Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Xu Meng: "I'm a reasonable person. Let's talk this through calmly."

Was this really what she meant by talking calmly? Granny Xue stammered in fear: "What do you want? Killing someone will land you in jail!"

Xu Meng waved the knife in her hand: "I'm not trying to cut anyone. This knife is mine—I bought it myself. Can't I just play around with it? If anyone's dumb enough to get in its way, that’s not my fault. I’m a very reasonable person. Since you all can’t stand me, I’ll move out. And since I bought this knife, it’s coming with me."

Move out? And go where?

But faced with her daughter wielding a large knife, Feng Yanwen froze in panic.

Had Xu Meng calmly discussed it with her, she might not have agreed to move. But now, seeing the situation, she was afraid Xu Meng might actually snap and hurt someone. To keep anyone from getting hurt, they had to split up. So, gritting her teeth, Feng Yanwen actually agreed: "Fine, we’ll move out."

Granny Xue hadn’t counted on the girl becoming even fiercer than before. What kind of girl waves a knife around like that? She hadn’t expected the girl to be this tough to handle. Though old, she valued her life more than ever and quickly hid behind Li Xiuzhi, gripping her clothes to shove her forward.

Li Xiuzhi was so mad she saw stars. That damn old hag, shoving her in harm’s way!

She wasn’t surprised by Xu Meng’s change—the girl had never been meek. Now, she’d just grown more ruthless.

Whatever. If she wants to go, let her go.

"Don’t come slinking back when you can’t make it on your own," Li Xiuzhi sneered.

Good riddance. One less freeloader—she’d be glad to see them go.

"You couldn’t pay me to come back." Xu Meng hadn’t taken the knife to kill anyone—she’d planned to cut a watermelon. She’d leave—but they weren’t getting that watermelon.

She glanced at Feng Yanwen. There was no way she’d leave her mother behind.

Feng Yanwen clenched her jaw: "I’m going with you."

Granny Xue’s face fell. The brat could go, but Feng Yanwen? No matter how much she despised her, if she left, her third son would lose his wife!

"You can’t go—" Granny Xue screeched.

But Feng Yanwen, provoked by the old woman’s earlier glare, snapped: "I’m leaving. Who’s going to stop me?"

She’d dreamed of this for years. Only, back then, she’d been alone.

Seeing she couldn’t stop them, Granny Xue drew the line at letting them take anything: "Fine, go if you must. But you’re not taking anything with you!"

Feng Yanwen: "I’m taking my own clothes."

Those rags weren’t worth selling anyway. Granny Xue stayed silent but stood firm—she absolutely refused to let Feng Yanwen rummage through the drawers. Inside were not just money but also the household register. If she took that, she’d vanish without a trace.

Realizing she couldn’t get the household register, Feng Yanwen started to panic.

In her past life, Xu Meng had lost her ID countless times. Unlike a diploma, it could be reissued. Seeing her mother still arguing with the old woman, she grabbed Feng Yanwen’s hand and pulled her outside.

Now that Feng Yanwen was serious, the old woman was stunned.

Li Xiuzhi egged them on with a smirk, stirring up the tension. Granny Xue regretted it but couldn’t bring herself to stop them now.

Xu Meng didn’t have much to pack—just a few essentials, her study materials, and, of course, the watermelon-cutting knife.

Feng Yanwen, with a sigh, started packing her things.

The Xu family members were still trying to salvage their pride:

"Go on, go! Let's see how long you two can keep this up."

"Mom, don't be upset. It'll be better with her out of your sight."

"But what if Third Brother comes back?"

"When Jiefang gets back, a good thrashing will put her in her place. Besides, they won’t last a few days out there—they’ll have no choice but to come back."

Xu Meng didn’t forget to remind her mother: "Mom, take all your stashed-away money with you."

How much could Feng Yanwen possibly have? Ever since she stopped working, the family wouldn’t even trust her with a single cent. The meager living allowance from the school was always collected by other Xu family members. She barely had any money on her, and her face burned with shame: "Actually, Mom doesn’t have much."

Xu Meng: "..."

What could they do? But once you start running away from home, you’ve got to see it through.

They’d leave even without money. Back then, she had gone to Shenzhen with nothing but the clothes on her back—staying in Beijing was nothing to fear. "Just take whatever you have."

Neither mother nor daughter had many clothes, so they packed lightly.

The two stormed out the door, one clutching a watermelon, the other gripping a knife, not looking back even once.

As they walked away, their figures disappeared completely into the alley.

Granny Xue slapped her thigh: "Oh, that ungrateful wretch! She didn’t even leave the watermelon for me!"

Watermelons were expensive this year, and it had been ages since she’d tasted one.

Because of that watermelon, that little witch left, her daughter-in-law left, and in the end, she didn’t even get a taste.

