Chapter 669: Sincere Invitation

Chapter 669: A Forced Homecoming

Although Old Lady Qian had cut Witch Zhu twice, neither wound was fatal, so the injuries weren’t severe.

Given Witch Zhu’s prior history of fraud, Old Lady Qian’s actions were somewhat understandable.

After giving her statement to the police, she was let go.

However, Xu Lihua and the others had witnessed her wielding a knife and were too scared to go near her.

Wang Moli, worn out by all this drama, discussed with Deng Hongyi about sending Old Lady Qian back to the countryside.

"With your mother like this, how can I keep her around? I’m afraid she’ll give Xiaobao random medicine or snap and use a knife. Aren’t you worried that one day you’ll come home to find only Xiaobao’s and my corpses?"

Deng Hongyi scolded lightly, "Don’t talk like that! Show some sense!"

Wang Moli turned her face away. "I’m not joking. You know exactly what kind of person your mother is."

Deng Hongyi was torn up with worry, caught between his wife and his mother.

Seeing his distress, Wang Moli sighed silently and softened her tone. "Your brother’s health is poor, and your sister-in-law could use the help too. Since your mother started all this, she should go back and take responsibility. Otherwise, won’t your brother feel abandoned?"

Deng Hongyi let out a long sigh. "I know. I’ll talk to her."

But Old Lady Qian wasn’t having any of it, yelling and digging in her heels, saying she wouldn't go back.

With Boss Deng hating her guts now, returning would mean a miserable life.

Yet Deng Hongyi had made up his mind and wouldn’t change it easily.

In desperation, Old Lady Qian begged Jiang Yu for help.

Jiang Yu brushed her off and had Aunt Lan throw her out.

Leaving the south wing, Old Lady Qian headed straight for Lin Hongxia’s place.

Then it hit her—if not for Lin Hongxia recommending Witch Zhu, she wouldn’t have been scammed.

Blind with rage, Old Lady Qian barged into the Fu household. She had nearly forgotten about this!

"Lin Hongxia, you’ve destroyed me! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have gone to Witch Zhu, and my daughter-in-law wouldn’t have miscarried!"

Lin Hongxia, already guilty and afraid Old Lady Qian would come after her with a cleaver, had been hiding at home for days.

But her luck ran out.

"You were the one who complained your daughter-in-law couldn’t bear a son! Otherwise, why would I have introduced Witch Zhu to you? If I’d known you were so ungrateful, I wouldn’t have even lent you five yuan!"

"Bullshit!" Old Lady Qian spat in her face. "Who’s ungrateful? In this whole compound, you’re the most heartless! You caused my daughter-in-law to miscarry, and now you act like nothing happened? You’re a monster!"

Given her recent knife-wielding reputation, Fu Xiangyang and Jiang Ting were terrified and just wanted to defuse the situation.

"Old lady, we understand how you feel. My mother had good intentions but screwed up. We can compensate you."

Lin Hongxia refused outright. "Why should we pay? She was the fool who went to Witch Zhu for medicine! I even lent her five yuan and didn’t ask for it back!"

With that, she manhandled Old Lady Qian out the door.

"Come here again, and I’ll break your legs!"

Old Lady Qian was pushed out by her and stared at the tightly shut door, feeling utterly hopeless.

Overwhelmed with shock and anger, she sat on the ground wailing like a mourner.

Given her past behavior, no one dared to step forward to comfort her. In the end, Deng Hongyi came and dragged her away.

Originally planning to send her away sooner, Old Lady Qian threatened to kill herself at home, making such a scene that Deng Hongyi had no choice but to let her stay for two more days. Only then did she calm down.

The turmoil caused by Old Lady Qian finally subsided, and the housing complex quieted down.

At this time, Tan Lizhu had also completed the first draft of her brochure and specifically brought it to Jiang Yu for review.

"I’ve already shown it to Director Chen and Director Liang. They both suggested I let you take a look in case there are areas for improvement."

Jiang Yu glanced over it and said, "It’s already very good. I honestly can’t think of anything else to add. If Director Chen and Director Liang have no objections, I suggest finalizing this version. Any further improvements can be addressed in future versions."

Tan Lizhu smiled. "That’s exactly what I thought!"

With the booklet finalized, she still had to hurry to the logistics department for printing.

Just as she was about to leave, she unexpectedly saw Wei Xiuru walking in from outside.

"Well, look who’s here."

Tan Lizhu’s expression turned cold. "What do you want?"

Wei Xiuru flashed the invitation in her hand, lifting her chin smugly as she addressed Jiang Yu behind her:

"Jingyi and I have already registered our marriage and are preparing to hold a banquet at Zhengyang Restaurant. Since Tingyue is Jingyi’s son, we both hope he can attend."

Jiang Yu glared down at her. "We won’t be going. Keep your invitation."

Wei Xiuru pretended to be disappointed. "I know you don’t like me, but we genuinely want to invite you to the banquet. If Tingyue doesn’t come, his father will be so disappointed."

Jiang Yu was done with her act. "If you don’t leave now, I’ll grab a broom to chase you out."

At this, Wei Xiuru stopped pretending.

"Fine. I’ll leave the invitation here. Suit yourself."

She casually tossed the invitation aside. She never meant to invite Jiang Yu and He Tingyue but simply to provoke them.

Mission accomplished, she had no reason to stay any longer.

She then noticed Tan Lizhu still hadn’t left and stopped in her tracks.

"Tan Lizhu, I know you’re still in contact with Dongqi, but I advise you to stay away from him and quit chasing him. I’ll never agree to you two being together—you’re not worthy!"

Tan Lizhu almost burst out laughing. How absurd.

"Me, clinging to him? You should relay those words to He Dongqi and tell him to stop coming after me. I, Tan Lizhu, have a career and looks—why would I root around in the garbage? Your son is filthier than garbage, and I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole."

Wei Xiuru’s chest burned with fury, barely held back from lashing out.

But remembering her upcoming banquet with He Jingyi, she held back.

"Pfft, all you’ve got left is your mouth. Once the Tan family’s real daughter returns, what’ll you be then?"

Tan Lizhu curled her lips scornfully. "No matter what, I’ll always be more respectable than you—a homewrecker who finally scraped her way to the top once you’d turned old and haggard. Bragging about it won’t cover up your filth."

Wei Xiuru's face suddenly changed, almost breaking her nails, her teeth nearly drawing blood.

The fury in her heart overwhelmed her reason, and only pain could barely steady her emotions.

She let out a bitter laugh, "I’d like to see how long you can keep laughing."

Tan Lizhu remained neither pleased nor angry, her tone still calm: "Definitely longer than you. You’d better worry more about yourself."

After Wei Xiuru left, Tan Lizhu’s gaze fell on the invitation lying on the ground.

She bent down to pick it up, her gaze turning icy as she read the names on it.

"She just wanted to get under your skin, not sincerely invite you."

Jiang Yu took the invitation and scoffed in disdain.

"If she’s so sincerely inviting us, wouldn’t it be rude of me to decline?"

Let’s see who gets the last laugh.