novelraw Chapter 571 - 562: The Stepmother Who Refuses to Be a Stepping Stone 50
Chapter 571 - 562: The Stepmother Who Refuses to Be a Stepping Stone 50
Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan learned about the incident where Wang Baozhu harmed Anning.
They got the news from other classmates at school.
Because Wang Baozhu wanted to sell the house, Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan had not been going home for some time.
They had visited Anning before, and after school was out, they stayed a day at Li Zhiyuan’s house. They were only about to head to Li Zhiyuan’s house that day when a classmate, also from Li Jiazhuang, stopped them.
That classmate told them about the incident that had spread through the village.
Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan were almost furious to death after hearing it.
What on earth is Wang Baozhu trying to do?
Can’t she just wish for them to have some good fortune?
She’s already selling the house, and on top of that, she’s framing Anning like this. How are they, as sisters, supposed to face Anning after this?
Fuming with rage, the two girls didn’t go to Li Zhiyuan’s house, but instead went straight back to Li Jiazhuang.
The girls returned home brimming with anger. As soon as they entered and saw Wang Baozhu, Li Jingyan couldn’t hold back and burst out.
"What are you trying to do? Just say it, what are you trying to do? Why can’t you leave people be? My mom hasn’t provoked or bothered you, why do you have to be at odds with her all the time? Yes, we are extremely upset about you selling the house, and we went to live with Mom for a day, but can you blame Mom for that? If you blame anyone, blame us—why take it out on my Mom?"
Li Jingyan repeated "my Mom" with every breath, driving Wang Baozhu to the edge of madness.
This was her own daughter, showing no sense of alignment with her, not knowing how to be affectionate towards her, caring solely about Anning, that little wretch.
"Li Jingyan, just look at yourself now."
Wang Baozhu, furious, pointed at Li Jingyan and cursed: "Even an ungrateful wolf is not like you. I am your own mother, do you even treat your own mother like that? Do you have any sense of etiquette, any manners at all?"
"I don’t have manners."
Li Jingyan was also very angry: "You’re shameless to the core, and you expect me to have manners? My sister and I have been doomed by you, what need do we have for manners, we’ve even lost our dignity..."
Li Jingyu tugged at Li Jingyan, but Li Jingyan shook her off: "What, you want to persuade me?"
Li Jingyu shook her head: "I’m not trying to persuade you, just asking you to keep it down. You got heat stroke just the other day. If you keep shouting like this, take care not to damage your voice."
Then turning to Wang Baozhu, Li Jingyu said: "You better not talk to us about etiquette or manners, something you lack yourself. Don’t expect us to have them either, and don’t go talking about the grace of upbringing. Sure, you gave birth to us, but never groomed us. When you were around, we were raised by Grandma, and after you left, we were brought up by Mom. We will remember the bit of kindness for giving us life, and we will care for you when you’re old, but don’t expect too much."
Li Jingyu tugged Li Jingyan again: "Let’s go, let’s go see Jing Han at Grandma’s."
Li Jingyan glared at Wang Baozhu fiercely: "I’m telling you, stop trying to frame my Mom. If I hear again of you harming my Mom, I definitely won’t let you off."
After the two girls left, Wang Baozhu collapsed to the floor and cried bitterly. After crying, she even started to hate Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan.
Thinking of her current predicament, she felt hopeless.
Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan were clearly taken in by Anning, despising her, their birth mother, beyond measure. Li Jinghan also wasn’t close to her, and it seemed these three children couldn’t be counted on.
And Li Zhifang...
Wang Baozhu had originally planned to spend a good life with Li Zhifang, to be a wealthy lady in the future, but now it seemed like Li Zhifang was somewhat of a pushover.
Perhaps Li Zhifang might strike it rich later on, but Zhang Fengfeng had a strong hold over him, and Li Zhifang couldn’t stand up to Zhang Fengfeng. Until now, he couldn’t even get a marriage certificate with Wang Baozhu, which left her feeling very disheartened.
She pondered that continuing this way wasn’t going to work.
She needed to think of another way.
After contemplating for a while, Wang Baozhu decided to have another child.
Since she couldn’t rely on those three, she won’t. She’d have another child, raise it herself, and she refused to believe that a child she raised herself wouldn’t be close to her.
Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan went looking for Zhang Fengfeng, only to find out that Zhang Fengfeng had taken Li Jinghan to the Provincial City today.
It was already dark, and they couldn’t possibly go to the county, so they just made do with Li Bao.
Dinner was made by Li Jingyu.
Anning had taught the sisters how to cook, and both Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan were quite skilled in the kitchen. Naturally, the food they made was much tastier than Zhang Fengfeng’s. Anyway, Li Bao ate a lot that evening.
