly happened that day?
Xue Zhi said little sister pushed her into the river, and what she said about you… was that true? Did you really betray father and—”
Before he could finish, Li Honghua rushed forward and slapped Fu Qiang across the face.
“What nonsense are you spouting? Would I do such a thing?”
Seeing this, Sun Xiaoqian quickly added,
“Mother, the way Xue Zhi dealt with you is the same way she dealt with me.”
Li Honghua shot her a glare.
“Get lost! This has nothing to do with you.”
Fu Qiang still could not understand why Xue Zhi, who had been living fine in the family home, would suddenly ask for a divorce.
Heaven knew how shocked he had been when he came back from gambling that day.
The matter of Fu Lin faking his death had been kept secret by Li Honghua and Fu Dayong. They had not told Fu Qiang or Fu Rong a single word, afraid the two of them would ruin everything.
Fu Rong had pushed Xue Zhi into the river because Li Honghua ordered her to.
Li Honghua had lied to her, saying it was only to teach Xue Zhi a lesson and not to kill her. Because of that, Fu Rong had been so frightened that she had not dared leave the house for a long time.
After driving Sun Xiaoqian away, Li Honghua grabbed Fu Qiang by the ear and whispered,
“Don’t think I don’t know what filthy thoughts you’ve had about that little slut Xue Zhi. Behave yourself. It won’t be long before our family gets rich.”
“Mother, let go! It hurts, hurts!”
After Li Honghua released him, Fu Qiang rubbed his ear and asked in confusion,
“Mother, you keep saying it—get rich! Get rich! But when exactly? And since you know how I feel about Xue Zhi, why won’t you help me?”
“No matter what, Xue Zhi used to be your younger brother’s wife—your sister-in-law. If you dare do something so disgraceful, believe me, I’ll break your legs.”
Ever since Fu Lin left home, Fu Qiang had developed crooked thoughts toward Xue Zhi not long after.
But at the time, Xue Zhi was still her daughter-in-law, so Li Honghua constantly blocked him.
Now, Lin’er already had a new wife. Rumor said she was the daughter of a wealthy family from the capital. How could an ordinary village girl like Xue Zhi compare?
If Li Honghua had to choose, of course she would choose the rich daughter-in-law.
Hearing this, Fu Qiang’s eyes lit up. He caught the key point in Li Honghua’s words and said softly,
“Mother, you mean before… then now…”
Before he could finish, Li Honghua gave him a sideways glance, and mother and son instantly understood each other’s thoughts.
Several days later, Xue Zhi was still thinking about Bai Shanshan’s matter.
She had already spoken to Manager Zheng of Jinxiu Tower about it. At first, he was unwilling, but after thinking it through, he agreed to her request.
Xue Zhi thought the matter should now have a proper outcome, so she went to find Bai Shanshan.
Because Bai Shanshan had paid wages in time and hired a doctor, Bai Shanshan’s mother’s illness had already begun to improve. She knew that everything she and Bai Shanshan had today was thanks to Xue Zhi, so the moment she saw Xue Zhi arrive, she hurriedly rose to greet her.
“Madam Xue has come?”
“Auntie, are you feeling better?”
“I should be improving. It’s all thanks to you, Madam Xue. If not for you, I fear I would have…”
Before she could finish, Xue Zhi interrupted her.
“Auntie, please don’t say that.
I only gave an idea. Everything was still done by Shanshan.”
Xue Zhi did not chat long with Bai’s mother before Bai Shanshan returned.
The moment she saw Xue Zhi, Bai Shanshan’s eyes instantly brightened.
“Zhi Zhi? You came! I was just thinking of visiting you in a few days when I had time. Come inside, let’s talk.”
Bai Shanshan and Feng Chun had come back together on the same road.
Bai Shanshan introduced them.
“Zhi Zhi, this is Feng Chun.”
“A Chun, this is Xue Zhi, the one I told you about.”
Feng Chun had long heard about Xue Zhi from Bai Shanshan. At first, she had not believed that such an idea could have come from Bai Shanshan. If Bai Shanshan could think of such a plan, she would have arranged it long ago—why wait until now?
Because of that, Feng Chun had long been curious about the Xue Zhi Bai Shanshan kept mentioning. After seeing her in person, her eyes were full of curiosity and delight.
“Madam Xue, I… may I call you Zhi Zhi just like Shanshan does?”
“Of course you can.”