The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

When Gu’er arrived at the Lin Family’s home, the place was in total chaos. She had just reached the second-floor landing when she heard yelling from inside.

Gu’er reached the doorway and heard a voice say, "What do you think you’re doing? You’re Damin’s own sister! Have you forgotten how well Damin treated you when you were still living at home? Now that you’ve married into the Lin Family, you’ve forgotten your own family. You’re trying to drive us out! You’d better watch out. If Lin Shan ever decides he doesn’t want you, you won’t even have a place to go back to."

Gu’er frowned. That was the voice of her aunt, Liu Yue Mei. ’No wonder Mom doesn’t want to go back to her family home,’ she thought. ’Having a sister-in-law like that must be awful.’

"When did I try to drive you out? All I said was that we should have my sister-in-law stay here. I never said you had to leave. Can’t we just have some peace and quiet on a perfectly good day?"

Chen Fengjiao sounded completely helpless.

"You say I’m the one making a scene? Am *I* the one making a scene? We’re all guests here, but there’s a first-come, first-served rule. We got here first, and we’re staying in the house. On what grounds should we be the ones to go to a hotel? And you have the nerve to say *I’m* the one causing trouble? You can’t just suck up to your in-laws by treating your own family like this! Our family raised you, and you do nothing for us. Now you’re bullying us? Our Shuangbao is the only male heir of the Chen Family! You can’t even spare a toy for him? What’s there to be stingy about? You’re his aunt! You should be buying him anything he wants. It’s your fault for not buying him things. And your Lin Zheng is just as bad, doesn’t know how to yield to his cousin at all. You’ve all spoiled him rotten!"

Liu Yue Mei’s sharp tongue spared no one, and her words were vile.

"That’s enough," Lin Shuying cut in. "We won’t stay in the house. No one is kicking you out. This is between us adults, don’t drag the children into it. Lin Zheng is younger than your Shuangbao. What’s the point of you talking about a child like that?"

Lin Shuying really couldn’t stand it anymore. She had originally wanted to stay at the house to have a good chat with Lin Shan. But when she arrived, she found that Chen Fengjiao’s older brother and sister-in-law’s family were already staying there. Gu’er had arranged for them to stay in a hotel, and she hadn’t said a word against it. Gu’er’s wedding was a happy occasion, and it didn’t matter where they stayed. Today, they had come over, and Chen Fengjiao had mentioned that maybe they should stay at the house so she and Lin Shan could talk more. She never expected Liu Yue Mei to just explode like that.

"What do you mean, ’what’s the point?’ Just because I’m not talking about *your* kid? What’s wrong with my Shuangbao? Everywhere my Shuangbao goes, people praise him! Is your Lin Zheng even comparable? If you hadn’t invited us, if we, her own family, weren’t here to give Gu’er face, you think we’d even want to come? And after coming all this way, we get this attitude from you. If I’d known, we wouldn’t have come at all!"

Liu Yue Mei yelled at the top of her lungs.

"If you don’t want to be here, then go back."

Gu’er couldn’t listen to another second of it. They had come under the pretense of "giving her face," but all they’d done was bully Lin Zheng and now cause this huge scene. She wished more than anything that they hadn’t come.

Gu’er strode into the room. Her words left Liu Yue Mei with no way to back down.

"Chen Fengjiao, is this the kind of daughter you’ve raised? What, you think you’re all high and mighty now and can look down on us? Isn’t your husband just some measly village official? What’s so great about that? My uncle is in the provincial government! If your older brother hadn’t begged me, do you think we would’ve come? And now you’re trying to kick us out? You think we care? Fine, let’s go! Let’s all go! I’d like to see how people will laugh their heads off when she has no one from her mother’s side to back her up on her wedding day!"

Liu Yue Mei was yelling about leaving, but her feet didn’t move an inch. She was waiting for someone to stop her.

