Grandma Xiao’s name was Xiao Ganju. She had been married three times.
Her first husband had been killed by the Japanese invaders. Her second husband had divorced her and abandoned the family to marry into a more powerful family. Her third husband had died of illness not long after their marriage.
She had one son with each of her three husbands.
Wang Liansheng was the second husband—the man who had cheated on her, divorced her, abandoned his wife and child, and married into a more influential family. He was also Xiao Hongyao’s biological grandfather.
Xiao Ganju’s voice trembled slightly as she asked, “Didn’t you say she was a relative of Director Li whom we didn’t know? How did she suddenly become Wang Liansheng’s granddaughter?”
Pan Yunsong’s mother gave an awkward smile and pretended to be confused.
“We country people don’t really know how all these relationships work.”
Xiao Laosan pointed at them and cursed.
“You don’t know?! Does Pan Yunsong not know what kind of relationship Wang Liansheng has with our family? He knows very well! And you, Pan Yunsong—you are about to marry Wang Jing, yet you’re still deceiving us and treating us like fools! Have you even looked at yourself in the mirror? You country bumpkin! Do you think you’re worthy of our Hongyao?”
“What did you say?! That’s too much! You keep calling us country bumpkins. Who do you think you’re looking down on?!”
Pan Yunsong’s father angrily pulled his son out of the chair.
“We came here today precisely because we wanted to make everything clear. This isn’t anyone’s fault. The two young people simply weren’t meant to be. When Hongyao was sick, Yunsong did everything he could to take care of her. He never despised her. If we’re being honest, we haven’t wronged anyone!”
After saying that, Pan Yunsong’s father pulled his son forward and bowed deeply to Xiao Ganju.
“Thank Grandma Xiao and Uncle Xiao for taking care of our son. We’re country people, so we’ll be leaving now.”
Xiao Laosan had taken the verbal beating without getting a chance to respond. Furious, he wanted to block the doorway and stop them from leaving, but Xiao Yuanyang and his brothers held him back.
The three members of the Pan family began filing out.
“You plan to leave just like that?”
The three of them stopped and turned around to look at Xiao Hongyao.
Xiao Hongmin had just come out of the room. Afraid that her younger sister might do something rash, she grabbed Xiao Hongyao’s arm.
“Let them go marry into a richer family. There are plenty of men at our factory from better families.”
Xiao Hongyao stared calmly at Pan Yunsong.
“When did you meet Wang Jing?”
“What are you trying to do? Does it matter?”
Because he was guilty, Pan Yunsong’s voice was louder than usual.
Actually, Xiao Hongyao didn’t want to waste time arguing with this scumbag.
If she had to choose between ruining Pan Yunsong’s reputation and getting money, she would choose the money.
This was a society governed by law. If she couldn’t kill him, then she would make money first.
She could always ruin his reputation later.
“It matters. You met Wang Jing last year. You two were like two turtles spotting each other—you took a liking to each other a long time ago. You were already sleeping together before I got sick…”
Before she could finish, Xiao Yuanyang and his brothers loosened their hold on their third uncle.
The three uncles and nephews immediately blocked the doorway, preventing the Pan family from leaving.
Seeing the Xiao family’s men blocking the door, Pan Yunsong’s mother knew they wouldn’t be able to leave without explaining themselves.
She quickly put on a smile.
“Little Yao, did you misunderstand something? Our Yunsong only met Wang Jing recently, after Director Li introduced them.”
Pan Yunsong regretted losing control of his emotions earlier and speaking so loudly. He tried to soften his voice.
“I have no work connection with Wang Jing. I didn’t know her before. Really. Little Yao, there’s no need to be suspicious.”
Xiao Hongyao looked at him.
“You didn’t know Wang Jing before? Then how did you get her pregnant?
“You two are in such a hurry to get married because she’s pregnant. Yesterday, when your parents took me to buy fabric, I heard everything they said.”
The last sentence was something Xiao Hongyao had completely made up.
But because what she had described was actually true, Pan Yunsong’s parents couldn’t even remember whether they had said those things yesterday.
The moment those words came out, everyone in the room froze.
It only took a few seconds.
Then chaos erupted.
Xiao Laosan grabbed Pan Yunsong and began beating him with punches and kicks. Xiao Yuanming appeared to be trying to pull his third uncle away, but in reality, he joined the fight whenever he got the chance, kicking Pan Yunsong whenever he could.
In the middle of the chaos, someone even pulled down the New Year picture hanging on the wall.
Only Xiao Yuanyang managed to remain somewhat rational. Once his third uncle and second brother had gotten most of their anger out, he helped separate them from Pan Yunsong’s parents.
Pan Yunsong’s lips were bleeding, his face was covered in bruises, and he curled up against the wall.
Pan Yunsong’s mother, who had been crying and begging for mercy moments earlier, sobbed uncontrollably as she held her son. She wanted to curse them but didn’t dare.
After all, making the matter worse would benefit neither her son nor Wang Jing’s family.
