Chapter 17: So You’re Not Deaf or Blind After All

Fu Mingxue’s face was clouded with gloom.

She let out a cold laugh. “You sure got here fast.”

She was just about to open the door and put that old woman in her place when her mother rushed out from the small kitchen.

“You go back inside. I’ll deal with the old lady.”

“Mom—” Fu Mingxue protested.

She knew all too well how difficult that old woman was to handle.

“Go inside.” Fu’s mother’s voice was a bit harsher.

Clearly, she didn’t want her daughter to face the old woman directly.

Fu Mingxue could only go back into the room, unwillingly.

Only after seeing her daughter go in did Fu’s mother feel at ease enough to open the door.

Her thinking was simple—her daughter was about to go to college, and she couldn’t let this family get their hooks into her, nor give them any excuse to accuse her of being unfilial.

When she opened the door, there stood the old lady and her sly, sharp-eyed sister-in-law.

Just seeing them, she knew they weren’t up to any good.

Old Lady Fu glared at her discontentedly. “Second daughter-in-law, what took you so long to open the door?” She’d been hollering so long her throat was dry.

Not only that, but her old hands were sore from banging on the door.

Fu’s mother wasn’t in a good mood either. “What are you doing here?”

The old lady shot her a glare at those words. “My granddaughter getting into college is such a big deal! I waited at home half the day, and you never came by to share the good news. What, now that she’s gotten into college, you don’t recognize us old folks from the Fu family anymore?”

Fu’s mother shot back with a cold laugh.

“Looks like you’re neither deaf nor blind! If that’s the case, how come when your granddaughter was pushed into the river and nearly had her college admission letter stolen, none of you—grandparents, uncles, or aunts—came to stand up for her?”

“Anyone who knows us would say the Fu family is huge. Anyone who doesn’t would think the whole Fu family’s dead! Such a big thing happened, and not a single one of you showed up to help.”

“You, you—who are you calling dead?” Old Lady Fu was so angry her face turned red.

The sister-in-law behind her was fuming too.

Fu’s mother rolled her eyes. “Why take it so personally? I was just making a point. Besides, did I say anything that wasn’t true? When something that big happened, you all played deaf and dumb and didn’t show up. So what are you doing here now?”

Old Lady Fu was so angry she nearly toppled over.

A daughter-in-law like this—she should never have let her son marry her in the first place.

Seeing Fu’s mother so defiant, the sister-in-law decided to step in.

“Second sister-in-law, that’s not fair. Our families don’t live that close. If something happened, you should’ve come tell us. We’re all family—of course we’d come if you asked. At the very least, you could’ve sent someone to fetch us! Now you’re making it sound like we’re the ones at fault.”

“Oh, it’s just a few steps away. You couldn’t hear? People who live farther away than you already knew. But you just had to wait for us to beg you three or four times before you’d come? Please. I know you don’t see us as part of the Fu family, so stop pretending. Just tell me, what are you really here for?”

Normally, Old Lady Fu would have cursed her out right then.

But remembering why she’d come, she swallowed her anger.

“So, the Bai family gave you eight hundred in compensation, right? Give me five hundred. Your eldest nephew’s getting married next month and doesn’t have money. As his aunt, you should pay up.”

“Besides, you don’t have a son. When you die, who’s going to smash the funeral bowl if not my eldest grandson? And in the future, when you’re old, won’t you have to rely on your eldest nephew?”

The sister-in-law’s eyes lit up, her smile sweet as honey. “Second sister-in-law, from now on, my son is as good as your son. He’ll be sure to take good care of you.”"