Chen Fengjiao was trembling with anger but couldn’t get a word out. After all, this was her family. If they lost face, she would lose face right along with them.

Lin Shuying, for her part, didn’t try to mediate. She had a pile of her own worries and couldn’t be bothered to deal with someone so unreasonable.

"If you want to leave, then why don’t you? My big sister doesn’t need you to ’give her face’! Are you even acting like an aunt? Since you got here, your Chen Yu has been snatching my new clothes. When I said no, she just took them anyway! She’s only been here a day and she’s already grabbed seven or eight of my things, and she even ruined my new skirt! And then she says *I’m* the one who’s not nice? Does that make *her* nice? And don’t get me started on Chen Shuangbao! He bullies my little brother, and you scold my brother for it! Are you guests? I think you’re just a bunch of bandits!"

Lin Sui’er was also completely fed up with this aunt, as well as with Chen Yu and Chen Shuangbao. She’d had enough these past two days. It wasn’t just having to squeeze into one bed with Chen Ping and Chen Yu; Chen Yu would take whatever of hers she liked. If she refused, Chen Yu would say nasty things to her. She hated people like that.

"What kind of talk is that? Little Yu is your cousin! What’s the big deal if she takes a few of your things? It’s just because your family’s well-off now, isn’t it? Using your things is doing you a favor, it gives you face! Look at how stingy you all are. If you ask me, since we’re here, you should be buying us all new things. Didn’t you say some new mall opened? Why haven’t you taken us? We’re all family here. Shouldn’t we be able to take whatever we like? That way, when we go back and mention it, people will have good things to say about you."

Liu Yue Mei’s attitude was that it was their privilege for her to be taking and using their things.

You really do find real pieces of work everywhere.

"Alright, stop arguing," Gu’er said. "If you want to stay, then please keep your voices down. My dad will be back soon, and I don’t want him to have to deal with this. If you keep this up, then we don’t need you here to ’give me face.’ If I don’t have anyone from my mother’s side, then so be it. It’s better than all this grief."

Gu’er really didn’t have the energy to argue with these people. The wedding was tomorrow, and there was still a lot to do today.

"You child, do you have any manners at all? Do you even know how to talk? You’re lucky this is your house. If you were my daughter, I’d have smacked you across the face by now. Who talks to their elders like that?"

Liu Yue Mei was extremely displeased.

"Then why don’t you smack Chen Yu and Chen Shuangbao? Go on, smack them and let’s see it. You criticize others when your own kids are the problem."

Although Lin Sui’er didn’t usually like Gu’er, right now she was more fed up with her aunt and cousins. So for the moment, she and Gu’er were on the same side.

"Feng Jiao, are you going to control your children or not? Is this how you raised them? Do you ever want to come back to your family home again? After treating your brother and me like this, how will you have the face to stand before your parents’ graves!"

Liu Yue Mei charged at Chen Fengjiao again.

Chen Fengjiao was speechless. She truly didn’t want her family to be like this, but faced with this kind of behavior, what could she possibly do?

"Mom, please, just stop," Chen Ping pleaded. "It’s a happy occasion. Does it look good to make a scene like this? We were in the wrong to begin with. Please, just stop making trouble. Let’s go downstairs and check on Dad. He went to pick up our aunt’s husband. Why isn’t he back yet?"

Chen Ping stepped forward to mediate. She couldn’t stand her own mother’s behavior—making such a scene in someone else’s house on a happy occasion. But her words were useless; her mother almost never listened to her.

"I’m not going! I’m staying right here. I’d like to see who dares to throw me out! Her daughter is getting married, and we came all this way to give gifts. And my Ping is getting married soon, too. Are you trying to kick us out so you have an excuse not to give a wedding gift? Let me tell you, Feng Jiao, you’re the girl’s aunt. If your gift is too small, you’d better watch out. All our friends and relatives will be talking."

With that, Liu Yue Mei plopped down on the sofa and crossed her legs defiantly.