Chapter 1: Cold-Blooded Woman Lan Ziwuan

Bare, fragrant shoulders, fair skin flushed a faint red… The air was filled with a decadent, amorous scent as a beautiful woman, soft as if boneless, collapsed into a middle-aged man’s arms.

“Qiming, someone from the subdistrict office came again today. What are we going to do about Qi’er and Yaoyao? We have to choose one of them to be sent down to the countryside!”

“Ziwan, Qi’er and Yaoyao are twins. Logically, the older brother should give way to the younger sister, but my father absolutely refuses to let Qi’er be sent down. The spot at my work unit can only go to Qi’er.”

Lan Ziwan said with a worried expression, “But our daughter doesn’t even know how to wash her own clothes. How will she survive if she’s sent to the countryside? Why don’t we buy a job for her?”

A half-smile played on Lu Qiming’s lips as he said mockingly, “You think jobs are that easy to buy? I’ve told you to teach them properly. Look at the other children in our compound—they either got into a technical secondary school or a university. If they had studied hard and gotten into university, would we have to worry about them not having a job?”

Lu Qiming’s accusation displeased Lan Ziwan. The children weren’t hers alone, and it wasn’t her fault they didn’t get into university.

Pouting, Lan Ziwan said aggrievedly, “Then what do you suggest we do? Are you really planning to let our Yaoyao go to the countryside? If she goes, she’ll probably be stuck in a village for the rest of her life.”

Lu Qiming had a headache as well. He loved both his children equally; he had doted on his only daughter like a treasure since she was little. He, as a father, was definitely unwilling to let her suffer in the countryside and end up marrying a farmer.

Lu Qiming’s eyes shifted. “Ziwan, it seems you haven’t been back to your parents’ home in two years, have you? Why don’t you go back to Haishi to see your father and mother?”

Lan Ziwan refused outright. “No. Why should we waste money on that? The cost of a round-trip ticket could buy me and our daughter two nice coats.”

If she spent the money on dressing up her daughter, maybe she could marry the son of a high-ranking official.

“Mwah!” Lu Qiming suddenly cupped Lan Ziwan’s face and gave her a kiss. “Wanwan, isn’t your sister-in-law working at Yong’an Department Store? I heard that department store is quite famous in Haishi. It’s filled with a dazzling array of goods, and they even sell foreign products on the third and fourth floors.”

That woman had gotten ridiculously lucky. Marrying her brother was one thing, but even though she was just a stay-at-home mother, her father had saved a manager from the department store, and the manager sold them a job position.

“It’s all because my sister-in-law was lucky enough to marry my brother. Twelve years ago, my father saved the manager of Yong’an Department Store. That Manager Ye owed my father a favor, so he offered my sister-in-law a job.”

Lu Qiming just smiled at her words without comment. Lan Ziwan seemed to have a sudden realization, her eyes darting about. She said excitedly:

“Qiming, my father got that job at the department store. I’m his youngest daughter; they should have given that opportunity to me. I’ll take Yaoyao back to Haishi tomorrow and make my sister-in-law give up her job.”

It was a wonder where she got the audacity to ask her sister-in-law to give up a job she had held for over a decade.

Lu Qiming felt this was a viable path. They had to at least try, whether it succeeded or not. He had heard that his brother-in-law’s grandson was already over two years old; his wife should be staying home to look after her grandson.

“Wanwan, let’s have Yaoyao stay home for now. The travel fare is a secondary concern; the journey is long, and with Yaoyao’s delicate constitution, she definitely won’t be able to handle it.

Also, your sister-in-law probably spent several hundred yuan to buy that job back then. If you don’t offer any money, they’ll surely gossip about you.”

Lan Ziwan thought for a moment and said, “I know. I’ll play it by ear.”

If she weren’t so afraid of the Lu family finding out about that wretched girl Lan Mo’s existence, she would have wanted to send Lan Mo to the countryside in Yaoyao’s place.

Early the next morning, Lan Ziwan rushed to the train station and bought a ticket for that afternoon’s train to Haishi.

Two days later, at the Lan residence, Lan Ziwan entered the gate carrying large and small bags. “Dad, Mom, I’m back!”

Lin Xiuying ran out. “Ziwan, why are you back?”

