Before they could recover, Jiang Nan turned to Cheng Denglin. “And you? For what purpose did you take out this money?”
Cheng Denglin remained silent. His younger sister’s money had been taken by his wife. His mother wanted him to retrieve it from her, but his wife refused. All he could do was secretly make up the difference. He hoped the matter would pass quickly, and perhaps ease the tension between his mother and his wife. But could he say any of this aloud? No.
So Cheng Denglin chose silence.
Jiang Nan, seeing his expression, guessed most of it and sneered. “I recall saying more than once that the money I took back was mine. It does not need to be *returned*!”
Then she looked at the three members of the Cheng family. “I don’t know if Cheng Denglin has told you, but if not, let me formally inform you now: he and I have already agreed to register for divorce next month. And this passbook—”
Jiang Nan shook the passbook in her hand. “Inside is all the savings we’ve accumulated over the years. It is marital property; half of it belongs to me. Cheng Denglin has no right to dispose of it.”
With that, she stood up, deftly took 260 yuan from the pile of money in front of Cheng Yixin, and placed the passbook on the remaining bills, pushing them toward her. “Though it doesn’t cover the full amount you asked for, little sister, this is your brother’s entire fortune. I’m giving it all to you.”
The balance in the passbook, plus the 400 yuan Cheng Denglin had withdrawn today, amounted to just over 500 yuan—barely half a year’s wages for the couple. Yet they had saved it over eight years.
Cheng Yixin was stunned, quickly turning to her brother. Impossible. Eighty yuan plus a passbook balance of less than 340—was that truly her brother’s entire fortune? She couldn’t believe it.
But seeing his exhaustion and despair, recalling his earlier embarrassment, and then looking again at the money and passbook on the table, she felt as though she were being thrust into a blazing furnace—scorching, unbearable, and terrifying.
“Sister-in-law, why are you and my brother divorcing? And the passbook—how could I possibly take yours and my brother’s passbook…?” Cheng Yixin, flustered and not knowing what to say first, hurriedly pushed the passbook and money back, her hands fumbling in panic. If she truly took her brother’s passbook, then their sibling bond would be finished.
Jiang Nan watched her performance with mocking amusement, smiling but saying nothing. When she was leeching without restraint, she never knew fear. Now she wants to mend things—too late.
Then Jiang Nan turned to the “mastermind” of this incident, her tone dripping with malicious delight: “Mother, from now on, Cheng Denglin is nothing but a penniless pauper. Until his salary comes in next month, all of your household expenses will depend on you and Father.”
She then feigned sudden realization at the pile of bills and coins before Mother Cheng, deliberately exclaiming: “Ah, my mistake! No wonder they say the old are cunning. Look at your foresight—already making Cheng Denglin prepare in advance. This money neatly bridges the gap until his next paycheck. Truly impressive!”
Jiang Nan gave a sarcastic thumbs-up.
A mother who conspires with her daughter to drain her son into poverty—such mothers are rare indeed.
Mother Cheng, still reeling from her daughter-in-law’s accusation of “greed without end,” and stunned by the news of her son’s impending divorce, now heard her daughter-in-law’s veiled barbs—calling her old, sly, calculating against her own son. Her eyes rolled back, nearly fainting on the spot.
The Cheng family panicked, rushing to her side—some soothing her breath, others offering water.
“Bang—”
Once his wife recovered, Cheng Father slammed the table, his face dark with fury, pointing at Jiang Nan: “Xiao Jiang, you’ve been outrageous these past two days—speaking without restraint, showing no respect for your elders. What exactly are you trying to do? Even if you want a divorce, we are still your seniors!”
Then he turned to Cheng Denglin: “And you—do you just let your wife speak to your parents like this, and time after time snatch money from your sister?”
“Xiao Nan…” Cheng Denglin looked at his father blazing with anger, then at his wife bristling with thorns, and at the chaos engulfing the household. Helpless, he pleaded softly.
