The commotion coming from the sisters’ room immediately put Ren Dahe’s mind at ease.
When Ren Chaomei had been so quiet at the dinner table just now, he had thought she might be holding back some big move. Now he was relieved. Ren Chaomei was still the same as before.
She looked fierce and made a lot of noise, crying and throwing tantrums, but she wasn’t very clever.
When she was little, all it took was a little scare to make her give up on school and run around outside, saving him a considerable amount of tuition. When she grew older, a little sweet-talking was enough for a man who was handsome on the outside but rotten underneath to deceive her, leaving her humiliated.
Most children were naturally lazy, greedy, and playful.
When Ren Ganying didn’t want to study, her mother, Wang Xiaoqin, would scold her while using a stick to drive her to school. When Ren Chaomei didn’t want to study, her uncle would merely pretend to worry in front of outsiders, saying, “How can this be?” before conveniently leaving her alone.
In this isolated little place, there weren’t many role models who inspired people to better themselves. The original owner had learned how to curse from the village shrews and how to fight from the local hooligans.
A naturally growing Ren Chaomei could never outdo an old fox like Ren Dahe.
Hearing the commotion from the sisters’ room getting louder, Ren Dahe nudged his wife.
“Go take a look. Don’t let our girl get bullied.”
“Got it.” Wang Xiaoqin sighed. “Why can’t we have one peaceful day?”
The moment Wang Xiaoqin appeared, Ren Ganying immediately complained tearfully.
“Mom~ Chaomei got my new clothes dirty.”
“I’ll wash them for you.” Wang Xiaoqin pinched her daughter’s hand in warning, then coaxed Ren Chaomei gently. “Chaomei, don’t argue with your sister. She’s going on a blind date in a few days, and the man is from the city. I was afraid our family would be looked down upon, so I gritted my teeth and made her a new outfit. When this year’s new cloth coupons are issued, we’ll make you one too, okay?”
Ren Chaomei rolled her eyes speechlessly.
“No. You say that every year. How many new outfits have I actually gotten? Ren Ganying, on the other hand, first says she needs to dress decently for school, then says a girl needs two pretty outfits once she grows up, and now she needs new clothes for her blind date. Why didn’t I get a new outfit when I went on a blind date?”
She wasn’t actually fighting for new clothes like the original owner used to. But once the subject came up, she couldn’t resist retorting.
Wang Xiaoqin repeated the same old excuse.
“Our family is poor. This is simply what we can afford. If we had money, your aunt would make you new clothes every day. But people have to accept their fate.”
“Accept your fate? Then the two of you should accept yours too.”
Ren Chaomei gave a fake smile, picked up the dirty new outfit from the floor, and began tearing it along the seams.
Riiip! Riiip!
The brand-new clothes were instantly reduced to several scraps of fabric.
“Ren Chaomei! What are you doing?”
Ren Ganying hurriedly tried to snatch the clothes back, tears of anger welling up in her eyes.
“I’m teaching you to accept your fate. You should consider yourself unlucky for having crossed paths with me.”
Just moments ago, Ren Chaomei had been searching secretly.
Now, she searched openly.
She shook all the clothes out of the wardrobe, while the books from the trunk were scattered all over the floor.
As for the locked boxes and cabinets, she no longer needed to steal a key or find a piece of wire to pick the lock later and risk alerting Ren Ganying.
She could simply use her current excuse to go completely crazy.
Picking up a stool, she began smashing the locks.
“Ren Chaomei, have you gone crazy? Stop it!” Ren Ganying screamed through her tears. “Dad! Come quickly! Ren Chaomei is going to smash up my room!”
The room was only so big, and there were only so many places where Ren Ganying could hide things.
When Ren Chaomei smashed open the small wooden box that had fallen out from inside the desk, the dusty coin purse tumbled out.
Before the purse appeared, Ren Ganying had merely been frightened.
But the moment she saw the purse pitifully rolling across the floor, about to be crushed by the stool in Ren Chaomei’s hands, her face went white with terror.
That was her precious treasure.
What if Ren Chaomei smashed it?
Even at the risk of being hit by the stool, Ren Ganying immediately threw herself onto the floor and snatched the purse back.
Woohoo! Found it!
It wasn’t convenient to steal it directly right now.
But people tended to have habits when it came to storing things. There was a good chance Ren Ganying would continue hiding the purse in this same box next time.
