Chapter 522: Chapter 177: The ’80s Drama Queen is Forced to Open for Business as a Top Student (12)

In everyone’s eyes, Sheng Leyun was indispensable, while Ren Xingchen was just an afterthought.

Ren Xingchen pressed her lips together, unable to say a word.

She was well aware of how harsh the world was on women. If not for her fear of judgmental looks and ugly gossip, she never would have been able to stay faithful while Sheng Xibao was working so hard for their small family, rejecting an entire forest for a single tree!

Xiao Xuezhen waved a dismissive hand at her. "Xingchen, you’ve been busy all afternoon. Go get some rest. Yunyun and I need to discuss some things here."

Sheng Leyun shrugged nonchalantly. "Yes, Ms. Ren Xingchen. You’re my mother, so I’ll thank you for giving me life."

She held out her rough, calloused hands. "I started running errands when I was one year old. Before I was even four, I could handle almost all the household chores—cleaning, laundry, cooking, you name it."

"In the Capital City, a live-in nanny makes a minimum of forty to fifty yuan a month. Some even make seventy or eighty."

"The cost of living where we’re from is lower, so let’s calculate it at thirty yuan a month. Over five years, that comes to one thousand eight hundred yuan."

"These days in the countryside, people secretly pay eight hundred yuan to buy a boy, but only five hundred for a girl. So, in a way, I’ve already repaid you for the ’blessing’ of my birth."

"In nine years, how much could I have possibly cost to feed and clothe? Six hundred yuan, at the absolute most, right?"

"That means you’ve profited by four hundred yuan. So, until you pay me back that four hundred, you have no right to lecture me!"

"Or is it that I’m not your biological daughter at all? Is that why you don’t even treat me like a human being?"

Ren Xingchen trembled with rage. Wasn’t ’mother’ a title for life? And here her ’darling’ daughter was, counting on her fingers and settling accounts with her.

Especially after Sheng Leyun’s last sentence, she shot a glare at this vexing creature before turning and storming into the house.

Xiao Xuezhen’s brows furrowed slightly, a flicker of doubt in his mind.

He didn’t dwell on it, however, turning his attention to Sheng Leyun. "Go on. What will it take to satisfy you?"

Sheng Leyun propped her chin on her hand, tapping a finger lightly against her surprisingly smooth and delicate cheek. "First off, Xiao Hailan and Xiao Haiyang, as the main culprits, must serve me tea as a formal apology. And they need to bring that Pang and Junzi with them."

"I won’t make them kowtow to show their sincerity, but they must bow nine times, at the very least. And with each bow, I expect to hear a different confession and a new promise!"

"And then, the parents from all three of your families must also formally apologize to me. This tragedy only happened because you failed to raise your children properly."

"As for gifts... fruit, meat, clothes, white flour, rice, eggs, brown sugar, pastries, candy, and so on... I won’t turn any of it down. You need to show me some tangible proof of your sincerity."

"And finally, we can discuss the matter of compensation."

She listed her points one by one with a soft chuckle. "If I had merely suffered some superficial injuries, then simply covering my medical bills and the cost of some nutritional supplements would have been enough."

"But here I am, a poor little thing from the countryside. My father is gone, my mother has remarried, and I’m living under someone else’s roof. I’m at a sensitive age where every shadow makes me jump. And at a time like this, I was cornered, threatened, intimidated, and extorted. This kind of psychological trauma will follow me for the rest of my life."

"From now on, I’ll probably have a deep-seated fear of alleyways. It’s made me uncertain about this new society, stripping away my sense of security..."

She was connecting every word and phrase to the broader social context. Sweat was about to pour down Xiao Xuezhen’s forehead. If he didn’t say something soon, this little girl was going to slap them with the grand charge of "disrupting social stability."

’How does a little village girl who’s never been anywhere know so much?’

"Alright, alright, alright! This is our fault. Just tell us how much you want."

Xiao Xuezhen quickly cut her off.

Sheng Leyun heaved a few dramatic sighs, then began counting on her fingers again. "This kind of psychological damage could affect me for my entire life. It could even turn a potential female trailblazer into a mere cleaning lady."

"No one can predict the future. So let’s compromise. Let’s say a minimum compensation of six yuan a month, starting now until I turn forty-five and can collect a pension."

"I’m nine now, so that’s another thirty-six years. Twelve months a year, at six yuan a month..." She began to pinch her fingers together as if she were a fortune teller calculating a cosmic chart. After a moment, she announced, "Rounding up, that comes to two thousand six hundred yuan. And that’s without even factoring in future rapid economic growth and soaring inflation."

"The three of you families will split the cost based on the four children involved. Comrade Xiao Xuezhen, since you have two, your share is one thousand three hundred yuan. The other two families will each pay six hundred and fifty yuan."

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