Chapter Four: So, you think you have grown wings now?

Zhong Chengyi wailed loudly, throwing his arms around Liu Cui’e’s legs. "Grandma, you’ve always loved me the most! You have to stand up for us! Mom suddenly said she won't let Xiaoxiao get married anymore, and she wants to send that wretched girl to high school instead!"

"What was that?" Liu Cui’e’s triangular eyes widened sharply. "She’s not getting married? The other family sincerely put down a twenty-yuan deposit!"

If they backed out now, where would she hide her face? Not only would she have to return the twenty yuan, but the Wang family would surely come looking for trouble.

"This Zhang Chunxue, give her an inch and she takes a mile; I think she’s forgotten her place entirely." The more Liu Cui’e thought about it, the angrier she became. She stood up abruptly. "One hundred yuan for the dowry—not a single cent less! Does she think that just because my old self is still breathing, she can go around playing master of the house?"

The three grandsons exchanged glances, their tears instantly replaced by smirks. They scrambled to their feet and followed in a boisterous procession toward Zhang Chunxue’s house.

Meanwhile, Zhong Xiaoxiao was still in a state of shock. She had thought that avoiding the marriage was the best possible outcome, but her mother actually intended to support her in continuing her education.

"Xiaoxiao, rest assured, your mother means what she says. I was blinded by greed before and treated you poorly." Zhang Chunxue felt a pang of emotion; after all, her children were flesh of her flesh—how could she not feel for them?

They say children are your security in old age, but her three sons were truly no good. To put it bluntly, they were worse than animals.

"Mom, are you telling the truth?" Zhong Xiaoxiao bit her lip until it turned white, her shoulders trembling as she struggled to believe it.

Zhang Chunxue nodded and stoked the kitchen fire until it roared. She knew that rebuilding trust with her daughter after this rebirth would be difficult; she could only prove it through her actions.

She waved her hand and began stir-frying a few dishes. "Go call your second sister-in-law to eat. As for those other things, they can eat or starve for all I care!"

"Yes! Okay!" Zhong Xiaoxiao’s heart was still racing, but having a task to focus on, she responded brightly, a genuine, happy smile breaking across her face.

Zhong Xiaoxiao was closest to her second sister-in-law, Zhou Mingli. Unlike her eldest sister-in-law, Li Hongjuan, who was sharp-tongued and stuck-up, the second sister-in-law would occasionally slip her extra food and offer a kind word.

Zhong Xiaoxiao was delighted to be sent to fetch her. She walked out with a light step, her mind still swirling with confusion. Her mother today was so strange. She was so fierce toward her three brothers, as if they were strangers rather than her own flesh and blood. Yet, toward her, she was so kind and gentle, her eyes brimming with warmth. And she even wanted to send her to high school... it felt like a dream.

Unable to help herself, Zhong Xiaoxiao hid her hand under her faded trousers and gave her thigh a hard pinch.

"Sss—"

It hurt! She gasped, realizing this was no dream.

But before she could fully step over the kitchen threshold, she saw a dark, looming crowd blocking the doorway. At the head was Liu Cui’e, followed by her three brothers, who were wearing gloating expressions as they waited to watch the drama unfold.

Zhong Xiaoxiao’s heart sank, and the smile on her face froze. Subconsciously, she shrunk back, letting out a timid, barely audible, "Grandma..."

Before she could finish, Liu Cui’e glared at her with those sharp, triangular eyes. "Get out of the way, you money-losing brat!"

The old woman shoved her aside with such impatience and force that Zhong Xiaoxiao stumbled and nearly fell.

Liu Cui’e didn't even glance at her, instead shouting at the top of her lungs toward the kitchen, "Zhang Chunxue! Zhang Chunxue! Get out here this instant!"

Inside the kitchen, Zhang Chunxue heard the voice and her brows furrowed tightly. *Liu Cui’e, that old shrew!* she thought with a cold sneer. Ever since she married into the Zhong family, the old woman had never given her a single kind look.

The old woman was biased beyond reason, with eyes only for her eldest son, Zhong Guoqiang, her youngest son, Zhong Guoyong, and her precious daughter, Zhong Guoying. As for her husband—the middle child, Zhong Guosheng—the old woman treated him with utter disdain, eventually forcing them to split the household just to get some peace.

If it weren't for the fact that Guosheng had lost his life saving an official who had fallen into the river while inspecting the countryside, and the government had provided a five-hundred-yuan pension out of gratitude, the old shrew wouldn't even remember where their front door was.

Zhang Chunxue saw it clearly: the old woman never cared for her as a widow, nor for her grandsons; she only craved that money. It was laughable that her three foolish sons actually believed their grandmother loved them.

Zhang Chunxue sneered internally, but her expression remained neutral as she walked out. She wiped her hands slowly on a rag, stepped to the doorway, and cast a calm glance at Liu Cui’e before sweeping her gaze over the three sons, who kept their heads down, not daring to meet her eyes.

"Mother, you’ve arrived in such a fury. What is the matter?" Her tone held neither joy nor anger.

Liu Cui’e pointed a finger at her nose and cursed, "I’m asking you, Zhang Chunxue, have you grown some backbone? Have your wings finally hardened, is that it?"