When Wen Tiantian learned that Wen Li was going to follow the army, her nose practically twisted in anger.
If Wen Li really went, wouldn’t she be able to see Xu Zhouye every single day?
No!
Absolutely not!
Back when they were rarely together, Wen Li had still managed to produce a child.
If she actually went to join him at the military base, children would surely pop out one after another.
Wen Tiantian couldn’t accept that at all!
Just looking at Xu Yanqing already made her jealous to the point of madness.
If there were a few more children, was she trying to anger her to death?
Imagining Wen Li and Xu Zhouye being intimate, Wen Tiantian’s eyes filled with vicious hatred. She wished Wen Li would disappear completely!
If Wen Li had never been found back then, she would have been the Wen family’s only daughter.
And the one who married Xu Zhouye could only have been her!
Wen Tiantian hated Wen Li, and she also hated Father Wen and Mother Wen.
It was all their fault for not investigating properly, for thinking Xu Zhouye was completely crippled, and then hurriedly stuffing Wen Li into a marriage with him.
Maybe they had done it on purpose—keeping the better-qualified male comrade for their biological daughter!
After all, even if Xu Zhouye were disabled, his family background was still something others couldn’t compare to.
The more Wen Tiantian thought about it, the more convinced she became that they had done it deliberately.
On the surface, they said they loved her, but in reality, they only gave her small favors.
When it came to a matter that decided an entire lifetime, the one they chose was still Wen Li!
Wen Tiantian didn’t want Wen Li to go follow the army, nor did she want Wen Li and Xu Zhouye’s relationship to improve.
She egged Mother Wen on to go to the Xu family to probe the situation.
Mother Wen had been angered several times in a row and felt stifled and miserable.
“I even pretended to be sick, and she still didn’t come back. Could it be that she really doesn’t want to acknowledge us anymore?”
Wen Li’s change was too drastic, and Mother Wen found it hard to adapt.
Her heart felt heavy and uncomfortable.
They were mother and daughter—no matter how unpleasant things got, it shouldn’t come to hatred, right?
Wen Li was truly narrow-minded!
Wen Tiantian said, “She’s going to follow the army. Let’s go see her off.”
Once they saw Wen Li, they could shove her hard—best if she broke a leg and then see how she’d still go follow the army!
Mother Wen said, “No. If she doesn’t want to come back, we don’t need to press our warm faces against her cold backside!”
If she lowered her head this time, Wen Li would only go further next time.
She’d already taken two hundred yuan and still wasn’t satisfied—did they need to empty the entire family savings before she’d be happy?
Only after Wen Tiantian pleaded relentlessly did Mother Wen agree to go to the Xu family.
It was Mother Xu who received them.
The moment they entered, Wen Tiantian’s gaze darted around, as if searching for something.
Seeing this, Mother Xu thought to herself: Who is the truly disgraceful one here? The Wen family must be blind!
She couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
Wen Tiantian saw it clearly.
Her expression stiffened for a moment, then she forced a smile. “Auntie, why haven’t I seen Lili?”
Don’t tell her she had already left?
If that were the case, her plan wouldn’t be able to go through!
Mother Xu’s attitude was cold, and she didn’t answer the question.
Instead, she said, “Last time, she went back to her natal home happily and came back crying. I thought you had already severed ties.”
Wen Tiantian’s heart leapt into her throat. “That was a misunderstanding.”
Mother Xu said, “Sowing discord and fabricating lies—that’s also a misunderstanding?”
Her words were blunt, leaving Wen Tiantian no face at all.
Wen Tiantian bit her lip. “I was just joking. I didn’t expect Lili to believe it.”
“A joke?”
Mother Xu let out a snort, her eyes full of mockery.
Thank heavens their Xu family hadn’t married in such a shameless woman!
Mother Xu said, “I’ve already read the letter. You don’t need to make excuses. As an elder, let me advise you—don’t covet things that don’t belong to you.”
“I let you in today because I also want to make this clear: Wen Li is now a member of the Xu family. Bullying her is slapping our Xu family in the face!”
Wen Tiantian’s heart plunged to the bottom.