“I came back to see you. Where’s Sister-in-law? Are they not off work yet? Mom, these are pastries I bought especially for you and Dad—pea flour cake, ox-tongue pastry, and rolling donkey.”

As she spoke, Lan Ziwan placed her luggage and the pastries on the coffee table.

Lin Xiuying hadn’t seen her daughter in a long time. No matter how much resentment she held, this was still her own flesh and blood. Seeing Lan Ziwan made her quite happy.

Lin Xiuying chided, “So you do have some conscience. Ziwan, did you come back specially because you knew Momo’s birthday is in a few days?”

Was that wretched girl Lan Mo turning twenty already? She really was lucky. She had clearly been taken away by that person, yet she ended up being kept by her brother and sister-in-law.

Lan Ziwan gave a hollow laugh. “Momo’s birthday is coming up? Our Yaoyao’s birthday is next month, too.”

“Ziwan, there are no outsiders here, so I’ll speak from the heart. Momo is about to turn twenty. It was bad enough that you, her biological mother, abandoned her.

You’ve even forgotten her birthday. How can you be so heartless? You’re her aunt now, but you’ve never even made her a single piece of clothing for her birthday. You only remember your Yaoyao. Have you no shame?”

As Lin Xiuying nagged and scolded, Lan Ziwan’s expression remained indifferent. “Mom, she’s Brother and Sister-in-law’s child now. Naturally, they are responsible for her food and clothing. What would it look like if I got involved? Besides, we live in Jingshi. How could I possibly manage things from so far away?”

“If you really wanted to, how could you not manage? What’s wrong with taking the time to come back and see her once or twice a year, or occasionally mailing our Momo some food and clothes?”

Lan Ziwan began to wail about her hardships. “I still rely on Qiming to support me, and I have two other children at home. How could I possibly afford to raise her? Didn’t you write to me and say she’s working at the hospital now?

Mom, I gave up on her twenty years ago. What would it mean to go back now? If Qiming found out I had two children before marrying him, he would definitely divorce me.”

Lin Xiuying looked at her disappointing daughter with helplessness. “Out with it. What did you really come back for this time?”

Lan Ziwan linked her arm with Lin Xiuying’s and said brazenly, “Mom, it must be hard for you to look after Sister-in-law’s grandson, right? Why don’t you ask Sister-in-law to give her job to our Yaoyao? She can come home and take care of her grandson!”

Lin Xiuying said angrily, “Your mother is only sixty-six years old. How is it hard for me to help Su Mei look after her grandson? Your sister-in-law has worked at Yong’an Department Store for so many years and now earns sixty-eight yuan a month. Only a fool would give up such a good job.”

“Mom… my Yaoyao is turning eighteen next month. If she doesn’t find a job soon, she’ll have to be sent down to the countryside. Please, just help us?”

Lin Xiuying pulled her arm free from Lan Ziwan’s grasp. “It’s good for young people to go to the countryside. Supporting rural development is something they should do. Don’t stand in her way!

If she had studied hard and gotten into university, she wouldn’t be in this position of not being able to find a job. Look at our Momo. After interning at the hospital for a year, she’s now a permanent employee.”

Her mother was really something else. Momo, Momo, was that one granddaughter the only person in her eyes? Her Yaoyao was very obedient too, alright?

“Mom, my father got that job for Sister-in-law. You should have given the job to me back then. That way, I could have transferred it to our Yaoyao.”

“How can you be so shameless? Give it to you? That job at the department store not only used up your father’s favor, but it also cost your brother all his savings.

You ungrateful wretch, how dare you come here today to snatch your sister-in-law’s job? Get out of my sight before your brother and sister-in-law get back!”

Lin Xiuying was so enraged by Lan Ziwan that she kept pounding her chest, gasping for air.

Just then, Su Mei walked in with groceries, smiling. “Oh, Ziwan’s back? Mom, why are you telling her to get out when she just arrived?”

Lan Ziwan grabbed Su Mei’s hand. “Sister-in-law, I knew you were the best. It must be so hard for you, working all day and then having to come home and cook at night.”

“Everyone does it. What’s so hard about it? If we think this is hard, what about the farmers who toil in the fields?”

