In the middle of the night, when Zhang Yunqing got up to use the bathroom and was returning to her room, she noticed that the kerosene lamp in Zhang Junzhong and Zhao Pinglan’s room was lit.
Instinctively, she stopped walking. From inside the room came the faint sound of a man speaking in a low voice, trying to persuade them.
“Dad, Mom, I’m your biological son. Don’t I matter more than Yunqing, that girl? Besides, it’s not like I’m asking for her job for free. I already said Jinfeng’s temporary position at the cotton mill can be swapped with hers. She still wouldn’t have to go to the countryside.”
“Bullshit. Yunqing is my daughter too. We already wronged her once with that countryside assignment. Don’t even think about swapping jobs.”
Perhaps afraid of waking the rest of the family, Zhang Junzhong deliberately lowered his voice, making the rebuke sound somewhat muffled.
Zhao Pinglan’s usually sharp voice carried a trace of exhaustion. “Second son, forget the fact that your sister earned that job herself through the exam—even if the family had arranged it for her, your father and I would never let her trade a permanent position for a temporary one.”
“Dad, Mom, Jinfeng is the future mother of your grandson. Isn’t that closer than a daughter who’ll marry out someday? Who are you going to rely on in old age? You’d better think carefully.”
Zhang Hongwei simply couldn’t understand it. Things had already reached this point, yet his parents still refused to budge.
But he had already calculated everything. That damned girl Zhang Yunqing had better be sensible like she was last time.
“Third Girl came out of my womb. What the hell is Li Jinfeng?” Zhao Pinglan cursed angrily.
She had known all along that Li Jinfeng was no good.
Yesterday her second son hadn’t shown any signs of this idea. But today he came home late from work—he must have met up with Li Jinfeng.
And the moment he came back, he proposed such a rotten scheme. There was no need to guess who had come up with it.
For a moment, she regretted bragging outside about her youngest daughter getting a job.
If she hadn’t boasted, this news wouldn’t have reached Li Jinfeng’s ears so quickly.
“Fine. Very fine. Then just wait for your grandson to disappear.”
Zhang Hongwei steeled himself and threw down the threat directly.
“Second son, what do you mean by that?” Zhang Junzhong’s voice turned uncertain.
“Exactly what you think,” Zhang Hongwei said through gritted teeth.
Zhao Pinglan suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her eyes reddened as she stared at her eldest son.
“What a sin! You shameless pair—you’re not even married yet!”
She had never expected that her son would secretly get a girl pregnant before marriage. It was utterly disgraceful.
If word got out, where would the Zhang family’s face go?
“Anyway, things have already come to this point. You two can decide what to do.”
Zhang Hongwei adopted a completely reckless, “do whatever you want” attitude.
For a while, the only sound in the room was the heavy breathing of the elderly couple.
Zhang Yunqing narrowed her eyes. This scene was far too familiar to her. The night before the original owner of this body signed up to go to the countryside, she had faced this exact same situation.
Once could be called coincidence. Twice couldn’t be explained away so easily.
Before she went to the bathroom, her parents’ room had been completely dark.
Yet the lamp just happened to light up at the exact moment she returned, allowing her to overhear this performance. What else was there not to understand?
So even the last time had been orchestrated by that bastard Zhang Hongwei.
Impressive. Just to achieve his goal, he was willing to use tactics like this.
No wonder the original owner and her little brother had never managed to gain even the slightest advantage growing up.
If the original owner were still here, even if not for the nonexistent precious grandson of the Zhang family, she would have compromised for her parents’ sake.
And afterward, she would desperately brainwash herself into believing it was all for family harmony.
But in Zhang Yunqing’s eyes, if family harmony required sacrificing her own interests, then they could stay chaotic.
The messier, the better.
The silence in the room spread further. Zhang Yunqing stood motionless outside the door. She wanted to hear for the original owner’s sake what answer Zhang Junzhong and Zhao Pinglan would give.
“You should talk to Third Girl yourself. She has to agree to it willingly.”
After a long pause, Zhang Junzhong’s helpless voice finally sounded.
Zhao Pinglan said nothing, tacitly accepting her husband’s proposal.
The matter was settled.
A mocking smile appeared on Zhang Yunqing’s lips.
She truly didn’t know what she had been expecting for the original owner’s sake. Fatherly and motherly love that would never place her second?
People always said both the palm and back of the hand were made of flesh, but the flesh on the back was never as thick as the flesh on the palm.
Her parents would fight for the benefits she deserved—but once those benefits conflicted with the interests of the child they loved more, they would struggle for a while and ultimately choose to let her suffer instead.
They hadn’t even bothered verifying whether Zhang Hongwei was telling the truth before once again choosing to abandon their daughter.
Zhang Yunqing clearly remembered that in the original novel, none of the letters the original owner received mentioned an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
Zhang Hongwei’s first child had obviously been born in the second year after marriage. The original owner had even mailed them quite a few fabric coupons for making baby clothes.
There had even been a can of malted milk she’d gone through trouble to queue up and buy—originally meant to nourish the male lead—but she had sent it back to her hometown instead.
The original owner had grown up surrounded by this twisted, awkward form of love. Perhaps that was also why, in the original story, she clung desperately to the male lead and eventually met such a tragic end.
Zhang Yunqing shook her head and silently told herself: forget it.
She wasn’t the original owner. She wouldn’t be hurt or manipulated by this kind of love.
Since she had taken over the original owner’s body, then as long as it didn’t harm her own interests, she would still fulfill the filial duties the original owner should have during holidays and festivals.
But beyond that, there would be nothing more.
They shouldn’t dream of her becoming the obedient little daughter who yielded in everything like before.
No longer interested in listening to Zhang Hongwei’s poorly staged drama, Zhang Yunqing returned directly to her room and fell back into deep sleep.
The next morning, she woke up a little late.
For once, Zhao Pinglan didn’t curse or complain. Instead, she filled a large bowl with mixed-grain dough soup and urged, “Drink it while it’s hot.”
Even Zhang Hongwei slowed his chopsticks, seemingly waiting for her to say something.
Under his expectant gaze, Zhang Yunqing opened her mouth and said, “Mom, pass me the vinegar.”
Seeing that she only wanted vinegar, disappointment flashed across Zhang Hongwei’s eyes, mixed with faint resentment.
Zhang Yunqing found it rather amusing. Probably because this trick had worked so well last time, her dear second brother had developed excessive confidence in the effectiveness of last night’s performance.
Now that the main character wasn’t following the script, of course he felt annoyed.
“What? Second Brother, do you want some vinegar too?” Zhang Yunqing asked knowingly.
“No need,” Zhang Hongwei replied. His probing gaze swept repeatedly over her face. “How did you sleep last night?”
Zhang Yunqing deliberately raised her voice and answered with a smile, “Pretty well. I even dreamed about beating a drowning dog.”
“Really?” Zhang Hongwei could barely force a smile.
He was starting to suspect whether Zhang Yunqing had actually heard the conversation last night.
If she had heard it, she shouldn’t be reacting like this.
Could it be he had mistimed everything?
But no matter how much he probed afterward, Zhang Yunqing continued acting completely clueless, making him increasingly anxious.
Just as he was about to speak directly, Zhang Yunqing stood up.
“I’m done eating. Take your time.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, she slung her bag over her shoulder and left.