Chapter 683: Chapter 590: Setting the Record Straight

"What’s so funny? Who dares to laugh? I’m telling the truth!"

Liang Xiaoju remained defiant, her voice full of self-righteousness. "When you came to Grandpa’s house, didn’t you sleep in the same bed with me? Grandma had just gotten me brand new sheets and a new quilt. As soon as you arrived, she had you sleep with me. I even let you wear my new clothes! And in the end, because you loved to study and got decent grades, Grandpa told me to quit school to save money just to support you!"

"Do you dare go downstairs and repeat that in front of Grandma and Fifth Auntie?"

"Why should I? I’m not like you, always thinking only of yourself. You run to Grandpa and Grandma over every little thing and get them all worked up and upset! I, on the other hand, want them to live long, happy lives!"

Xiao Man nearly coughed up blood in frustration. ’It’s true what they say,’ she thought, ’shamelessness knows no bounds.’ She had fallen right into Liang Xiaoju’s trap and let her get a rise out of her.

Qiuyan glared angrily at Liang Xiaoju. "I don’t believe you for a second! I’m going to go tell Grandpa and Grandma everything you just said!"

Dapeng chimed in, "That’s right! Shaoqin and I will be witnesses. We’ll see about your pack of lies! And you just barge into people’s rooms and rummage through their things. You’re the worst!"

Liang Xiaoju’s expression soured. "Qiuyan, Dapeng, you need to be more respectful. I’m your older sister..."

"Pah! No way! You don’t act like any sister of mine!"

The young woman who had been lying on Dapeng’s bed hurried over, smiling placatingly. "Hey now, we’re all family here, brothers and sisters. What’s all this arguing about? Dapeng, you’re a young man, don’t be so petty. We didn’t have a ride and walked for half the day to get to Grandpa’s house. We were tired, so we came into your room to rest for a bit. Your Sister Xiaoju saw your new desk and really liked it, so she just sat down to write a few words, that’s all. She didn’t go through your drawers or cabinets, I can vouch for that, so let’s just drop it, okay? And Xiao Man, you and Xiaoju have always been so close. It’s a fact that Xiaoju gave up her education for you..."

"That’s right, let’s not argue. It’s all in the past."

"If you keep bickering like this, it’ll just upset the old folks if they overhear. After all, it wasn’t exactly fair back then to have to sacrifice one child’s education to support another."

The other two young women, as if not to be outdone, also chimed in to mediate.

Xiao Man shot them a cold glance. She recognized the one who had been on Dapeng’s bed; that was Liang Xiaoju’s older sister, Liang Yanmei. But she’d never seen the other two before. "And who are you?"

One of the girls replied, "My name is Zhang Lanni, and Liang Panqiu is my mother. This is my cousin Liang Yanliu from my second uncle’s side, and Sister Xiaoju is my cousin from my third uncle’s side. That means you and I are cousins too, Xiao Man!"

Xiao Man retorted, "Based on what you just said, I have no interest in being cousins with you!"

The two girls froze, their faces quickly flushing red. They didn’t say another word.

Liang Xiaoju snapped, "Xiao Man, you’ve gotten taller, but you haven’t matured at all! Do you really want to make such a scene that the whole family finds out? Will you be happy when Grandpa and Grandma feel guilty for how they wronged me all those years ago?"

"My Grandpa and Grandma won’t feel guilty over you, because your so-called ’facts’ are all lies! How dare you, Liang Xiaoju, claim Grandpa and Grandma wronged you? Have you no conscience? Back then, Grandpa and Grandma were raising me, and the three of us were living perfectly fine. You were the one who cried and begged Grandpa to adopt you as his granddaughter. He refused, but because he saw your family was genuinely struggling, he agreed to fund your and your brother’s education through middle school. But you were the one who acted up! You didn’t want to study anymore and demanded Grandpa give you all three years of tuition at once. What more could you possibly want?"

"You! Mo Xiaoman, you’re lying! That’s not what happened! I never got the money!"

As Liang Yanliu and Zhang Lanni stared at her, Liang Xiaoju hastily tried to defend herself.

