Widow Remarries in Sixties - Chapter 35.1

Jiang Mingchuan fell silent for a moment after hearing that. Liu Jingzhi walked ahead, waiting for a reply, but hearing none, she felt a tinge of disappointment. Just as she reached the last step, she heard the man’s low voice behind her, “You’ll know in a couple of days.”

Liu Jingzhi’s heart skipped a beat. She instinctively turned to look at him, and the man was also looking at her. His eyes held a trace of tenderness and affection that was different from how he looked at her aunt. She couldn’t quite explain the difference but she felt it resembled how he looked at his children.

When Liu Jingzhi reached her home’s entrance, she was about to say goodbye to her uncle while pushing the door open. As the door swung open, she immediately saw her parents and her aunt in the living room.

Seeing her aunt, Liu Jingzhi’s expression turned cold.

Standing beside her, Jiang Mingchuan quickly noticed and followed her gaze into the house. Liu Qin and his wife saw them returning and hurried over to greet them, “You’re back?”

The woman sitting inside didn’t move, scrutinizing Jiang Mingchuan with an unfriendly look.

Jiang Mingchuan frowned uncomfortably. He was sensitive to people’s emotions and could sense the hostility in the woman’s gaze.

He looked at Liu Qin and his wife, who smiled awkwardly and introduced, “This is the children’s aunt.”

Jiang Mingchuan nodded without saying much, “Jingzhi is back safely. I’ll be leaving now.”

Liu Qin smiled, “Take care on your way back.”

As he spoke, Song Xiaoru secretly pinched his waist, making Liu Qin open his mouth but unable to ask what he wanted to.

Jiang Mingchuan pretended not to notice and turned to leave.

After he left, Song Xiaoru asked irritably, “I told you to ask when they are leaving. Why are you so timid?”

Liu Qin was also in a bad mood, “Why didn’t you ask?”

Liu Jingzhi looked at her parents and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

Liu Qin’s expression softened, “Nothing, go rest in your room for a bit. We’ll make dinner soon.”

Liu Jingzhi nodded, wanting to say she had already eaten outside but held back since her sister and aunt were at home. She responded with an “Okay.”

She had barely taken a few steps when her aunt’s sarcastic voice rang out, “I heard you went out to play today? Why didn’t you take your sister?”

Liu Aihua, who had been listening from her room, didn’t want to come out but was spurred on by her aunt’s support. She opened her door angrily, stood at the entrance with her arms crossed, and glared at her sister.

Liu Jingzhi pursed her lips and remained silent.

Liu Qin, long annoyed by his wife’s brother’s family, couldn’t help but say, “Playing? She went out to buy books with someone. Enough, Jingzhi, go to your room.”

Yu Xiali scoffed, “Who’d believe that? Buying books for so long? Probably had something good to eat outside too.”

Hearing this, Liu Aihua’s face darkened. She rushed over to question Liu Jingzhi, “Tell me, what good food did you eat today?”

In the past, Liu Jingzhi would have endured such accusations, but today, after hearing about her aunt’s experiences in the military, especially how she fought back against those who reported her, she felt particularly inspired. Her aunt had told her that many people bully the weak. If you don’t fight back, more people will bully you.

With this in mind, she suddenly looked up at her aunt and said, “I don’t know what good food I ate, but I know that if it weren’t for my uncle hitting and killing someone with his car, our family would still be living in a two-story house with endless money, and Dad would still be an official worker at the machinery factory.”

Liu Aihua, initially furious, was stunned by her sister’s words, “What two-story house? What endless money?”

Liu Jingzhi didn’t answer, went straight to her room, and sat down.

More concerned about the two-story house than about her sister eating good food, Liu Aihua followed her in a hurry, “Tell me, what two-story house? What endless money? Did our family used to have a big house and a lot of money? Where’s the house? Where’s the money?”

Liu Jingzhi replied, “Ask Auntie. She knows better than I do.”

With that, she walked away.

Liu Aihua quickly turned to Yu Xiali, urgently asking, “Auntie, where’s our house?”

Yu Xiali was visibly embarrassed, “Uh… hahaha… what house? Your sister is just talking nonsense.”

“She never lies. She said it was because my uncle killed someone with his car that we lost our house. What does that have to do with our family? Why did we have to pay for it?”

“You ungrateful child! We’re family.”

“What family? I don’t have family like you. You admit it! You caused us to lose our house. So we did have a big house before!”

Getting more excited, Liu Aihua demanded, “Give me back our house! Give it back! I don’t want to live here. I want to live in the big house.”

Song Xiaoru, terrified of her younger daughter’s tantrums, quickly tried to console her, “It’s all in the past. We have a house now too.”