Can’t you take a step back for him? Stop making trouble, please—he’s really exhausted. But Jiang Nan had no intention of yielding.
She looked at him coldly. “If I hadn’t discovered you withdrew the money today, what were you planning to do on the day of the divorce? Five hundred yuan—two people saved that for years. From now on, you’ll be supporting this whole family alone. How many years do you plan to take to repay my two hundred sixty? Or were you just going to pretend it never existed?”
Cheng Denglin fell silent. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. His only plan was to win his wife back before the agreed divorce date arrived, so he hadn’t told anyone about their arrangement.
Jiang Nan pressed on. “I wanted to finish my half-month confinement peacefully and then leave. But you all won’t give me the chance.”
It wasn’t unreasonable for Cheng Denglin to want to help his sister—but why take her money? If Father and Mother Cheng loved their daughter so much, why didn’t they use their own? Why bleed the daughter-in-law dry? And as for the younger sister—why should she enjoy benefits at Jiang Nan’s expense?
Jiang Nan was displeased, and she intended to make the Cheng family just as displeased. Resolute, she calmed herself, sat back down with composure, propped her chin on one hand, and looked at the family of four with lively interest. “Father, Mother, little sister, Denglin—I heard something outside about little sister. Would you like to know?”
The Cheng family saw her sudden change of tone and felt uneasy. They all had the same premonition: she was about to stir up trouble.
Father Cheng cut her off decisively. “We don’t want to hear it!” He then urged his daughter to help her mother back to rest, and sternly ordered his son, “Keep her under control—what kind of behavior is this!”
But Jiang Nan wasn’t about to let them off so easily. She spoke on her own, “Denglin, did you know that before your sister returned from the army, she was offered two options for compensation—”
“Sister-in-law!” Cheng Yixin, who had been listening with her back turned, immediately sensed danger. She dropped her mother’s arm and spun around, cutting her off sharply. “Don’t spread baseless rumors!”
Jiang Nan, seeing her panic, was even more delighted. “Little sister, you haven’t even heard me out—how do you know it isn’t true? And even if it weren’t, shouldn’t you at least understand the whole story before you refute it? Listen first.”
Cheng Yixin clenched her fists, desperate to stop her, but afraid of arousing suspicion if she acted too obviously.
Father and Mother Cheng noticed their daughter’s unease and, of course, sided with her unconditionally. Mother Cheng tugged her arm. “Come, let’s go inside. Ignore her.”
Jiang Nan only smiled indifferently. “The army gave little sister two choices: a job or a pension. She voluntarily gave up the job and chose the pension. That pension, in theory, should have been split between her and her late brother‑in‑law’s father. But the old man, mindful of how hard it was for a woman to raise two children alone, not only refrained from taking any share of the pension or Lu Lin’s savings, he even handed over his own savings to her, to help raise Xiaoxiao and Mingsheng—”
At this point, Jiang Nan swept her gaze over the stunned Cheng Denglin and the three family members frozen at the doorway, then, with deliberate malice, sighed, “Little sister really does have a blessed life.”
“Sister‑in‑law, you can’t despise me for living here with my children and then invent lies to slander me!” Cheng Yixin turned back again, eyes red, tears streaming. Her storm‑tossed appearance might have evoked pity, but the Cheng family had no room left for sympathy.
Jiang Nan remained unmoved. “Whether it’s rumor or fact, your brother can contact the military office or the Lu family to verify. No need for us to argue here.”
The truth was, Cheng Yixin could have chosen the job. If she had taken the job, she could still have lived here without paying, just as she did now. Father Cheng wouldn’t have had to transfer his position to her, and the family would still have had nearly seventy yuan in monthly wages. With his income and subsidies, Jiang Nan and Cheng Denglin wouldn’t have had to drain their salaries each month to support the entire household.
But Cheng Yixin chose to have it both ways—she took the pension from the army and also secured the job at home. The only ones sacrificed were Jiang Nan and Cheng Denglin, the two hapless fools.
