“Auntie Wang, Brother Su Qi, what are you all doing gathered outside my house? We’re not hosting dinner tonight, you know.”
Su Mu and Su Mingzhu had just returned from chatting with the neighbors when they spotted Su Qingwan. Their expressions immediately changed, and Su Mu opened her mouth to curse.
“Su Qingwan, you still dare to come back? Why didn’t you open the door when you were at the Gu residence?”
“Don’t think that just because you’re married, you can shake us off. Don’t even dream of enjoying an easy life on your own for the rest of your life!”
Her words were harsh, but Su Qingwan secretly laughed to herself.
Thank you, Su Mu, for giving me such a huge assist!
The women who had still been half skeptical of Su Qingwan’s accusations now had absolutely no doubts. Every one of them was furious.
So the entire Su family really was a bunch of heartless animals!
Su Jianguo’s face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. Seeing the reputation for being a good man that he had spent years building about to be ruined, he hurried forward.
“Bitch!”
Su Jianguo raised his hand and slapped Su Mu across the face, then cursed.
“You crazy woman, what nonsense are you spouting? I always thought you treated Qingwan like your own daughter, but I never imagined you’d been bullying her behind my back.”
“You’ve truly disappointed me!”
Su Mu was stunned by the slap. Holding her burning cheek, she cried out.
“Su Jianguo, have you gone mad? How dare you hit me?”
To her surprise, Su Jianguo immediately slapped her again and shouted.
“Don’t you know why I’m hitting you?”
“Has our Su family ever let you go without food or drink? Fine, you bullied Qingwan, but you even dared to covet things belonging to the Gu family.
Do you think the Gu family is someone you can afford to offend? If it weren’t for the Gu family’s elders, you, Huang Cuilan, would have died in a pigsty long ago!”
Afterward, he looked at Su Mingzhu with a pained expression and sighed.
“Mingzhu, I know you care about your mother, but you can’t just let her do whatever she wants.”
“Your sister’s things belong to your sister. Even if your mother stole them for you, you shouldn’t accept them.”
“Now your sister has been driven to the point of hanging herself, and the entire family is in chaos. Why don’t you hurry up and apologize to your sister?”
Su Mingzhu had studied for several years and was quick witted. The moment she saw Su Qingwan’s pale face, she knew that this was all she was doing.
She immediately lowered her head and put on a guilty expression.
“I’m sorry, Sister. It’s all my fault for failing to stop Mom…”
Damn that girl! Why should I have to apologize to her?
Su Qingwan watched as this father and daughter threw Su Mu under the bus without hesitation to protect themselves, and she sneered inwardly.
She pretended to be frightened, glanced timidly at Su Mu, then gave Su Mingzhu a bitter smile.
“Little Sister, if you really want the watch and new clothes, you can come to my house later and take them. I was giving them to you willingly, so don’t feel burdened by it.”
Su Mingzhu froze. She was just about to respond when she felt the villagers’ gazes stabbing into her like knives, filled with contempt.
She hurriedly clenched her fists and refused against her true wishes.
“No, those are your things, Sister. I absolutely can’t take them! Please don’t make things difficult for me.”
Damn it! Damn it!
Su Qingwan deliberately put on a surprised and innocent expression.
“But Mom said you needed those things to go on your matchmaking date.
Otherwise, your city match would think you weren’t as good as Sister Zhang Lan…”
She suddenly stopped halfway, as though she had realized she had said something wrong, and covered her mouth in horror.
“I’m sorry, Sister. I didn’t mean that. I wasn’t saying you’re inferior to Sister Zhang Lan.”
Su Mingzhu’s face instantly turned black. The corner of her mouth twitched, but she still had to force herself to explain.
“Of course not. If he looks down on me just because I don’t have those things, then that only proves he’s shallow and we’re not suited for each other.”
Watching Su Mingzhu pretend to be generous while her heart was bleeding made Su Qingwan want to laugh.