Pan Yunsong’s father had tried to protect his son and had ended up taking several punches himself. His hands trembled with anger. With nowhere to vent his frustration, he could only turn on his wife.
“This is all because you spoiled him!”
Xiao Laosan was still furious. He glared at the Pan family and spat out,
“A whole family of shameless bastards!”
Xiao Ganju had never imagined that Pan Yunsong had gotten involved with Wang Jing before Hongyao became ill.
She cursed him bitterly, then finally muttered,
“My poor second son’s efforts were all for nothing. He spent money and pulled strings to get you, Pan Yunsong, an urban household registration. He found you a job and treated you like half a son of his own. And this is how you repay our family? You secretly got another woman pregnant, yet you came here pretending to be so loyal and devoted. Your whole family worked together to deceive us.”
The Xiao family members took turns cursing them.
Pan Yunsong’s mother tried to beg for mercy while avoiding the main issue.
“Things have already turned out this way. What else could we do? Of course I like Hongyao more. It’s just that we didn’t have a choice.”
“What do you mean you didn’t have a choice? Choosing to stop acting like decent human beings was the choice your entire family made!”
Pan Yunsong’s mother said, “I’ll work like an ox and a horse in my next life to repay you.”
The implication was obvious: she wanted this matter to end here and promised to repay them in the next life.
Xiao Yuanming sneered.
“You think you’re going to get away with it by saying ‘next life’?”
Pan Yunsong’s mother knew that she wouldn’t be able to leave without paying some kind of price.
“What do you want us to do?”
The Xiao family members looked at one another.
Everything had happened so suddenly that they hadn’t had time to prepare. They didn’t know what to demand and needed to discuss it first.
The only person who had already prepared was Xiao Hongyao.
Afraid that her family might ask for too little, she spoke directly.
“My father spent 800 yuan getting Pan Yunsong an urban household registration and another 500 yuan finding him a job…”
Xiao Hongyao had no idea how much the original owner’s father had actually spent on Pan Yunsong.
But she remembered that someone else in the novel had spent 500 yuan getting an urban household registration.
She couldn’t afford to ask for too little.
If she was going to ask, she might as well ask for more.
She wasn’t good at making money, but she was very good at collecting debts.
That made 1,300 yuan.
Wasn’t that practically robbery?
Pan Yunsong’s parents exchanged a glance.
They hadn’t expected the usually quiet Xiao Hongyao to be so greedy.
So she’d been pretending all along.
They were inside the Xiao family’s home, and under the intimidating presence of Xiao Laosan, they didn’t dare directly accuse her of being unreasonable.
They were just about to bargain when Xiao Hongyao continued.
“That money was my parents’ savings from more than ten years of hard work. If they’d lent it to someone at an annual interest rate of 24%, after two years it would have become at least 2,000 yuan.”
“An annual interest rate of 24%? Two thousand yuan?”
That was even more frightening than robbery. It was practically loan-shark interest!
There was no way they could come up with that kind of money.
Pan Yunsong’s mother was about to argue, but Xiao Hongyao didn’t give her the chance.
“I know you don’t have the money. You can go ask Wang Jing’s family for it. Tell them I don’t want much. I only want 3,000 yuan.
“How the two families come up with it is your problem.
“And I want to return to work at the factory now that I’ve recovered. I don’t want to wait. I’ll return to work on November 1. Have Wang Liansheng find a way to settle that as well.”
Xiao Hongyao was practically selling the scumbag at an outrageous price.
The Xiao family had originally thought that getting two or three hundred yuan back would already be pretty good.
They never imagined that their Third Sis would demand 3,000 yuan!
The highest-paid worker in their family was Xiao Laoda, who took home only a little over 90 yuan a month.
Pan Yunsong currently earned at most 50 or 60 yuan a month, and even with his allowances, he could only reach around 70 yuan.
The Pan family definitely couldn’t afford 3,000 yuan.
But the Wang family could.
Wang Jing’s grandfather, Wang Liansheng, was a former factory party secretary. Her father was a deputy factory director, and her older brother was a cadre in the Supply and Marketing Department.
Forget their salaries—the amount of money they could make through other channels was anyone’s guess.
Demanding the money from the Wang family was the right choice. And they could also solve the problem of getting Hongyao’s job back.
Xiao Laosan added a threat at just the right moment.
“If these problems aren’t settled today, I’ll make sure everyone in both Firecracker Factory No. 1 and No. 2 knows that Wang Liansheng’s granddaughter relied on her grandfather being the factory party secretary and her father being the deputy director to steal another woman’s boyfriend, carry on an improper relationship, get pregnant before marriage, and behave shamelessly and immorally.
“I’ll report this directly to the county Party committee! Let them thoroughly investigate that bastard Wang Liansheng and his whole family!”
Xiao Yuanming, who worked at the town government, chimed in.
“Exactly! Getting pregnant before marriage is a serious violation of the family-planning policy. This could cost them their jobs!”
