"Mandong, if you like the jewelry in that box, just tell your uncle. You can choose one piece. Why do you side with outsiders instead of your own uncle?"
"Moreover, Wang Yuanyuan is your own cousin. When Yuanyuan gets married, this jewelry box can be given to her as a dowry. Our family's conditions can't compare with the Xu family's. Xu Ziyu doesn't need these things at all."
The on - lookers were also shocked by Wang Fugui's words:
"How shameless! I really want to tear this bastard apart!" An aunt angrily picked up a branch on the ground and wanted to hit Wang Fugui, but was stopped by another aunt.
"Don't do it. Can't you see this whole family is borrowing money everywhere? What if they frame you?"
"Spit! They'll get their just deserts sooner or later!" That aunt could only spit at Wang Fugui in the end.
At this moment, Xu Ziyu clenched her fists tightly. Hatred, like a vine, instantly wrapped around her heart. She had lost her mother since childhood and had always longed for fatherly love. When she was young, she even hoped that Wang Fugui would take her back to the Wang family or at least come to see her often.
However, every time Wang Fugui came, he had an ulterior motive. He either asked her to get things from her grandparents or asked her uncle for help. He even asked her to plead with her uncle to get a job for Li Fengmei's younger brother. As she grew older and became increasingly disappointed in Wang Fugui, she gradually gave up her expectation of fatherly love.
Later, when Wang Fugui couldn't get any benefits from the Xu family, he stopped visiting. Gradually, Xu Ziyu almost forgot about this father.
Now, hearing that Wang Fugui wanted to give the relics left by her mother to the child of this woman as a dowry, she really couldn't control the hatred in her heart.
"Sister Mandong, I don't want the things anymore. You'd better send Wang Fugui to jail. I want to see what kind of retribution a bastard with a promiscuous mother and a father in prison will get when she gets married with the relics left by her ex - wife's child."
Li Fengmei felt so ashamed when she heard the accusations and discussions of the on - lookers that she wished she could find a hole to crawl into. But when she heard Xu Ziyu cursing her daughter, thinking of Wang Yuanyuan's current situation, her heart ached terribly.
"Xu Ziyu, you little bitch! How dare you curse my daughter? I'll tear your mouth apart today." With that, she was about to rush forward, looking like she was going to fight Xu Ziyu.
Wang Fugui tightly grabbed Li Fengmei's wrist, forcing her to shut up.
"Fine, very good. Xu Ziyu, you've grown up and don't care about my life anymore, right?"
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Wang Fugui saw Shen Linzhou. His scalp went numb, and he knew he couldn't entangle any longer. This man wouldn't waste any words on him.
"Okay, I agree. I'll write an IOU, and I'll return the jewelry box to Xu Ziyu."
Xu Ziyu held Xiao Mandong's hand tightly and then tightened it even more. Finally, she could get back her mother's things.
"Then go and get the things now and send them to the military guesthouse intact."
As Shen Linzhou got closer and closer to Xiao Mandong, Wang Fugui quickly replied, "Yes, yes. I'll go and get them right now." Then he fled with Li Fengmei as fast as he could.
Seeing that there was no more excitement to watch, the on - lookers gradually dispersed.
Xu Ziyu's eyes were slightly red. She pulled Xiao Mandong's hand and said, "Sister Mandong, thank you..."
"Why are you being so polite with me?" Before Xiao Mandong could finish her sentence, Xiao Manxue had already run over.
"Sister, we've completed the formalities. We can start classes officially tomorrow."
"That's great. We still have to thank Deputy Division Commander Jiang. Have you been assigned a dormitory? Your luggage is in Division Commander Jiang's car. After the dormitory is assigned, we'll help you make the bed and then go back for lunch." Xiao Mandong held her sister's hand. She was still a little reluctant to part with her.
"Yes, Xiao Ding has already put the luggage at the door of the dormitory building." Xiao Manxue's happiness was written all over her face.
The group went to the girls' dormitory together. With the help of Xiao Mandong and Xu Ziyu, Xiao Manxue's bed was quickly made. They also checked the dormitory environment and made sure there was no problem before they felt relieved.
Looking at the made - up bed, Xiao Manxue's eyes sparkled. This was a new beginning for her. She had to learn to be independent and become strong. She would surely let her sister see her changes. One day, she would also be able to shelter her sister from the wind and rain.
The group went to the state - owned restaurant together. There were braised pork, stir - fried liver tips, stewed beef brisket with potatoes, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and steamed rice as the staple food.
The dishes on the table were very sumptuous. Deputy Division Commander Jiang didn't talk much. He just told Xiao Manxue to come to him if she had any problems and not to be polite.
