“That’s fine. Anyway, I have Lin Ting with me. Since Sister said we shouldn’t take advantage of the Lin Family, then Mom, you should leave the payment card behind.”
Mother Song had not expected that her usually dull and clumsy younger daughter had become so sharp-tongued.
For a moment, she could not even refute her.
And Song Xinyan also did not expect that her own words had backfired on herself.
Still, she maintained her composure.
“That’s only natural. If Mom is tired, she should go back first. I can stay here with my sister.”
Her smile was perfect, gentle as water, as if she intended to maintain her image as the “Nation’s Good Sister” to the very end.
Seeing how calm Song Xinyan was, Song Xinyu immediately guessed it.
Of course, there would be someone willing to be used as a pawn by her.
For example, Aunt Jing arrived at the scene first.
She questioned sharply: “Song Xinyu, didn’t I already remind you to return to the Song Family? Why are you still living in Haoting?”
“Aunt Jing, I listened to you. I went back. It’s just that Lin Ting missed me too much and asked me to come back again.” she said lightly.
Lin Ting responded: “Mom, what Xiao Yu said is true.”
This only made Shu Jing even angrier. Her son, who had always been so rational and clear-headed, suddenly seemed to have lost his mind.
Could he have been bewitched by a seductress?
“Ah Ting.” Shu Jing said coldly: “do you know how bad things are getting outside? You two are unmarried yet living together. You’re about to get married anyway—why are you in such a rush? I don’t care if Song Xinyu doesn’t care about her reputation, but the Lin Family needs one.”
Her expression turned completely cold as she issued an ultimatum.
“Ah Ting, send both sisters back immediately.”
Seeing that Lin Ting seemed unwilling, Shu Jing became even more furious and was about to speak harshly.
But just as the words reached her lips, her vision suddenly went dark—and she collapsed.
Fortunately, Lin Ting caught his mother in time. Without hesitation, he rushed her to the hospital.
However, once they got into the car, she suddenly woke up again.
“No need to go to the hospital. Let’s go home.”
“Mom, were you acting?”
Shu Jing did not answer.
The earlier fainting had been real—but using the situation to her advantage was also real.
It was just because Lin Ting had walked too quickly.
He had not heard Song Xinyu’s inner voice:
【Sigh… it seems Aunt Jing died of breast cancer in the end.】
But everyone said that Aunt Jing had actually been driven to death by her daughter-in-law.
In reality, Aunt Jing had discovered the truth—she had learned about the real nature of Song Xinyan—and had been enraged to death by her.
……
In the end, Song Xinyu returned to the Song Family with Song Xinyan.
Mother Song was as usual sitting on the sofa in the living room, holding an acupoint massage stick and tapping her back, though in reality she was waiting to deal with her.
“You’re back…”
“So you finally remembered to come home…”
She deliberately spoke in this tone.
“Come here. Good, let Mom see you. You’ve been outside for two days—have you lost weight?” Mother Song pretended to be a loving and kind mother.
But unexpectedly, Song Xinyu did not even bother walking over.
Instead, she said directly: “Mom, stop pretending. You’re not worried about whether I survived outside these past days. More precisely, you don’t believe I can survive outside at all. What you actually care about is that I’ve grown wings and dared to escape your control.”
Her blunt words were like a sharp blade, piercing through Mother Song’s disguise.
Instantly, the “kind mother” expression vanished from her face.
But when she looked up, she noticed her husband hiding in the shadows.
She immediately covered her face and began crying.
“What a miserable life I have… I worked so hard to raise my daughter, yet she doesn’t understand my good intentions at all…”
“Mom, stop crying.” Song Xinyan quickly went to comfort her. “Sister, you misunderstood Mom. She has been very worried about you these past two days. You ignored her calls and even turned off your phone.”
“She has always been worried about you.”
“Worried about me? Yet still had time to go shopping at the mall?” Song Xinyu mocked without hesitation.
Mother Song forced out a few tears.
“It’s my fault, alright? It’s all my fault. Beating and scolding are also forms of love…”
As she spoke, she shoved the acupoint massage stick into Song Xinyu’s hand.
“Here, if you’re still angry with Mom, you can hit me to vent your anger…”
Song Xinyu: “……”
She was speechless. How long was this performance going to continue?
At that moment, Father Song appeared at the top of the stairs and coughed twice.
“Enough arguing!”
“Our daughter has finally come back. Let her rest properly.”
“We’re family connected by blood. No grudges last overnight.”
With just a few words, Father Song easily swept the matter aside.
“I’m going to sleep.” Song Xinyu said, not bothering to engage further.
“Sigh…” her father smiled warmly at her and waved his hand, deliberately saying: “Precious daughter, good night…”
In the past, Father Song had always called her “precious daughter.”
The original owner had foolishly believed that this meant fatherly love.
But Song Xinyu knew the truth of the plot.
She knew that Father Song was nothing more than a more cunning old fox.
He even had a three-year-old son outside.
That child was the one he truly loved.
But the child was still young, and he did not dare bring him home—he feared that this innocent boy would be destroyed by his scheming legitimate wife and equally scheming eldest daughter.
In the end, he believed the eldest daughter was the most like him—ruthless, but extremely good at pretending.
So he wanted to use the eldest daughter to manage the family business, while allowing his youngest son to eventually reap the benefits.
A perfect calculation.
At that moment, an idea suddenly sparked in Song Xinyu’s mind.
What would happen if these two most similar “foxes”—father and daughter—were made to turn on each other?
She smiled sweetly and called out,
“Daddy, good night to you too.”
She gave her father a bright, sweet smile.
Then she ignored Mother Song and her sister completely and walked away lightly.
Behind her, Song Xinyan’s jealousy burned fiercely.
She knew it clearly now—Father Song was beginning to value Song Xinyu more, because she could marry into the Lin Family and bring benefits to the Song Family.
In contrast, she had lost a crucial bargaining chip that once secured her father’s attention.
Her unwillingness grew stronger and stronger.
She refused to be discarded in her father’s eyes.