Xiao Yuanyang knew the personnel situation at the firecracker factory best.
“I heard Wang Jing’s father is trying to compete for the position of director of the Second Factory. With this happening at such a critical moment, someone will definitely take advantage of it and make a huge issue out of it.”
Third Aunt Xiao added,
“And there’s also the matter of an improper relationship between a man and a woman. This isn’t just about losing a job. That’s a criminal offense. Both the man and the woman could be sentenced. Don’t you remember how everyone was talking about someone being executed for that offense last year? Have you already forgotten?”
Xiao Hongyao didn’t even need to say another word.
The sharp-tongued members of the Xiao family took turns speaking, frightening the three members of the Pan family until their faces turned pale.
They didn’t dare say another word.
Xiao Hongyao suddenly thought of her own older sister from her former world, who had always rushed forward to protect her.
The original Xiao Hongyao was truly lucky to have so many people who loved and protected her.
It was a wonderful thing.
Fifteen minutes later, Pan Yunsong’s mother went to the Wang family to demand the money and the job.
Pan Yunsong and his father were kept at the Xiao family’s home as “hostages.”
The family had originally planned to prepare a lavish lunch, but the eldest aunt put all the dishes away.
Instead, she cooked the large pumpkin the Pan family had brought and served it to their “honored guests.”
Pan Yunsong’s mother went back and forth several times, carrying messages between the two families.
Clearly, the Wang family wasn’t easy to negotiate with either.
Wang Liansheng still had some reservations and wanted to give them at least something, but his wife was a retired cadre and wasn’t easy to deal with, especially when it came to the Xiao family.
Three thousand yuan was impossible.
They were only willing to give 300 yuan, treating it as nothing more than money to send beggars away.
“Sending beggars away” had been Wang Liansheng’s wife’s exact words.
Pan Yunsong’s mother didn’t dare relay the words that bluntly.
She only said,
“Little Yao’s return to work can be arranged. Tomorrow is Monday. Secretary Wang only needs to speak to the factory office, and it can be settled.
“But as for the money… It’s really difficult.
“Don’t think that just because everyone in their family is a cadre, they have plenty of money. They have many expenses. They have a housekeeper, they just welcomed a grandson’s wife earlier this year, and several family members have been sick and hospitalized one after another recently.
“They really can’t come up with much money right now. They managed to borrow 300 yuan with great difficulty…
“We don’t have any money either. We can only scrape together another 100 yuan.”
That meant they were offering a total of 400 yuan.
Pan Yunsong’s mother hoped that this would be enough to settle the matter.
“At least we’ve solved Hongyao’s job, haven’t we?”
Xiao Ganju didn’t even want to look at the Pan family.
“The job? He’ll just say a word tomorrow. How does that count as solving anything? And you’re only offering one-tenth of the money we asked for!
“Does Wang Liansheng really have no money? He’s the secretary, his son is the deputy factory director, and their whole family receives good salaries from the government. Who knows how much they’ve been lining their pockets on the side? Who would believe they have no money?”
Pan Yunsong’s mother helplessly said,
“I really can’t do anything else. I suffer in their household too.”
Xiao Hongyao took out a confession letter she had just forced Pan Yunsong to write.
“Your son wrote two confession letters. Take this one to the Wang family.
“I’ll give you half an hour.
“If we don’t get an answer we’re satisfied with within half an hour, we’ll immediately deliver the other letter to Building 3 of the Cadres’ Residential Compound.”
“Building 3 of the Cadres’ Residential Compound?”
Pan Yunsong’s mother guessed that some important official must live there.
She didn’t dare waste any time and immediately ran to the Wang family’s home.
In reality, Xiao Hongyao only knew that Deputy Director Qi of the Bureau of Light Industry was Wang Liansheng’s sworn enemy.
Deputy Director Qi lived in Building 3 of the Cadres’ Residential Compound.
As for which floor or apartment he lived in, Xiao Hongyao had absolutely no idea.
She was bluffing.
But the trick worked.
The Wang family had no choice but to send Wang Jing’s older brother, Wang Mao, along with an uncle surnamed Cai, to negotiate.
Wang Mao wasn’t very old, probably only one or two years older than Xiao Hongyao.
By blood, he was Xiao Hongyao’s cousin—they shared the same grandfather but had different grandmothers.
However, the two had practically no contact while growing up.
Wang Mao was the deputy section chief of the purchasing section in the Supply and Marketing Department of the Second Firecracker Factory.
He was accustomed to having people flatter him and cater to him whenever he handled business.
He was used to looking down on others.
When he entered the Xiao family’s home with his uncle today, he had originally intended to intimidate them first.
But the moment he stepped through the door, he saw the huge, muscular Xiao Laosan standing on a stool, holding a claw hammer and nailing a New Year picture back onto the wall.
Xiao Laosan looked down at them from his elevated position.
Wang Mao’s already shaky confidence immediately disappeared.