The next moment, the slap froze just an inch away from Meng Yu.
Her eyelashes trembled.
She had even felt the breeze of the hand brushing against her cheek.
Tears still streaked her face, but her once pitiful eyes now looked ice-cold as they met Meng Jixiang’s gaze.
“You want to hit me?”
Meng Jixiang truly hated this wretched girl, Meng Doyu, and wanted nothing more than to beat her to death!
But her hand wouldn’t move!
Not only that, her wrist was restrained by two hands—one from Meng Doyu, the other…
Meng Jixiang panicked and looked at Zhou Sinian.
“L-let go of me! Or I’ll report you for harassment!”
Even now, she could still turn things around to accuse someone else.
Zhou Sinian gave her a cold glance and released his hold.
She should be grateful the slap hadn’t landed on Meng Yu’s face; otherwise, he wasn’t sure he could uphold his principle of never striking a woman!
Zhou Sinian’s hand let go, but Meng Yu’s remained tightly clenched.
“Let go! Meng Doyu, if you dare lay a hand on me, I swear I’ll kill you!”
Meng Jixiang had never looked at this younger sister properly. In her mind, being pushed into marrying Zhou Sinian, even if it meant getting beaten, was Meng Doyu’s luck!
Today, she dared to strike her—that was simply defying heaven itself!
Seeing Meng Jixiang’s sharp, scornful expression, Meng Yu’s eyes grew colder.
“Kill me?” The grip in her hands tightened further. As Meng Jixiang screamed in pain, a cold smile curved at the corner of Meng Yu’s mouth. “Come on. Show me how you’d hit me, hmm?”
As she spoke, the grip tightened again, causing Meng Jixiang to howl in pain.
Smack!
“Shut up! Enough noise!”
The slap silenced Meng Jixiang, but she herself was stunned by Meng Yu’s sudden strike.
Not just Meng Jixiang—the entire Meng family was dumbfounded.
Everyone knew that the third daughter of the Meng family had always been meek and submissive, taking abuse without complaint. In the household, she was worth less than the pig in the back yard!
The pig had to be cared for and fed on schedule, but Meng Doyu, in the Meng family, couldn’t even get a warm meal!
Yet, this very person—who had never been respected—now dared to strike them!
Meng Jixiang’s father’s eyes widened in shock.
“Meng Doyu! How dare you hit your sister!”
Meng Yu glanced at him.
“Can’t hit?”
“That’s your eldest sister!” Meng Jixiang’s father shouted angrily. He even jumped down from the kang and pulled Meng Jixiang behind him, putting on a fatherly front.
“Kneel! If you dare hit your sister, would you dare hit me too?”
“Try it today if you want!”
Meng Jixiang was the first child of Meng Jixiang’s father, his cherished daughter, and he couldn’t just ignore this.
She cried and yelled, demanding her father punish Meng Yu, determined not to rest until Meng Yu was beaten.
Zhou Sinian looked at the chaotic scene and suddenly understood why Meng Yu had insisted on staying in the Zhou family when working with him.
This stifling, biased household—just looking at it made him feel suffocated.
He glanced down at her, the small, slender girl standing there with her back straight, her eyes filled with a determination as if burning all bridges.
Even a grown man like him was taken aback.
Meng Yu’s thoughts were simple.
Her purpose in returning wasn’t to pretend to maintain some fragile family bond.
If she had to give a reason, she was here to cause trouble!
Especially seeing Meng Jixiang’s father with a vicious look, Meng Yu’s smile widened.
“You want to hit me?”
Without giving him a chance to speak, she continued.
“I get beaten in the Zhou family, and I get beaten here too. Since it’s the same either way, I might as well set fire to this place! Let’s all go down together!”
The words sent the entire Meng family into a panic!
Wu Zhaodi timidly stepped out, her bitter face streaming with tears as she looked at Meng Yu.
“Duoyu, you mustn’t do anything foolish! Your dad… your dad will handle it for you!”
This was the birth mother of the original character—but not Meng Yu’s.
Meng Yu sized up Wu Zhaodi and asked sincerely:
“I’m curious. You’ve had so many children in the Meng family, yet you don’t even have the right to speak, and you still slave away for them? Don’t you have any will of your own? Look at your husband and your children—how do they treat you?”
“They don’t even save a bite of food for you, a daughter-in-law, to eat properly, not even once.”
Meng Yu’s words left Wu Zhaodi utterly shamed.
Not a single member of the Meng family had any face left.
As Meng Jixiang’s father and others showed their indignation, Meng Yu sneered.
“Don’t like it? You think her contributions to this family over the years deserve no gratitude? You think it’s all just owed to you?”
Then she turned her gaze to Meng Jixiang and the others.
“He’s the old livestock, you’re the little livestock, and when she was starving, freezing, and nearly exhausted, what were you doing?”
The three siblings’ faces turned grim, unable to find a word to argue.
“Wuwu… Third daughter…”
“You deserve it.”
Meng Yu cut off Wu Zhaodi’s cries without mercy.
“If you’re willing to be the old ox, then it’s your own fault if you’re worked to death. But why drag me to suffer alongside you?”
The original character had been timid and cowardly, but if not for Wu Zhaodi’s repeated suppression and brainwashing, she wouldn’t have met such a tragic end.
The book had revealed the original character’s fate: an outwardly obedient person exploding silently is the most dangerous. Zhou Sinian would be vindicated two years later, but before that, she had been pushed into divorce, missing a great marriage.
Because she competed with Meng Jixiang for Zhou Sinian, and the family’s favoritism turned her dark, the original character was sent to labor reform and died within a few years in the freezing snow.
Wasn’t all this their fault?
Originally, Meng Yu had only planned to reclaim her dowry, but now she decided to sever all ties with the Meng family.
“I get beaten in the Zhou family, and I get beaten here too. Since it’s the same either way, we might as well all perish together!”
With that, Meng Yu ran to the kitchen and returned holding a gleaming cleaver with a notch in the blade.
“Ah!! Help! Murder!!”
Meng Ruyi screamed!
Meng Yaozu was so terrified he wet himself on the kang!
Even Meng Jixiang’s father was shocked by Meng Yu’s ‘let’s all die together’ stance.
“C-calm down! Calm down, Meng Doyu!”
Calm down?
Screw calm down!
When she had read this book before, Meng Yu had almost died of rage. Now, being that pitiful, ridiculous woman, she was determined to overturn everything!
“Say it! Are you swapping back or not?”
Zhou Sinian: …
This seems to have nothing to do with him.
Also, is this woman too deep into the role?
Even if they force a swap, shouldn’t he have a say in accepting it?
“Swap! Swap! Swap! We’ll swap!”
Meng Jixiang’s father screamed in agreement.
“I do not agree.”
Zhou Sinian’s cold, steady voice sounded beside her.
Meng Yu froze and turned.
Zhou Sinian looked at her coldly.
“Don’t play dumb.”
Just these three simple words made Meng Yu blink awkwardly.
Seeing her like this, Zhou Sinian could clearly see her little scheme.