Shen Dashan was taken aback, his heart filled with doubt.
The Shen brothers once said that Xiao Hua was a pitiful and sensible child, and wanted to adopt her as their third daughter.
Ru'er is kind-hearted and treats Xiaohua as her own sister.
Did they really leave the workshop to her?
Seeing that Shen Dashan was starting to believe him, Aunt Zhang immediately reminded him, "Dashan, don't forget who you work for. You can't believe anyone's words without the master's personal approval."
Shen Dashan immediately regained his senses.
He cleared his throat and said, "Xiao Hua, you should go back first. I need to confirm whether what you said is true before I can hand over the ledger to you."
Shen Xiaohua immediately became unhappy upon hearing this.
If he really gets involved with Shen Danru, let alone her wanting to manage the workshop's accounts, she'll probably have a hard time even getting close to the workshop.
She now suspects that Shen Danru deliberately abandoned her that day.
She hated the Shen family, hated Shen Danru. How could they be so heartless as to abandon her like that? What had she done wrong?
"Uncle Dashan, how can you confirm this? Your second uncle and his family have already gone to Shengjing. Are you going to go to Shengjing to verify it? Besides, everything I said is true. How can you not believe me?"
After Shen Xiaohua finished speaking, she was about to rush into the innermost room to look for the account book.
Aunt Zhang stopped her.
"No one is allowed to enter this place except for the workshop manager."
"Who do you think you are? This is our family workshop. You're just a worker. Get out of here!" Shen Xiaohua rebuked her without any politeness.
Aunt Zhang remained unmoved and grabbed her, intending to throw her out of the workshop.
Before leaving, Shen Danru had instructed the workshop manager not to let any member of the Shen family set foot inside.
Later, she heard that on the day the Shen family left, they originally planned to take Shen Xiaohua with them, but Shen Xiaohua got off the carriage on her own and poured out her heart to Madam Lü.
Even though Shen Danru spent eighty taels to buy her back, she not only didn't treat herself as a servant, but also shamelessly claimed that the workshop belonged to her family.
Shen Xiaohua was furious when she saw that Aunt Zhang had never taken her seriously and now she even wanted to throw her out of the workshop. How despicable!
She cursed loudly, "My second sister only let you manage things because of her status, and you think you're so great? To put it bluntly, you're just a servant. Can you compare to me? You want to throw me out? I think you're the one who should get out."
Aunt Zhang was a little surprised. Xiao Hua used to be so well-behaved; it was all an act.
She gripped Xiaohua's hand even tighter.
Seeing this, Madam Lü quickly ran over and grabbed Aunt Zhang's hair. Aunt Zhang felt the pain and shouted, "Madam Lü, what are you trying to do? Let go of me!"
"If you let go of the little flower, I'll let go of you."
Aunt Zhang had no choice but to let go of Shen Xiaohua.
Even after gaining her freedom, Shen Xiaohua still wanted to venture inside.
At this moment, the workers inside the workshop heard the commotion and all ran out.
Seeing that it was Old Shen's family trying to cause trouble again, they worked together to drive Lu Shi and Shen Xiaohua out.
Shen Xiaohua returned to the Shen family home, her anger growing stronger.
She heard Chen's groaning and a foul stench wafted over, indicating that she had wet the bed again.
Since returning to Old Shen's house, she not only lives in a dilapidated house, but also has to endure the stench of excrement and urine every day.
Even the villagers started looking at her differently.
Now, she's also being bullied by the workshop's employees, and the more she thinks about it, the more upset and frustrated she becomes.
Without realizing it, she covered Chen's head with the blanket and pressed it down hard.
This time she held on for a longer time, until Chen stopped struggling, before she let go.
"You old hag, how many times have I told you to stop yelling, stop yelling, but you just keep whining and it's so annoying."
After she finished yelling, she clapped her hands nonchalantly and went back to her room to rest.
It wasn't until Old Man Shen returned from the fields in the afternoon that he saw Chen Shi with her eyes wide open and motionless. When he went over, he discovered that Chen Shi had already stopped breathing.
Shen Quan was terrified, but then he realized what was happening.
"Old woman, what's wrong with you?"
Shen Dazhuang and Shen Wan also heard his shout, their hearts skipped a beat, and they rushed into the house.
They were also startled by Chen's appearance.
"Mother, Mother, what's wrong with you?"
The two knelt before Chen's bed and wept.
Shen Quan said, "Your mother looks like she suffocated."
Upon hearing their father's words, the two immediately began to observe carefully. They saw that their mother's eyes were wide open, her tongue was sticking out, and her face was bluish-purple. This indicated that she had died of suffocation.
Shen Wan was instantly enraged. He picked up a club, which was the Chen family's family discipline weapon, and chased after Lu Shi in the courtyard to beat her.
Lu Shi was certainly not stupid enough to stand there and let him hit her. She ran away while shouting, "Are you crazy? Why are you hitting me?"
"How dare you talk back? What use are you to me? You can't even take care of your mother. Don't you know she's sick? You left her alone in the room, and she suffocated to death."
Upon hearing this, Madam Lü immediately stopped in her tracks. Overjoyed, she turned and asked, "Is Mother dead?"
Seeing that there was no sadness on Lu Shi's face, Shen Wan picked up the stick and was about to hit her.
Madam Lü snatched the stick away and threatened, "If you dare hit me again, I'll take the children and go back to my parents' home. If Mother isn't home alone, how can I just sit around doing nothing all day? Who will cook for this family? Who will wash the clothes?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Wan immediately stopped. He couldn't let the child's mother leave in anger; if she did, the family would truly fall apart.
The eldest brother is now a bachelor, the first wife's family is gone, the fourth wife's family is gone, and the third wife's family is still intact.
If the mother takes the child away, then only the men in the house will be left. Who will do all the housework?
Besides, what she said makes sense. She doesn't have three heads and six arms, and she can't possibly stay by her mother's side forever.
But then I thought again, wait a minute, didn't Xiaohua always do all these chores around the house?
"Where's Xiaohua? Where did Xiaohua go?"
"Who knows where that brat has gone? She hasn't helped me with any chores since she came back. She's probably sleeping again right now. I'll go to her room and call her."
Sure enough, Shen Xiaohua fell asleep again.
Mrs. Lü slapped her hard across the face.
Shen Xiaohua was awakened by the pain.
"Mom, why did you hit me again?"
"Sleep, sleep, sleep, all you know is sleep, your grandma is dead."
Shen Xiaohua looked bewildered. What? That old woman is dead?
She was startled awake.
Did she suffocate to death?
Then she realized that the old woman should have died long ago, as she had burdened her whole family with taking care of her and had even sold several acres of their land to pay for her medical treatment.
"Mother, why are you making such a fuss? Isn't it good that she's dead? With her dead, the whole family won't be a burden anymore, and you won't need to take care of her anymore. This is a good thing."
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