Seeing Song Xia obediently take the money and go out to buy groceries, Sun Xiurong felt relieved and went back to lie down. However, even after Qin Jiawei, who was studying in the evening, returned, Song Xia was nowhere to be seen. Only then did Sun Xiurong realize that she had been deceived by Song Xia.

"Grandma, I want to eat something! Why isn't there anything to eat? I told you this morning I wanted fried chicken cutlets and grilled sausages!" Qin Jiawei kicked the broken pieces on the ground as he returned home, while Sun Xiurong tried to comfort him with a heart full of fear.

"My dear grandson, don't rush, be careful not to hurt yourself! What if you fall down? Go sit down on the sofa, Grandma will buy it for you."

"Hmph!" Qin Jiawei stomped along angrily, "It's filthy, why isn't it clean yet?"

At this point, Sun Xiurong was also furious: "Who knows what your wicked stepmother is up to? She hasn't even bought the groceries yet, it's so late."

"You call me vicious?" Song Xia stepped over the trash without even glancing at it. "If I'm vicious, then what are you?"

"You still know how to come back?" Sun Xiurong tried to pull her away. "You took my money, and instead of buying groceries and cooking, where did you go gallivanting off to? And look at all this trash and debris on the floor! Are you trying to kill us, grandmother and granddaughter?"

"Your money? This is just one part of the compensation you gave me. It's four thousand five hundred a month, and you only gave me two thousand. Besides, when did I ever say I went out to buy groceries? As for the trash on the ground, can't you clean it up yourselves?"

“You…” When had Sun Xiurong ever seen Song Xia so shameless? She almost couldn’t catch her breath.

Song Xia snorted coldly: "Don't get so angry that you faint. I won't be as foolish as before to support your precious grandson."

"You slut!" Sun Xiurong had never been treated like this before, and she couldn't bear it any longer. She lunged at her, ready to fight.

Song Xia immediately shouted, "Mom! What are you doing? You've ruined my job and you're going to hit me! Can't you stop being so unreasonable!"

Instantly, everyone in the building heard the news and peeked out. Aunt Zhou even ran downstairs and knocked on the door: "What's going on? Sun Xiurong, you can't do this! If you bully Miss Song again, I'll be calling the Women's Federation."

Enraged by this distortion of the truth, Sun Xiurong became even more furious, and her rage to beat Song Xia intensified: "I'll beat you to death, you slut! Our Qin family has no daughter-in-law like you!"

Then someone downstairs shouted, "Sun Xiurong, have some shame! If Miss Song hasn't done enough, do you want to bring a slave home?"

Upon hearing this, Song Xia looked at her defiantly and said softly, "Look, no one believes you now, everyone is on my side."

Sun Xiurong was so angry that her chest heaved. Unable to hit anyone, she picked up things from the ground and threw them at Song Xia, who screamed in alarm.

Aunt Zhou shouted anxiously from outside, "Song girl, open the door for me!"

"Sun Xiurong, if you don't stop, I'm going to call the police."

Sun Xiurong roared, "What do you know? You've all been fooled by her!"

Just then, Song Xia seized the opportunity to open the door and then hid behind Aunt Zhou in a panic.

Zhou Fengmei looked at her seriously: "We were deceived by Miss Song? Did all those years of her wholeheartedly serving your family just lie? You yourself said that you don't need to do anything at home, Sun Xiurong, can you please stop being so unreasonable?"

"Exactly, do you think we're all blind? It's a real waste that Song is being treated like a daughter-in-law in your family."

A few neighbors came in and began to berate Sun Xiurong.

Sun Xiurong felt like she couldn't explain herself even if she had ten mouths. Pointing to the trash on the ground, she said, "She smashed all of this, and she doesn't even clean it up. And you still say she's good?"

"Don't you know why she smashed it? Besides, Song's daughter went to work today, and you stayed home all day without cleaning up." Everyone was not fooled by her and immediately retorted fiercely.

"I even gave her two thousand yuan, and she made sure I didn't get to eat until dark." Sun Xiurong felt incredibly wronged. Everyone had been deceived by Song Xia! Song Xia wasn't a spineless wife at all, so why didn't anyone notice?

"You would give them money? Qin Zhenwu's salary and compensation are all in your hands, and Song Xia has been providing living expenses for your family all these years."

“My mother-in-law did give me two thousand,” Song Xia explained softly.

Sun Xiurong raised her eyebrows triumphantly: "I told you so!"

Her tone only made Aunt Zhou and the others more annoyed, and they sneered at her, "You only gave two thousand and you have the nerve to say that? Shouldn't you have given it to them?"

Song Xia bit her lip and said with extreme shame, "I asked my mother-in-law for it, but I really had no other choice. Yesterday, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came to my company and made a scene. It wasn't the first time. My superiors have a lot of opinions about me. They said that I have affected the company's image and efficiency, so they told me not to go to work starting tomorrow."

She paused for a moment and then said embarrassedly, "I don't have any money right now. I went out to look for work, but I didn't even have enough for the bus fare. I came back late after taking two thousand yuan. I was just trying to see if any restaurants or barbecue shops were hiring to tide me over. After all, at my age, it's really hard to find a good job again."

They were all people who had been her age, and since their area hadn't been demolished, most of them weren't very wealthy. They knew all too well the hardships of finding work at that age. Thinking about it this way, Sun Xiurong really had a terrible fate.

Sun Xiurong's eyes widened after hearing this, and she pointed at her and shouted, "Don't listen to her nonsense!"

"Nonsense? Would Song Meizi use this to deceive you? You went to her company to cause trouble yesterday, and you said it yourself. Who wronged you?"

"Besides, it's only two thousand yuan. Your grandson spends a thousand yuan a week. What's wrong with giving Miss Song two thousand yuan?"

"You say you're hungry, but don't you know how to cook for yourself? Aren't you just waiting for someone to serve you? Sun Xiurong, have some shame."

"Exactly, what kind of conditions did they have to want to be the Empress Dowager?"

A single truth has drawn so much criticism. Sun Xiurong felt she couldn't explain herself no matter what, so she started shooing people away: "Get out, get out of here! What business is it of yours to interfere in my family's affairs?"

"See, you're getting anxious, aren't you? I told you we didn't wrong you."

“Sun Xiurong, don’t let us see you bullying Miss Song again, or we will definitely call Director Chen from the Women’s Federation next time.”

Song Xia saw everyone out: "Thank you for speaking up for me. It's such a small matter at my home that you had to come down in the middle of the night to persuade me."

Sun Xiurong was still shouting, "Song Xia, stop pretending. Sooner or later everyone will see your true colors."

She was furious, but no one believed her anymore. Instead, they tried their best to comfort Song Xia: "Song girl, don't be afraid. If she dares to bully you again, go ahead and make a scene. Don't worry about this family. Find a job first. A woman must have her own income."

Song Xia nodded emphatically: "I won't be that stupid again."