Liu Yulan hurriedly went to Red Star Town again, and no one knew what she did there.
In the evening, Wang Pandi was happily busy in the kitchen, her eyes filled with smiles. How long had it been since they had fresh cabbage stewed with meat? She snuck a glance at the doorway, and seeing no one, quickly ate a few pieces. It was too delicious. The last time she had this was during New Year… Who wouldn't crave it…
Wang Zhaodi was not at home. She couldn't eat her lunch, and it made her indigestion worse.
When she was at work in the afternoon, her second aunt, Li Yinfeng, came to find her and invited her to dinner at her place. If it were usual times, she wouldn't go since no family was well-off. But the lunch scene was suffocating, so she decided to escape and went.
The dinner was quite harmonious. Without Wang Zhaodi being an eyesore, Liu Yulan was in a great mood.
"Oh, still eating dinner... secretly eating meat, huh? Tsk tsk, life's pretty good…"
Liu Yulan's rare good mood was disrupted by the sudden comment. Li Yinfeng entered first, followed by Wang Zhaodi.
"Bang!" Liu Yulan, annoyed, slammed her chopsticks on the table, crossed her arms, and said displeased, "What do you mean 'secretly eating meat'? We're eating openly and honestly, what are you insinuating…"
Li Yinfeng pouted and said discontentedly, "Ha, eating meat while Zhaodi's not here…"
"So, you're speaking up for her, huh…" Liu Yulan retorted, "Was it I who told her not to come back for dinner? If you care so much, why don't you have her over for meals every day? You're so generous, just take her back home to raise her…"
"She's a Wang Family person; if she doesn't eat yours, whose will she eat? If you weren't so harsh, leaving her underfed, would I need to occasionally bring her to mine for a treat?"
"I'm harsh on her? When am I harsh on her? Ah? When hasn't she had her fill? Her mouth is on her face; she can't say whether she's full or not? You don't need to stand up for her. What are you, a worm in her stomach? Only you know if she's full or not."
The two argued heatedly, neither willing to give in.
"Yesterday, yesterday you didn't even let her have dinner, nor breakfast today. You're truly malicious, indeed stepmothers are never good," Li Yinfeng couldn't recall past meals, but she knew about yesterday.
Liu Yulan picked up the chopsticks on the table and threw them at her, fueled with rage at the mention of yesterday, "Ugh, I didn't let her eat? Did you even ask what she did? Shameless enough to complain after injuring my daughter Miaomiao."
The chopsticks flew over Wang Miaomiao's head. Li Yinfeng barely dodged, but Wang Zhaodi got slightly scraped, fortunately unhurt as they lost force over the distance.
Wang Miaomiao was scared and quickly got up to stay away from the battlefield.
Over here, Liu Yulan went full-blast, "Wang Zhaodi, you're capable, huh, actually getting someone to back you up… I'm harsh, not giving you food, is that right? If I were truly ruthless, when you were three months old, I'd have sent you to find your biological mother, wouldn't have allowed you to grow this big, heaping sin upon sin by hitting my own daughter."
"No, it was you who hit me first…" Wang Zhaodi felt wronged, her eyes immediately welled up. She was just resisting.
"Why would I hit you? You're rude, have no manners, and drove guests away, who taught you this, truly a good seed from the Li Family." Liu Yulan's voice rose an octave, "Shouldn't I hit you? This matter out in the open would only have people criticising us Wang Family, that I, Liu Yulan, can't raise a daughter, not knowing it's the rotten roots from your Li Family!"
"Who are you cursing at? Whose family roots are rotten? If you, Liu Yulan, were kind-hearted, would you introduce a cripple to my Zhaodi? You just want to push her into a pit of fire; if she doesn't resist, wouldn't she be sold off by you?" Li Yinfeng was so agitated that she almost jumped up, pointing at Liu Yulan's nose to curse.
Liu Yulan was about to retort when a shout interrupted her.
"Enough!" Wang Baoxing's forehead veins were bulging in rage, "Her second aunt, what are you here for?"
"I, I'm here to stand up for Zhaodi, she can't be bullied in vain." Li Yinfeng puffed up her chest to boost her own confidence, "Liu Yulan has no good intentions, wanting to harm your daughter, will you, as her father, do nothing? Don't forget, Zhaodi is your daughter, you promised my sister you'd take good care of her…"
"Isn't she doing well?" Wang Baoxing said with a stern face, neither angry nor happy, looking at Li Yinfeng.
"How is she doing well?" Li Yinfeng was incredulous looking at Wang Baoxing, finally realizing something, "Humph, indeed with a stepmother comes a stepfather. Wang Baoxing, are you being fair to my sister? Liu Yulan wants to sell off your daughter, can't you see that?"
"Who wants to sell whom? Li Yinfeng, only Li Family are Zhaodi's real relatives, is the Wang Family the villains persecuting her, is that it?" As someone spoke, a group entered through the door, it was Zhou Fengjuan, the wife of Wang Baoxing's cousin.
"Sister-in-law, Yin Feng didn't mean it like that." It was Li Dalong, Wang Zhaodi's uncle, who said this.
This time, Li Yinfeng sought out the Wang Family, and the house was in an uproar. Someone quickly went to notify the relevant people. Several relatives entered, while others stood outside the walls, watching and eavesdropping.
Wang Miaomiao moved benches to both sides, so these relatives could sit, while Wang Pandi efficiently cleared the table. Liu Yulan's meal was still unfinished, but she couldn't care anymore.
With so many people, almost both families' relatives were present. Wang Miaomiao instructed Wang Jia Bao to bring out more stools from inside.
"Then what does she mean?" Zhou Fengjuan had a stern face and was not pleased, "Third Uncle, this matchmaking for Zhaodi was my suggestion, with Yulan and Baoxing's agreement. That's how this meeting was arranged. This is just a case of good intentions gone wrong, unjustly accused…"
Being the highest-ranked elder present, Zhou Fengjuan said to Li Sanfu, "What Yin Feng said truly attacks the heart. I only let them meet, didn't force her to agree, how can this be about selling the girl. If she doesn't like him, she could have said so afterwards. But she sends them away before the man even gets a chance to speak."
Wang Zhaodi quietly cried with her head down, she felt wronged too. The next day, her second aunt told her about this, saying Liu Yulan must have bad intentions. Seeing the person was a cripple, hot-headed, she was more convinced Liu Yulan was ill-intentioned, thus impulsively drove him away, not knowing he was recommended by her cousin-in-law.
"I was there, and Zhaodi definitely overreacted." Zhou Fengjuan fumed, "If Yulan wants to beat or scold her, Wang Zhaodi has to take it, it's not undeserved. Spreading this around, the Wang Family daughter's reputation would be completely ruined."
Zhou Fengjuan was truly angered by this matter.