Seeing her son and daughter-in-law both eating only vegetables, Su's mother said, "Jiaojiao, don't you worry. Our family can afford to support you."
'We'll take good care of you, even if we have to sell everything we own.'
"I know. It's just, I only recently woke up, so eating something light is better for my recovery."
"Oh, well then, Chi, you eat more meat. In this heat, it'll spoil by tomorrow."
"Mom, you all eat up. Don't worry. Tomorrow, I'll take Jiaojiao out for a nice meal at a restaurant. Your son doesn't lack for money."
The Su family had great faith in Su Shuochi. If he said he would do something, he would do it.
But ever since his injury, he'd become withdrawn and unwilling to talk. The family had already used up all their savings on the wedding banquet.
The last of their money had been spent over the past two days on Jiaojiao's IV drips, and they still had to wait another ten days for payday.
Su's mother had been planning to sell her heirloom gold bracelet, but now that her son said he had money, she could rest easy.
And so, the three of them began to feast on the meat, their faces breaking into wide, happy smiles.
Watching them so happy, a rare smile touched Su Shuochi's lips.
Dinner at the Sheng family's home was not nearly as harmonious. Everyone ate without tasting their food.
Sheng Shijing hadn't left after all. The reason was that his mother had gotten into a fight with the woman next door.
What had happened was this: Sheng Xinglian had insisted on walking her eldest brother out. Along the way, she overheard some women gossiping about how Gu Jiaojiao had fainted from anger again.
The Sheng family's eldest son, genuinely worried about Gu Jiaojiao, wanted to go to the Su family's home to check on her.
How could Sheng Xinglian possibly allow her brother to go and lend Gu Jiaojiao his support!
So, she started weeping and arguing with the women, which eventually escalated into a heated quarrel.
Miraculously, she came out of it unscathed. Their "elegant and poised" mother, however, ended up in a physical fight with one of the women, and both were injured in the end.
As a result, no one had to pay for any medical expenses. They just went home sullenly to eat dinner.
No one dared to speak at the dinner table. The dining room was utterly silent. The family sat in their respective chairs, eating in a heavy, oppressive silence.
Before today, Sheng Shiwu would have definitely been running his mouth about Gu Jiaojiao's faults, since he always had a problem with her.
Now, however, his opinion of Gu Jiaojiao had changed. He knew that even mentioning her name would make everyone at home unhappy.
He didn't understand why his family had ended up like this.
Sheng Shijing was worried about Gu Jiaojiao. 'She fainted from anger again because of those gossips in the compound. I wonder if she's woken up yet.'
'Even though she's not my biological sister, we raised her for many years. I poured all my brotherly affection into her. It's not something I can just give up on a whim.'
'Gu Jiaojiao is innocent. Her only crime was living eighteen happy years with our Sheng family.'
'Meanwhile, my real sister was suffering on a farm. If we're nice to Gu Jiaojiao, it's like twisting a knife in my real sister's heart.'
'Ever since my real sister came home, I've tried my best not to be so good to Gu Jiaojiao, just to keep my sister from getting the wrong idea.'
'Suddenly treating Gu Jiaojiao coldly... even I have a hard time with it, let alone an innocent girl like Jiaojiao, who we pampered and spoiled her whole life.'
'Jiaojiao's health was already poor because she was born prematurely. She couldn't handle our sudden cold shoulder and started getting sick all the time.'
'No matter how much we don't want to hurt our real sister, we can't just stand by and watch Jiaojiao suffer, can we?'
'But whenever we showed Jiaojiao the slightest bit of concern, Xingxing would get jealous and make a scene, and my two blockheaded younger brothers would grow to resent Jiaojiao even more.'
'For the better part of a year, the house has been in total chaos. Dad and I just hoped her real family would come get her soon, but there's been no sign of the Gu Family.'
'Then Dad and I looked away for one second, and our two blockheads got into a brawl with their two sisters, causing that huge mess.'