"You, your parents, and your grandma know perfectly well what happened! You clearly took the money, yet you dare to deny it? Aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning? We are going to get to the bottom of this today. I won’t let a heartless gossip like you get away with it! Let’s go! We’re going downstairs to ask Grandma right now, and when Grandpa gets back, we’ll ask him too!"

Xiao Man grabbed Qiuyan’s hand and turned to leave. Dapeng scooped up a change of clothes and his defaced winter break homework, and he and Gu Shaoqin followed them out.

The four sisters and cousins in the room stared at each other in dismay. Liang Yanmei slapped Liang Xiaoju’s arm in exasperation. "Have you lost your mind? We agreed on the way here! Xiao Man is from Beijing now. She’ll be living a comfortable life and will gradually stop coming back to the village. Good or bad, she’ll have nothing to do with us. But right now, she’s still Grandpa and Grandma’s favorite! No matter how much you hate her, you can’t provoke her. Why can’t you just listen? If you make her angry, Grandpa and Grandma will get angry too. Do you think they’ll be in any mood to be generous with us then? Let me tell you, Grandma finally relented last time. She promised to have two new quilts made for my dowry when I get married next year, and Grandpa said he’d give me a big red envelope. If your stupidity ruins this for me, I’ll wring your neck!"

Liang Yanliu rolled her eyes at Liang Xiaoju. "So, you already got a pile of money from Grandpa when you quit school all those years ago? I was hoping that if Grandpa paid for you to go back to school this time, I could ask him to help me out too. Looks like that’s a long shot now!"

Zhang Lanni sneered in disgust. "With a brain like yours, more schooling would be a complete waste. Don’t even bother! Since you already got your payout back then, you’d better not bring up your request to Grandpa later. You don’t want to tick someone off again and ruin our cousins’ chances of getting into the medicinal herb garden. Then my mom won’t be able to borrow the money she needs, and our family is counting on it! Don’t make everyone hate you!"

Liang Xiaoju opened her mouth to argue, but Liang Yanmei shot her a look that silenced her. Once Liang Yanliu and Zhang Lanni had left the room and gone downstairs, Liang Yanmei asked, "Do you really have to go back to school? You’re already eighteen. Aren’t you worried people will laugh at you for going back to middle school?"

Liang Xiaoju gave her sister a look that clearly said, ’You just don’t get it.’ "These days, you need money and connections to go back to school. People will be jealous, not laughing! You know Mo Fangping from the village over, right? She’s a few months older than me. Her family used to be poor, but now her dad’s a construction foreman and makes good money. Her younger siblings are old enough that she doesn’t have to watch them anymore, so her mom pulled some strings, had her official age changed, and sent her back to start middle school from the beginning. When a few other girls in her village saw that, they decided to do it too. There are even two from our own village who want to go. The Huang Family’s third daughter is already twenty, and she only finished third grade—not even as much as me! If she can go back to school, why can’t I?"

"That may be true, but you’ll still have to pass exams later. If you can’t get into a technical college or a university, won’t you just end up back on the farm anyway?"

"You don’t get it, Sis. Mo Fangping told me all about it. It’s not about test scores anymore. As long as you have money, you can get in. After middle school, I don’t even want to go to high school. I’ll just pay to enroll in a technical college as a sponsored student. I’ll still get a job assigned to me when I graduate, and I’ll be a cadre for life with an iron rice bowl! No more breaking my back for nothing and living in poverty! And besides, I was supposed to be Grandpa’s granddaughter. In his eyes, I’m different from the rest of you. All I have to do is cry a little, and he’ll agree to pay for me. Sister Yanliu wants to ride my coattails, but that’s not happening. Grandpa doesn’t even like her!"

Liang Yanmei poked Liang Xiaoju’s forehead. "But you have to be obedient for that to work! Have you already forgotten everything I told you on the way here? When you’re asking for a favor, you need to act the part. Look at how you were bossing around Dapeng and Qiuyan. They’re his actual, biological grandchildren. Don’t you get it?"

"I know, I know. I’ll remember what you said this time, Big Sis. I won’t stoop to their level."

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