The eldest son, Chen Gensheng, furrowed his brows and spoke with hesitation.
“Mother, what about our little sister…”
“Your little sister is lost!” Jiang Baozhen cut him off sharply, her voice carrying a deliberately suppressed grief.
“We’ve searched for so many years without a single clue.
From now on, you will treat Yingxue as your own flesh and blood.
However you doted on Ruixue in the past, that is how you will dote on Yingxue from today onward.
Do you hear me?”
The second son, Chen Tiansheng, was hot-tempered.
He immediately raised his voice, his face flushed with agitation as he retorted.
“How can we do that?
How could Yingxue ever compare to our sister?”
Of the Chen Family’s three older sons, Chen Tiansheng had the most lively personality and had loved teasing his little sister since they were children.
She had been closest to him, too.
When she went missing all those years ago, he had cried the hardest.
Over the years, just like Jiang Baozhen, he had harbored a sliver of hope that his little sister would one day be found.
To ask him to treat an outsider as his own sister was absolutely unacceptable.
Even the third son, Chen Chunsheng—who was usually as quiet as a mouse and the most obedient of them all—mumbled in agreement, “Our sister is Ruixue.
No one else can replace her.”
A fire flared in Jiang Baozhen’s heart.
She was about to unleash her fury on these stubborn mules of sons, but she quickly reconsidered.
Their reactions proved that they still genuinely cared for their lost sister; their sibling bond was undoubtedly real.
Forcing her anger down, she darkened her face and asked, “What?
Are you all refusing to listen to me now?”
Her sons simultaneously lowered their heads.
Standing off to the side, Chen Huaiyuan’s heart skipped a beat.
He couldn’t fathom why Jiang Baozhen was so dead-set on acknowledging Lin Yingxue as her daughter.
Could it be that she had actually discovered something?
No, that couldn’t be it!
Chen Huaiyuan immediately dismissed the terrifying thought.
With Jiang Baozhen’s explosive temper, if she truly knew that Lin Yingxue was her biological daughter, she would have already turned the world upside down and let everyone know.
She would never settle for merely acknowledging her as a daughter.
With this in mind, Chen Huaiyuan felt certain that Jiang Baozhen’s string of abnormal behaviors was just a way to vent her anger at him and deliberately make his life difficult.
He wanted to speak up and stop her, but considering she was still fuming, she likely wouldn’t listen to reason.
It would be better to wait until she calmed down and coax her then.
Having had Jiang Baozhen trail after him since they were young, he knew all too well how to manipulate her with a few sweet words.
“Since Yingxue is now your sister,” Jiang Baozhen said, looking away from the older boys.
Her gaze shifted to Chen Tianhao, who kept his head down, his cheeks still red and swollen.
Her tone was absolute.
“Her marriage agreement with the fourth son is naturally null and void.
“That agreement between you two was just a verbal promise anyway.
Without a formal marriage certificate, it doesn’t count for anything.
From now on, you can handle your own affairs, Tianhao.
Don’t you dare order Yingxue around to serve you tea, do your laundry, or cook your meals!”
Chen Tianhao had just suffered a slap, and now he was hearing that his engagement was canceled.
The successive blows left his head buzzing, making it nearly impossible for him to process the situation.
He stared blankly at Lin Yingxue across from him.
Although he usually never paid this child bride any mind, he had long considered Lin Yingxue to be his property.
Now, with just one sentence, Jiang Baozhen was taking her away from him.
How could he possibly accept this?
He gazed at Lin Yingxue eagerly, his eyes brimming with expectation.
He knew that this girl used to be entirely devoted to him, never daring to disobey his slightest command.
Right now, he desperately hoped that she would step forward like she used to, crying and begging not to cancel the engagement, proving that she only wanted to be by his side.
However, from beginning to end, Lin Yingxue didn’t even bat an eyelid, much less spare him a glance.
Chen Tianhao’s heart sank little by little.
He threw down his chopsticks and stormed off to his room to sulk.
Jiang Baozhen glanced at the tightly shut door, a cold sneer tugging at the corners of her mouth.
During the chaos of war in recent years, the whole family had hidden in the mountains.
