Jiang Nuan looked at her with a puzzled expression, shielding the axe. “What do you want this for?”
Speaking, she deliberately glanced toward the courtyard and exclaimed in shock, “You wouldn’t be planning to chop down Lu Daqiang’s door, would you?”
Old Madam Lu instinctively wanted to scold her for meddling, but thinking of the recent lesson, she swallowed the words.
Impatiently, she said, “Let me use the axe for a moment. Rou Rou is hospitalized now, and we urgently need money.”
“But you still can’t chop down Lu Daqiang’s door and steal money from his room!” Jiang Nuan said righteously, speaking loudly to make sure everyone could hear.
The word “steal” was just too harsh. Old Madam Lu immediately bristled. “Who are you calling a thief? Daqiang is raised by me, no different from my own son.
His money, to save Rou Rou’s life, is only right. And besides, Rou Rou is carrying…”
Old Madam Lu suddenly stopped, frustrated with her own loose tongue.
Everyone was aware of the scandalous relationship between her daughter and Lu Daqiang. Speaking of it publicly was like inviting people to stab her in the back.
Jiang Nuan smiled slowly, “That’s right. Rou Rou is carrying Lu Daqiang’s own child. Using the money to save your woman and child is only natural.”
The onlookers laughed at the sight of Old Madam Lu being put in her place.
Feeling guilty but unable to respond, Old Madam Lu cursed Jiang Nuan in her mind. “Mind your own business!” She snatched the axe and hurried toward Lu Daqiang’s room.
Jiang Nuan put her hands on her hips and shouted a warning, “Think carefully! Lu Daqiang values his money more than his own life. If he finds it missing and you end up in the police station, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Hearing Jiang Nuan’s feigned concern, Old Madam Lu stopped at the door and looked back confidently.
“Daqiang treats me like his own mother. His money is my money. He would never send me to the police!
This is between us, not for outsiders like you to interfere!”
Jiang Nuan sighed, “Good intentions wasted on a stubborn donkey, huh.”
Old Madam Lu, unwilling to waste more time arguing, raised the axe with all her strength.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After a dozen or so strikes, the door splintered into pieces.
Worried about her daughter, she rushed inside the room.
Jiang Nuan and the villagers stepped into the yard, ears straining to catch the sound of things being rifled through inside.
After a long while, Old Madam Lu emerged, dejected.
Jiang Nuan sized her up with a gleam in her eyes. “Oh! That was fast. Could it be that you didn’t find the money? Just a moment ago, you were so confident, saying Daqiang is your son and his money is yours. Praising yourself non-stop, thinking you really knew where the money was… and now, just that short time, you’ve been slapped in the face. That Lu Daqiang—Rou Rou is in such a state, and he still clings to his money so tightly. I think he doesn’t care much about Rou Rou at all. You two might have been deceived by him.”
Jiang Nuan shook her head in sympathy. “Tsk tsk, what a pity. A woman willingly becomes a scandalized shameless figure for him, and a mother treats him like her own son, only for him to treat you like this—what’s the difference from an animal? Truly pitiful.”
Old Madam Lu looked at Jiang Nuan’s mocking gaze and at her empty wallet.
No one could have taken the money but Lu Daqiang.
He must have transferred it elsewhere beforehand to prevent her from taking it.
The crowd, hearing Jiang Nuan’s words, looked at Old Madam Lu with a mix of sympathy and ridicule.
“Jiang Nuan is right. This mother and daughter must have been tricked by Lu Daqiang.”
“Thought Old Madam Lu called the shots here, turns out she’s completely manipulated by Lu Daqiang. Looks clever, but really just a fool!”
Since marrying into the Lu family, Old Madam Lu had always ruled the roost.
Hearing so many doubt her status, she felt her face burning with shame.
How could she continue living in Hehua Village like this?
Glaring at Jiang Nuan, she shouted defiantly, “Who says I didn’t find the money?! Mind your own business!”
To convince the crowd, she slapped her pocket forcefully. “Daqiang already told me where he put the money. It’s right here in my pocket!”
Luckily, the pocket was stuffed with random things, making it look bulging—enough to give the illusion that it was full of money.
Jiang Nuan shut her mouth in frustration.
Seeing her defeat, Old Madam Lu smirked. “Some people are just jealous that Rou Rou is lucky. Married Daqiang for a few months, not a cent to show for it.
Now seeing Daqiang generous with Rou Rou, they grow envious and keep belittling her.”
Jiang Nuan snorted disdainfully. “Big deal. It’s just a few dirty coins.”
Old Madam Lu, delighted by her reaction, boasted about Lu Daqiang again to the crowd, emphasizing that his money was hers.
Money is the best thing in the world, the truest test of character.
By showing everyone that Lu Daqiang is willing to spend on his daughter, it proves her place in his heart.
When they marry, no one will look down on her.
Satisfied with her boasting, she returned to her room with some money, enough to cover hospital expenses for a few days.
She was determined to get Lu Daqiang’s money, or she and her daughter would starve in the future.
“Lu Daqiang is back!”
Someone shouted, and Jiang Nuan’s eyes lit up.
She turned to see Lu Daqiang, pale-faced, pushing through the crowd and rushing into the yard.
Jiang Nuan clenched her hands in excitement.
Heaven really was on her side!
Lu Daqiang had returned from the countryside with a batch of pigs to the meat processing plant.
Hearing that his so-called mother had urgent business, he was immediately alarmed.
Anxiously, he asked around, confirming she hadn’t revealed anything about him and Rou Rou.
He breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Worried she might come to the plant, he took a leave and borrowed a colleague’s bicycle to rush to the hospital, but found no one.
Old Madam Lu urgently needed money. Her relatives had already lent her plenty, and she couldn’t borrow another cent.
Neither at the plant nor the hospital.
Feeling a chill, Lu Daqiang pedaled home as fast as he could.
From a distance, he saw the Lu family courtyard blocked completely. He dropped his bike and rushed in.
Seeing the splintered door, he froze in shock.
“Daqiang’s back! Your mother just broke open the door and took all your money!”