“Little sister…” Cheng Denglin crouched down, clutching his head in disbelief. If his wife was telling the truth, then what had their two or three years of toil amounted to?
Mother Cheng quickly recovered, hugging her daughter while defending her fiercely. “Denglin, don’t listen to outsiders’ nonsense! Xiaonan spends all her time in the factory—how could she know anything about the army? This must be some lowlife jealous of Yixin, spouting garbage. If I find out who it is, I’ll tear her mouth apart! Believe this and you’ve been duped!”
Her words, though aimed at “outsiders,” made her meaning plain: the daughter‑in‑law was that jealous lowlife.
Jiang Nan, unwilling to let the insult pass unanswered, pressed on with a mocking smile. “I heard the pension was originally only six hundred, but your late brother‑in‑law’s commander fought to raise it to eight hundred. Before she left, his comrades pooled another two hundred. Add in his savings, the old man’s nest egg, little sister’s wages over the past two years, and the money from selling the job… Little sister’s savings must be pushing three thousand by now.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk… Cheng Denglin, don’t you feel ashamed? Born of the same parents, on the same day—and yet your sister is wealthy while you’re penniless…”
“Sister‑in‑law, are you trying to drive me to my death?” Cheng Yixin’s voice was shrill.
“How could that be?” Jiang Nan feigned innocence. “I’m only repeating gossip from outside. Didn’t Mother just say it was nonsense? Little sister, you shouldn’t take it so seriously.”
“Enough!” Father Cheng’s stern voice cut through the quarrel. “Denglin, you two should go and get the paperwork done as soon as possible.”
If the daughter‑in‑law stayed in this house any longer, the family would surely fall apart. With that, he led his wife and daughter back into their room.
Jiang Nan glanced at her husband, whose face had grown even grayer as he crouched on the floor, then shut her mouth out of boredom. She hadn’t even begun to press her advantage—she had planned to paint Denglin a vivid picture of his long years of misery ahead. But the play had ended too soon.
Regretting the lost chance for only a moment, Jiang Nan rose, intending to return to her room and continue reading.
But just then, the unexpected happened.
“You bullied my mother!” Lu Xiaoxiao and Lu Mingsheng shot toward Jiang Nan like two little cannonballs, slamming her against the cupboard behind and striking at her.
Seeing his wife’s pained expression, Cheng Denglin scrambled up, grabbed his niece and nephew by their collars, and pulled them back to keep them away from her. Then he froze, stunned by the ferocity and hatred on their young faces. Why?
“She’s your aunt!” He stared in disbelief at the children he had always cherished.
These two had been raised almost entirely by him and his wife, treated no differently than his own son Cheng Hao. In many ways, they had received more care than from their own parents. And yet now, without hesitation, they had attacked their sick aunt?
Cheng Denglin suddenly felt he had never truly seen this family clearly. He set the two children aside, sternly warning them not to approach his wife again. Only after making sure they wouldn’t dare did he hurry to help her, asking anxiously, “Does it hurt? Should we go to the hospital?”
Jiang Nan brushed off his hand, enduring the pain as she shook her head. “No need.” It was mainly her back that had struck the cupboard handle; her stomach wasn’t badly affected, since she had instinctively bent sideways to shield it. She blamed herself for being careless this time. She had assumed the Cheng family wouldn’t resort to violence, but she had overlooked the children. It seemed she would have to wait until her body recovered before making any bold moves again—otherwise even children could bully her.
Seeing that she was indeed all right, Cheng Denglin carefully supported her back to their room. His wife lay down and closed her eyes to rest, while he sat at the bedside, staring at her, lost in confusion. He didn’t know how long he sat there before suddenly jolting awake. When had his beautiful, lively wife become so thin and worn?
He had never noticed before, thinking her decline was simply the natural course of aging. But today, after realizing all her hardships had been needless, he was struck by the truth: she was only twenty‑six. Younger than him and his sister by two months—yet when she stood beside his sister, the latter still looked youthful and radiant, while his wife seemed prematurely aged, appearing two or three years older than his sister.