Chapter 70 Then You Should Kowtow Three Times
Xu Runli's fingers gripping the stove edge suddenly tightened, and her fingertips rubbed against the rough wood, causing a slight pain.
She suddenly looked up at Yun Tangyin, the bloodshot eyes like freshly crumpled paper: "Do you think you are still the eldest daughter of the Yun family?"
The steam from the kitchen hadn't dissipated yet, muffling her voice. "Yun Zhixiong is no longer the same Yun Zhixiong he once was. My mother is now spinning yarn in the countryside to earn work points, and her fingers are rougher than old tree bark. What right do you have to stand here and talk about your duty? Don't you feel bad for your back?"
Yun Tangyin paused as she wiped the stove, her silver bracelet gleaming coldly in the steam. "That's definitely better than some people who rely on men to make up lies to save face."
She hung the rag on the line, water dripping down the fabric. "As for what the Yun family was like in the past, it has nothing to do with our current life. Just like you always focused on the title of Yun Zhixiong's daughter, it's no wonder you've ended up like this."
Jiang Jianhua noticed that the atmosphere was not right and rubbed his hands anxiously: "Runli, stop talking!"
He was afraid that Yun Tangyin would go all out again and tie the two of them up and bombard them together.
"What else could she mean?" Xu Runli suddenly raised her voice, her chest heaving violently. "She's looked down on me since the first day I entered the Yun family! It's the same at the Fu family. When I picked wild vegetables, she said it was too much oil. When I tried Longjing tea, she said it was expensive. She just can't stand me living better than her!"
"If I couldn't bear to see you doing well," Yun Tangyin walked up to her, with only the stove between them, "I should have taken out the IOU and thrown it in your face right now."
Xu Runli's face turned pale, and she took a half step back, bumping into the door frame: "You dare!"
"Why shouldn't I dare?" Yun Tangyin's voice was soft, but it felt like an icicle piercing someone's face. "When you stuffed the report into the suggestion box in the middle of the night, why didn't you think about whether you dared or not?"
Jiang Jianhua exclaimed, only then did he realize that Yun Tangyin had actually seen the letter of denunciation when Xu Runli slipped it in last night.
Xu Runli's lips trembled and she couldn't speak for a long time.
"I didn't write your name, and it has been torn up." She finally squeezed out a sentence, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum.
"It doesn't matter whether I wrote it or not." Yun Tangyin turned and walked towards the water tank. "What matters is that you think destroying others will make yourself feel better. It's like you always focus on the title of Yun Zhixiong's daughter, as if pulling me down, you can become another Yun Tangyin?"
She scooped up a bucket of water and poured it into the pot. "But life is not a stage. If you change your costume, you become someone else's. To me, you are just a clown."
The lid of the pot made a "clicking" sound due to the steam. Xu Runli stared at the flames in the stove and suddenly squatted down and covered her face.
Jiang Jianhua stood by and wanted to hand over the handkerchief but didn't dare.
Jiang Jianhua was so anxious that he turned around twice. Finally, he grabbed the coarse cloth on the stove and stuffed it into Xu Runli's hand: "Wipe it off. Your face is red from crying. When Zhicheng comes later, he will think we bullied you."
Xu Runli didn't take it, and the handkerchief fell to the ground, staining it with coal dust from the stove. Her shoulders were shaking violently, and her sobs were muffled in her palms, like the meow of a strangled cat.
Yun Tangyin added a handful of rice to the pot, stirring the water with a wooden spoon, making a gurgling sound. "Crying won't solve the problem. If you feel wronged by me calling you a clown, you should think about why you have to imitate others in your life."
She covered the pot and turned to lean against the stove. "Fu Yucheng twisted his ankle during military training, but he never complained, 'I wish I hadn't been a soldier.' Your life is your own. If you follow someone else's shadow, no matter how fast you walk, you'll still be crooked."
Xu Runli suddenly raised her head, tears mixed with hatred in her eyes. "Of course you can talk without any worries! You've been living a life of luxury since you were a child. Even if you're in trouble now, you can still marry into the Fu family and become a young lady! What about me? I've lived in your mother's shadow since I was born..."
