Truth be told, Zheng Xin’s heart was also pounding. After all, she had endured Grandma Qiao’s exploitation for so many years. But if she wanted change, she had to start somewhere.
Qiao Zhengping and the two children were a bit scared. “If we don’t open the door, Mom will smash it down.”
Zheng Xin stubbornly insisted, “If she smashes it, let her smash it. If it breaks, we’ll use your salary to buy a new one.”
“From now on, what the second room eats, we eat. Whatever the second room pays, we pay.”
The door continued to pound, each knock making their hearts skip a beat.
Grandma Qiao kept banging on the door while cursing, “Locking yourselves in the room with a man in broad daylight, doing shameful things—aren’t you embarrassed?”
“Oldest, open the door right now! Are you itching for a beating? Is this how you set an example for your younger brothers?”
“A grown man hiding under the covers with a woman in broad daylight—you should be ashamed!”
Zheng Xin stuffed two wads of tissue into the children’s ears.
After hearing it enough, she no longer felt embarrassed. Her younger sister-in-law had once said, “Will her cursing make you lose a piece of flesh or peel off a layer of skin?”
“If she likes to curse, let her curse her fill.”
Qiao Zhengping’s ears flushed red with shame. He couldn’t bear it any longer and wanted to open the door again.
Zheng Xin held him back. “Ignore her. If she wants to curse, let her curse her fill. You, too—stuff your ears like the children. From now on, if she hits you, run. If that doesn’t work, hit your brother. If you hit her son, she’ll definitely feel the pain.”
Qiao Zhengping wanted to say, “But I’m her son too!”
Father Jiang saw that no matter how much his wife cursed, the eldest couple refused to open the door. If she kept it up, the neighbors would hear, and who knew how the Qiao family would be gossiped about tomorrow.
“Alright, old woman, that’s enough. Don’t let the neighbors laugh at us.”
“Hurry up and cook. Aren’t you tired after a day’s work?”
Grandma Qiao was furious. How dare that wretched woman defy her today?
No way. Tonight, she wouldn’t cook for their family. Let them starve—see if they dare challenge her.
If the eldest daughter-in-law dared not come out to work or cook, she’d dare not let their family of four eat.
What she didn’t know was that Yang Yiyang had already taught Zheng Xin how to handle this. Not letting them eat? That was too simple—then no one in the family would eat.
Yang Yiyang’s advice had been: “Why should you two, both with jobs, hand over all your salaries every month and still not be allowed to eat? At worst, you can go out and spread the word about the Qiao family’s behavior. You can even tell everyone you’ll report them to the Street Office.”
When it came to mealtime, the quick got food, the slow got none. To deal with unreasonable people, you had to be even more unreasonable and shameless.
When you have no shame, you’re invincible.
Qiao Zhengping also thought to himself, with things escalating like this tonight, his mother probably wouldn’t let their room eat.
It looked like they’d have to go hungry again tonight.
The two children thought of it too—their grandmother always used the “no food” tactic against them.
In less than an hour, they heard the call for dinner outside.
Zheng Xin said to the children, “Stay hidden in the room. I’ll go get food for us.”
Three pairs of eyes looked at her as if she were a fool, as if saying, “Do you really think you’ll get any food tonight?”
As soon as Zheng Xin stepped out, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a large bowl, and picked up the rice ladle to serve the food.
Grandma Qiao had long been on guard against her and hadn't prepared any food for them, so there was no way she would let her succeed.
So she swung the chopsticks she was holding and struck at her hand.
In the blink of an eye, Zheng Xin pulled her hand back. "How is it that we two working adults who hand over our salaries aren't even allowed a bite to eat?"
Grandma Qiao was furious. "You still want to eat the food I cooked? Dream on! You won't starve to death. Not only will you get nothing to eat today, but your family won't get anything tomorrow either."
After saying this, she even raised her triangular eyes and glanced upward.
Zheng Xin turned to Father Jiang and said, "Dad, do you also mean that we're not allowed to eat? Is it that we two working adults hand over our salaries every month and aren't even allowed a bite to eat?"
Father Jiang also blamed his eldest daughter-in-law for causing this scene today, which had embarrassed the old Jiang family, and wanted his wife to put her in her place.
Otherwise, she might become even more unruly in the future.
"Eldest Sister-in-law, you've gone too far today. You've angered your mother."
Zheng Xin asked again, "Are you sure we won't get a single bite to eat tonight?"
Father Jiang remained silent, while Grandma Qiao curled her lips into a smile, thinking, "Let's see if I can't handle you, you little wretch."
The second brother's family acted as if she didn't exist.
The third brother said, "Eldest Sister-in-law, just apologize to Mom and promise never to anger her again. In a few days, you'll be allowed to eat."
Zheng Xin couldn't help but laugh in anger. Yang Yiyang was right—if you can't use it yourself, just smash it all. After all, if you don't smash it, it won't be yours anyway, and you won't have to spend your own money on it. Why bother feeling sorry for it?
In the blink of an eye, she smiled and said, "If our family isn't allowed to eat, then no one should eat." With that, she flipped the table over.
Crash!
A loud noise followed as all the bowls, chopsticks, and food fell to the floor.
Some even spilled onto the second brother and the eldest brother.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Grandma Qiao let out a scream like a slaughtered pig.
"You damned wretch! It seems you're asking for death!"
With that, she jumped up to hit her. Zheng Xin wasn't about to stand there and let herself be beaten, so she turned around and ran outside.
As she ran, she shouted, "Murder! The old Jiang family is trying to kill their daughter-in-law again!"
"There's no way to live! The old Jiang family are Capitalist landlords, an exploiting class! They only suck the blood of their eldest son and daughter-in-law!"
Father Jiang was already furious, but when he heard her shouting like this as she ran outside, his heart sank. "This is bad. If someone reports us, the old Jiang family will be skinned alive."
"Eldest Brother, are you dead? Hurry up and bring your wife back!"
Second Brother Jiang also said, "That's right, Eldest Brother. Look at what Eldest Sister-in-law has become. A whole table of food wasted just like that. What are we going to eat tonight?"
Second Brother's child, Jiang Fanghui, also said, "Uncle, I'm hungry."
Zheng Xin's two children also said, "Dad, we're hungry too."
Second Sister-in-law Zheng said, "You two little debt collectors can starve to death. Who told your mother to spill all the food, leaving our whole family with nothing to eat?"
Wen Zan said, "If Grandpa and Grandma had allowed us to eat, would Mom have spilled it?"
Second Sister-in-law Jiang was furious. Even the two worthless girls from the eldest branch dared to talk back. "You lowly brats dare to talk back to your elders?"
As she spoke, she reached out to hit them.
The two children remembered their mother's words: if someone tries to hit you, run.
So, just like their mother, they cried and ran outside.
The children's voices rang out loudly outside:
"Murder! Second Aunt is trying to kill the worthless girls from the eldest branch!"
It's no wonder they say parents are a child's best teachers.
"Help! Grandpa and Grandma are starving the eldest branch to death! Second Aunt is trying to beat the lowborn brat of the eldest branch to death!"
Father Qiao's face darkened further. "Eldest son, are you trying to rebel? Look at the trash you've brought into this world."