Jiang Jiandong had just been about to step forward when Jiang Xingyao pulled him behind her.
With her other hand, she grabbed Shen Yunfeng’s arm and twisted it hard.
“Ah… It hurts… Jiang Xingyao, you unfilial daughter! How dare you beat your own father?”
“Hmph! How do you even have the nerve to call yourself my biological father? During the year I lived in your house, I worked myself to the bone, running around like a spinning top, yet I lived worse than a dog or a pig.
“Thinking back now, I was so stupid because I must have inherited your genes and Liu Zhilan’s. The two of you are shameless, stupid, and completely incapable of telling right from wrong!
“Luckily, I grew up with the Jiang family, so my sense of right and wrong hadn’t been twisted beyond repair. I finally realized my mistake and turned back in time. Otherwise, I might still have been trying to recognize my enemies as my parents!”
Liu Zhilan grabbed her arm and snapped, “What nonsense are you spouting? Who’s an enemy? Let go of your father right now and kneel down to apologize to him. If you make him happy, maybe he’ll even arrange jobs for you and that poor husband of yours.
“Otherwise, you’ll spend the rest of your life doing hard labor and living as a poor country wife!”
Jiang Xingyao shoved Shen Yunfeng away, a frost-cold smile curling at the corners of her lips.
“Liu Zhilan, I heard everything you and Shen Yunfeng said the other day. Back then, you thought I was too weak and sickly, so you personally switched me and Shen Jiaoli at the hospital.
“Abandoning a child and stealing a baby—when you lie awake at night, Liu Zhilan, aren’t you afraid of retribution?”
“What?” Xu Xiangmei’s eyes filled with tears. She stepped forward and slapped Liu Zhilan hard across the face.
“Even a tiger won’t eat its own cub! How could you be so utterly heartless? Not only did you separate us from our own daughter, you almost ruined Yaoyao’s entire life! Heaven sees everything. Sooner or later, you’ll pay for this!”
“Enough!”
Shen Jiaoli grabbed Liu Zhilan’s arm and glared viciously at Xu Xiangmei.
“Jiang Xingyao only hates my parents, so she’s making up lies to slander them.
“I could just as easily say that you accidentally switched me and Jiang Xingyao at the hospital and are now trying to turn the blame around on us!
“Let’s stop bringing up what happened in the past. Jiang Jiandong, Xu Xiangmei, you two should give up already. I, Shen Jiaoli, was born a member of the Shen family, and I’ll die a ghost of the Shen family. I’ll never have anything to do with the Jiang family.
“People as poor and lowly as you don’t deserve to be my parents. Get out of here, both of you!”
Shen Chaolei chimed in, “Jiang Xingyao, even if you’ve gone crazy, you should at least think about the Jiang family. My father is about to be promoted to factory director. When that happens, all he has to do is use a little of his connections, and your entire family will lose your jobs!”
Jiang Xingyao said nothing.
She simply slapped him twice across the face.
“Fuck your uncle!” Shen Chaolei’s eyes turned vicious, like a savage wolf whose eyes glowed in the darkness. “You wretched girl, how dare you hit me?”
“Bang!”
Jiang Xingyao punched him squarely in the mouth.
“I came here specifically because of a piece of trash like you. You dared to bully my third brother, so I’ll pay you back twice over!”
“Ah…”
Blood immediately began streaming from the corner of Shen Chaolei’s mouth.
He swung his arm at Jiang Xingyao’s head.
He had no rival anywhere in Rongfu Alley. How could he possibly lose to a little girl?
But in the next second, Jiang Xingyao kicked him to the ground.
His butt landed squarely on the shards of the broken plates, slicing a deep gash into him.
“Ow… Ah… Ow…”
Cold sweat poured down his face as he screamed in agony.
Yet not a single person paid him any attention.
Everyone present was staring at Jiang Xingyao in shock.
Shen Yunfeng frowned and asked warily, “How could you possibly beat Chaolei?”
The Jiang family was just as astonished.
Jiang Xingyao sneered.
“Of course I can. I learned martial arts too, and I’m better at it than Shen Chaolei.
“I never fought back before because I was stupid. I always thought that as long as I treated you well enough, I could become part of your family.
“But now I understand. The only people who are my family are the Jiang family. Every single one of you in the Shen family is my enemy!
“From now on, I won’t show mercy to anyone who crosses me.”
“Bullshit! When did you ever learn martial arts? I think you’ve been learning some crooked, unorthodox nonsense!
“No wonder you dared to challenge me. So you think knowing a few cheap tricks gives you the right to run wild, is that it?
“With such a foolish way of thinking, you deserve to go suffer in the countryside for the rest of your life!”
Jiang Xingyao blew a strand of hair away from her forehead and said with biting sarcasm, “You don’t need to worry about what I think or what kind of life I live.
“But your way of thinking will bring ruin to the entire Shen family sooner or later.
“I don’t care about anything else, but from now on, if you people provoke me or my family, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
Shen Yunfeng scoffed with utter disdain.
“Hmph! You really don’t know your place. You’re about to be sent off to the countryside, yet you’re still acting so arrogantly. Let’s see how long you can keep jumping around!”
Jiang Xingyao pressed her lips together and smiled.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but my husband isn’t from the countryside. He’s a bona fide Beijing native.
“Oh, and here’s something else that will really crush you: his family isn’t poor at all. They’re extremely wealthy. They live in Western-style houses and travel by car.”
“Pfft… Hahaha…”
Shen Jiaoli bent over laughing.
“Jiang Xingyao, just to satisfy your vanity, you’ll really make up anything!
“If the Xie family were actually rich, there would be countless women fighting to marry into their family. Why would they ever come to marry you?
“The Xie family has been working the land for generations. Xie Jingsi has three brothers, and I heard they even have a little sister who’s only sixteen or seventeen.
“With a family like that, they probably can’t even afford white-flour steamed buns. You can only talk big to make yourself feel better.”
“Ahhh…”
Before Jiang Xingyao could respond, Shen Chaolei was already crying out.
“Dad! Mom! Sis! Forget about that wretched girl for now! Hurry up and take me to the hospital! If we’re any later, I’m going to bleed to death!
“Ow… It hurts so much…
“Jiang Xingyao, just you wait! When I come back, I’ll beat you until you’re paralyzed!”