Yun Tangyin sneered, "I'm not that capable of controlling your life, so stop putting accusations on me."
Jiang Jianhua quickly tried to smooth things over: "Yinyin, listen to me, Runli is just straightforward, she doesn't... doesn't have any bad intentions!"
Yun Tangyin glanced at the two of them and said, "No bad intentions? Planning to drag the entire Fu family into this is what you call no bad intentions?"
Xu Runli was feeling dirty and confused at the moment.
She suddenly remembered what Jiang Jianhua said when he tore up the letter of accusation in the middle of the night last night: "You are pushing the Fu family into the fire pit." It turned out that Yun Tangyin was awake at that time, but did not come out to catch him in the act.
"What do you want?" Xu Runli's voice was hoarse as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper. "You want me to kowtow and admit my mistake?"
Yun Tangyin glanced at her, her silver bracelet gleaming blindingly in the stovelight. "Since you brought it up yourself, fine. Just kowtow three times to the Kitchen God and explain how you slipped the accusation letter in the middle of the night and instigated Jiang Jianhua to steal the account book. If you kowtow loudly, I'll pretend I never saw the IOU."
Xu Runli raised her head suddenly, the tears in her eyes froze: "Do you really want me to kowtow?"
"What? You don't dare anymore?" Yun Tangyin moved closer to the stove. "You were the one who just shouted that you wanted to kowtow and admit your mistakes, and now you're the one who's scared? Xu Runli, you're not even as capable as an ant on the stove."
Jiang Jianhua wanted to stop her, but Yun Tangyin's eyes nailed him to the spot.
Xu Runli stared at the incense burner beside the stove, her knuckles clenched until they turned white.
She hated being stepped on the head the most in her life, but the IOU was in Yun Tangyin's hand, and Jiang Zhicheng's future was still hanging in the balance. She took a deep breath, and just as her knees were about to bend, she was suddenly stopped by Yun Tangyin:
"Wait a minute. Think clearly before you kowtow. Are you kowtow to me or to the Fu family?"
These words hit Xu Runli's heart like a whip. She stood up suddenly, tears mixed with hatred falling to the ground: "Yun Tangyin, don't go too far!"
"So what if I bully you?" Yun Tangyin took a step forward, almost touching her face. "When you stuffed the letter into the suggestion box in the middle of the night, why didn't you think you were going too far? When you instigated others to gamble with the Fu family's reputation, why didn't you think about whether you were bullying too much?"
She raised her hand and tapped Xu Runli's chest: "Do you think you're kowtowing to me? It's to remind you that the Yun family provides you with food and clothing, not to let you be an ungrateful person."
Xu Runli suddenly screamed, like a cat with its tail stepped on: "You, Yun Tangyin, are talking without any worries. You have Fu Yucheng to protect you and the account books to keep you. Of course you can say that life is your own! You... why don't you just eat meat!"
"At least I don't make a living by harming others!" Yun Tangyin shouted back, "You know what you did in the Yun family. You are the same as your mother!"
After saying that, Yun Tangyin grabbed the iron shovel on the stove and slammed it on the edge of the pot with a clang: "Now I give you two choices. Either kowtow and get out, or I will go to Jiang Zhicheng with the IOU and let him see how his wife is plotting against the Fu family!"
Xu Runli was shocked and shuddered, then suddenly laughed, tears streaming down her face. "Yun Tangyin, do you really think you can control me? I'm telling you, I can kowtow to you! But remember, the humiliation you inflicted on me today, I'll make you pay me back double sooner or later!"
After she finished speaking, she knelt down in front of the stove. Just as her forehead was about to touch the ground, she was stopped by Yun Tangyin's words:
"Don't touch the Kitchen God with your dirty forehead. Just kneel down and tell me all the dirty things you've done. If you keep your voice down, I won't count."
Xu Runli's knees hurt from the green bricks, and the humiliation was like the fire in the stove, burning her internal organs and making them tremble.
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