Xiang Jin added more hot water for his foot bath and rubbed the medicine pack on his knee tightly. Then he took out a bank card from his pocket and handed it to her: "This is some of my savings, you can take it."
Xiang Jin was stunned.
"How can this be? I can't use your money." Xiang Jin gestured and quickly pushed the card back.
The man's expression darkened slightly: "What, does Aqi still need to distinguish between you and me?"
"But this is your money, I can't take it." She had never enjoyed a life where everything was done for her. Even in the Xiang family, she had always been self-reliant. Suddenly having someone give her money made her a little uneasy and flustered.
I'm also a little...touched.
"It's my choice, use it or not, it's up to you." He shoved the card into her hand without another word and turned to go to the bathroom.
Xiang Jin sighed. It seemed she had no choice but to accept it. She didn't want to upset him, but he already seemed unhappy.
That night, he became somewhat manic again.
Xiang Jin lay beneath him, enduring his nameless rage. She didn't know what she had done to offend him, that he couldn't vent his anger even at a time like this, as if he needed to devour her to vent his frustration.
Fortunately, the next day was Saturday.
Xiang Jin looked at the clock and saw it pointed to 10:20. She was very glad that she didn't have to go to work today.
She tidied up the house, washed and hung up the clothes and sheets. Seeing that the weather was nice and the early cherry blossoms by the farmland were in bloom, she moved a stool, took a notebook, and started drawing at the doorway.
Painting is her life.
Design is her soul.
But these are things she can no longer touch; she can only draw them for fun, finding some solace in them.
After scribbling a few pictures, it gradually got dark. Xiang Jin rode his bike to town to buy groceries. When he returned, he found a familiar car parked in front of his door.
Li Shuhui stood in front of the car, her makeup exquisite, her slightly curled hair styled in an updo, and a luxurious beige shawl accentuating her radiant complexion. From any angle, she was the epitome of a wealthy lady.
Xiang Jin was somewhat surprised that she had taken the initiative to come to him. This was not Li Shuhui's style. However, since she was here, there were some things that had to be said.
Xiang Jin opened the door, and Li Shuhui followed her into the bungalow. After looking around, she showed a look of disgust.
Fortunately, it wasn't Xiang Qi who married into the family, otherwise she would have been so angry that she would have vomited blood.
"When will Feng Jianian be back?" This time, besides talking to her about some business, she also wanted to see how she and Feng Jianian were getting along, to ensure that Aqi's identity wouldn't be exposed.
“It’s late, just tell me what you need.” Xiang Jin sat down on the sofa and picked up the drawing board in her hand.
Upon seeing this, an unnamed anger welled up inside Li Shuhui: "What kind of attitude is this? Don't think that just because you're married I won't dare to discipline you. The Xiang family raised you, and you'll have to be my slave for the rest of your life!"
Xiang Jin's face was cold and stern: "What I owed the Xiang family, I have already repaid."
She was treated like a servant from childhood to adulthood, gave up her university spot, went to jail in Xiang Jin's place, and got married in Xiang Jin's place... Every single one of these things was a way of paying off debts.
“You—” Li Shuhui choked.
She suppressed her anger, calmed herself down, and threw a stack of photos in front of Xiang Jin: "I'm here today because I have something to tell you."
The person in the photo is Xiang Jin.
This is how she looked when she was working in the warehouse: busy, tired, covered in dust, but with bright, energetic eyes.
“Xiang Jin, you work at Suda Express, right? Your boss is Yu Xingfa, in his forties. He’s the matchmaker for Bai Ningshuang,” Li Shuhui said. “You’ve been to prison, yet there’s still a company willing to hire you. You should cherish that opportunity.”
"What do you mean?" Xiang Jin wrote, her thorns beginning to bristle.
"It's nothing, I just came to tell you that you'd better not tell anyone about the substitute marriage, or I'll make sure you have nowhere to go," Li Shuhui threatened her.
Xiang Jin sneered and quickly wrote: "You've pushed me to the brink, aren't you afraid I'll fight to the death?"
She's already been driven to this point, why won't they let her go? Now they're even threatening her with her job.
“Then you’ll have to be prepared to fight to the death. Don’t forget, Jiang Anqing is still in my hands. I have plenty of ways to torture her,” Li Shuhui said. “However, as long as you behave, I will arrange for you to see her from time to time so that you and your daughter can be reunited.”
Xiang Jin clenched his fist.
She didn't want to give in, didn't want to admit defeat, but Jiang Anqing was her Achilles' heel.
As her daughter, she has never fulfilled her filial duties. If she is to suffer because of her, then she is unworthy of being a son.
"I can agree, but I must see her first," Xiang Jin wrote, suppressing her anger.
Li Shuhui paused for a moment. Letting her see her wouldn't cause any problems; on the contrary, it would make it easier to control her. "Okay, come to the Xiang family tomorrow." After saying that, she walked outside in her high heels.
"By the way, you need to make Feng Jianian like you as soon as possible. That way, even if he finds out later that you are not Aqi, he won't come to the Xiang family to cause trouble, and my Aqi will be safe."
A year later, Xiangqi graduated and returned to China, wanting her daughter to have the most dazzling and perfect life.
Xiang Jin was merely a victim of Xiang Qi's life.
Xiang Jin couldn't listen anymore.
She got up, pulled Li Shuhui up, and pushed her toward the door.
"Go away, and never come here again!" Xiang Jin's handwriting was somewhat messy.
Li Shuhui, wearing high heels, accidentally stepped into a hole and nearly fell. She raised her bag and slapped Xiang Jin, but Xiang Jin skillfully dodged it. "You slut! I've raised you for so long, and this is how you treat me? You really are an ungrateful dog!"
"Thank you, but I'd rather I'd never been taken care of by you!" Xiang Jin tossed the note to her and then closed the door.
Li Shuhui was furious and unleashed a torrent of abuse on the goalkeeper, Xiang Jin, using all sorts of nasty things, but the man inside remained silent.
She had no choice but to go home, venting her anger nowhere.
Xiang Jin squatted at the door for a long time.
She tore the photos apart one by one. The photos were very sharp, and she accidentally cut herself. She covered the wound and cried silently.
Every time she saw the Xiang family, it plunged her back into nightmares.
Li Shuhui said she would support her for a while, but what she meant by supporting her for a while was treating her as a free servant, making her serve Xiang Qi from a young age, and whipping her at the drop of a hat.
At first, she thought it was because she was naughty, so she studied hard and got first place in her grade. She participated in a painting competition and won first place in the city. She tried her best to be nice to Xiang Jin in order to gain their approval...
She despaired when she realized that no matter what she did, she would not be recognized, and would even be beaten worse.
She later learned that it was all because she wasn't their biological child.
Because he wasn't her biological son, he should be treated like a slave, serving tea and water, and should be a supporting character to Xiang Qi, obediently sacrificing everything.
But she is Xiang Jin, she is a human being, she feels pain, and she has her own life.
Why does nobody care about her? There used to be a Jiang Anqing, but now she's suffering because of her...
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