Bai Jiu was unwilling to just let the matter go. If she did, the Gao family would only push their luck and walk all over her in the future. However, she couldn’t afford to offend the production captain, so her only option was to follow them back to the Gao family.
On the way back, Old Mrs. Song cursed at her with a foul mouth. Bai Jiu couldn’t be bothered to pay her any attention.
During the walk, she had also thought things through. If she really wanted to make a huge scene today, she wouldn’t be able to bypass the captain. Unless she planned to leave the village for good and file a complaint in the county town by herself, she had no choice but to let today’s matter slide.
At the Gao family’s home, Lin Guihua looked thoroughly surprised to see them arrive. "Oh my, what wind blew you here, Bai Jiu? I thought you’d forgotten which way our door opened after taking all that money."
Lin Guihua was incredibly jealous of the two hundred yuan Bai Jiu had received from the family division. She wanted to split from the family too, but she simply couldn’t. How infuriating was that?
"What, you want to split from the family too? Sure, go ahead," Bai Jiu retorted, thoroughly annoyed by her gossipy mouth.
This entire family was rotten to the core. Old Man Gao was completely black-hearted, and Old Mrs. Song was a ruthless bloodsucker. Gao Yulan had severe princess syndrome without the actual life of a princess, and Lin Guihua was nothing but a piece of donkey dung—all talk and utterly useless. The most honest person in the house was probably Eldest Gao. But rather than calling him honest, it was more accurate to call him a spineless coward who couldn’t make a single decision for himself.
Bai Jiu clearly remembered that when she first woke up in the original owner’s body, she had been half-dead. If she hadn’t been lucky enough to survive, her two children would have been left without a mother.
The original owner’s memories clearly showed why she had gone to the river in the first place—Lin Guihua had tricked her by claiming there were wild duck eggs there. The original owner had been foolish enough to believe her without stopping to think. Where would wild duck eggs come from in the dead of winter? And even if there were any, would it have been her turn to pick them up?
"Shut your mouth!" Old Mrs. Song snapped, marching up to her eldest daughter-in-law and slapping her hard. She absolutely despised the daughters-in-law in this house right now. Eldest Gao’s wife lazed around all day, Bai Jiu had actually laid hands on her, and the second son’s wife didn’t even come back once a year. It must be a punishment from the heavens—why had she married these three women into the family?
"Mom," Lin Guihua whined, her stomach full of anger. It wasn’t like she was the one who had said those things.
"Enough, shut up. Hurry up and pour the captain a cup of sugar water," Old Man Gao ordered, unable to stand outsiders watching his family’s dirty laundry. He cared deeply about his face and reputation. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t always be the one stepping forward to play the good guy.
Gao Zhishan grabbed his wife and pulled her away to boil water.
Entering the main room, Bai Jiu didn’t stand on ceremony and simply found a stool to sit down on. "Captain, if today’s matter isn’t settled clearly, I will go to the county town to seek justice, even if it means I can no longer stay in this village," she said, striking preemptively.
The captain’s head throbbed. He had no idea what had gotten into Zhijun’s wife, but ever since she woke up, she hadn’t given anyone a moment’s peace.
"So, what do you want to do?" the captain asked. He was highly reluctant to meddle in other people’s family affairs. If Bai Jiu hadn’t made such a massive scene, he never would have stepped in. As long as no one was beaten to death, he preferred to keep his hands clean.
Old Man Gao’s brows were furrowed so deeply they could crush a mosquito. He was extremely displeased that Bai Jiu had brought up the matter with Gao Yulan. However, he also harbored some resentment toward his youngest daughter in his heart.
"Bai Jiu, I know you’ve suffered grievances these past few years," Old Man Gao said. "How about this? I’ll make the decision. I’ll have your mother give you another fifty yuan as an apology."
After all, he had raised his daughter for so many years. If her reputation was ruined now, how could she ever get married? To protect his daughter’s reputation, his only option was to spend money to avert disaster.
The captain finally understood—Old Man Gao was planning to pay her off to settle the matter. Hmph, this family just had too much drama.
Bai Jiu had no idea that the entire Gao Xingrong family, including herself, was now utterly despised by the captain. If it weren’t for the winter break, he would definitely make them suffer during work hours.
While Bai Jiu didn’t lack money, she knew that she couldn’t keep escalating today’s incident. "I want one hundred." Hmph, that money had been earned by the original owner’s husband anyway. She might as well spend it. She would just consider it as savings for her two children.
"In your dreams, you cheap tramp! I knew you were up to no good," Song Caihua shrieked, instantly jumping in fury as she walked out after sending her daughter into her room. "Not only did you beat Yulan, but you also want to extort money from us? Let me tell you, no way!"
Bai Jiu rolled her eyes at her. "Is it your decision to make?"
Although Song Caihua appeared to run the household on the surface, the one truly in charge was Old Man Gao. Sure enough, upon hearing Bai Jiu’s words, Song Caihua glanced at her husband. Seeing his long, drawn face, she knew the matter was practically settled.
"Oh, heavens! How can you be so blind? Why don’t you strike down this unfilial wretch?!" Song Caihua wailed.
"Heh, you’ve got some nerve playing this superstitious trick. It seems the captain’s ideological work hasn’t been thorough enough," Bai Jiu laughed. She immediately jumped up and berated Song Caihua.
Her sudden outburst didn’t just scare Song Caihua; it nearly scared the captain half to death. Could such things be said so carelessly?
"Shut your mouth!" The captain slammed his hand against the table so hard it nearly fell apart. He glared at Bai Jiu. "Can you just spout things like that? I’ll leave my words right here. If what you just said spreads outside, even if I’m stripped of this title, I will drag your entire family to hell with me."
The events of those past years had been far too terrifying. As the production captain, he had seen more than enough of it with his own eyes.
"Hmph, handle your own family affairs. If you make a scene next time, go to the county town to do it. I can no longer manage your family’s messes." The captain didn’t want to stay in the Gao family’s home for another second. He left before Lin Guihua could even bring out the sugar water.
When he reached the door, he turned back and glared fiercely at Gao Xingrong. "Gao Xingrong, I’ll say this one more time. If you can’t handle your own family affairs, go directly to the county leaders. Stop dragging me into your messes."
This sentence was nothing short of a threat.
Bai Jiu was quite astonished. She hadn’t expected the captain to lose his temper so explosively. Fortunately, she didn’t actually rely on work points to survive, otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to get by in this village anymore. It seemed she would have to go and offer him an apology later.
After the captain left, Old Man Gao’s expression shifted completely. "Bai Jiu, don’t ever come back to the main house again. Our family will act as if we never had you as a daughter-in-law. Your mother and I won’t need you to provide for our old age, either." It was better to get rid of this menace as soon as possible.
"Fine by me," Bai Jiu agreed, as this was exactly what she wanted. "Write a severance agreement, and I’ll have the captain stamp it for me later."
Words were empty without proof, and she didn’t trust Old Man Gao’s mouth for a second. He always made things sound better than they actually were.
"Old man..." Song Caihua was a bit reluctant. She still wanted to use her authority as a mother-in-law to teach Bai Jiu a good lesson. If they severed ties, how would she throw her weight around as a mother-in-law in the future?
"Give her one hundred yuan, and go with her to the captain’s house to write the severance agreement. From now on, we’ll act as if our third son never existed," Old Man Gao said. He was genuinely frightened this time.