After the meal, Deputy Division Commander Jiang left in a hurry. He still had to go to the Zhu family to talk about divorce. He wouldn't let his daughter live under the same roof as Zhu Liping anymore.
Xu Ziyu was very smart. She called her eldest maternal uncle, fearing that Wang Fugui would cheat her.
Forty minutes later, out of breath, Wang Fugui brought his whole family to the military guesthouse.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw Xu's eldest maternal uncle. Wang Fugui's heart skipped a beat. How could this dead girl be so scheming?
"I'll go to the toilet," Wang Fugui said and then went to the public toilet. In the toilet, he put the things he had secretly hidden back into the box.
He had originally planned to secretly keep one piece, but unexpectedly, Xu Ziyu had called the Xu family members. Fortunately, he hadn't left the things at home but had brought them all out. Otherwise, he would have had to make a trip back. Wang Fugui comforted himself that wealth was just something external. This soldier clearly wasn't someone to be trifled with. As long as he didn't go to prison, he could plan other things slowly.
Moreover, he thought that Xu Ziyu was just angry because he hadn't visited her over the years. After this incident was over, if he went to coax her for a few days, he might be able to get the things in this box back. This Xu Ziyu was just as easy to deceive as her mother.
After putting the things back, Wang Fugui steeled himself before returning to the room.
Xu's eldest maternal uncle just gave him a cold look and then turned to continue chatting with Shen Linzhou.
Wang Fugui was very uncomfortable with Xu's eldest maternal uncle's attitude. Since he married Xu Jing, he had never been looked up to by them. A bunch of capitalists, what was so great about them?
He cursed in his heart but still forced a smile on his face. He put down the bamboo basket and took out the jewelry box. "Ziyu, I didn't give you the things because I wanted to keep a memento. Don't blame your father." As he said this, Wang Fugui even reddened his eyes.
Xu Ziyu directly reached out and took the box, not bothering to watch his act.
Xu's eldest maternal uncle then turned his attention to the box. He got up and walked to the box, carefully checking each item one by one.
Xiao Mandong noticed that Xu's eldest maternal uncle didn't look at the jewelry in the box too much but kept stroking the box.
After the inspection, Wang Fugui reluctantly took out 1,200 yuan from his pocket and wrote an IOU for 1,800 yuan to Xiao Mandong. At this moment, his heart was bleeding.
Afraid that he would renege on the debt in the future, Xiao Mandong asked all four members of Wang Fugui's family to sign and put their fingerprints on the IOU.
After Wang Fugui's family left dejectedly, Xu's eldest maternal uncle took out 2,000 yuan from his pocket and handed it to Xiao Mandong.
"Girl, give me the IOU. You're not in Beijing, and it's inconvenient for you to collect the money. I'm close by and can go to ask for the debt every day."
"Eldest maternal uncle, it's okay for you to collect the debt, but you don't need to give me so much money. Just give me the amount on the IOU," said Xiao Mandong.
Xu's eldest maternal uncle firmly objected, "You've done our family a great favor. This box was used by my sister from childhood to adulthood. I really don't know how to thank you for getting it back today."
After Xu's eldest maternal uncle's repeated insistence, Xiao Mandong finally had to accept it.
Xu's eldest maternal uncle told Xiao Mandong not to worry, saying that in Beijing, the Xu family would be a home for Xiao Manxue.
After some pleasantries, Xu's eldest maternal uncle left with the jewelry box.
Xu Ziyu and Xiao Manxue went back to school together.
At this moment, Xiao Mandong finally felt completely relaxed and free from any burdens.
Xiao Ding went to book the train tickets for the early morning of the next day. They were in a hurry to go back because there was still Sun Wenbin at home. Moreover, Xiao Mandong was really worried about her family who had been sent to the countryside. It was just really inconvenient to live with Xiao Manxue.
Early the next morning, when it was still dawn, Xiao Mandong and Shen Linzhou boarded the train for their return journey.
The journey back was smooth all the way without any accidents.
After getting off the train, Shen Linzhou followed Xiao Mandong all the way to her stone house, claiming that he wanted to know about Zhou Qichuan's work situation in the past few days. In fact, he just wanted to see Xiao Mandong home.
Xiao Mandong ignored him. Since he wanted to follow, it was impossible to drive him away.
She had a lot of things to do now. The first thing was to make some canned food with the spiritual spring water and fruits from the space to take to her family.
After learning about Sun Wenbin's situation, Shen Linzhou didn't stay long. He had to go to the army to report the capture of Old Kai.
At night, when it was quiet all around, Xiao Mandong quietly walked out of the stone house and headed towards the back mountain.
