PWE – Chapter 104 Not their daughter

After Zhu Qiaoyu had finished kowtowing ten times, Xiao Wange recalled the Hungry Ghost.

Feeling the invisible hand pressing on her head disappear, Zhu Qiaoyu’s eyebrows twitched, and she instinctively let out a breath of relief.

Being forced down by an unseen hand was truly an awful feeling.

She had never believed in ghosts before, no matter what—but at this moment, she believed.

The thing that had pressed her head down earlier had been completely invisible. She felt that… it must have been a ghost!

“All right. You’ve finished the ten loud kowtows, so the wager is fulfilled. Comrade, I hope you remember today’s lesson well. I hope that in the future… you’ll think carefully before doing anything.”

Xiao Wange smiled at Zhu Qiaoyu and kindly offered her a piece of advice.

But how could Zhu Qiaoyu possibly listen to advice?

She wanted to spit out a few vicious curses at Xiao Wange, but she was afraid that the ghost from earlier might come back.

So she took a deep breath and used her eyes to say to Xiao Wange: Just you wait.

Xiao Wange smiled faintly. Zhu Qiaoyu was still unwilling to accept it. Someone like her was truly beyond saving.

……

After resting on a chair for a while with Zhaozhao in her arms, Xiao Wange was invited by the director to go out for a meal.

Everyone else at the bureau went along as well—except Zhu Qiaoyu.

With a dark expression, Zhu Qiaoyu went home. Thinking about what had happened that day, she simply couldn’t swallow her anger. She decided to go to the provincial capital to find her father and have him stand up for her.

Early the next morning, Zhu Qiaoyu took a bus to the provincial capital.

When she arrived at her maternal home, the family’s maid, Aunt Fang, saw the bruises all over her forehead. She froze for a moment, then asked with shock and distress, “Miss, what happened to you? How did you injure your forehead like this?”

As she spoke, Aunt Fang reached out to touch the bruise on Zhu Qiaoyu’s forehead, but Zhu Qiaoyu swatted her hand away.

Zhu Qiaoyu shot her an annoyed look and said unhappily, “Don’t touch me. Your hands are covered in dirt—don’t smear it on my head!”

Aunt Fang had just been sorting vegetables, and there was still mud clinging to the roots. The dirt on her hands came from that.

She quickly withdrew her hands and wiped them on her apron. “I’m sorry, Miss. My hands are a bit dirty—yes, they’re dirty.”

Zhu Qiaoyu snorted and gave Aunt Fang a displeased sideways glance before lifting her foot and walking straight into the living room.

She had disliked Aunt Fang ever since she was little. Sometimes the way Aunt Fang looked at her was especially strange.

That look was like she was looking at her own daughter—as if Zhu Qiaoyu were Aunt Fang’s daughter.

Aunt Fang stood behind her, watching the young miss’s back, and sighed softly to herself.

She knew the young miss disliked her.

Actually, she shouldn’t have appeared in front of her at all. But she was greedy—she always wanted to see the young miss, always wanted to personally see her happy and well.

It was as if only by seeing it with her own eyes could she feel at ease.

After entering the living room, Zhu Qiaoyu saw her mother sitting on the sofa and hurried over. “Mom…”

She pouted as she called out, her tone carrying a hint of grievance.

Mrs. Zhu was a woman in her fifties. Though she was no longer young, she took good care of herself and didn’t look old at all. On the contrary, she carried the refined charm of an intellectual woman.

Mrs. Zhu, Mao Wanxiu, turned to look at her. When she saw the bruise on Zhu Qiaoyu’s forehead, she froze as well. “What happened to your forehead?”

The Zhu family lived in a two-story Western-style house. Zhu Jianbin, her father, came downstairs and looked at Zhu Qiaoyu. “You caused trouble again?”

His voice was steady and forceful, carrying the authority of someone in power.

Zhu Qiaoyu turned to her father, put on a pitiful expression, and hurriedly said, “Dad, this time it wasn’t me causing trouble—it was someone bullying me. You have no idea, there’s a swindler named Xiao Wange. She actually made me kowtow to her—and they were loud kowtows! Ten loud kowtows! My head was almost split open!”

“What? A swindler made you kowtow like that? What kind of swindler is so arrogant?” Aunt Fang rushed in at once, asking excitedly.

Zhu Qiaoyu looked at the visibly agitated Aunt Fang, annoyance flashing in her eyes. She said coldly, “I don’t want to talk to you. Go do your work.”

She really didn’t want to say even one extra word to Aunt Fang—yet this woman was utterly lacking in self-awareness.

Aunt Fang lowered her head, looking hurt. “I… I…”

“Qiaoyu, Aunt Fang is just concerned about you. Don’t order her around like that,” Mao Wanxiu said, giving Zhu Qiaoyu a disapproving look.

Zhu Qiaoyu frowned and shot Aunt Fang another glance. With her mother speaking up for Aunt Fang, she disliked her even more.

Fearing that Madam would scold the young miss because of her, Aunt Fang quickly said, “I’ll go back to the kitchen to prepare the vegetables,” and hurried into the kitchen.

But once inside, she pricked up her ears, trying to listen to everything in the living room.

Qiaoyu said a swindler had bullied her. Aunt Fang wanted to know exactly who this swindler was. Once she found out, she would go settle accounts with that person herself!