People in the alley were gossiping about the incident, though not all of them blamed Xu Meng. Some remembered how the Xu family had gotten lucky years ago when they took in the child:

"Granny Xue, too—back then, she was falling over herself with gratitude. Look how quickly things changed."

"Exactly! Always constantly berating Teacher Feng."

"And Xu Jiefang—always complaining she couldn’t bear children. If he’s so capable, why doesn’t he find someone else who can?"

"Don’t say that—Xu Jiefang, he—"

The speaker suddenly stopped, not daring to continue.

Some things were the Xu family’s dirty laundry, and outsiders didn’t dare spread them carelessly.

Seeing the speaker fall silent, the other person didn’t press further and instead shifted to gossiping about other Xu family matters.

————

Xu Meng really wanted to beat them all up. As women themselves, how could they so casually egg Xu Jiefang on like that?

Xu Jiefang was just as brainless—a few words from others, and he’d act as if he’d caught Feng Yanwen red-handed, a wife-beater who was all brawn, no brains.

Ugh. Better to stay far away from this whole family of lunatics in the future.

"Mom, now that we’ve really left... where are we gonna stay?"

Xu Meng knew it was time to set her straight.

"Mom, think about it. Do you really think we can't survive without that family?"

Xu Meng snatched the watermelon from Feng Yanwen's hands and carried it herself. "Besides, no matter how bad things get, could it really be worse than living with those people? Trust me, I won't let you sleep on the streets."

It might've sounded like empty talk, but Xu Meng spoke with such confidence that Feng Yanwen found herself feeling braver.

In her previous life, she had been driven out too—she went south alone and didn’t starve to death. This time, she even had a fruit knife—not that she could do much with it.

"So where do we go next?"

Xu Meng thought for a moment and decided to turn to Chang Xi.

Chang Xi was her middle school classmate, a solid and reliable friend. In her past life, it was Chang Xi’s parents who lent her money to handle Feng Yanwen’s funeral arrangements and later took her south. So now, the first place she thought of was Chang Xi’s—a place to crash for a few days while they figured things out.

The thought of finding a place to stay suddenly reminded Xu Meng of something: "Mom, how much money do you have on you?"

Feng Yanwen looked slightly embarrassed. "I brought all the money I had... just five yuan."

She blushed as the words left her mouth.

Nearly forty years old, and all she had was five yuan—who’d believe that?

Xu Meng hadn’t expected her mother to be this poor, but it didn’t matter. This could also be thrown back in the Xu family’s faces. "Mom, look, the school still gives you a few dozen yuan a month for living expenses, but Grandma takes it all for Xu Dawei. We never see a dime of it. I’ve finally realized—people like us are just here to slave away for the Xu family."

That hit Feng Yanwen right where it hurt. For a second, she forgot how broke they were and gritted her teeth. "They really don’t treat us like human beings."

Xu Meng smiled. "I have seven yuan. Between us, we’ve got twelve bucks. At least we won’t go hungry. Once I find Chang Xi, we’ll look for work. Don’t worry, I won’t let you go hungry or sleep on the streets."

Feng Yanwen lowered her head, thinking for a while before slowly looking up at her daughter with an expression she'd never shown before. She had never imagined Mengmeng could think so far ahead.

"You’ve really got this all figured out. Mom isn’t afraid of hardship—nothing’s worse than that house."

Xu Meng smiled faintly. "Mom, from now on, I’ll make sure you live a good life."

Chang Xi’s home was close to the train station, and the path from the locust tree led right past it.

By the time they reached the station square, Xu Meng was at her limit—the watermelon was unbearably heavy, the nylon cord digging into her hands.

A twenty-pound watermelon—even taking turns carrying it was no easy feat after walking so far.

Out of breath, Xu Meng said, "Mom, let’s rest for a bit."

Exhausted and thirsty, Feng Yanwen couldn’t bear the thought of wasting the watermelon, no matter how heavy it was. "What if we just eat it right here?"

Here? In the middle of the square...

Well, it wasn’t unheard of. People weren’t so uptight back then, and Xu Meng had brought a watermelon knife—no need to go all caveman on it. "Alright, let’s go over there, somewhere shady and less crowded."

They found a quieter spot, sat down on the steps, and Xu Meng quietly pulled out the knife, wiped it clean, and sliced into the watermelon with one swift motion.

What a perfect watermelon—bright red flesh.

Xu Meng handed the first piece to Feng Yanwen before cutting a small slice for herself.

Watermelons back then weren’t grown with any fancy technology, just naturally ripe and fresh. The moment it was cut open, the sweet fragrance filled the air.

The juicy red flesh, the crisp, refreshing scent—mother and daughter both swallowed hard. All the exhaustion and hardship of their journey vanished the moment they took their first bite.

Neither of them dared to eat too messily, taking small, careful bites instead.

Sweet.

So sweet.

Way too sweet.

Crisp and sweet…

It was scorching hot, and people nearby were practically drooling.

"Hey there," a woman holding a child asked, "you selling this watermelon?"