She won't clear her name; she'll throw away all the scum.

No amount of persuasion or scolding could persuade her to leave, and she wasn't afraid of physical violence.

Everyone was then puzzled: how did Old Lady Xia become like this?

Jiang Fangru looked at the mess in the house and blamed her eldest daughter, "Wenying, you are becoming more and more lawless. You actually hit your elders. Don't you have any manners at all? Hurry up and apologize to your mother-in-law. If she doesn't forgive you, don't call me Mom."

She knew that her daughter was living like a rich lady in the Chen family, and yet she still caused trouble. Now, her own family has been affected.

Zhu Wenying's eyes widened. Seeing that her mother wasn't joking, her stubbornness flared up. "Mom, you taught me that I have to have my mother-in-law under my thumb to have a good life. Didn't you hit Grandma before? And Grandma didn't dare to say a word. Why should I apologize when it's my turn?"

"I did nothing wrong. She's the one who's biased. Why can't I say anything?"

Grandma Xia: "You really know how to manipulate Grandma Jiang Fangru."

After she finished speaking, she prepared to leave.

Jiang Fangru had just wanted to tell Old Lady Xia to get out of there, but this time, when Old Lady Xia was about to leave on her own, she grabbed her hand tightly. Old Lady Xia absolutely couldn't leave; if she left, their whole family would be ruined.

“Mother-in-law, mother-in-law, listen to me, it’s not like that.” Jiang Fangru was anxious. “It’s all my fault, I didn’t explain myself clearly. Wenying is stupid and misunderstood me. What kind of daughter-in-law tries to control her mother-in-law?”

Jiang Fangru smiled apologetically, "Mother-in-law, whatever you say is how we'll resolve this matter, we'll resolve it however we want. I've spoiled Wenying, so you can teach her from now on. You can scold or beat her as you please, I won't say a word."

Zhu Wenfei thought of his girlfriend, and then looked at his once respectable family members, who had all changed. He understood that if they didn't appease Old Lady Xia today, his girlfriend would definitely leave, and he might never find a good family again.

He pressed his sister's head down, forcing her to kowtow to Old Lady Xia and apologize. Zhu Wenying was initially upset when her family suddenly stopped helping her, but seeing her father's shifting gaze, she quickly came to her senses.

Because of her situation, her mother-in-law had leverage over the entire Zhu family. If she didn't appease her mother-in-law today, her younger siblings would be at a disadvantage when looking for partners, and her mother-in-law would definitely spread the news.

"Mom, I'm sorry." Zhu Wenying knelt down, and this time her apology was sincere, but it was unclear whether she was truly convinced.

Grandma Xia reacted quickly, jumping aside and saying, "No, no, who would dare to be your mother?"

Jiang Fangru took out a small cloth bag from her pocket, stingily took out a ten-yuan note, and stuffed it into Grandma Xia's hand. "Xiangdong's mother, I've spoiled Wenying. Don't hold it against her. Use this ten yuan to buy something nice to make up for it."

Grandma Xia threw the money back. What could you buy with ten yuan? Did she think she was so shallow?

Seeing that Old Mrs. Xia wouldn't budge, Jiang Fangru was troubled. She had never imagined that Old Mrs. Xia would be so difficult to deal with; it was all Wenying's fault. Thinking this, she glared fiercely at her eldest daughter, who was cowering silently in the corner.

Old Zhu also came over. Today, his true colors were exposed. He thought Old Lady Xia was an easy dough to manipulate, but it turned out she was a dough with nails hidden inside. If you're not careful, you can get your hands full of blood.

"Xiangdong's mother, how do you want to resolve Wenying's matter? Just tell us, and our family will do everything in our power to make it happen." Old Zhu was exhausted and his body ached. That wretched old woman, Jiang Fangru, had actually hit him so hard. But the Chen family's matter also needed to be resolved. If she couldn't handle it, then he would have to do it himself.

Old Zhu spoke very sincerely, which earned him a glance from Old Lady Xia.

"You raised such a fine daughter, yet she's brought unrest to our family. I won't ask for much, just 800 yuan, and you're not allowed to interfere in my family's affairs anymore," Old Mrs. Xia demanded, making an exorbitant demand.

She did the math in her head: the subsidies she'd given to her eldest son over the years, including the money from tickets, were at least three times that amount. Her and Old Chen's combined salaries amounted to a considerable sum, yet she had very little money on hand; Old Chen gave her half of his salary.

Clearly, she had her eye on the eldest son and had given most of her money to his family. Zhu Wenying was generous and concerned with appearances, and she gave her family a lot of money during holidays. The radio that the Zhu family displayed in the most prominent place was purchased with a voucher from her, not to mention the bicycle, which also owed some credit to her family.

Eight hundred yuan isn't much. Once she gets it, she'll buy Xiang Hong a job. It doesn't matter if it's hard or tiring, as long as she can go back to the city. With that girl under her nose, she won't suffer the same fate as in her previous life.

"Eight hundred yuan? You might as well rob me." Zhu Wenying was generous at her parents' home, but when it came to the Chen family and Old Lady Xia, she was a real miser. She was the only one who could squeeze money out of the Chen family; no one else could take money from her.

Zhu Wenying, who had just been listless, suddenly jumped up, looking as if she could fight Old Lady Xia eight hundred times over.

Old Mrs. Xia was quite tired after all that, and of course she couldn't argue with her anymore. Zhu Wenying jumped in to object, and no one stopped her. Seeing this, Old Mrs. Xia turned to open the door and walk out without looking back, but was pulled back.

"Stop pulling and tugging. If we can't reach an agreement, then let it be. We're all decent people, so if we can't agree, then we can't agree." Old Mrs. Xia seemed particularly easy to talk to now, and her tone wasn't as harsh as before, but to the Zhu family, it sounded like she was going to fight to the death.

Old Zhu shoved Zhu Wenying aside and pointed at her nose, yelling, "If it weren't for the trouble you caused, things wouldn't have turned out like this! You brainless idiot, shut up!"

After he finished cursing, he lowered his voice and forced a smile at Old Lady Xia, "Xiangdong's mother, we really can't afford this eight hundred yuan. Do you think we can reduce the amount?"

Grandma Xia stared at the sparrows in the tree outside the window without making a sound.

Old Zhu thought for a while and then said, "How about I give you four hundred yuan right now? We're relatives, and you know our family's situation. Four hundred yuan can buy ten cans of malted milk powder."

Grandma Xia didn't even turn her head, clearly indicating her disagreement.

Chen Xiangdong, standing to the side, was nearly frantic. His father-in-law had already said so, so why was his mother still not agreeing?

Eight hundred yuan? Why does it have to be eight hundred yuan?

Chen Xiangdong wanted to speak, but was afraid his mother would get angry. Suddenly, he remembered that Aunt Wang next door had said there was a female worker at the textile factory selling jobs; although it was hard and tiring, the job only paid eight hundred yuan. A job… a woman… Chen Xianghong!

His mother wanted to bring Chen Xianghong to the city.

He stared at Old Lady Xia in shock. Chen Xianghong was about to get married in the countryside, so why bring back a mere girl? She almost forced him to divorce her wife, all for Chen Xianghong's sake?