Her words only made things worse. Liu Aihua pushed her mother away, “It’s all your fault, stupid woman. If it weren’t for your brother killing someone, we wouldn’t be living here. Get out, go back to your brother’s house. I don’t want you as my mother. Why don’t you die? You’ve made our lives so miserable! You’ve ruined our family!”

After hearing this, Liu Jingzhi quickly came out, regretting having said that.

Seeing the situation deteriorate, Yu Xiali hurriedly sneaked away. Liu Aihua, enraged, wanted to chase her but was stopped by Liu Qin and Song Xiaoru.

Liu Aihua then sat on the ground and started crying loudly, pointing at her mother and cursing, “You wretched woman, you wretched woman, I hate you. It’s all your fault, everything is your fault.”

She turned to curse Liu Qin, “Why did you marry her? You had the money to marry anyone, but you married such an ugly woman. Look at what she’s done, giving birth to someone as ugly as me and ruining the family. I hate you both! All of this was supposed to be mine! It should have all been mine!”

Song Xiaoru never expected her beloved younger daughter to say such things. Her chest tightened in anger, and she covered her face, crying, then turned to her eldest daughter, “Are you satisfied now? Is this what you wanted?”

Liu Jingzhi’s face turned pale.

“You went out today and now you despise us, right?”

Liu Jingzhi’s eyes turned red, “I don’t.”

Song Xiaoru turned her head away, unwilling to listen to her explanation.

Liu Jingzhi felt hurt and lowered her head. It was her aunt who had spoken badly about her first, and she had only retaliated. Her aunt had taught her to stand up for herself against any form of bullying, whether physical or verbal, and even young children understood this principle. She thought it was right too.

Why didn’t her mother defend her when her aunt bullied her, and why was she blaming her now instead of her aunt?

She really wanted to ask, was she even their biological daughter?

Once this thought took root, the seed of doubt couldn’t be removed from her heart.

Liu Jingzhi wasn’t foolish. In fact, she was very smart. She had always felt that her parents’ love for her carried a certain politeness typical of strangers, unlike the intimate affection they had for her sister.

She thought about how her uncle doted on her. She used to worry that he had ulterior motives, but now seeing how her aunt and cousins treated her so kindly, those suspicions grew stronger.

After all, why would her uncle and aunt be so good to her, just because she was a distant niece? Her parents never spent that much money on her… Moreover, she didn’t resemble her parents at all, whereas her sister clearly did.

***

On the way back, Jiang Mingchuan recounted the incident with Liu Qin’s sister-in-law.

As he spoke, he frowned.

Jin Xiuzhu asked, “What’s wrong? Is she not a good person?”

Jiang Mingchuan shook his head, “It’s hard to say, but the way she looked at me wasn’t very friendly.”

Jin Xiuzhu thought for a moment, “She must know about your sister’s background.”

Suddenly, she recalled something and asked, “I remember you said Liu Qin and his wife came from X province, so they shouldn’t have relatives here.”

Jiang Mingchuan replied, “Could it be someone visiting for the New Year?”

“Does someone visiting for the New Year come alone?”

Jiang Mingchuan frowned, recalling the scene at Liu Qin’s house. The living room was small, and he was certain only the sister-in-law was there, with no New Year gifts in sight.

Jin Xiuzhu analyzed, “Your mother was a meticulous person. If she entrusted Liu Qin and his wife with the child, she wouldn’t have left them struggling. They might not be wealthy, but they wouldn’t be living in such a poor, cramped place. Their younger daughter wasn’t dressed particularly well either. If they had money but didn’t dare spend it, that would be one thing, but remember yesterday’s meal? If they didn’t dare spend money openly, they wouldn’t skimp on food. Yet, they seem genuinely poor.”

Jiang Mingchuan had thought about this too. He always believed his sister’s adoptive parents were facing some difficulties, so he had been sending them money ever since he started earning, hoping to improve his sister’s life.

Jin Xiuzhu continued, “If they were well-off, your sister wouldn’t be living such a hard life. But if life is tough, family conflicts arise. As the saying goes, ‘Poverty weighs down on all relationships.’ Their younger daughter seems domineering, and the parents are biased towards her.”

“When your mother entrusted the child to them, she probably thought they were honest people and couldn’t have children of their own, so they’d treat your sister well. But if she had known they would have another child, she might not have separated you siblings.”

Jin Xiuzhu would have made the same decision. The Bai family had done the Liu family a huge favor, and Liu Qin and his wife seemed honest and childless, so they’d treat her daughter well and give her a complete family. But if she knew they would have their own child, she would have kept the siblings together, even if it meant some hardship.

Jiang Mingchuan said, “I know, which is why I told her that she’ll find out in a few days.”

Jin Xiuzhu shared the same sentiment, believing that recognizing Liu Jingzhi early on could prevent many complications.

Being honest is not always a good trait. She never liked employing honest people because they were often too simple-minded and easily manipulated.