Meanwhile, Zhu Qiaoyu clung to her mother’s arm and described in detail what had happened at the county public security bureau the day before—adding embellishments here and there.

She deliberately smeared Xiao Wange’s reputation, intentionally splashing her with dirty water.

After listening, Mao Wanxiu frowned slightly. “Was that Xiao Wange really so arrogant? And why does it sound to me like she actually has some ability?”

Although her daughter repeatedly insisted that Xiao Wange was a fraud and said she had only found the village by luck, Mao Wanxiu felt that Xiao Wange didn’t seem simple. After all, someone whom the bureau director treated politely couldn’t possibly be as her daughter described.

Yesterday, Zhu Qiaoyu had refused to admit that Xiao Wange had found the children, but today, in front of her parents, she admitted it—though she claimed it was just a coincidence, saying Xiao Wange had simply gotten lucky.

Zhu Jianbin, standing nearby with a grim expression, said unhappily, “There are many things in this world that are extremely mysterious. That Xiao Wange might really have some skill! You offended her like that—offended her completely. Zhu Qiaoyu, your brain is a complete mess! You’re unbelievably stupid!”

This daughter had caused him many troubles in the past, but he had managed to smooth them over.

This time, however, the person she encountered sounded like someone from the mystic sects. He had heard that some people in those circles were incredibly powerful—even high-ranking officials in the capital treated them with respect. If Xiao Wange happened to be one of those major figures, then offending her would be disastrous.

“Dad! How can you say that about me? This really isn’t my fault! You don’t know how hateful that Xiao Wange is—she even cursed our family, saying we’d suffer a calamity, an unavoidable calamity! Dad, how could I not be angry when she cursed our family like that? If the director and the others hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve slapped her right then!”

Zhu Qiaoyu spoke bitterly. Thinking of yesterday’s events still made her furious.

Zhu Jianbin’s brows knit tightly, his face instantly darkening.

He stared hard at Zhu Qiaoyu and asked, “What did you say? You said Xiao Wange claimed our family… would suffer a calamity?”

Zhu Qiaoyu nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what she said. Dad, she was cursing our family. Our family is doing just fine—how could there be any calamity?”

Zhu Jianbin: “……” His brows furrowed even deeper as he looked at his daughter as if she were a stupid pig.

How did he end up with such a daughter? He and Mao Wanxiu were clearly not this foolish—so how could their eldest daughter be so stupid? And stupidity aside, she was also arrogant and domineering!

He had thought that sending her to the county would make her behave better. Turns out he was wrong. She was just as arrogant there!

“And there was another pair of parents who were especially ridiculous. They actually bragged that they had relatives who were high-ranking officials in the capital, and even said they’d contact that official and have him send people here to investigate. But they were dressed so shabbily—how could they possibly have such powerful relatives? If they really did, they would’ve gone to the capital long ago instead of staying in that tiny county!”

Thinking of the parents who had spoken up for Xiao Wange, Zhu Qiaoyu couldn’t help mocking them.

They were clearly just a poor, lowly couple, yet they dared to lie about having a relative who was an official in the capital. Was it because bragging cost nothing these days that they dared to boast so shamelessly?

Zhu Jianbin’s eyes darkened. He suddenly rushed up to Zhu Qiaoyu and slapped her hard across the face. “Idiot! You absolute idiot! How can you be this stupid—this hopelessly stupid!”

Zhu Qiaoyu was stunned by the slap.

After two seconds of shock, she looked at her father in disbelief. “Dad, how could you hit me? And how am I stupid? I—”

Smack! Before she could finish, another slap landed on her face.

Zhu Jianbin glared at her in fury. “Get out! Get out of here!”

Zhu Qiaoyu: “……” Her cheeks burned red, pain searing across her face.

She felt both wronged and furious. “Dad!”

“Get out!” Zhu Jianbin hurled a teacup to the floor. It shattered with a loud crash.

Zhu Qiaoyu was frightened.

She stared blankly at the shattered cup on the floor, then grabbed the handbag she had just set down and turned to run out of the living room.

She had thought coming home would mean her father backing her up. She never expected him to treat her like this. This didn’t feel like a father at all—what kind of biological father behaved like this?

Aunt Fang rushed out of the kitchen. After glancing at Zhu Qiaoyu’s retreating figure and then at the furious Zhu Jianbin, she hesitated for two seconds and said carefully, “Sir, Madam, I’ll go check on the young miss.”

With that, she chased after Zhu Qiaoyu.

Once only Zhu Jianbin and Mao Wanxiu remained in the living room, Zhu Jianbin said, “If someone from above really comes to investigate me, this official hat on my head definitely won’t be safe. Tell me—why is our eldest daughter so stupid? How can she be stupid to this extent?!”

Mao Wanxiu: “……” In the past, she would always speak up for her eldest daughter when her husband scolded her. But this time, the situation was serious—she knew her daughter deserved the scolding.

Zhu Jianbin bent down and sat on the sofa, taking several deep breaths. Then, with a grim face, he said, “Between our two daughters, the younger one is outstanding in both looks and intelligence. But look at Zhu Qiaoyu—what does she have going for her? Even our relatives and friends say she doesn’t resemble me or you. She doesn’t look like us, and she doesn’t share our intelligence. Tell me… is she really our daughter?”

Mao Wanxiu froze, staring at her husband in shock. “What do you mean by that?”