Rebirth of a Top Student's Handbook

Zhou's mother was also frightened by Zhou's father's appearance and couldn't help but make excuses for herself: "Zhou Dacheng, have some conscience. I've suffered so much since I married into your family and endured poverty for so long. Don't you feel any remorse for treating me like this?"

"What hardship have you endured in our family? Since you married into our family, apart from the occasional argument between us, everyone has doted on you. As for arguments, go out and see, which mother-in-law and daughter-in-law don't argue? And who is like you, holding a grudge for a lifetime over a single argument? As for poverty, yes, our family is very poor, and your family is rich. But when you were at your parents' home, you watched others eat meat and drink soup while you ate coarse food. In our family, even when we were poor, we never made you eat coarse food. You can't stand it when others eat a little bit of your food. You pretend to be generous on the surface, but you're more stingy than anyone else inside. Your whole family is extremely hypocritical."

“You can criticize me, but don’t drag my parents into it. What have my parents ever done to wrong you? Think about how much my family has helped your family over the years.”

"Then think about how many things you've taken back to your parents' home over the years. I don't care about the rest, but think about how you've treated Minmin. You buy new clothes for other people's children, while Minmin wears their old clothes and feels grateful to them. You don't deserve to be a mother at all. I must have been cursed eight times over to marry a girl from your Zheng family. No, I should say I must have married you. Look at your sisters, you're the dumbest of them all. Minmin must have been cursed eight times over to be born as your daughter."

Hearing Zhou's father's angry curses, Zhou's mother couldn't believe that he, who had been coaxing her just yesterday, could say such things.

"Fine, you said it. Starting today, we're divorced. I don't want Minmin anymore. I want to see how your family can treat her." After saying that, Zhou's mother started packing her things to go back to her parents' home.

"Fine, go ahead. I also want to see how good your family is to you." Mr. Zhou had no intention of stopping Mrs. Zhou.

After Zhou's mother packed her luggage and pushed her bicycle, she encountered a crowd of onlookers at the door. They tried to persuade her, but when they saw that she wouldn't listen and rode away, they turned back to persuade Zhou's father.

Mr. Zhou had no interest in satisfying their gossipy desires and simply kicked them out. Having already searched the surrounding area, Mr. Zhou never imagined that Zhou Min was in the county town. You see, their village was quite far from the county town. At this time, the farthest Zhou Min had ever been was a town, and they didn't have any relatives or friends in the county town. Mr. Zhou would never have guessed that Zhou Min was in the county town.

At this time, Zhou's father would ride his bicycle around every day, hoping to run into Zhou Min if he was lucky. Of course, he placed most of his hopes on the police.

However, it was clear that Zhou's father would be disappointed, especially since the police were very inefficient at this time, unlike in later generations.

Zhou's mother was at her parents' home, worrying about Zhou Min, feeling disheartened by Zhou's father's words, and enduring the cold stares of her brother and sister-in-law. Even though she did a lot of work, it was all for naught; she used to work tirelessly even without eating. As for Zhou Min's maternal grandparents, they never cared about these things. They only needed their children to respect and be filial to them.

Zhou Min spent her days in a flurry of activity. As business boomed, Wang Jie was also kept on by Sister Zhang with a huge New Year's red envelope. Even so, the three of them were still working like it was a battle. The store's inventory was dwindling, and the stock intended for the New Year was almost sold out before the holiday. With no other option, on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, Sister Zhang had to leave Wang Jie to mind the store while she drove Zhou Min to Zhejiang to select merchandise.

Upon arriving at the clothing market, Sister Zhang took Zhou Min directly to several wholesale markets she frequented. Zhou Min, with her avant-garde eye, quickly selected over fifty outfits for Sister Zhang. This was unimaginable for Sister Zhang, who suffered from decision paralysis. Based on their time together, Sister Zhang had complete faith in Zhou Min's aesthetic sense, and she even considered hiring Zhou Min as her personal shopper at a high price in the future.

By the time Zhou Min and Sister Zhang brought all the goods back, it was already the evening of the 29th. After saying goodbye, Sister Zhang hurriedly went home, while Zhou Min went back to the shop alone to wash up and rest, completely unaware that her mother had contradicted her maternal grandparents for the first time in her life.

Here's what happened: In Zhou Min's hometown, there's a saying that married daughters shouldn't spend Lunar New Year's Eve at their parents' home, as it's said to affect their parents' fortune. This saying has been around for many years, and many families don't follow it. However, the Zheng family is a very old-fashioned family, and they've preserved many customs. So, on this day, Zhou Min's maternal grandmother started urging Zhou's mother to go home.

Because Zhou's father hadn't come to pick her up and she was worried about Zhou Min, Zhou's mother had been in a daze. This had already aroused the dissatisfaction of Zhou Min's aunts, and Zhou Min's two aunts started to berate Zhou's mother in a coordinated manner. Zhou's mother, who valued her reputation and had sacrificed a lot for the family, never expected that she would end up like this.

"It's tough, after all, playing mahjong every day. I couldn't stand it either. I've thought about spending money on mahjong every day." Zhou Min's aunt complained to Zhou Min's grandmother about her hardships while teasing Zhou's mother.

“You should go back quickly, don’t actually get divorced. Where will you live then? You can’t keep living at your parents’ house forever, can you?” Second Aunt retorted, not to be outdone.

“Why can’t I be here? This is my home too,” Zhou’s mother, who always referred to her maternal home as her own, replied.

As the three of them talked, their conversation became increasingly heated. When Zhou Min's maternal grandmother saw that Zhou's mother dared to criticize even her sister-in-law, she immediately stopped Zhou's mother and told her to go home quickly and not to cause any more trouble.

Zhou's mother couldn't believe that Zhou Min's maternal grandmother would treat her like this. Although she had always known that her grandmother was biased towards her son, she never expected that Zhou Min's maternal grandmother would treat her daughter-in-law better than herself.

In reality, Zhou's mother was completely unaware that in her parents' eyes, their son and daughter-in-law were their support in their old age. Moreover, because the daughter-in-law wasn't their biological daughter, they believed that only by treating her better could they win her over. Therefore, Zhou Min's maternal grandmother treated her daughter-in-law even better than her son. Although she maintained a patriarchal demeanor, Zhou Min's maternal grandparents always gave them face, at least never contradicting their opinions. Especially Zhou Min's eldest aunt, who was not only the eldest daughter-in-law but also Zhou Min's maternal grandfather's niece, held a very privileged position in the family.

Normally, Zhou's mother might not have been so vulnerable, but when Zhou Min went missing and Zhou's father wanted to divorce her, seeing her family like this, Zhou's mother felt heartbroken and couldn't help but ask herself: Was I really wrong?

With nowhere else to go, Zhou's mother could only slink back to the Zhou family home, only to find that Zhou's father and several of Zhou Min's uncles were still searching for Zhou Min everywhere. They were completely unlike her own family members, who said they were worried, but everyone acted as if they didn't care at all.