After dinner was finished and cleared away, Li Baolai called the two sisters over.
He took out a cloth bundle from a box on the kang bed, carefully unfolding the layers to reveal the neatly kept money inside.
The cash was a mix of denominations, with tens and fives, the largest being fifties.
Li Baolai counted out some money and handed it to the sisters: "Take it, you use a lot of brainpower at school and shouldn’t shortchange yourselves."
Li Jingyu’s eyes reddened as she took the money.
She didn’t really want to take the money, knowing that the Li family’s financial control was all in the hands of Zhang Fengfeng, and Li Baolai didn’t deal with the money; the cash he gave them, she didn’t know how many years he had saved it up in secret.
But, Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan really were short on money. If they didn’t take it, they wouldn’t even have enough to cover their meal expenses.
Moreover, Li Jingyu knew that at their young age, they simply couldn’t earn money, and even if they could, she wouldn’t waste precious study time to make money.
Everyone has their own most important tasks to do at certain stages in life.
They were students now, and studying was their primary duty. Only by doing well in their studies could they hope to get into a university in the Provincial City. Only by getting into university could they possibly leave behind Wang Baozhu.
If they wasted their time on other things now, they would be penny-wise and pound-foolish.
These were all lessons that Anning had taught them early on, which both sisters remembered well and dared not forget.
That’s also why they thickened their skins to accept the money.
Li Jingyu thought, when she earned money in the future, she must filially care for their grandparents and let them enjoy their lives.
On the other hand, Zhang Fengfeng took Li Jinghan to the Provincial City.
The two were sent there by Li Jingming, who left as it was getting dark.
Li Jingming didn’t stay long after dropping them off, as there were still lots of things waiting for him to do at the restaurant; he genuinely didn’t have any spare time to play around.
When Zhang Fengfeng and Li Jinghan entered the house, Anning had already prepared the meal.
Liu Yuzhen was overjoyed to see Zhang Fengfeng and Li Jinghan, clinging to Zhang Fengfeng without letting go, sweetly calling her "Grandma" repeatedly, much to Zhang Fengfeng’s delight.
Li Jinghan had the best relationship with Liu Yuzhen. After eating, the two huddled together and whispered in conversation.
Anning, meanwhile, led Zhang Fengfeng to see the room prepared for her.
Once inside, Zhang Fengfeng held onto Anning, full of guilt: "Ning, I’m sorry you have to deal with our family’s affairs, and for not raising Lao Si properly, letting him do such inhumane things."
Anning, however, was quite calm: "Mom, everyone has their own fate. Perhaps I just wasn’t meant to be with Li Zhifang. But I’ve never blamed anyone. Instead, I’m rather grateful for those years. If I hadn’t married Li Zhifang, how could I have such a protective mother, such affection and respect from my three children, and the sincere care of several brothers? I don’t hold grudges."
This made Zhang Fengfeng feel even more regretful.
What a wonderful child, yet so ill-fated with the Li family.
Li Zhifang, that scoundrel, lost such a good wife and instead listens obediently to Wang Baozhu, that worthless woman. Who knows how much he will regret this in the future.
Anning smiled: "Mom, I’m speaking from my heart. Although I was not destined to be with Li Zhifang as husband and wife, during those years, I gained a lot. The most important thing was the kinship. Dad, Mom, and Big Brother truly cared for me. I’m actually really happy."
Zhang Fengfeng sighed: "Okay then, but if you ever feel unhappy, just tell me, and I’ll make decisions for you."
"Alright."
Anning smiled and agreed.
After Zhang Fengfeng went to bed, Anning called Liu Ru.
Liu Ru and Li Zhicheng already arrived in the Provincial City the previous day. Upon receiving Anning’s call, Li Zhicheng indicated that someone at the provincial hospital had been found, and they would take Zhang Fengfeng for a full-body checkup the next day.
Early the next morning, Xiao Yuan arrived with things in hand.
Zhang Fengfeng was quite happy to see Xiao Yuan.
She hadn’t seen Xiao Yuan for several years, and now she could hardly recognize him.
When Xiao Yuan left, he was thin and dark, looking very haggard. After so many years without seeing him, Xiao Yuan had transformed. He had become much fairer and looked energetic, not a bit older. Instead, he carried an air of learned and steady composure, and an innate authority gained through the years.
Zhang Fengfeng chatted with Xiao Yuan at length, also learning that in the years he spent in the south, he made quite a bit of money, now owned a company, and was considered a successful individual, which made her particularly relieved.
However, Zhang Fengfeng did bring up the matter of Xiao Yuan getting married: "Now that you’ve achieved success, aren’t you considering finding a wife?"