Lan Ziwan gave a sheepish smile. “You’re right, Sister-in-law. Look, Mom is getting so old, and she still has to help you take care of Xiao Li. Why don’t you give up your job? I’ll give you three hundred yuan for it, how about that?”

Su Mei sneered. “Any job at our Yong’an Department Store costs at least eight hundred yuan, and more importantly, everyone knows the benefits are great, so no one would ever give up their position. You live in Jingshi, so why are you trying to buy a job here?”

“It’s because my Yaoyao has to go to the countryside. If she takes over your job, Sister-in-law, she won’t have to go.”

“You want to dump your daughter on us to raise?”

“Sister-in-law, didn’t you help raise Lan Mo for twenty years? You just have to look after Yaoyao for two years. Once my Yaoyao finds a partner, we’ll bring her back to Jingshi, and then we’ll sell the job back to you.”

How utterly shameless. She had thrown away her first two children without a second thought, and now she had the nerve to beg for a job for her other child.

Momo’s twentieth birthday was just around the corner, yet she didn’t even ask about it. She was truly cold-blooded.

“Raise your own child yourself. You abandoned Momo back then, so for the rest of her life, Momo is my precious daughter. Whether Yaoyao goes to the countryside or not has nothing to do with us! Momo will be back soon. If you can’t control your emotions, you should leave our house immediately.”

“Yaoyao is only eighteen, can’t you help her? If you don’t help me, I’ll tell that wretched girl Lan Mo the truth about her birth.”

“Go ahead. Go and tell her. I guarantee the Lu family will find out the truth even before Momo does. When you lose your family, don’t you dare come crying back to your parents’ home.”

“You… you, you, you! You’re so cruel! Mom, you’re just watching Sister-in-law bully me and not saying a word to help!”

Lin Xiuying sighed. “Take your luggage and pastries and go. There’s a train to Jingshi tonight. If you leave now, you can still make it in time to buy a ticket.

Don’t even think about the job. With the time you’re spending scheming against us, you’d be better off figuring out how to get Lu Yao into your husband’s work unit.”

“Mom, there is indeed one opening at the Cultural and Arts Troupe, but that’s being saved for our Qi’er.”

Her own child was a disappointment, yet she wanted to snatch someone else’s job for free. What a pipe dream.

“You can’t bear to part with your son or your daughter. Why don’t you just ask your father-in-law to get Lu Qi into the army!”

Su Mei silently gave her mother-in-law a thumbs-up. This sister-in-law of hers was truly brainless, living in Jingshi but trying to find a job in Haishi.

“Mom, my Lu Qi weighed less than five pounds at birth. He’s too frail and probably wouldn’t be selected.”

“How do you know if you don’t try? Alright, hurry up and leave before Momo gets back!”

Lan Ziwan gritted her teeth. Her mother was really something else. She had been on a train for two days and two nights, and her mother was kicking her out before she even had a sip of water. How heartless.

“Ziwan, just go! If you don’t, I’ll send a telegram to my brother-in-law tomorrow.”

If she had really come back to see her parents, she would have been welcome. But to scheme for her job? Hmph! She could get lost!

She had heard her mother-in-law tell her to get out earlier. Her telling her to leave was already being polite.

Seeing that her sister-in-law was also chasing her away, Lan Ziwan’s hands trembled with anger. She grabbed her suitcase and stormed out.

Before leaving, she spat out a threat, “Since you all hate the sight of me so much and are kicking me out, I’ll never come back!

Su Mei, I hate you! Just you wait, holding onto that job until you die! And that wretched girl Lan Mo, one day she’ll kneel before me and beg me…”

Su Mei roared, “Get out!”

As soon as Lan Ziwan left, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Lin Xiuying and Su Mei, began talking about Lan Mo’s birth.

“Poor Momo. How could she have a mother like that?”

“Sigh, what a sin! If Momo knew she was Ziwan’s biological daughter and was abandoned by her, she would surely hate Ziwan to death…”

“…”

Bang!

“Mom, was that Momo coming back? Oh no!”

“Quick, go outside and see!”

…

Outside, the wind howled as a storm began to brew.

Crash!

A bicycle sped into a foul-smelling ditch by the side of the road…