She took the opportunity to explain timidly to the crowd watching the spectacle.
“Little Sister is right. Young people today should have a new attitude. Aunts and uncles, please don’t misunderstand my sister because of what I said.”
“Of course, of course.”
The women verbally agreed, but the way they looked at Su Mingzhu was strange. Clearly, they felt there was still a much bigger story hidden here.
Zhang Lan? The educated youth in the village?
What did Su Qingwan’s match have to do with Zhang Lan?
Was there another juicy secret here?
And wait, wasn’t Su Mingzhu’s match from the city?
Could it be…
Just then, Su Mu finally recovered. She glared at Su Qingwan and screamed.
“You good for nothing girl! How dare you make up lies about us outside!
Are you trying to make our entire family unable to hold our heads up in the village?”
Su Qingwan reacted as though she had been traumatized. Her entire body trembled as she hunched her shoulders and tightly covered her head with her arms, crying out.
“Mom, don’t hit me! I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong! I’ll give you whatever you want, just please don’t hit me!”
Who could witness this scene and not understand what had happened?
Su Qingwan had clearly been beaten so badly that she had been traumatized.
Everyone in the village knew that Su Qingwan had been treated poorly in the Su family, but no one had imagined that her situation had been this miserable.
Aunt Zhao happened to be passing by and immediately pushed her way into the crowd, standing protectively in front of Su Qingwan. She pointed at Su Mu and cursed.
“Huang Cuilan, are you even human? You bullied her yesterday, and now you want to hit her again? Fine, try hitting her right in front of me. I’ll immediately go to town and find the Women’s Federation director!”
The moment the words “Women’s Federation director” were spoken, everyone’s expressions changed.
After all, the director of the Women’s Federation happened to be Aunt Zhao’s relative.
Su Jianguo was even more afraid that the matter would reach the town. If that happened, he would never be able to hold his head up in the village again.
Without another word, he raised his hand and slapped Su Mu across the face.
“Huang Cuilan, haven’t you embarrassed us enough? Hurry up and take Qingwan home. Do you really want the entire village to watch our Su family’s humiliation?”
Su Mu was stunned by the slap, and a trace of blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.
But when she met the murderous look in Su Jianguo’s eyes, she instinctively shrank her neck and could only swallow her grievance.
“I understand!”
She then reached out to grab Su Qingwan, her eyes filled with malice as she lowered her voice and gritted her teeth.
“Qingwan, I was wrong about everything. Come home with me.”
Home?
Su Qingwan sneered inwardly, then looked pitifully at Aunt Zhao.
Sure enough, Aunt Zhao immediately knocked Su Mu’s hand away and said coldly.
“There’s no need for you to pretend to be kind!”
She then turned toward Su Jianguo and mocked him.
“Sister Su is already married into the Gu family. If she’s going home, she’s going back to the Gu family. Accountant Su, you’re not planning to forcefully keep her here at the Su family home, are you?”
Su Jianguo’s face turned livid.
He had wanted to resolve the matter privately, but he never expected Zhao Yu to interfere.
He could only swallow his anger and force a hypocritical smile.
“Of course not. Still, the Su family is Qingwan’s maternal family. She’s welcome to come back whenever she wants.”
Su Qingwan!
You ungrateful wretch!
Su Qingwan remained silent. Aunt Zhao supported her as they walked away, while calling out to several women she was close with.
“Since the Su family is so generous and doesn’t covet anything belonging to the Gu family, lend a hand and carry everything back. We wouldn’t want it to look as though we’re forcing these things on them.”
“Accountant Su, isn’t that right?”
Su Jianguo’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He could only grit his teeth and answer.
“Of course, of course!”
Su Qingwan secretly reveled in satisfaction.
Aunt Zhao was truly a divine ally. Winning over the goodwill of the entire village was nothing compared to the sheer fighting power of Aunt Zhao’s mouth.