Chapter 46: Su An, the Evil Stepmother

Chapter 46: Su An, the Evil Stepmother

Xiao Jiliang took a deep breath and looked at the hammer in Su An's hand, forcing herself to swallow her anger.

"Su An, don't push it too far. Why did you throw out our clothes and bedding? This house was allocated to my Daxing by the factory. It's our Zhao family's house."

Su An nodded in agreement. "Yes, it's the Zhao family's house. I'm the daughter-in-law of the Zhao family, so this house is mine too. If you can throw my things away, why can't I throw yours?"

"It's just clothes and bedding. If you push me, I’ll leave nothing but ashes."

Xiao Jiliang stiffened her neck. "You, you, you are just a harpy. How did your mother teach you? Where's your virtue and duty as a daughter-in-law?"

Su An responded politely, "My dear mother-in-law, you've met her before. Ji Qingqing is just like me, a stepmother. Did you forget? Now, I'm also the stepmother of Zhao Long and Zhao Hu. You didn't see how I wanted to kill them the moment I entered the door. Do you think that heartless woman Ji Qingqing would have taught me any virtue?"

"You, you..."

"Oh, mother-in-law, don't keep saying 'you, you, you.' Calm down and get to work. If you get paralyzed from anger, no one will take care of you. Go sweep the floor, wash the dishes in the kitchen; they're starting to smell. And cook some food; I'm hungry. Don't forget to fry me a few eggs—I love them."

Xiao Jiliang clutched her chest and panted. Her hands slowly clenched into fists and trembled slightly.

"Su An, let me ask you, where's my stuff?"

Su An widened her innocent eyes. "What stuff?"

"Oh, you mean the bank book and ID card?" Su An said as she pulled a crumpled little book from behind her back and threw it towards Xiao Jiliang.

"Here."

Xiao Jiliang quickly jumped forward with both hands outstretched and caught her precious book.

Seeing the book in her hands, her expression finally softened a little, but when she opened it and saw the string of zeros at the bottom of the balance column, her blood rushed upwards, and she quickly pressed her thumb on her philtrum.

"Money... money... my money..."

Xiao Jiliang looked at Su An, unable to form complete sentences.

Su An smiled slightly. "Oh, you're talking about the money. I thought that since I've married into the Zhao family, I'll be the mistress of the house. It's my home with Daxing. It's only right that the money should be with me, the mistress."

"Even though you're my mother-in-law, you're an outsider in our home. Besides, you're getting on in years. I wouldn't want to trouble you so much."

"And, I've spent most of it today. There's only a few dozen yuan left, so even if you wanted to manage it, the money's gone..."

Xiao Jiliang couldn't take the shock and fainted with a thud.

"Mother-in-law, what's wrong?"

Su An bent down and checked Xiao Jiliang's breathing with her fingers. Seeing that she was still alive, she slapped Xiao Jiliang's face twice.

"Get up, get up. You don’t need to clean or wash the dishes anymore?"

Seeing no response, Su An kicked her and grabbed her ankle, dragging her like a dead dog out of the way. This big obstacle was in my way.

After dragging her aside, Su An soaked her dirty clothes in a bucket of soapy water and then lounged on the sofa, feet up, to read a book.

After reading for a while, Zhao Long and Zhao Hu returned.

Zhao Feng, who had been hiding outside all day, only came home now with her two brothers.

Su An didn't lift her head. "You're back."

The three kids instinctively flinched, calling out for their grandmother a few times. When no one answered, they froze, standing there nervously, eyes glued to Su An.

They had seen the constant fights between this cruel stepmom and their dad and grandma during this period.

Their dad had even been hospitalized twice, yet this evil woman remained unscathed, with the police not even intervening.

When their grandma and dad were home, things were bearable. But at this moment, the three Zhao siblings were genuinely afraid of Su An from the bottom of their hearts.

Su An shifted her gaze from her book and looked at the three children with disdain. "Why are you standing there? Are you trying to block the door? Zhao Long, go cook. Zhao Hu, sweep the floor. Zhao Feng, go pick the vegetables and wash the dishes. This house doesn't feed freeloaders!"

The children were startled, and finally, Zhao Long stammered, "We, we don't know how."

"If you don't know, learn. Who is born knowing? Hurry up and go, or I'll beat you to death!"

Zhao Hu shuddered, looking at Su An in fear.

Su An looked up and pointed to Xiao Jiliang, whom she had dragged to the corner. "See that? Don't ever make me angry."

Following Su An's finger, the three children saw their unconscious grandmother lying on the floor, and they cried out in fear and distress.

"Waaa... I really don't know how to cook."

Su An frowned and shouted loudly, "Shut up! If you can't cook, what good are you? Wash your hands, grab the scrubby from the counter, and clean that pot. Measure out three cups of rice, rinse it three times, add half a ladle of water, take off the lid of the coal stove, and put the pot on to cook. Got it?"

Zhao Long trembled. "I, I got it. I'll go now."

Su An looked at Zhao Hu. "Do I need to cut off your hands to get you moving? Go sweep the floor!"

Zhao Hu dropped his schoolbag and immediately picked up the broom at the door, starting to sweep while occasionally stealing a glance at Su An.

Zhao Feng didn't wait for Su An to start. With a pale face, she followed Zhao Long into the kitchen. "I know how to pick vegetables. I know."

Su An admitted she wasn't a good stepmother, but she once was.

She had loved and cared for them deeply, treating them as if they were her own children, nurturing and protecting them.

She worried about their cold and warmth, their studies, and took care of their every need, even getting up in the middle of the night to cover them.

But how had she turned from a doting, compassionate woman to a stepmother who now found them detestable?

No matter how much she gave them her heart and soul, they never saw her as their mother.

In her previous life, she had foolishly believed that once they grew up and understood, they would realize her good intentions.

Ha!

Actually, kids are quick to pick up on how adults feel.

Maybe it started when they slacked off on their homework and her words brought Xiao Jiliang's scolding and Zhao Daxing's first beating.

Maybe it was when Xiao Jiliang repeatedly filled their minds with malicious thoughts, turning her into a nanny in the Zhao family's eyes, someone who could be beaten and scolded at will.

After each confrontation, they learned that whenever there was a conflict with their stepmother, their father and grandmother would always stand by their side.

So they became reckless, treating her with coldness and cruelty, even causing the death of her child and leaving her infertile.

Su An scoffed, whenever she didn’t do exactly what they wanted, they would cry and throw tantrums, running to Xiao Jiliang to tattle on her.

Then Zhao Daxing and Xiao Jiliang, without giving it a second thought, would angrily scold her or even hit her.

All they ever said was, "You heartless woman, how dare you abuse our child! How could you treat a child who lost their mother this way?"

Su An scoffed, why had she been such a fool in her past life to fall for their guilt trip?

Just because they don’t have a mother, does that make it my fault?