Chapter 69: Concerns

Lin Lishan sighed after hearing this. “I really should thank our in-laws. They’re truly good people. I need to properly thank them for taking care of you all this time.”

“Yes, my mother- and father-in-law are good people. When I suggested that Xiaowu go home and discuss things with his parents, I never expected everything to go so smoothly. At that time, we had already received our high school admission letters. I heard Xiaowu was among the top students, but he gave up his studies to marry me, and his parents still agreed. So I’m really grateful to them.”

Lin Lishan looked at her in surprise. “You mean you got your high school admission letter? You graduated early?”

Zhou Jiao laughed. “No, I didn’t graduate early. Grandpa misled you all. He stays home every day reading—how could he not know when I was supposed to graduate? When Grandpa said he’d pick me up after middle school graduation, I understood what was going on.”

Lin Lishan muttered a few curses under her breath, then thought for a moment and asked, “Why didn’t you come back to Beijing then? With your brains, you could have found Grandpa’s address even without it. Even if you didn’t trust Grandpa or me, at least you had your own courtyard and household registration in Beijing. Wouldn’t that have been good?”

Zhou Jiao smiled. “Mom, you didn’t actually believe what Grandma and I said, did you? Whatever Grandpa wrote in his letters, he never told me a word about it. I didn’t even know he’d written to me. And since I’d never met any of you, how could I just foolishly run off to Beijing with no backup plan? What if the little courtyard had collapsed after 17 years? What if my household registration had been canceled because no one was there? Besides, I only told Grandma those things because I was confident in my plan.

You always ask if I hate you or not, but honestly, I never have. Growing up, there was only one person I truly hated. But even with that one person, I couldn’t do anything about it—hating him was useless. So I told myself not to hate others; it’s too exhausting, too draining. It’s better to stay away and ignore him.

Grandpa is a complicated person. He used cold violence against me.

I was already sensible at three years old. Whenever I saw his grandkids bullying me, he’d go out of his way to avoid the scene, even taking detours with guests so no one would notice. When his eldest daughter-in-law cooked special meals and excluded me, he acted like nothing was wrong. When she insulted me with veiled words, he’d just sit there, staring at me, silently backing her up. Whenever Grandma tried to teach me to recite texts or memorize medical formulas, he’d deliberately assign her chores or even stop her.

I remember back then, the two of them would always argue. That’s when I started secretly learning. With nowhere else to go, I’d sneak off to the ancestral hall’s little room. Grandma covered for me, and before I turned eight, I’d learned all her skills. But no one in the Zhou family ever noticed.

When I was little, Grandpa sometimes looked at me in a strange way—not with hatred, but with a mix of contempt and pride. I could understand the contempt, but the pride? I never figured that out. Even as a child, I knew it wasn’t a good thing.

Once I understood his attitude, I knew I couldn’t rely on him. I clung tightly to Grandma, tried to please her, and stuck close to her. When I was young, Grandma was truly good to me. She taught me the Huang family’s medical skills and embroidery, saying that I’d need them when I grew up. But as I got older, Grandma started to have her own worries. She’d watch people’s moods, and she didn’t have the power to protect me anymore.

During that time, the atmosphere in the Zhou family was terrible. I suspect Grandpa knew what Huang Zhaodi was up to—he was just waiting to watch the show.

I was on edge all the time. I couldn’t sleep soundly at night and always found excuses to take care of Grandma and stay with her. During the day, I avoided the side paths and kept an eye on Zhou Xue, afraid something would happen. Luckily, she was an idiot and left clues. When the Huang family came looking for trouble, I’d go find Xiaowu. With him around, no one dared touch me. But I didn’t dare tell Xiaowu the truth, afraid he’d lose his temper and cause trouble. All I wanted was to leave as soon as possible, so I hinted to Xiaowu to push up the wedding.

Grandpa always had a dark face. I understood and ignored him—so long as we could get along, that was enough. If you don’t have expectations, you won’t be disappointed. Sure enough, when I got married, he reluctantly gave me Dad’s compensation money and this wardrobe, saying he’d already given me the little courtyard. Did he really think I was stupid? If he hadn’t worried about making my wedding look bad, he probably wouldn’t have even given me the wardrobe. I didn’t care—as long as I could leave.

Honestly, both Grandpa and I knew exactly what was going on. There was no need to pretend. In the end, Grandma secretly gave me a small wooden box and told me not to tell anyone.

That family ate my food, drank my water, wore my clothes, ignored me, resented me, and bullied me—I remember it all. But the one I hate most is Grandpa. He silently supported them. As for how the main branch treated me, I didn’t even bother to look at them. They meant nothing to me. If I hadn’t still been living with the Zhou family and worried about my own future, I could’ve easily found a way to bring them down.

But I couldn’t. As long as I was unmarried and living with the Zhou family, if anything happened to them, my own future would be ruined. People would forget I was from the second branch and only remember I was raised by the Zhou family.

I had no feelings for the main branch and could ignore them, but that Grandpa who took me from you, using your monthly support money, how could he treat me like that? Who told him to bring me back? Even Grandma let it slip—it was him who insisted on bringing me home. I really hate him.”

Lin Lishan gritted her teeth and said bitterly, “I knew something must have happened. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have married so early. I really want to tear them apart. How could they? How could they treat my daughter like that? How did you find out your father was still alive? Did you get back at them? You’re too soft-hearted—you should have done something as soon as you married out. You let them live comfortably for another year. This time, don’t go easy on them. Don’t be soft.”

Zhou Jiao patted her mother’s hand. So this is what it’s like to have a mom—someone who stands with you, understands you, someone you can rely on and confide in. She really liked this mother of hers—so simple, without any scheming. Even the knot in her heart from not seeing her mother for seventeen years had disappeared after this conversation. She hadn’t believed much of what Old Master Lin said earlier, but she believed her mother.

Her mother was different from the rest of the Lin family. Even if she had put on an act, she’d written letters for six years, sent money and packages for seventeen years, spent all those years searching for her father and waiting for him. Zhou Jiao believed her mother. She trusted her instincts—her mother truly cared for her.

The Lin family had their own motives, but Zhou Jiao wouldn’t treat them with hostility. She’d treat them like ordinary relatives. You can’t expect too much from people. Even if a stranger on the street gave her a big apple, she’d accept it with gratitude.

Besides, the Lin family was just her mother’s family. They’d given birth to her mother, but owed Zhou Jiao nothing. The Lin family never owed her, just as she could never fully trust them.

Her mother was simple-minded, so Zhou Jiao didn’t plan to tell her that the Lin family wasn’t much better than the Zhou family. She’d let her mother live in her own world and take good care of her father. Zhou Jiao didn’t expect much from her mother—just the fact that she’d waited for her father for seventeen years was enough to move her and earn her trust.

With her mother’s looks and family background, she could have had plenty of suitors, but she remained loyal. That was Zhou Jiao’s real mother—no one would ever bully her again."