Then Ren Chaomei wouldn’t have to rummage around frantically like this again.
Having achieved her goal, Ren Chaomei dusted off her hands.
“Big Sis, what are you doing? I was just smashing things to vent my anger. I wasn’t trying to hit you. Why did you rush over? Were you asking to get hit?”
Ren Ganying had been thoroughly frightened. Clutching the purse tightly in her hands, she burst into loud sobs.
“Dad~ Mom~ Kick her out!”
Ren Ganying screamed hysterically, “Kick her out! Get her out of here!”
Ren Chaomei calmly retorted, “This is my home. This used to be my room! You’re the one who should get out.”
The Ren family’s house was filled with smashing, shouting, arguing, and crying. The noise was enormous.
The two neighboring families, who hadn’t even finished eating yet, came over with their bowls in hand. The moment they saw Ren Chaomei, they all perked up.
“Chaomei, you’re back? Weren’t you supposed to have your uncle come pick you up? We thought you wouldn’t be back until tonight.”
No one wanted to ask too directly, so they hesitantly asked, “Are you going back there later?”
“Going back where? This is my home.”
Ren Chaomei explained, “The Wang family tricked me into marriage. I sent them all to prison.”
“What?”
Everyone had assumed that Ren Chaomei had simply fallen out with the Wang family because of her bad temper as soon as she got married.
They never expected there to be prison involved.
Ren Dahe was embarrassed and tried to cover things up.
“She’s just a child. What does she know? Don’t listen to her nonsense. She’s furious and just cursing them.”
Who would dare marry a woman who had sent a man to prison?
He still wanted to marry Ren Chaomei off.
Ren Dahe announced, “If she doesn’t like that Wang boy, then forget about him. If you know any good young men in the future, don’t forget to introduce them to our Chaomei. I, Ren Dahe, will say this right now: when we marry off our girls, we don’t ask for a bride price. All we want is for the girl to have a good life afterward.”
There were only two girls in the family.
His biological daughter was supposed to marry into the city, and because it was considered marrying upward, he wouldn’t be able to demand much of a bride price.
As for Ren Chaomei’s bride price, he didn’t dare take it either. He was afraid she wouldn’t be able to find a husband, and he was also afraid people would criticize him if he accepted money for her marriage.
Several parents who had sons and had nearly gone bald worrying about finding wives for them gave Ren Dahe a thumbs-up.
“You really are generous.”
“Chaomei, you should rein in your temper too. Your uncle has spoiled you rotten. How many men could put up with someone like you?”
“Exactly. Treating marriage like a joke is one thing, but why do you have to come back to your maternal family and take your anger out on them?”
People naturally tended to sympathize with whoever looked weaker.
Wang Xiaoqin wore a worried expression, Ren Ganying’s eyes were red from crying, and Ren Dahe had an expression of helplessness.
Only Ren Chaomei stood there arrogantly.
Even without any expression on her face, there was an unmistakable defiant edge between her brows.
And because she had always been a troublemaker, whenever people saw her, their first thought was:
Ah… Ren Chaomei is making trouble again.
Not everyone was capable of distinguishing right from wrong.
Most ordinary people couldn’t even identify the murderer when watching a TV drama. Even when playing a simple game of Werewolf, they couldn’t necessarily figure out who the werewolf was.
Ren Chaomei didn’t expect outsiders to empathize with her or see through every detail of her grievances.
Other people simply weren’t that considerate.
She said bluntly, “Just look at my uncle pretending. The Wang family deceived me into marriage. If you don’t believe me, go ask around. The police have already arrested them.”
Whether she could find a husband in the future was something she didn’t care about at all.
She didn’t care about reputation.
But she certainly wasn’t going to let Ren Dahe have one either.
She added fuel to the fire as she accused him, “I wasn’t smashing things just to vent my anger. It was because my uncle and his family knew about the Wang family’s scheme, but they didn’t tell me. Not only that, they colluded with the Wang family and tricked me together.”
Ren Dahe was so furious that his hands began trembling.
“You—you’re talking nonsense! How could I possibly have colluded with the Wang family? You’re completely making things up!”
They really hadn’t colluded.
They had simply stood by and watched.
But did Ren Chaomei have any reason to tell the truth?
She might feel uncomfortable calling white black, but she had absolutely no problem calling gray black.
“Whether I’m slandering you or not, you know the truth better than anyone. You just wanted to marry me off so you could openly take this house for yourself.”