Their house had been ravaged by soldiers, leaving the already dilapidated structure leaking and drafty.
The day after they came down from the mountains, Chen Huaiyuan claimed that the fourth son needed a quiet place to study.
In response, she had hired people to repair the east wing overnight just for Chen Tianhao to live in.
The room was spacious and faced south, with high ceilings and thickly plastered walls.
If it hadn’t been for the post-war shortage of blue bricks and tiles, the room could have been renovated even better.
And now, he still wanted to keep living there?
In his dreams!
This room had to be cleared out for Yingxue.
As for Chen Tianhao, he could naturally go sleep in the shed.
Earlier that day, Jiang Baozhen had discussed having Yingxue share her room, but the girl preferred the shed over staying with her.
Afraid that pushing the issue would scare her daughter away, Jiang Baozhen decided that if Yingxue didn’t want to share a room, she should at least have the best room in the house.
With this in mind, Jiang Baozhen raised her voice.
“You ungrateful wretch, you dare slam the door?
Clear out of this room today!”
Chen Huaiyuan tried to intervene, but Jiang Baozhen silenced him with a deadly glare before he could even speak.
Inside, Chen Tianhao locked the door.
Hearing the clamor outside demanding he vacate the room, he simply turned a deaf ear to it.
He didn’t believe for a second that Jiang Baozhen would actually kick him out.
Despite the beating and scolding, he figured she had just lost face during the land distribution and was taking her frustration out on him.
Once her anger subsided, he would still be the most favored son in the family.
And as for Lin Yingxue, she would sooner or later become his wife anyway.
Seeing no movement from inside, Jiang Baozhen pointed at her eldest son, Chen Gensheng.
“Go kick the door down and throw all his things out!”
Chen Gensheng stood up.
Beside him, Wu Qiaoqiao’s eyes lit up.
She eagerly darted to the front of Chen Tianhao’s door.
As the eldest, Chen Gensheng had long been bottling up his resentment.
The family always prioritized the fourth son, even giving him the best room.
With his mother suppressing him, he had never dared to complain, but now that he had the chance, why would he hold back?
Wu Qiaoqiao’s mind was racing even faster, already scheming how to further badmouth the fourth son in front of her mother-in-law.
“Open the door, Tianhao!” the eldest son and his wife shouted.
They exchanged a look, having long coveted this room.
They were just waiting for the fourth son to move out so they could sweet-talk his mother into letting their branch of the family move in.
In Jiangya Village, which eldest son didn’t occupy the best room in the house?
After all, their parents would have to rely on the eldest son’s family to care for them in their old age.
“If you don’t open up, we’re really going to kick it down!”
They shouted for a long time, but there was still no sound from inside.
However, the couple couldn’t bear to actually kick the door.
If they broke it, they would have to spend their own money to fix it once they moved in.
“If you won’t kick it, I will!”
Chen Tiansheng couldn’t wait any longer.
He shoved Chen Gensheng aside and raised his foot to kick the wooden door.
BAM!
A muffled thud echoed out.
Huang Qiuju, heavily pregnant, stood to the side with her protruding belly.
She cheered him on in a shrill voice, “If you had just opened the door earlier, Tianhao, we wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble!”
Chen Tiansheng and his wife also wanted to live in the east wing.
The doorway to the east wing instantly descended into chaos.
Jiang Baozhen watched with cold detachment, the corners of her mouth twitching up into an imperceptible smile.
She saw right through the intentions of Chen Gensheng and Chen Tiansheng.
They had long been dissatisfied with the family’s favoritism toward the fourth son.
In her previous life, they had complained extensively, but she had suppressed them so fiercely that they hadn’t dared to cause trouble.
Now, the timing was perfect.
She was more than happy to use their resentment and let them act as her enforcers.
“What are you doing?!”
The door was kicked open by Chen Tiansheng.
Chen Tianhao blocked the doorway, his face flushed red and his chest heaving.
“Mother told you to clear out of the room!
Are you deaf?!” Wu Qiaoqiao said, resting her hands on her hips.
Chen Gensheng and the others turned their heads in unison to look at Jiang Baozhen.
Their gazes were filled with probing, harboring a restless eagerness to strike.