Li Wanqing’s eyes instantly reddened. “Captain, ever since I married into the Cheng family, I’ve always considered myself a filial daughter-in-law. I’ve treated my parents-in-law with respect, and I’ve always been courteous toward my eldest brother-in-law and sister-in-law.”
“As for all of that… I believe anyone with eyes in the brigade can see it for themselves.”
Li Wanqing swept a disappointed glance over the Cheng family before continuing in a slightly choked voice, “I truly never expected that today, my mother-in-law would accuse me of attacking someone with a knife and stealing money, and even label me as an unfilial daughter-in-law.”
Pretending to be weak wasn’t in her nature, but if someone wanted to provoke her, she wasn’t going to back down!
Besides, the original owner had genuinely been weak. This was the perfect opportunity for her to clear the original owner’s name.
Li Wanqing wiped away her tears, looking utterly sorrowful.
“When Cheng Baichuan saved my life back then, I was grateful to him. We got married of our own free will.”
“But because he left on a mission the day after our wedding, everyone started saying that I had forced him to marry me.”
“Because I owed him my life, I endured it. I worked myself to the bone taking care of the Cheng family. I didn’t even rest when I was pregnant.”
“Because of that, my child was born prematurely, and people even spread rumors that the child wasn’t Cheng Baichuan’s!”
“The Cheng family called her a bastard at every opportunity…”
The moment she mentioned her daughter, Li Wanqing couldn’t stop herself from becoming more emotional. After taking a moment to calm herself, she looked sorrowfully at the Cheng family once again.
“Father… Mother… Big Brother… Sister-in-law… I just want to ask you one thing. Have you ever truly considered me and my child family?”
After Li Wanqing finished speaking, the entire reception room fell silent.
Even the Cheng family was speechless for a moment. They stood together with ugly expressions, unable to meet Li Wanqing’s eyes.
He Mei was crying so hard that tears and mucus covered her face. “Wanqing…”
She knew Wanqing had suffered over the past two years, but she had never imagined that she had suffered this much.
The Cheng family was simply inhuman!
…….
Li Wanqing froze, almost losing control of her emotions.
To be honest, she didn’t feel particularly sympathetic toward the original owner. Life in the Cheng family was difficult, yes, but if the original owner had shown even a little backbone, the Cheng family wouldn’t have dared mistreat her to this extent.
And they had even dragged her daughter into it, forcing such a young child to suffer so much.
And in her previous life…
Sigh!
Forget it. Forget it. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to curse the original owner.
But now that she had taken over the original owner’s body, the original owner was her, and she was the original owner.
Only now, she was Li—Niu Gulu—Wanqing.
Gao Chunmei was trembling with anger.
As the brigade’s women’s director, a case like this, where a daughter-in-law and granddaughter had been mistreated, didn’t it prove that she hadn’t done her job properly?
She hated the Cheng family, but she also didn’t have much goodwill toward Li Wanqing for dragging the matter into the open.
“Bullying your daughter-in-law! Treating your granddaughter harshly! Liu Yufen! Have all those ideological education classes gone in one ear and out the other?”
“Your family must write a serious self-criticism and apologize to Comrade Li Wanqing in front of the entire brigade.”
Liu Yufen moved her lips hesitantly. “But I can’t read or write!”
Besides, whose daughter-in-law hadn’t gone through the same thing? Why was her family the only one being forced to write a self-criticism and apologize?
However, she didn’t dare say that out loud right now.
Gao Chunmei: “…….Then someone in your family must be literate. The self-criticism must be written, and it cannot be fewer than five hundred words!”
……
For some reason, this suddenly felt like being lectured by a school dean!
Liu Yufen was stunned and protested, “Even so, she can’t go around attacking people with a knife, and she can’t steal money!”
Why was she the only one getting scolded?
That wretched woman was clearly the one who had started it!
Gao Chunmei glanced at Li Wanqing and tried to mediate. “Comrade Li, you’re all family. Just apologize to each other and let this matter go.”
……
Zhang Jianguo frowned. Something about those words didn’t sit right with him. They hadn’t even figured out what had happened yet, so how could she already be making a judgment?
But before he could say anything, someone else became even more agitated.
“No!” Liu Yufen shouted. “She has to kneel down and apologize! And she has to return the money she stole, with interest…”
Liu Yufen’s voice grew quieter and quieter, especially after she caught Gao Chunmei’s warning glare. She quickly changed her words.
“At the very least, she has to return every cent!”
Li Wanqing gave a bitter smile. “Captain, you can see that I’m not the one refusing to let this go. Someone has already decided that I’m guilty and still refuses to let up.”
“Enough nonsense!” Zhang Jianguo glared at Gao Chunmei. “We haven’t even gotten to the bottom of this. Comrade Gao Chunmei, don’t be so eager to play peacemaker.”
Gao Chunmei’s face flushed bright red, and she immediately fell silent.
Zhang Jianguo looked at Liu Yufen. “You said Comrade Li attacked you with a knife. Do you have any witnesses or physical evidence?”
Liu Yufen: ……She didn’t even get hit. What physical evidence could there possibly be?
There had only been her, that wretched woman, and the little bastard there at the time. Where would she get a witness?
Zhang Jianguo glanced at the other members of the Cheng family. None of them said a word. After all, they hadn’t been home at the time either.
But judging from Liu Yufen’s personality, this was probably another one of her lies.
Liu Yufen: ……Now she really had no way to argue.
“There’s no evidence that she attacked me, but stealing money is undeniable! She can’t deny that, can she?” Liu Yufen shouted.
“Otherwise, where did she get the money to take that little bas—”
Li Wanqing shot her a bone-chilling glare. Liu Yufen choked on her words and quickly changed them.
“…to take that child to the clinic.”
“I was wondering where the third daughter-in-law got the money to pay for the medicine. I never thought she had stolen it from her mother-in-law,” Wang Guiying muttered under her breath.
But because everyone else was silent at the time, her voice was especially noticeable.
He Mei nervously grabbed Li Wanqing and whispered into her ear, “Wanqing, just say that we all pooled the money together at the educated youth compound.”
Li Wanqing smiled, warmth appearing in her eyes.
“No. Don’t worry. I know exactly what I’m doing.”
That was thirty yuan!
Even if she said that, no one would believe it. Instead, it would only damage the reputation of the educated youths in the brigade.
Zhang Jianguo looked at Li Wanqing seriously. “Comrade Li, do you have anything to say?”
“What could she possibly say?” Liu Yufen snorted. “Wang Guiying is the witness. The physical evidence is the money she used to pay for the medicine, as well as the money she still has on her.”
Zhang Jianguo glared at her. “Are you the brigade captain, or am I? How about I let you be the brigade captain instead!”
Cheng Zhenxing, the eldest son, hurriedly tugged at his mother, signaling her to stop offending the brigade captain.
His eldest son’s superior at the textile factory was Zhang Jianguo. If they offended him too badly, wouldn’t he make things difficult for his son?
Li Wanqing glanced at the Cheng family before straightening her back and speaking firmly.
“I did take money today, but I don’t consider it stealing!”
“You smashed the money box yourself. How is that not stealing?”
Liu Yufen had barely spoken when Zhang Jianguo shot her a sharp look.
“I’m asking Comrade Li. If you say another word, get out.”
…….
Zhang Jianguo gestured for Li Wanqing to continue.
Li Wanqing had no intention of hiding anything. She was going to tell the truth, plain and simple.
Today, not only was she not going to return those thirty yuan, she was also going to take back every cent that had originally belonged to her.