Zhang Hongxia glanced into the distance, her mind racing: "It shouldn't be that bad, right? At most, Lü Jie would just scold the child a couple of times to vent her anger. Even though she's a stepmother, she can't abuse the child."
Shu Ying paused for a moment: "Perhaps I'm overthinking it, but children have no power to resist. If something really happens, it's good to be able to remedy the situation in time."
Liu Xiulan agreed: "Then let's do as you say. We'll observe carefully for the next couple of days. If anything happens, I'll come to your house."
After chatting for a while, the group became familiar with each other. Seeing that it was getting late, Shu Ying took the dishes prepared by Liu Xiulan and went home.
At home, Ding Rumei took advantage of Shu Ying's absence to nitpick at Song Zhaodi.
“We didn’t invite you here to freeload. Besides doing all these chores every day, you also need to know how to save money for the family. I see so many vegetables and meat in the kitchen, you bought them, didn’t you? You can’t be the kind of person who betrays their family. My sister-in-law doesn’t earn money herself, she doesn’t know how hard it is to earn money. You bought so many things, you must have made a lot of money for yourself, right?”
Song Zhaodi's face flushed red. This was the first time she had ever been so humiliated. She had been working diligently here for so long. Although she dared not consider this place her home, she had never had any other thoughts.
“I understand what you’re thinking. Someone like you is only good because you arrived a little earlier than me. Otherwise, I would never have let Shuying bring you back. No matter what you do, you can’t lose your conscience. My sister-in-law doesn’t keep accounts. Just hand over how much money you’ve embezzled from the family these days. I’ll pretend I don’t know anything about this. From now on, just do your job honestly, and I won’t say anything more.”
Song Zhaodi suddenly stood up from the sofa: "What evidence do you have? What makes you think I embezzled money from the family? You're just making baseless accusations. I'm the housekeeper of this house, and who are you? Just because the master of the house isn't here, do you think you're the master?"
Seeing Song Zhaodi refute her, Ding Rumei slammed her hand heavily on the table, looked up and met Shu Ying who stepped in from outside, and her arrogance subsided.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere in the room, Shu Ying casually draped her coat over the hanger and asked softly, "What's wrong? I was only gone for a short while, but why does this house seem to smell like gunpowder?"
Ding Rumei couldn't afford to offend Shu Ying, so she kept giving Song Zhaodi meaningful glances.
Yangyang put down the building blocks in her hand, walked over and sat next to Shuying, shook her arm, and told her everything that had just happened.
"Mom, when you went out just now, Aunt Ding said that Aunt Song bought groceries for our family, and she must have embezzled our money. We need to make her hand over the money."
Shu Ying's expression changed, and when she looked up again, her eyes held a sharp glint.
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Ding Rumei's face, and she quickly waved her hands, saying, "Oh dear, look at you, child, you're so quick to speak. I was just making a joke offhand, I didn't mean anything by it."
Song Zhaodi didn't want to cause trouble for Shu Ying, so she kept quiet about what happened next.
Shu Ying naturally knew the temperaments of the two women. She held the two children in her arms and stared intently at Ding Rumei's face.
"Cousin, I've made the rules of the house very clear to you today. After spending the day with you, I think you understand how I conduct myself. If you really feel you can't get along with this family, you're welcome to leave. It's not easy for everyone in this family to be together now, and I absolutely will not allow anyone to disrupt the harmony of this family."
Song Zhaodi usually paid for everything she bought with her own wages.
She was content with having a place to sleep here, and sometimes Shuying wished she could think more about herself.
Such people shouldn't be falsely accused by ignorant people. These rumors are easy to spread, but clarifying them is far from easy.
Ding Rumei's few words about skimming money were like a mountain weighing down on others, yet she, the instigator, only made a joke.
"If my mother-in-law has any objections, I will talk to her myself. She has always been open-minded and I think she can understand what I am doing. However, I have to remind my cousin about her personality: being unable to bear seeing others do well will backfire."
Everyone has selfish thoughts, but if those thoughts harm others, they will be punished.
When Ding Rumei saw Shu Ying's serious face, her expression became somewhat distorted.
On her very first day in the capital, Shu Ying had already asked her to leave for the third time, and this time she had even thought of a reason to talk to Huang Meiling about it.
She was seething with anger. After all, she and Xie Zhiyan were family, bound by blood. How dare Shu Ying, an outsider, point fingers at her?
That wicked capitalist is nothing but a fart; all she does is exploit her lover.
Ding Rumei felt wronged, but she didn't show it on her face: "Sister-in-law, look at your temper. I was just saying it casually. I didn't really have that intention. Alright, alright, since you don't like hearing this, I won't say it again."
Since Shu Ying didn't offer any opinion, Ding Rumei could only swallow her anger and apologize to Song Zhaodi.
"Zhaodi, I know you're not a petty person. I just said those things because I was being mean. Please don't take it to heart. I'm always outspoken when I'm in the countryside. Since you don't like it, I'll change that bad habit. Oh, I'm the quickest person around, and I don't have any bad intentions!"
Song Zhaodi didn't want to put Shu Ying in a difficult position, so she simply waved her hand and gave up.
The two children rubbed their eyes, and Shu Ying took them back to their bedroom to sleep. Ding Rumei finally found an opportunity and ran to the public service center in one go.
She held the telephone receiver in her hand, dialing a number on the palm of her right hand.
Fortunately, she wrote down Huang Meiling's phone number; otherwise, she would have had nowhere to complain.
Upon hearing that the call was from Beijing, Huang Meiling thought it was Shu Ying calling and hurriedly ran over to answer it, only to hear Ding Rumei's rambling voice instead.
“Aunt, it’s not that I’m trying to sow discord between you and your daughter-in-law, but I can’t keep working with the little money you’ve given me. You’re acting like a rich capitalist’s daughter, looking down on me, a country bumpkin. I just arrived today, and she’s finding fault with everything I do. She complains that the local specialties I brought from the countryside aren’t good enough, and that the food I cook for her isn’t tasty enough. How am I supposed to live? What will people say about me?”
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