Ye Zhenghua's words revealed Meng Zihan's thoughts.

Meng Zihan gritted her teeth in hatred, but her face showed a wronged expression, with tears welling up in her eyes.

"Uncle, how could you say that to me?" she said, her voice trembling with tears. "I... I never thought that at all. I heard Aunt crying and felt bad, so I came out to comfort her... Why are you accusing me like this?"

"You're being wronged?" Ye Zhenghua sneered as if he'd heard the funniest joke. "When have I ever said anything wrong? You're comforting your aunt? You only think of comforting her now? Who was it that was pointing fingers at her and yelling at her a few days ago?"

He stepped forward, glaring at Meng Zihan with annoyance.

"Stop putting on an act for me! Let me tell you, Meng Zihan, this severance pay the factory gave us is our lifeline for buying houses! These houses belong to the factory. It was because of your troublemaking that we couldn't afford to buy them. Now that we're no longer employees, they might make us move out any day! If we don't have a house, where will we live?"

"Not a single penny of this money can be touched!"

Meng Zihan was stunned. Buy a house?

She blurted out, "Buy what house? There aren't any new commercial housing units available now, where are you going to buy one?"

Meng Xueyun, who was standing next to her, tugged at her arm and explained in a low voice, "We've already found out that there's a family in the cotton mill who bought a house from the factory's housing reform program. Now their son is getting married and they need to buy a new apartment, so they're in a hurry for money and want to sell that old house cheaply. Our money is just enough."

“You’ve been scammed. Housing reform properties aren’t so easy to sell. Has he even gotten the property certificate yet?” Meng Zihan asked anxiously.

“It’s alright, we won’t transfer the property title yet. We’ll just get it notarized. That family is an acquaintance of your uncle’s. As soon as the layoff news came out today, your uncle went to negotiate with them and the price was right.”

Meng Zihan was not happy at all and immediately said, "How can this be? What if the house price goes up in the future and he refuses to sell? There are too many hidden dangers in this kind of thing! Besides, the cotton mill's house is small and dilapidated, and you still have to spend tens of thousands to buy it. Aren't you just throwing money away?"

“Who said it’s small and run-down?” Meng Xueyun said, a little unhappy. “That house is not small at all! It has a separate kitchen, two rooms, and a large balcony outside. It’s much bigger than our current one, and it’s spacious enough for our whole family to live in. Besides, the location is good. There’s a primary school next to the cotton mill, and I heard that a new commercial street is also planned to be built there. It will be convenient for you to go to school after you get married and have children.”

“That’s your uncle’s friend of many years. He’s a trustworthy person with impeccable character!”

The more Meng Xueyun talked about it, the more she liked the house, and her face even showed a hint of longing for the future.

But Meng Zihan couldn't stand it anymore. If this money was used to buy a house, how would she turn her life around?

She interrupted urgently, "Even if it's good, it's still an old house that's decades old. How much is it worth? Auntie, if you give me this money and let me repeat a year, I guarantee I'll get into university! When I graduate and become successful, what kind of house can't I buy? I'll buy you a big villa then, which is a hundred times better than buying this old, dilapidated place now!"

"Look! Look!" Ye Zhenghua immediately pointed at Meng Zihan and shouted at Meng Xueyun, "What did I tell you! She's only after this money! Her true colors have been revealed!"

He turned his head and looked at Meng Zihan as if she were a fool, his words full of sarcastic mockery.

"You? You want to take the college entrance exam? With a brain like yours, you might not even be able to roast a sweet potato properly! You're simply not cut out for studying! Giving you money to repeat a year is a waste of money! I'd rather throw the money into the water; at least I'd hear a splash!"

When Meng Xueyun heard Meng Zihan say that he wanted to continue his studies, she immediately frowned.

She's acting crazy now, her nerves aren't even normal, what's the point of her studying?

Meng Xueyun sighed and softened her voice to persuade, "Xiaohan, studying is too hard. In your current condition, it's not suitable for you to suffer like that. Besides, there's more to life than just studying. Once you recover, find a stable job, and life will definitely get better and better."

In Meng Xueyun's mind, Meng Zihan's crazy and erratic behavior stemmed from the time he failed to get into university.

It wasn't this serious back then, but now it's gotten to the point of talking nonsense. If we really make her go back to studying books, won't that drive her even crazier?

Moreover, how much does it cost to repeat a year of high school?

No matter how much she loves her niece, she would never throw away the money she saved to buy a house.

Seeing that Meng Xueyun had sided with Ye Zhenghua and there was no hope left, Meng Zihan's mind went blank for a moment, and she was so angry that she couldn't care less about anything else.

She stood up from the sofa, her eyes bloodshot, staring intently at the two people in front of her.

"Fools! You're all short-sighted fools!" she shrieked. "No wonder one of you died young in your past life, and the other fought with a mistress every day, making himself sick! You worked hard your whole lives, and didn't even get a penny!"

Her words stunned Ye Zhenghua and Meng Xueyun.

Meng Zihan, however, was not satisfied and continued to hurl insults.

"You deserve to be poor! You deserve to be poor your whole lives!"

"Do you know what I did in my past life? Let me tell you, I was the director of the steel plant's design institute! The director!"

She puffed out her chest, her face displaying a manic yet proud expression.

"As long as you give me the money to repeat a year, I guarantee I'll pass! I can even become a department head! Do you understand?!"

Seeing Meng Zihan like this, Ye Zhenghua and Meng Xueyun stopped arguing.

The two looked at each other and saw the same thought in each other's eyes.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!