Xie Zhi quickly rushed forward to support Feng Chunlan.
“Mom!”
“Brother, come quickly! Mom has fainted!”
Hearing this, Xie Ran hurried over. Together with Xie Zhi, they helped Feng Chunlan lie down on the sofa.
Before Xie Ran could speak, Xie Zhi blurted out sharply:
“Brother, handle Su Xingnuo! She bought a ten-million-yuan bag and upset Mom. If anything happens to her because of this…”
Xie Ran had been in a good mood, planning to say a few kind words about Su Xingnuo in front of his sister and mother.
But now she had actually made their mother faint.
Xie Ran’s expression darkened. He pulled Su Xingnuo aside and lowered his voice:
“Su Xingnuo, it’s one thing to buy a bag secretly, but why did you show it to Mom? You know how frugal she is…”
Su Xingnuo shrugged off his hand, looking at him coldly:
“Do I need to be secretive just to buy a bag?”
Xie Ran wanted to get angry again, but thinking that Su Xingnuo had gone out to buy him a gift and apologize, his anger subsided a bit.
“Apologize to Mom. Tell her you won’t do it again. She’ll forgive you.”
At this moment, Feng Chunlan regained consciousness. Hearing that Xie Ran only wanted Su Xingnuo to apologize, she fumed even more.
“Xie Ran, why are you keeping such a spendthrift woman? Why don’t you just kick her out?”
Su Xingnuo felt her heart sink. She had only bought a ten-million-yuan bag and was already being called a spendthrift.
“Mom, after all I’ve done for the family these past years, am I not allowed to buy a bag?”
Xie Zhi, holding Feng Chunlan, looked at Xie Ran in confusion. He wasn’t scolding Su Xingnuo—why was he suddenly siding with her?
“Brother, are you losing your mind? Qingya is the Shen family heiress. How can Su Xingnuo compare? Why are you still arguing with her? Get a divorce with her already!”
Xie Ran frowned. Of course he wanted to divorce Su Xingnuo, but it wasn’t the right time yet.
“Enough. If Mom’s fine, let’s start eating.”
Feng Chunlan crossed her arms.
“I’m fine, perfectly fine. If anything happens to me, it’s because of that unlucky Su Xingnuo.”
Su Xingnuo stared at Feng Chunlan’s face. She still remembered how frail and pale she had been when she first moved in, exuding an aura of illness, barely holding onto life.
Su Xingnuo had taken Feng Chunlan to the hospital for tests. The doctors said without a liver transplant, she wouldn’t survive more than three years.
Su Xingnuo had even begged Director Liu to allocate the hospital’s special medicine to Feng Chunlan, paying for it continuously for three years.
With the medicine, Feng Chunlan gained forty pounds in three years, her complexion normal, and she had developed the wealthy lady’s physique.
Feng Chunlan, feeling her health improve, had wanted to stop the medicine several times, but Su Xingnuo insisted she continue.
Now that Su Xingnuo had stopped paying for the medicine, once next month’s supply ran out, Feng Chunlan wouldn’t have it continued.
She knew Feng Chunlan’s current health was entirely maintained by the medicine. Without it, without a liver transplant, Feng Chunlan had at most three months left.
Feng Chunlan glared at Su Xingnuo.
“You have to wash my clothes before you eat!”
Xie Zhi scoffed and glared at Su Xingnuo:
“Eat? We cooked this meal together. You didn’t help at all, yet you want to eat? No way!”
Su Xingnuo wasn’t interested in Xie Zhi’s food and went back to her room.
Xie Zhi went to invite Shen Qingya, who had been napping in the guest room, to eat. She eagerly helped pull out her chair.
Shen Qingya looked confused.
“Isn’t Sister Xingnuo eating with us?”
She had seen everything through the door crack. Seeing the Xie family’s cold treatment of Su Xingnuo, she realized it wouldn’t be long before she married in.
“She doesn’t feel like eating. Don’t worry about her,” Xie Zhi said, pushing a dish toward Shen Qingya.
“Try what I cooked.”
Shen Qingya picked up her chopsticks, frowned at first, but quickly explained:
“Sorry, I have this reaction during early pregnancy. The food is very tasty.”
She had never eaten something so bad in her life—Xie Zhi was terrible at cooking. Once she married in, she would make Xie Ran hire a maid just for cooking.
Xie Zhi felt proud. Her cooking wasn’t bad—maybe not star-chef level, but good home-style dishes.
Shen Qingya had pretended to gag a little, thinking Xie Ran would notice and offer to hire a maid.
But Xie Ran seemed oblivious, still glancing upstairs.
Shen Qingya, annoyed, feigned concern:
“Xie Ran, if you’re worried about Sister Xingnuo, I can go upstairs and ask her to join us.”
Xie Ran was thinking about when Su Xingnuo would give him the gift and apologize.
Startled as Shen Qingya tugged his sleeve, he responded stiffly:
“No need, Qingya. If you don’t like it, next time I’ll have the chef cook at home for you.”
“No need, Xie Ran,” Shen Qingya insisted.
Xie Zhi echoed:
“Qingya, when you move in, I’ll have my brother hire a maid to cook just for you.”
This way, they could also eat with the maid’s cooking. Surely, a maid could cook better than her.
Feng Chunlan’s face turned cold.
Hire a maid? When Su Xingnuo was here, there was no maid. Her son’s money should be for her retirement, not frivolous spending.
Under the table, she kicked Xie Zhi.
“Qingya, your sister loves cooking at home. When you move in, she’ll cook for you. You can teach her what you like, she’s smart—learns anything quickly.”
Xie Zhi nearly argued but held back in front of Shen Qingya.
She didn’t want to serve the whole household, cooking every day and aging faster.
Feng Chunlan’s glare made it clear—Xie Zhi was married out, yet still living in the Xie house. If she dared defy her, she’d have her son throw her out.
Xie Zhi endured her anger and silently ate.
Shen Qingya was secretly frustrated. With Xie Ran’s company going public, he wouldn’t even hire a maid.
This stingy old woman—when she married in, the first thing she’d do was throw her out.
Xie Zhi and her family of vampires had to go.
She smiled politely:
“Yes, Auntie. Then I’ll trouble Sister.”
Upstairs, in Su Xingnuo’s room, she sat at her vanity.
Her skincare and makeup were neatly arranged—items she hadn’t taken with her.
She noticed some bottles missing. This had happened often before; the missing items would appear in Xie Zhi’s room the next day.
Previously, Su Xingnuo had turned a blind eye.
Now, she wouldn’t be so merciful.
Since some people had long hands, she would add a little “extra” as a gift.
Su Xingnuo went downstairs empty-handed. The meal was nearly over.
Feng Chunlan saw her and commanded:
“It takes you so long to wash one load of clothes? Quickly clear the table and mop the floor.”