The earlier words expressed the original owner Lian Qiao’s feelings, while the later ones were Jiang Chan’s own reflections. Money was important, but not important enough to outweigh everything.
The host gently dabbed at her eyes. “President Lian, at your hardest point, you only had twenty yuan in spending money?”
What did that mean? These days, even a simple meal cost several dozen yuan. Twenty yuan might buy one cup of milk tea at most.
Jiang Chan smiled. “I didn’t spend that twenty yuan. I returned it later. But to me, that life wasn’t hard. I’d rather live a little more poorly. At least I was free.”
“Perhaps I’m naturally suited to fending for myself and growing wild?” Her joke drew waves of laughter from the studio, and the atmosphere gradually brightened.
“There are sayings online that we should be grateful for the setbacks we encounter in life, or for the people who cause those setbacks. What do you think of that, President Lian?”
The crucial question had finally arrived. Sitting before the television, Lian Shuguo and Wu Xiuzhen instinctively leaned forward. Wu Jin tightened her grip on her chopsticks, conflicting emotions flickering in her eyes.
Lian Yanbin and Tan Xiao did not live with the Lian family. They lived in their own small apartment. At this moment, they too were watching television over dinner. Hearing the host’s question, both instinctively slowed their movements.
Jiang Chan’s interview was broadcast live and could also be watched on television. On the screen, she gave a light laugh, her tone full of mockery.
“I’m a very narrow-minded person, and I’m not particularly magnanimous. I strongly disagree with that saying. Harm is harm. Why should I forgive it? I could live just as well without those people. I’m someone who naturally strives to do well. I believe I would live well regardless.”
“Do you mean that even if your parents regret their actions and want to make amends, you won’t return to the family?” the host asked next.
“Affection is what sustains family ties. The law doesn’t expressly require relatives to love and care for each other. There’s no affection between us. Whether I’m by their side makes no difference. They can simply think of their daughter as too busy with work to come home. Of course, children have an obligation to support their elderly parents, and I’ll fulfill my share of that responsibility.”
Hearing this before the television, Lian Shuguo and Wu Xiuzhen lowered their heads dejectedly, seeming to age several years at once. Wu Jin also lost her appetite, wanting to say something but unable to speak.
As the interview drew to a close, the host asked one final question. “President Lian, you’re still so young. Have you considered a future partner?”
The moment she asked, screams rose from the audience. Everyone grew excited.
Jiang Chan frowned. “I haven’t thought about it. But I suppose he should understand the ways of the world without becoming cynical. His family should be warm, able to make up for the warmth I once lacked. I haven’t thought about anything else.”
Jiang Chan had arrived at this by analyzing the original owner’s personality. The original owner was timid and lacked confidence. Having grown up without love, she should greatly need a man who was like both an older brother and a father, someone to care for her, protect her, and guide her.
Jiang Chan herself did not need a partner. She had a heart of steel and could process any emotions on her own. In fact, when someone grew strong enough, she sometimes felt that since she could do everything herself, what did she need another person for?
After the interview, Jiang Chan shook hands with the host. She had a good impression of this mature, composed, and gracious woman. “I think we’ll become very good friends.”
The host smiled. “Aren’t we already friends?”
The two exchanged a smile.
In the dining room, watching the screen go dark, Lian Yanbin suddenly sighed regretfully. Tan Xiao glanced at him. “What are you thinking about?”
Lian Yanbin put down his chopsticks. “I’m wondering how Lian Qiao became so estranged from the family. If she hadn’t fallen out with us, wouldn’t things at home be very different from before?”
Tan Xiao scoffed. “Your family only looks at Lian Qiao as an equal now because she’s successful and capable. If she were an ordinary office worker, just see whether they’d have a completely different attitude.”
She and Lian Yanbin had been married for a year. If she had not understood Lian Qiao’s relationship with the older Lian couple before the wedding, she had learned everything she needed to know afterward.
What could she say? The older Lian couple had brought it all on themselves, and Lian Yanbin and Wu Jin had certainly helped things along. As beneficiaries, if either of them had spoken up for Lian Qiao even once, her relationship with the family would not have reached such an impasse.
Lian Yanbin could not bear the embarrassment. “Mom and Dad did give birth to her and raise her, after all!”
Tan Xiao’s smile was mocking. “Don’t forget, Mom and Dad did raise Lian Qiao for fifteen years, but didn’t she give them a million yuan? That million would be more than enough to raise ten Lian Qiaos.”
“Would your parents have taken that million if they hadn’t needed to buy you a home? To put it plainly, that was Lian Qiao’s ransom. And now you’re bringing up the debt of being born and raised?”
Lian Yanbin lacked conviction. “Aren’t my parents your parents too? Isn’t my home your home?”
Tan Xiao scoffed. “That’s your home. Your parents bought it for you before we married. It’s premarital property and has nothing to do with me.”
Just mentioning it made her angry. They could originally have paid for the home in full. Her own family was reasonably well-off. If they had contributed some money, the whole price could have been covered. But the Lian family had refused. They would only agree to put Lian Yanbin’s name on the property deed.
This alone still rankled with Tan Xiao. Lian Yanbin had married well above his station by marrying her, yet the entire Lian family, young and old, had still played games with her?
Moreover, after learning what the older Lian couple had done, Tan Xiao hardly ever visited them. She found it humiliating to have such in-laws. They had no sense of what mattered.
As parents, even if they could not be perfectly fair, they should at least make a reasonable show of it. Instead, for the sake of a reputation, they mistreated their biological daughter while fussing over their stepchildren.
Sometimes, thinking about it, Tan Xiao could understand Jiang Chan’s behavior. To Lian Qiao, the older Lian couple were two bloodsuckers, feeding their stepchildren with her blood.
Lian Qiao had escaped quickly. If she had stayed in that family for much longer, who knew how the couple would have exploited her? Now, thinking of Lian Qiao, Tan Xiao envied her.
She had not known the Lian family was like this. Had she known, she would never have married into it. But now it was a done deal. Fortunately, the older couple treated Lian Yanbin fairly well, so Tan Xiao was making do with her life.
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