Xu Lai swung the knife at the family photo, and her grandmother rushed over to grab it from her hand, saying, "Xiao Lai, what are you doing? Stop! Don't hurt yourself!"

Xu Lai pushed the two elderly people out, locked the door from the inside, and started smashing things around the house.

Looking at the distorted family photo, she couldn't help but laugh. It was bound to be like this; this family was riddled with problems. On the surface, things seemed calm, but inside, they were rotten to the core.

When Mr. and Mrs. Xu received the call and rushed home, their grandparents were already in tears.

Grandma scolded, "You heartless couple, what exactly happened over there? As soon as Xiao Lai came back, she took a knife and locked the door."

Xu Zhicheng looked like he'd gone mad. "Xu Lai, get out here! Hitting an elder is one thing, but now you've got a knife? What do you want?"

Xu Lai ran up to the second floor and smashed the house inside and out before tidying up her clothes.

Her hands were already cut by a knife, and blood was flowing down her face, but she seemed not to feel the pain as she carried a suitcase in each hand as she walked downstairs.

Xu Zhicheng was about to move the ladder to the second-floor balcony when the door opened. He had climbed halfway up when the ladder opened.

Enraged, he quickly climbed down, intending to teach her a lesson, but then he saw that she was covered in blood and fell silent.

Seeing her like this, Xu's mother burst into tears, "What foolish thing have you done?"

Xu Lai let her cry until she stopped, then said, "Starting today, I'm moving out."

Xu Zhicheng raised his hand to hit her, but Xu Lai didn't dodge and instead went to meet him, saying, "Hit me then, if you can't kill me, don't expect me to tolerate you anymore."

Xu Lai knelt down in front of them and said, "Today I will be the unfilial daughter you speak of. I cannot and will not sever ties with you, but from now on, apart from paying alimony on time, we shall have no further contact."

After saying that, she kowtowed three times, then put the suitcase in the car and drove away.

Grandma looked at the mess in the room, sat down on the floor and cried out, "What a tragedy!"

When they entered the house, they saw a stack of money on the table where they usually ate. There were five stacks in total, amounting to 50,000 yuan. Although Xu Lai hadn't left any words, they knew that this was for the repair costs of the things she had smashed.

Xu Zhicheng couldn't help but smoke, "I've raised an unfilial daughter."

Grandma rushed over and hit him as soon as she heard this, saying, "How could you say such a thing? From childhood to adulthood, you have never cared about her. Xiao Lai was raised by her grandfather and me with great difficulty."

Grandma spoke with tears streaming down her face: "You two always favor the younger one, thinking she can't tell, but she knows very well. You always say she's not close to you, but where were you when she needed her parents when she was little?"

Xu Zhicheng argued, "We have to go to work, don't we? Besides, Mom, look at the kind of person you raised. He lays a hand on his elders, shows no respect for his elders, and is simply lawless."

Xu Yan couldn't help but say, "Do you think you're the emperor? That everyone has to treat you with utmost respect?"

Grandma continued, "Zhou Li is also an elder, but I spit on her. What elder always tries to take advantage of their nephew-in-law? That time, the medical expenses totaled 60,000 yuan, but she only gave 10,000 yuan to Xiao Lai. She paid the remaining 50,000 yuan out of her own pocket to the Liang family."

She scolded Xu's mother: "You're also clueless, relying on your own daughter to help your maternal family, you're so stupid."

Xu Lai drove all the way to the county and found a hotel to stay in. When the receptionist saw that she was covered in blood, he couldn't help but ask, "Madam, are you alright? Do you need me to contact the hotel doctor for you?"

Xu Lai shook her head and handed over her ID card: "Get me a double room."

She changed her clothes. The wound on her hand had stopped bleeding, but it looked very deep and wouldn't heal quickly without going to the hospital.

She didn't care. This scar was proof of her break with her parents. It was better to leave a scar so that she would always remember the more than twenty years she had been suppressed.

Xia Ning heard the news from the village and tried to contact Xu Lai, but couldn't get through on the phone.

She called Zhao Qingyun again, and he was even more confused than she was. "What do you mean, ran away from home? I don't know. She hasn't contacted me at all."

Xia Ning had no idea why Xu Lai had argued with her parents, let alone that the argument originated with Zhao Qingyun.

Zhao Qingyun hung up on Xia Ning and started calling Xu Lai, but the phone was always switched off.

He called Xu Yan and listened to his account of what had happened that day. His heart skipped a beat; Xu Lai didn't even know about the transfer.

He panicked and quickly checked the flights; the earliest he could depart was tomorrow afternoon.

He couldn't wait that long, so he drove off, filled up the tank, and prepared to drive back to Heng County.

Xu Lai slept soundly, feeling utterly exhausted. When she woke up, her wrist was throbbing slightly. Her phone was dead, so she plugged it in and turned it on.

A dense stream of messages and countless missed calls, but none from her parents. Xu Lai forced a smile; what was she hoping for?

She called Xia Ning back, and an hour later, Xia Ning appeared in the hotel room.

She saw Xu Lai's hand and said, "Come on, let's go to the hospital quickly, or it will become infected."

Xu Lai let her take her to the hospital to have her wound bandaged and get a tetanus shot.

Xia Ning quietly told Zhao Qingyun the news; he was on the highway.

When Xu Lai returned to the hotel, Xia Ning noticed she was in a bad mood but didn't ask any questions. She simply said, "How about I stay here with you tonight?"

Xu Lai shook her head: "It's okay, you can go back now. Grandma Xia is home alone."

Xia Ning stayed with her until 8 p.m. before returning to the village.

Xu Lai kept seeing Zhao Qingyun's messages popping up, so she simply blocked them to avoid seeing them and getting annoyed. She didn't know how to handle the relationship between the two of them.

The next morning at six o'clock, Zhao Qingyun finally got off the highway. He arrived at the hotel and dialed Xu Lai's number.

Xu Lai answered the phone, but she didn't say anything. Zhao Qingyun spoke first, "I'm sorry, I thought you knew."

Xu Lai cleared her throat, her voice still a little hoarse, "Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"

Zhao Qingyun pinched the bridge of his nose. He had indeed been reckless. He thought it was a small matter that he could resolve with a single phone call, and Xu's mother had even come to ask him for help, saying that Xu Lai already knew about it.

He was hoping to please his future mother-in-law and wanted to get things done as soon as possible.

Xu Lai told him about Liang Xuzhou's incident, and she said wearily, "I hope that my relationship with my partner is equal, but obviously it isn't."

Zhao Qingyun had a vague premonition, "Don't say it."

Xu Lai still said, "Zhao Qingyun, I think we still need to examine our relationship."

"So let's separate for now."

"I will never break up with you."