As Zhou Mei recalled her painful memories, she stared fixedly at the Su family’s gate, her eyes filled with hatred.

Why should Gu Jiaojiao, a fake young miss of the Sheng Family, get to live a life of ease and luxury with him?

Meanwhile, she, Zhou Mei, a young lady who grew up in the compound, had been worn down to this state by her in-laws.

’What right does a pig farmer’s daughter have to marry him?’

’Looks like I need to get all dolled up and snatch him back. A dashing man like him should be mine.’

’Even if I can’t get Shuoci, isn’t there still that darling of the heavens, Dong Yuanyuan?’

Thinking of Dong Yuanyuan made Zhou Mei feel much better. ’Even someone as beautiful as her was still cheated on by her husband.’

’The pig farmer’s real daughter and his adopted one are both bad news. It’d be best if that Sheng Yueyue angers Dong Yuanyuan so much that she has a miscarriage.’

Zhou Mei thought sinisterly, a hint of smugness flashing across her face.

She hurried back to her room to take a shower, carefully styled her hair, put on makeup, and then walked over to open the door.

"Meizi, where are you going?" A sudden voice from behind made Zhou Mei jump.

"Mom..."

She spun around and looked in a panic at her mother standing behind her, her eyes filled with guilt.

"Meizi, your injuries haven’t healed yet. Listen to Mom, you can’t just run around!"

"Mom..."

Looking at her mother, who appeared haggard and ancient, Zhou Mei felt not a shred of gratitude. Instead, a flicker of hatred sparked within her.

’If she weren’t so useless, why would Dad and Brother Zhou have married me off to such a bastard in such a hurry?’

She suppressed her bubbling rage, walked over to her mother, and took her hand. "Mom, don’t be angry. I’m just going for a little walk in the courtyard. I’ll be back soon. Just wait for me at home, okay?"

"If you want to go out, then Mom will go with you," Mrs. Zhou said, shaking her head in resignation.

"Well... all right, then." Seeing that she couldn’t change her mind, Zhou Mei gave in. The two of them, mother and daughter, walked out of the house together.

Mr. Zhou and Brother Zhou were at work, so neither was home. Zhou Mei looked at her mother’s deeply worried expression.

It was as if her mother had worried herself sick over her, and a mix of complicated feelings stirred within Zhou Mei.

"Meizi, what on earth is going on between you and your husband? How could he dare to lay a hand on you?" Mrs. Zhou asked sorrowfully.

"Isn’t it all your fault? If you hadn’t found that piece of trash for me, would my life be this miserable?"

"I asked around back then. They said he was an honest, decent man with a respectable job. A very fine young man."

"And you’re still defending him? I’ve been married to him for half a year, don’t you think I know him by now? You have no idea, his vicious mother stir-fries pig’s head with chili for me to eat every single day. She buys a whole pig’s head just for me."

"How could that be? What do his mother and younger siblings eat, then?"

"They have pickled vegetables and greens for every meal, while I get the pig’s head. I don’t get a single decent bite of meat all month," Zhou Mei said indignantly.

"Does his family not let you eat the pickled vegetables and greens?"

"Not exactly. The pickled vegetables are too salty—who could eat that? And the greens aren’t savory enough to eat with rice. Besides, that evil mother-in-law of mine stir-fries them without any oil, so I don’t like them."

"Meizi, do you think... maybe they can’t bring themselves to eat the pig’s head, so they’re intentionally saving it for you?" Mrs. Zhou asked uncertainly.

"Who the hell knows. The pig’s head was fine for a couple of meals, but I got sick of eating it every day. So I threw a fit, and that bastard actually dared to yell at me."

Mrs. Zhou was speechless.

Embarrassed, Mrs. Zhou was at a loss for words. ’Have I spoiled this daughter of mine too much?’

As mother and daughter stood in silence, the Su family’s gate opened from within, and a tall, handsome man emerged.

"Su Tuan... you..." Mrs. Zhou stammered, taken aback by the sudden appearance of the stunningly handsome Su Shuochi.

Before she could finish, she heard her daughter’s cheerful voice. "Shuoci, you’re back?"

"’Brother?’ Who are you? I have one sister back home and another in school. Don’t go around claiming kinship with just anyone."

"Shuo... You... You..." Zhou Mei trembled with rage, her finger pointing shakily toward the sky, not daring to aim it at Su Shuochi.

Su Shuochi averted his gaze with cold disgust. ’I really don’t understand the way a woman like Zhou Mei thinks.’

"We’ve barely interacted more than a handful of times, and we’re certainly not familiar enough to be calling each other ’brother’ and ’sister’.

Yet you always act as if we’re close, pestering me like an annoying fly and desperately trying to create this persona of a deeply devoted lover.

Are all the other men in the world dead? Why are you so insistent on roping me into this? It’s completely absurd!"

Su Shuochi’s icy words hammered down on Zhou Mei. He was long past the point of being able to greet them calmly.

"You... you... you’ve gone too far!" Zhou Mei was livid, feeling as if every nerve in her body was screaming. She wanted to burn the world down.

Ever since Su Shuochi had moved into their courtyard, there had been no room in her heart for anyone else.

Thinking of the daydream she’d had just moments before, she knew she had to have this man. Her sense of righteous indignation returned.

Zhou Mei snapped her head up, no longer fearing his icy gaze. She questioned him again, her voice thick with anger and a sense of being wronged.

"I like you so much! Don’t I mean anything special to you at all?"

"I’ve already told you everything there is to say. Don’t mistake your own wishful thinking for deep affection. I’m not interested in you."

Su Shuochi’s words were firm and final. His voice was laced with ice, and his entire being radiated a powerful, cold indifference.

Furious, Zhou Mei collapsed to the ground, sobbing her heart out. Mrs. Zhou stood by, wringing her hands. ’My daughter has gone completely mad!’

「At three o’clock sharp.」

Song Zijie drove to the gate of the Su family’s courtyard to pick up Su Shuochi for a trip to a medical equipment factory in the suburbs.

He parked in front of the Su family’s courtyard gate. When he saw that Su hadn’t come out yet, he could faintly hear a woman crying.

Curious, he was about to push the gate open when he saw Su walking out of the courtyard, his face dark.

Peeking through the open gate, he realized the woman wailing on the ground was Zhou Mei, who had been infatuated with Su Shuochi for years.

He had no idea how she knew Su had returned to the compound in the dead of night, much less why she was now crying on the ground.

But he did know one thing: Su would never let a woman with designs on him get off easy.

So, Song Zijie quickly opened the driver’s side door and called out to Su Shuochi, "Su, you driving?"

"Yeah," Su Shuochi grunted, then strode to the driver’s side and got in.

Song Zijie eagerly scrambled into the passenger seat. "Su... what happened? What’s with her?"

Seeing that Song Zijie was settled, Su Shuochi started the engine without a word, slammed his foot on the gas, and the car shot forward.

Song Zijie gave Su Shuochi a knowing look and asked again, "Su, you didn’t make her cry, did you?"

Su Shuochi remained silent.

"Su, that crazy woman wasn’t still pestering you, was she?"

"What do you think?" Su Shuochi snorted. "I never had anything to do with her in the first place. Now that I’m married to Jiaojiao, I have even less reason to pay her any mind."