Fu Minghao laughed in anger: "I told you to go to school to be sensible, and you taught me those old-fashioned ideas about legitimate and illegitimate children? You should know that the inheritance of the family business is for male heirs, and it has nothing to do with you. I earned the Fu family's property, and I can give it to whomever I want. It's none of your business."
He had four daughters, and treated them all the same. But after they got married, they all started planning for their own little families. He could understand that, but they even started eyeing their own father's property. He wasn't even dead yet!
Fu Wen, however, was unconvinced: "I am the eldest daughter of the Fu family. Since ancient times, the eldest son has been the heir, and I have already fulfilled that. The family property should rightfully belong to me. Father, you gave Fu Jing a large sum of money without my consent, so I should also have a share. Aren't you the most fair person? You should give me the same amount as Fu Jing. You can't be so biased. Fu Jing is your daughter, but am I not?"
Fu Minghao scoffed: "What am I supposed to do with you? Use my money to support the Luo family, and then call me ungrateful behind my back?"
Zhu Fanfan, who was initially a little sleepy, was listening with great interest. Wait, why is the volume so low? Oh no, Grandma wants to avoid suspicion and is leaving. Zhu Fanfan firmly objects; she wants to be on the front lines of gossip.
Liu Yumin didn't care about any of that and left with her. She told Fu Wen that she couldn't stand her attitude towards her birth mother. The person in charge had arrived, and the less she knew about other people's family affairs, the better. She quickly slipped away.
Once in her room, Zhu Fanfan felt extremely wronged. She closed her eyes, tilted her head to one side, and ignored her grandmother. However, she could still hear the argument outside, and the sounds were becoming clearer.
"Isn't it all your fault that the Luo family is in such dire straits? Otherwise, wouldn't they be ruined? I was doing just fine as a young mistress, but because of your indifference, the Luo family was raided and the whole family is suffering. I'm atoning for your sins..."
Every word was stained with blood, and her voice was filled with extreme anger. If Zhu Fanfan didn't know her grandfather, she would have doubted that it was true.
The sound of Grandpa smashing a cup rang out: "If I had known the Luo family would repay kindness with enmity, I shouldn't have protected you just because you're my daughter. You should atone for your sins, atone for your own sins. Don't drag the Fu family into your own foolishness. Consider all the connections you made to protect the Luo family as money wasted. Get out of here, and don't come back. I'll pretend I never had a daughter like you..."
“You’re so biased. You’ve always favored your younger sisters since we were little, especially Fu Jing. No matter what she does, you always clean up her messes. She went on a hunger strike to marry a poor guy, and you gave her a house and dowry. Xue Fu didn’t even give her a penny of betrothal money. People laugh at the Fu family’s daughters for being worthless. I’ve lost all face.”
"If you feel ashamed, I can issue a statement that I, Fu Minghao, am severing my father-daughter relationship with you, Fu Wen, and that the Fu family will have no influence over you from now on."
“You’re so biased. You hurt the Luo family so badly and didn’t compensate me, but instead gave Fu Jing a lot of money. Do you even consider me your own daughter? All my other sisters married university professors or factory managers. Even Xue Fu, a small-time hoodlum, is now a deputy workshop director. I have nothing. My husband is just a temporary worker.”
"The reason why the Luo family has become like this is because when Shanghai was still a concession, they worked for the Japanese and oppressed the workers. After liberation, they were reported and were supposed to be criticized and denounced. It was because I used my connections to protect the Luo family and used my family property to bribe people. It is the best outcome for the Luo family to have even one temporary worker. Don't forget, the Luo family was the best-off among you sisters back then."
The noise from below went on for a long time, so long that Zhu Fanfan fell asleep while listening to it. That's one of the downsides of babies—they don't have much energy and sleep a lot.
When Zhu Fanfan woke up, her grandmother was crying sadly. She didn't know how long she had slept or how much excitement she had missed, but seeing her grandmother crying made her want to comfort her. She just hated that she was too short to even reach her grandmother's hand.
After crying, Tan Fuya was still aggrieved: "Why did I only give birth to so many daughters? None of them are easy to deal with. You saw it, eldest daughter. Before the wedding, she was betrothed to the Luo family, who owned a steel factory. They were incredibly prestigious back then. After Old Fu contacted the Communist Party, he tried to persuade him to go with them to deliver supplies, but he wouldn't listen and even supported the Kuomintang..."
Although the Communist Party did not settle scores after liberation, the Luo family supported the capitalists who were leading the market control efforts in the early days of liberation, hoping to force the Chairman of the State to compromise. The State made an exception for them because Fu had donated most of his wealth to support the revolution. Without Fu's influence, the entire Luo family would have been out of a job. And now they were the ones turning around and accusing Fu.
What hurt them wasn't the Luo family's attitude, but that their own daughter actually believed the Fu family had harmed the Luo family. At first, she was sarcastic and unpleasant every day, and only calmed down after being scolded. She was still resentful and wanted the Fu family to give their assets to the Luo family as an apology.
That brainless daughter was so happy when Old Mrs. Luo handed over the management of the household that she lost her mind and worked hard to earn money to support the family. She only got her job in finance because of her father, and she didn't earn much. She spent it all on the Luo family's household expenses, and even her own children didn't get any benefit.
She was so proud of herself, thinking she was the head of the Luo family. The whole family flattered her, making her dizzy with their praise. She came to the Fu family every day to beg for money. With just a few words of flattery, she spent all the money and things she got on the Luo family. She went hungry herself, and her children were left behind. If it weren't for her not being able to bear seeing her grandchildren suffer and often subsidizing them, they would have starved to death.
What's even more disheartening is that the grandchildren, after giving them things a few times, felt that they were selfish for not preparing a gift for the younger generation of the Luo family, which led to their peers isolating them and complaining that their grandparents were not thoughtful.
Tan Fuya asked a soul-searching question: "Why did my daughter change so much after she got married? She only cares about her husband's family and children, and puts her parents aside. She takes benefits from her own family and transfers them to her husband's family. She is also scheming for the Fu family's assets. If my son hadn't died, would this have happened?"
Because the Fu family has no male heirs, their property is coveted. Even if the daughters don't covet it, their husbands' families will still try to take advantage of it. This is the case with the Luo family and the Xue family. If the Fu family had male heirs, everyone would assume that the family property belongs to the sons, and they wouldn't have any improper thoughts.
Liu Yumin sensed Tan Fuya's dilemma and could only reply, "Girls are always somewhat helpless. Once they get married, they will have multiple identities: daughter-in-law, wife, and mother. Their later life will be closely related to their husband's family, and they will have more concerns."
Tan Fuya was not comforted. She had been a girl and now she knew the significance of her husband's family. The moment she got married, she took her husband's surname and was called Fu Tanshi or Mrs. Fu. She would be a member of the Fu family for life. She understood that a girl has no home after marriage.
She simply couldn't accept that her own daughter was conspiring with her husband's family to scheme against her own family.
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