Zhou Chunhua put her hands in her pockets and walked straight to her bedroom.

In the living room, Xu Xiuzhen's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.

It was only then that she remembered Liao Nanxing's injury.

She asked anxiously, "Son? Where did she kick you? Does it still hurt?"

At the time, she didn't see where Zhou Chunhua kicked; she only subconsciously felt that it must have hit her leg.

However, it wasn't until she saw Liao Nanxing's face contorted in pain that Xu Xiuzhen realized the seriousness of the situation.

"Son! Don't scare your mom! No, don't worry, Mom will call 120 right away."

Xu Xiuzhen scrambled to get her phone.

Liao Nanxing pulled her back and managed to say, "It's...it's nothing. I'll be fine after I rest for a while."

Xu Xiuzhen's legs no longer hurt, and her back felt stronger. She even used her old arms and legs to help Liao Nanxing to the sofa in the living room.

With each step she took, she muttered a curse at Zhou Chunhua.

However, he only dared to mutter curses softly.

She was terrified that Zhou Chunhua would hear her voice and start lashing out again.

On the sofa, Xu Xiuzhen gritted her teeth in anger.

"Son, why do you never listen to your mother? If you had beaten her up earlier, you wouldn't be in this mess today. Now, it's not like we're abusing her; we're lucky she doesn't abuse us."

She's blocked our last escape route. What do we do now?

Having lived most of her life, Xu Xiuzhen experienced a sense of powerlessness for the first time.

She felt that Zhou Chunhua was like a piece of dog skin plaster, impossible to shake off, and tearing it off would only cause a chunk of flesh to fall out.

In all her decades, she had never suffered such humiliation!

After thinking it over and over, she felt that her son was too weak!

"If she wants to stall, I'll just stall with her." Liao Nanxing, who had calmed down a bit, was even angrier.

"Hao? Son, are you brainless? Or do you think you're the only man in the world?" Xu Xiuzhen said in a low voice, "Yes! You still have a title, status, and position now. But what will you have after you retire? Besides the smell of old age, what will you have?"

Look at Su Mu again, she has a great figure and a beautiful face! When that time comes, are you really sure that she, at your age when she's like a wolf in sheep's clothing, will still be as clingy to you as she is now?

Last time you said you wanted to leave the money to Su Mu and her son through a will, I couldn't say it in front of Su Mu. Son, aren't you afraid that if you give it all to her, you'll end up with nothing?"

Liao Nanxing's brows furrowed even more.

Xu Xiuzhen added, "Let me put it this way, if you're healthy, able to walk and move around, and have some spare money, then at most you'll just be a little lonely, but that's not a big deal."

Even if you get sick, if the money is in your hands, you can still hire a caregiver, right? But if you give all the money to Su Mu, and Su Mu has no official relationship with you and is so much younger than you, what will you do if he doesn't care about you?

Furthermore, what if you're unlucky and need emergency treatment, and they simply give up on you? So you need to understand, what you're giving Su Mu isn't just a title, it's a shackle! She's so young; only by being tied to you can she feel at ease!

Liao Nanxing remained silent.

"How about this? Why don't you talk to Zhou Chunhua again? At worst, you can give her some more money. Consider it a loss to avoid further trouble."

Liao Nanxing glanced in the direction of the bedroom and nodded.

He was somewhat confused, because he didn't know when, but the power in their marriage had quietly fallen into Zhou Chunhua's hands.

His only remaining option is to file for divorce.

We'll see how the court rules then.

Anyway, as far as he knew, given that Zhou Chunhua had no income for over twenty years, the court was unlikely to order him to leave with nothing.

...

Zhou Chunhua slept soundly in her bedroom all afternoon until her phone alarm woke her up.

She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the time.

4 PM.

I got up, changed into my old clothes from the closet, tied my hair in a ponytail, and left the bedroom.

There was no one in the living room, but coughing could be heard occasionally coming from the direction of the mother-in-law's bedroom.

It seems Liao Nanxing has gone back to school. Only Xu Xiuzhen and she are at home.

So, as usual, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a shopping basket, and went out.

However, unlike before, she changed her route from the back gate of the residential compound and chose to exit from the main gate.

This is the time when the elderly ladies and full-time housewives who are responsible for cooking go out to buy groceries for the evening.

Sure enough, as soon as the elevator doors opened, I ran into my upstairs neighbor, Granny Zhang.

Grandma Zhang's son-in-law works in the logistics department of Jiangda University. Grandma Zhang's daughter just gave birth and is still in her postpartum period, so Grandma Zhang came from the countryside to take care of her daughter and grandson.

Grandma Zhang stared at her intently, probably not recognizing her.

In the past, it would have been something she would have been happy to not recognize.

But today is different.

"Grandma Zhang, it's been a long time!" she greeted first.

"Oh my! Isn't this Professor Liao's husband?" Grandma Zhang exclaimed, "You...you've changed so much, I didn't even recognize you!"

That's what most of the elderly ladies in the family compound called Professor Liao's husband.

At first, she corrected them again and again, telling them her name repeatedly.

But then she discovered that these people weren't forgetting her name; they simply didn't want to remember her at all.

What they remembered was Professor Liao Nanxing, a renowned teacher at Jiangnan University.

But Professor Liao's spouse could be anyone.

For more than twenty years, she has lived a tragic life.

Fortunately, she was glad that she didn't live such a tragic life.

After Liao Nanxing left with nothing, she was no longer just a pseudonym, but a real person with a name and a surname!

"I've just lost weight, how could my appearance have changed?" She forced a smile.

"Oh dear, you've suddenly lost so much weight, you need to be careful. Didn't my phone say that sudden weight loss usually indicates a health problem? You should go to the hospital for a checkup when you have time."

Zhou Chunhua nodded: "Thank you for reminding me, Grandma Zhang. But... my mother-in-law is sick, and I still have to take care of her. Let's talk about it later."

"Baby! We can't wait! This body is yours, we can't delay."

"There's nothing I can do about it. If I don't go along with my mother-in-law, she... sigh! I'd better not say anymore, I have to hurry up and buy groceries. If I come back late, my mother-in-law... sigh!" She hesitated, then stopped.

Grandma Zhang sighed softly, "I never thought your mother-in-law would be like this! Before, she would tell everyone she was good to you, but it turns out she has a soft tongue but a sharp heart."

Zhou Chunhua lowered her head and didn't reply.

Grandma Zhang said some comforting words, and just then the elevator arrived at the first floor.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, she said "I'm leaving now" and jogged out of the elevator.

From behind came Granny Zhang's voice: "Try to think positively, things will get better when you become a grandmother."