Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  He wouldn’t do such a foolish thing.

  In short, Second Uncle Miao would definitely try to gain as many benefits as he could for himself.

  But if that meant taking on a huge risk that involved his own life, only a fool would do it, and anyone who did deserved to die.

  “But she grew up in our family. Miao Jing doesn’t have parents and only has us as her uncle and auntie. Isn’t it embarrassing if they don’t even give us any dowry now that she’s getting married?”

  Second Auntie Miao was reluctant to give up. She wanted to glean the benefits, but of course, her husband had to bear the risk.

  “I’ve already made myself clear. If you really choose any of those three families, I won’t stop you. You can do as you please.” But there was no way he was going to get involved. If anything happened, he had nothing to do with the money. He would let everyone know that he had not agreed to it. It had been Second Auntie Miao who had insisted on going through with it.

  “You…” Second Auntie Miao’s hand trembled. “I’m your wife and gave birth to two grandsons and a granddaughter for the Miao family, and this is how you treat me?”

  Second Uncle Miao sneered. “Yes, you gave birth to two sons and a daughter for me. The problem is that my family didn’t marry you for nothing. You’re only thinking about the money you’ll receive from marrying Miao Jing off, but have you thought about what dowry Miao Jing will bring along with her? Do you think we’re still living in the past where you took my family’s money but you came with nothing but the clothes on your back? If not for the fact that I knew your family would never return my family’s food and money, do you think I would have proceeded with the marriage? If that happened now, I’m sure you would have gotten sued!”

  Second Auntie Miao nearly fainted from anger. “You!” He was bringing up the past!

  “Let me tell you one last time. If you insist on marrying Miao Jing into such a family, I’ll get a divorce from you if anything happens. The children and I won’t go down with you for that small sum of money. There’s no room for discussion on this matter!”

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  With that said, Second Uncle Miao walked out of the door and no longer cared about Second Auntie Miao.

  “It’s your fault that my parents quarreled with each other. You jinx! Think about how well my mom treats you. She cares so much about you that she even picked out three families for you. If you have even just a little bit of conscience, hurry and go tell my dad that you’ll marry into any one of those three families that my mom picked out.”

  Miao Lanlan shoved Miao Jing, asking Miao Jing to be the peacemaker between her parents.

  Of course, Miao Jing refused. “There’s no point in trying to convince Second Uncle once he’s made his decision.”

  “Then, don’t try to convince him. Just pick a family and go there. That’s a way of settling the matter too.” She hated Miao Jing’s guts and felt uneasy as long as Miao Jing remained in the family.

  “If I do that, Second Uncle might misunderstand that Second Auntie forced me to do that. Then, don’t you think they’ll get a divorce? I have no parents since I was born. Lanlan, you’re my cousin. It’s terrible not having parents. I don’t want you to be in the same boat and not have parents either.”

  Miao Jing expressed her concern for Miao Lanlan, and Miao Lanlan, who had been pampered by Second Auntie Miao, was obviously no match for Miao Jing. After a moment of hesitation, she stopped trying to force Miao Jing to do as she said.

  After Miao Lanlan stopped mentioning it, Miao Jing simply acted as though she had never overheard the conversation between her uncle and auntie and simply lived as per normal.

  It wasn’t that Miao Jing was exceptionally bold by doing that. It was just that she had grown up beside these two people and naturally understood their tempers.

  Her second auntie was intent on taking advantage of her now that she was of marriageable age.

  Unfortunately, her second auntie had no guts to go through with her plan unless her second uncle was willing to bear the consequences for her.

  As long as her second uncle refused to do so, her second auntie would definitely not dare to go through with it. She knew that her second uncle would definitely have a way of making everyone in the production division believe that he had nothing to do with the matter and that it had been orchestrated by his wife alone.

  Miao Jing wanted to laugh even more when she thought about her uncle. He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He was cruel, demanding, and lacked any conscience, yet he still thought that he was being humane.

  What he had retorted her auntie with was that he was afraid of getting into trouble by receiving a bridal price.

  But her uncle had never once said that she was his niece and the only bloodline of his elder brother.

  Neither had he ever said that he was willing to do his best to give his niece a good dowry and find a good family for her for the sake of his elder brother.

  Miao Jing sighed. Who cared about how her second uncle and auntie fought with each other? All she cared about was that her second auntie would never dare to decide on her marriage behind her second uncle’s back.

  Miao Jing couldn’t be bothered to think about the kind of person she would marry in the future, or whether she would even get married at all.

  It was difficult enough to get past each day.

  Miao Jing was right about the selfishness and coldness between her uncle and auntie, but what she didn’t know was how her peaceful life was going to change because of the Zhai family’s appearance.

  That day, Miao Jing had just returned from a day’s work in the fields, smelling of sweat and was full of mud.

  She hadn’t even entered the gates before Second Auntie Miao rushed out and pushed her to the side. “Look how dirty and embarrassing you are. Lanlan, your grandma hasn’t been in good health lately and misses you terribly. I’ve already applied for leave with your supervisor. Take these clothes and go to your grandma’s house for a few days. I’ll pick you up once your grandma’s health improves in a few days’ time.”

  As Second Auntie Miao spoke, she stuffed the clothes into Miao Jing’s arms and pinched Miao Jing on the arm, warning her to cooperate.

  Miao Jing was in a daze. Lanlan? Was her Second Auntie Miao calling the wrong person?

  “Why are you still standing here? Hurry and go to your grandma!” Second Auntie Miao pushed Miao Jing so hard that she nearly fell.

  “No. Where…” Grandma?

  Second Auntie Miao ground her teeth and said in a low voice, “I’m warning you not to spout nonsense. You’re Lanlan now. You’d better not return for three days. I don’t care where you go. You should be able to find somewhere now that you’re grown up. If you don’t listen to me, I’ll do all I can to get you married out and I’ll make the decision in regard to whom you marry. But if you listen to me for these three days, I’ll listen to you and get your approval when you get married. I won’t make a decision without your consent. How’s that?”

  Second Auntie Miao was afraid that Miao Jing would ruin her plan.