She hadn’t expected Wen Li to actually bring this matter before the Xu family.
Then Xu Zhouye… did he know as well?
Despair and humiliation surged over her.
In this lifetime, would she never be able to marry Xu Zhouye?
Swept by Mother Xu’s gaze, Wen Tiantian lowered her head.
Whether from guilt or helplessness, she inexplicably wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground.
Mother Xu disliked Wen Tiantian even more.
She had the nerve to do evil things but not the courage to admit her mistakes—what kind of person was that?
Mother Wen said awkwardly, “In-law, it’s not that serious…”
Mother Xu replied, “You think it’s not serious—that only proves you don’t love Wen Li. But our A-Ye treasures her. He won’t allow anyone to hurt her even a little.”
Then Mother Xu changed the subject. “If this kind of filthy business happened in another family, the one being scolded would never be Wen Li. I really don’t understand how you think. She’s the one who deserves sympathy, isn’t she?”
Mother Wen’s face burned.
She knew Tiantian was in the wrong.
But since the matter had already happened, what was the point of harping on it?
She didn’t dare argue with Mother Xu. “We’ve already talked to Tiantian. This kind of thing won’t happen again.”
Mother Xu said, “Don’t blame me for speaking harshly. We won’t interfere in the Wen family’s affairs, but if you drag our Xu family into it again, we won’t let it slide so easily next time.”
Clearly, they were in-laws, yet Mother Xu showed no courtesy at all.
This made Mother Wen feel extremely uncomfortable.
Once again, she secretly cursed Wen Li for being useless, making even her natal family suffer because of her.
Anger welled up in her chest, and she was desperate to scold Wen Li.
Thick-skinned, Mother Wen asked, “In-law, where did Lili go? I want to say a few words to her.”
Mother Xu replied, “She’s gone.”
Her expectation came true. Wen Tiantian felt flames erupt in her heart.
Wen Li had done this on purpose!
She hadn’t gone to follow the army before, but now that she knew Wen Tiantian liked Xu Zhouye, she rushed off to the base.
This was a slap in her face.
Deliberately showing off to her!
Everything Wen Li had, Wen Tiantian wanted to snatch away.
Her heart ached terribly right now.
Why wasn’t she the one who married Xu Zhouye?
Sitting opposite them, Mother Xu caught the jealousy and resentment in Wen Tiantian’s eyes.
At once, she felt sorry for Wen Li.
Her father didn’t love her, her mother didn’t cherish her, and even her brother sided with the adopted daughter.
And that adopted daughter wasn’t someone easy to deal with either!
Who knew what kind of life Wen Li had lived before.
Watching her own family turn their elbows outward—it must have been awful.
Mother Xu had already made her stance clear and given all the warnings she needed to give. She didn’t want to say another word to the Wen family.
She bluntly issued an order to leave. “I still have things to do. I won’t be entertaining you.”
Mother Wen’s face alternated between red and white.
In the past, when they came to the Xu family, Mother Xu’s attitude had always been lukewarm.
But directly telling them to leave—this was the first time.
Out of habit, Mother Wen dumped all the blame onto Wen Li.
It was because Wen Li was useless and failed to please her in-laws that her natal family was also unwelcome.
Yet deep down, a voice told Mother Wen that this wasn’t the case.
It was because Wen Tiantian liked Xu Zhouye and forged that letter that she had angered the Xu family.
Mother Wen’s mind was in turmoil, and she hurriedly chased that thought away.
Tiantian was the child she had raised with her own hands. No one was perfect—no matter what, she was still better than Wen Li!
Not seeing Wen Li, the mother and daughter left the compound in disgrace.
In her heart, Wen Tiantian cursed: Distance breeds fondness; familiarity breeds contempt. Maybe once Wen Li went to follow the army, Xu Zhouye would end up disliking her instead.
She was a wild child who grew up in the countryside, only getting the chance to study after being found by the Wen family.
Even though Wen Li had skipped several grades, Wen Tiantian firmly believed that she only knew how to bury herself in books.
She had no real substance at all!
After spending more time with her, Xu Zhouye would definitely come to despise her.
All boobs and no brains—that was Wen Li!