Hearing there might be a way out, Lu Guangrong and Sun Lanzhi exchanged a glance. Lu Guangrong immediately raised his hand and said, “Big Sister, name it. Forget one condition, even a hundred, we’d agree.”
“One condition is probably more than you can handle, and you’re offering a hundred?”
Feng Wan said with a soft laugh. “Have Xiao-Xu come here and give Shuangshuang a formal apology. And it has to be sincere.”
Lu Guangrong and Sun Lanzhi were stunned. Both of them looked very uncomfortable.
This condition caught them off guard, and indeed, it would be very hard to fulfill.
If he came to apologize, wouldn’t that be admitting that Lu Xu was truly in the wrong? Everyone in this compound is sharp; they’d definitely figure out what happened.
How could their family continue to live here after that?
“Big Sister, we’re all family. It’s just kids fooling around. There’s no—”
Before Lu Guangrong could finish, Feng Wan’s smile disappeared. “If it’s not necessary, then there’s no need for Xiao-Xu to get out either. Let things take their course.”
“If you’re unwilling to educate your child, then let him get a proper education in there. Let him first learn how to be a decent person.”
“You’re both so focused on making him successful, but who knows if he’ll achieve that. Right now, he doesn’t even understand the basics of being a good human being.”
Feng Wan’s words were very blunt, like a stinging slap right across Lu Guangrong and Sun Lanzhi’s faces. It left them feeling a burning pain and deep shame.
“Shuangshuang, I’m tired. Help me upstairs to rest.”
Feng Wan stood up and gave a look to the guard beside her, signaling him to show the guests out.
The guard stepped forward, blocking Lu Guangrong and Sun Lanzhi, and gestured for them to leave.
Lu Guangrong gritted his teeth. “Big Sister, we agree. When Xiao-Xu gets out, I’ll bring him here myself to apologize to Shuangshuang.”
“Go pick him up in two days.” Feng Wan didn’t reply until she was almost inside her room.
Sun Lanzhi wanted to say something, but Lu Guangrong stopped her.
Back home, Sun Lanzhi couldn’t get over her anger and started crying pitifully. “What is this all about? What did Xiao-Xu ever do to anyone? Why does he have to suffer so much?”
“He doesn’t even know about this yet. When he finds out, he’ll be devastated.”
“Shuangshuang has gone too far, Old Lu. Forget that she doesn’t respect me, her stepmother, but she doesn’t respect you, her own father, either.”
Lu Guangrong wasn’t feeling great about it either. Before this, Feng Wan had always been polite to him, so he’d forgotten how formidable she could be.
He had been promoted faster than his comrades, not because he was more capable, but because he had the Feng family behind him.
He didn’t want to admit it, but he had to: without the Feng family, he was nothing. No matter how high his position, he still had to bow his head in front of Feng Wan.
“So frustrating! Goddamn frustrating!”
Lu Guangrong gulped down a whole mug of water. He was full of regret.
If he had treated Lu Shuangshuang even half-decently, things wouldn’t have gotten this ugly.
He had been a fool. What good was a son? All he did was cause trouble.
And then there was Sun Lanzhi. If she hadn’t gotten those crooked ideas, Shuangshuang wouldn’t have ended up hating even him.
“Old Lu, why are you looking at me like that?”
Sun Lanzhi had thought her instigating words would make Lu Guangrong hate Lu Shuangshuang even more. But instead, it seemed to have backfired.
Lu Guangrong’s gaze frightened Sun Lanzhi. She didn’t dare say anything more and stood up, hurrying towards the kitchen. “I’ll go make dinner.”
“Stop right there!”
Lu Guangrong barked. Sun Lanzhi froze immediately, then turned around and put on a fawning smile. “Old Lu, what is it?”
“You touched Feng Juan’s dowry. You figure out how to replace it yourself. Every bit you gave to your family, you get it back.”
“And don’t even think about doing anything to Shuangshuang again. If I find out you’re still pulling little tricks behind my back, you’ll see what I do to you!”
Sun Lanzhi felt like the sky was falling. She wailed, “Old Lu, I don’t have a job, I have no income. How can I replace it?”
“Why didn’t you think about that when you touched Feng Juan’s dowry?”
Lu Guangrong decided it was time to teach Sun Lanzhi a lesson too. He had originally thought that when he got older, he’d rely on her to take care of him, so he’d turned a blind eye to the things she did.
But look at her. Her appetite just kept growing, and now she’d landed him in this huge mess.
“Don’t think I don’t know. You’re always secretly using household money to support your family.”
“So I gave them a little, but it really was just a little.”
Sun Lanzhi quickly explained, “That one time, my father was sick and the surgery was expensive. That’s why I touched Feng Juan’s dowry.”
“That’s my father. Could I just stand by and watch him die?”
“I’ve been married to you for so many years, taking good care of you. What’s wrong with taking a little of the household money to give to my family?”
“Old Lu, people need to have a conscience. You can’t treat me like this.”
“I had a job back then too. You’re the one who insisted on having another son, and that’s why I got fired.”
“And then, in the end, I lost my job, I lost the baby, and I almost died myself. Have you forgotten all that?”
“If it weren’t for those things, you wouldn’t be living such a good life.”
Lu Guangrong tossed a handkerchief to Sun Lanzhi. “Stop crying. All you do is cry. Cry, cry, cry. You’re just crying away all our family’s good fortune.”
“Tell me, why did you have to go and find Shuangshuang a boyfriend, huh? If you were going to do it, at least find a decent one. But no, what kind of creature did you find for her?”
“I was saving face for you before, thinking you were her elder after all, so I sided with you.”
“Don’t think I don’t know why you introduced that man to Shuangshuang. And this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this.”
“And you say you only gave a little money to your family. Sun Lanzhi, let me tell you, I know all about those little tricks you play.”
“I… I was doing it for Xiao-Xu’s own good.”
Sun Lanzhi tried to defend herself. “Xiao-Xu will need help in the future. Your family doesn’t have many relatives left, so he’ll have to rely on my family.”
“Rely on your family? What good is your family?!”
The more Lu Guangrong spoke, the angrier he got. “Can his grandfather or his uncles get him out of there? I’m the one who found jobs for them in the first place!”
“I really regret marrying you. You’re good for nothing but messing things up. Look what you’ve turned my son into!”
“I…”
Sun Lanzhi was at a loss for words. She didn’t dare argue back. She was afraid that if she said more, Lu Guangrong would divorce her.
“Old Lu, I was wrong, okay?”
Sun Lanzhi backed down in front of Lu Guangrong. “From now on, I promise I won’t bother Shuangshuang anymore. I’ll walk the other way if I see her.”
“But I really don’t have the money to replace her mother’s dowry. And I can’t possibly ask my brothers for it. They’re all struggling as it is.”
“If you really make me figure it out myself, then I have no choice but to die to atone for my mistakes.”
“I just beg you, let me see Xiao-Xu one more time. Whether I raised him well or badly, he’s still my son.”
Lu Guangrong was soft-hearted when people gave in; he didn’t respond well to force. Truth be told, he just wanted to vent his anger. He wasn’t actually going to do anything drastic to Sun Lanzhi.
Things were already like this. Even divorcing Sun Lanzhi wouldn’t change anything.