'In the end, Dad had no choice but to beg the crippled Su Shuochi to marry Jiaojiao. It's only natural that Jiaojiao would be upset and throw a tantrum.'
'Su Shuochi isn't at fault, and neither are we. If anyone's to blame, it's my own sister.'
'If she could just be a bit more gracious, if she didn't constantly pick on and target Jiaojiao, Dad and I would be able to dote on her more. We'd spend the rest of our lives loving her and making it up to her.'
'Then none of us would be so miserable right now. My sister has suffered a lot, it's true, but Gu Jiaojiao is innocent in all this!'
'We never said we wouldn't send Gu Jiaojiao away. We're just waiting for her family to come and get her.'
'Why can't my own sister tolerate even that?' Sheng Shijing shot a hateful glare at Sheng Xinglian, who was eating quietly.
The look was sharper than a knife. Sheng Xinglian's feelings of being wronged instantly intensified. Her lip trembled, and tears of grief began to stream down her face.
'In my past life, my eldest brother was so good to me! Now, not only is he not nice to me, but he's also become so malicious!'
'That bitch Gu Jiaojiao is just putting on a pitiful act. Fainting again? She should just drop dead and solve everyone's problems.'
'The Gu Family will be ruined and dead soon enough, anyway.'
Sheng Xinglian's sobs drew the attention of the Sheng family. Mrs. Sheng asked anxiously, "Xingxing, what is it now?"
'I don't know how the Gu Family raised this daughter of mine,' she thought. 'She's so timid and sensitive.'
'Meanwhile, I took the Gu Family's premature baby, nursed her to health, and on top of that, gave her eighteen years of a mother's love.'
"Mom... I'm fine. I just heard that my sister fainted from anger again... She's so pitiful..."
"Pitiful? What's pitiful about her? Our Sheng family waited on her hand and foot for eighteen years."
"What's there to pity about an ungrateful brat? Weren't we good to her before?"
Mrs. Sheng and Second Sheng yelled in unison.
Third Sheng: ...
He hadn't started this fight, so he just buried his head in his bowl and kept eating.
Unable to take it anymore, Mr. Sheng slammed his chopsticks on the table. "She's already married to Su Shuochi! What more do you people want before you'll finally be satisfied?"
Although Mr. Sheng didn't call Sheng Xinglian out by name, he fixed her with a look as sharp as a dagger.
"Dad, how can you say that?" Sheng Shijing interjected. "Mom's not the one who's unsatisfied. I know you can't bear to part with our sister. None of us can."
Mr. Sheng addressed Xinglian directly. "Xingxing, I'm not reluctant to let her go. I'm just waiting for her family to come and take her home. How many times do I have to say it?"
Sheng Xinglian trembled with anger. She had suffered so much, and her father just dismissed it all with a few casual words.
The world started to go dark around her. She swayed and shook her head in disbelief.
"How about I go kill Jiaojiao for you? Would that make you feel better?" Third Sheng muttered under his breath, seeing her pitiful act.
'He was starting to get it now. All of this was happening because Xingxing couldn't stand Jiaojiao.'
"Third Brother, you all doted on Jiaojiao for eighteen years. How can you be so sinister and cruel?"
Third Sheng: ...
'Is my sister really this dense, or is she doing it on purpose?'
'He'd never considered that question before.'
Seeing her children like this, Mrs. Sheng didn't know who to blame. In the end, she could only place all the fault on Gu Jiaojiao's head.
"It's all that menace, Gu Jiaojiao! If it weren't for her, would our family be in this state?"
Looking at his own mother and sister, Sheng Shijing felt a wave of powerlessness wash over him.
'Jiaojiao was so thoughtful, sensible, and sweet... and yet she wasn't his real sister. And just because of that, they had to shut her out.'
'It had caused the once sweet and sensible Jiaojiao to become unreasonable, her health getting worse and worse...'