Hearing what Wang Fugui said, Xiao Mandong’s lips curved into a cold smile.
“I ruined your family? Wang Fugui, get your facts straight. It was your Wang family who was insatiably greedy—switching babies, cheating people out of money, and then trying to turn around and make trouble at my door. Do I really look like someone you can push around?”
After saying this, Xiao Mandong glanced at her watch. “If you can’t give me the money before the police station opens this afternoon, don’t blame me for taking action.”
Xiao Mandong never would have imagined that Wang Fugui would be shameless enough to borrow money from Xu Ziyu. As the saying went, a tree without bark would surely die, but a person without shame could conquer the world.
Wang Fugui knew there was no way he could reason with Xiao Mandong, and he didn’t dare provoke her any further. So he shifted his attention back to Xu Ziyu.
“Ziyu, I know you resent me, but no matter what, my blood still runs through your veins. That’s a fact no one can change. I’m only borrowing the money from you to get through this emergency. Your grandmother took away my bankbook, but once she comes back, I’ll pay you back every penny. If you can’t come up with that much money on your own, you can borrow it from your grandfather or your uncle. Help your father out of this crisis.”
Seeing that Xu Ziyu remained unmoved, Li Fengmei grew anxious.
“That’s right, Ziyu. Even though you don’t have the Wang surname, you still have Wang family blood in your veins. I know you’ve misunderstood me as your stepmother, but your father has come to you for help. Surely you can’t just ignore him, can you? Xiao Mandong is blaming you father for the mistakes your mother made. If he doesn’t pay her, she’ll report him to the police. What will happen to your younger brother and sister if your father gets arrested? Besides, you’re a university student. Having a father who’s been to prison would affect you greatly as well.”
“We’re family. You’d better think this through carefully. If one of us prospers, we all prosper; if one of us suffers, we all suffer.”
Li Fengmei spoke with the air of a kindly mother, earnestly trying to persuade her.
“Are you joking? After my mother died, my grandmother took me away. We signed a severance agreement back then, and the announcement was even published in the newspaper cutting off our relationship. Didn’t Wang Fugui tell you about that? And don’t talk to me about my younger brother and sister. My mother only gave birth to me, so don’t try to claim we’re related!”
“And now you want me to borrow money from my grandmother? Your skin is thicker than the city wall, and you really do love living in a dream.”
Xu Ziyu had never shared any father-daughter affection with Wang Fugui, and she detested Li Fengmei even more. She showed no restraint in firing back at them.
“You ungrateful daughter! How dare you speak to your elders like that? You truly have no upbringing! People say the Xu family is so well-mannered, but how did they raise someone like you?”
Wang Fugui had not spent much time with this daughter, but he knew that she had always been gentle and well-behaved. Being publicly berated by her made him feel humiliated. If they hadn’t been standing outside the school, he would have slapped this unfilial daughter twice already. Every time he said something, this wretched girl talked back. She was absolutely outrageous.
“Your family has manners? You had an affair with another woman while your wife was pregnant, causing my mother to die in childbirth, and you still have the nerve to call yourself an elder? You people aren’t fit to be called elders.”
The moment those words were spoken, the surrounding murmurs erupted.
“Oh my, something that vile really happened? He couldn’t even behave while his wife was pregnant!”
“He looks so respectable, but he’s filthy behind closed doors!”
“What kind of elder is he? He’s worse than an animal!”
Wang Fugui’s face instantly turned the color of liver.
“Xu Ziyu, with your rebellious and unfilial nature, you still think you deserve to attend university? Your mother was killed by you. What does that have to do with us? And your grandmother treats you like a treasure—she really must have something wrong with her.”
The moment Li Fengmei finished speaking, Xu Ziyu’s hand struck her across the face.
“Li Fengmei, someone like you has no right to mention my mother.”
“You little slut! How dare you hit me?”
Li Fengmei raised her hand, intending to strike back.
“Smack!”
Another slap landed across her face.
“Shut your mouth.”
This time, it was Wang Fugui who had slapped her. He was practically driven mad by Li Fengmei. He had come to borrow money, not start a fight. Two thousand yuan was a huge sum. If Xu Ziyu refused to lend it to him, what was he supposed to do? That wretched Xiao Mandong had a heart of stone—she would definitely report him to the police.
Seeing the warning in Wang Fugui’s eyes, Li Fengmei could only cover her face and cry, glaring viciously at Xu Ziyu. If she ever got the chance, she would never let this wretched girl off.
Wang Fugui forced down his anger and did his best to make his voice sound gentle.
“Ziyu, how about this? Haven’t you always wanted the jewelry box your mother left behind? It’s her only keepsake. I’ll sell it to you for two thousand yuan.”
Xu Ziyu was so furious that her vision went black for a moment. The jewelry box had clearly been left to her by her mother, but Old Lady Wang had kept it from her, insisting that the Xu family leave the box behind before she would allow them to take Xu Ziyu away.
And now Wang Fugui actually wanted to sell the jewelry box back to her. He had to be dreaming. Although it was her mother’s keepsake, Xu Ziyu refused to let Wang Fugui get his way.
“You stole the keepsake my mother left for me, and now you want to sell it back to me at an outrageous price? Do you really think the things inside are worth two thousand yuan? It’s called a jewelry box, but all it contains are a few small items my mother used.”
“Wang Fugui, do you know what? I truly feel sorry for my mother. She actually gave her life for a man like you.”
Xu Ziyu turned and began to walk away, but Wang Fugui stopped her.
“Wait.”
By now, Wang Fugui had no other options. He gritted his teeth and finally said, “Lend me two thousand yuan. I’ll write you an IOU, and I’ll return the jewelry box to you.”
Wang Fugui knew very well that the jewelry inside wasn’t worth much. There was a plain, unadorned old silver bracelet, a small plain silver hairpin, and a silver thimble. The rest consisted of the small comb and mirror his late wife had used.
Trying to raise the money, he had taken the jewelry box to an acquaintance that very morning to ask how much it was worth. The other person had only offered him fifty yuan.
Xu Ziyu was somewhat tempted. She would get the money back eventually, and she could also reclaim her mother’s belongings.
But with so many people watching, she had just repeatedly insisted that she had no money. If she suddenly produced two thousand yuan, would it bring trouble to her grandmother’s family? People didn’t fear poverty so much as inequality. Everyone was poor together, and then suddenly they discovered that you were wealthy—that could create all kinds of unnecessary problems.
Xiao Mandong understood Xu Ziyu’s predicament. She had also seen how badly Xu Ziyu longed for her mother’s keepsakes. More importantly, Xiao Mandong knew that the items in that jewelry box would become extremely valuable in the future. Just the pair of plain, unadorned silver bracelets from the Qing dynasty could buy a house in the capital. In her previous life, the Wang family had sold the jewelry and lived quite comfortably afterward. So in this life, Xiao Mandong absolutely could not let them profit from it.
Xiao Mandong gently squeezed Xu Ziyu’s hand, then said to Wang Fugui, “Return every single item to Ziyu, and write an IOU to me. You’ll repay the money within a month.”
Xu Ziyu looked at Xiao Mandong gratefully. “Thank you, Sister Mandong.”
Wang Fugui was so enraged by Xiao Mandong’s words that he clutched his chest, feeling his heart twist with pain. Couldn’t this Xiao Mandong tell which side she was supposed to be on?
