Chapter 151: Save the Mother

Chapter 151: Chapter 151: Save the Mother

How did she know?

’Of course, my third brother investigated and told me, our parents, and my second brother and his wife. He had to, to avoid getting tangled up with Zhao Xiangxiang. It would’ve been weirder if he *hadn’t* investigated her.’ 𝚏𝗋ℯⅇ

"Why don’t you guess if we know *why* your brother owes money? What do you think would happen if a ’good Samaritan’ went to the police and filed a report?"

Su Wan was threatening her.

Zhao Xiangxiang had never realized this so clearly before.

She was torn between fear and fury. She was afraid Su Wan would actually report it, because her brother had gotten into debt after being swindled by someone while working at a cheap, illegal mine. But operating an illegal mine was a crime itself, so how could she possibly let Su Wan go to the police?

"You..." Zhao Xiangxiang saw Su Wan’s icy gaze and realized she wasn’t bluffing. She felt a pang of fear and guilt, but she wasn’t willing to just leave. She couldn’t help but swallow hard. "Su Wan, I can drop the whole ’marrying your third brother’ thing, but he has to give me my money back. As long as you all pay me back, I’ll stop coming to find you."

"You don’t want me bothering you while you’re pregnant, do you?"

"You gave my third brother money? That’s between you and him. The most I can do is ask him about it for you. I can’t promise anything else."

Su Wan didn’t agree.

’If I agree too easily, Zhao Xiangxiang will just think we’re a pushover.’

’She’s only backing down now because I have her cornered.’

"You..." Zhao Xiangxiang clenched her fists in anger and couldn’t help but blurt out, "Your third brother isn’t even at school. He’s gone abroad. What good is contacting him? He can’t come back anyway."

"Oh, so you know my third brother went abroad? Looks like you’ve already made a scene at his school, then?" Su Wan’s eyes narrowed, almost seeing right through her.

Zhao Xiangxiang felt a little guilty, but for the sake of those several hundred yuan, she stubbornly insisted, "It’s Su Jue’s fault for tricking me! He came up with all sorts of excuses to ask me for money. I only gave it to him because I felt sorry for him, but I never expected that once he got the money, he wouldn’t even date me. Now he’s just run off abroad! Did he scam me just to get the money to go abroad?"

"Going abroad must cost a lot. You’re just an ordinary family, how could you afford it? No wonder he asked me for so much money."

Zhao Xiangxiang grew angrier just talking about it, feeling like she had been scammed from start to finish.

Full of resentment, she said, "No matter what, Su Jue was able to study abroad using my money. I deserve some of the credit. If you don’t pay me back, I’ll go to his university and cause a scene about this."

"I refuse to believe a university student like him doesn’t care about his reputation. As for my brother, what does he have to do with me?"

"Why you gave money to my third brother is your own business. You know perfectly well what you were plotting."

"If you insist on slinging mud, go right ahead. As long as you have proof, I’ll even support you. But I’ve told you clearly: this is between you and my third brother. The most I’ll do is ask him a question for you. I won’t agree to any other demands, and I have no intention of doing so."

"Alright, you can go now. Don’t make me have someone escort you out."

Su Wan was too calm, completely unaffected by Zhao Xiangxiang’s words.

Seeing that she couldn’t persuade her, Zhao Xiangxiang stomped her foot in frustration and left before she could be thrown out.

Zhao Xiangxiang didn’t go up to the second floor to find Huang Qing; she left the military hospital directly.

When she walked out, she saw Mrs. Zhao waiting for her.

When Mrs. Zhao saw her daughter emerge, she rushed over, eagerly pulling her into a corner to ask, "Xiangxiang, how did it go? Did you get the money back from Su Wan?"

"Mom, no. Su Wan is completely unyielding. And she knows about brother’s debt. If we go find her again, what if she gets angry and reports him to the police? I don’t want him to go to jail."

Hearing this, Mrs. Zhao slapped her thigh in anger. Her eyes filled with venom as she cursed, "That little bitch! That worthless punk! The entire Su family is rotten! They scammed several hundred yuan from us and won’t even admit it! My poor son... if he can’t pay back the money soon, he’s going to get beaten."

"Mom, we’ll just have to have him go into hiding for a while. Su Jue has already run off abroad and won’t be back anytime soon. Su Wan’s husband is a soldier, and even Big Sis’s sister-in-law couldn’t do anything to her. We’re not going to get any advantage from her."

"Hide? Of course he has to hide. But our jobs are here, and those relatives will still come asking us for money. If you can’t solve this, then you’ll just have to get married. We can use the betrothal gift to pay off part of your brother’s debt. After all, it’s your fault too. You spent several hundred yuan and still couldn’t win over Su Jue. You just got scammed out of the money, and now you don’t even have any proof. Calling the police is useless."

Mrs. Zhao stopped just short of pointing at Zhao Xiangxiang’s face and calling her useless.

Zhao Xiangxiang panicked the moment she heard she was to be married off for the betrothal gift. ’Would I ever have a good life then? I’d probably never be able to hold my head up high in my husband’s family.’

"Mom, it’s not like there are no other options. There’s another way."

"Oh?" Mrs. Zhao rolled her eyes. "What kind of plan could you possibly have?"

"I’ve asked around about the Su family and Su Wan’s husband’s family. Although her parents-in-law are gone, her husband has an aunt. That aunt has an unmarried daughter—his cousin. Since our brother needs to go into hiding, what do you think about having him go and sweet-talk some money out of that cousin?"

"And it just so happens that Grandma’s family lives near the Sunshine Team. Brother would have a ready-made excuse to go to Yang County: visiting relatives!"

Mrs. Zhao’s spirits lifted instantly. "You’re talking about a relative from Su Wan’s husband’s side, right?"

"That’s right. Su Wan’s husband is Lu Zhengchuan. Although he’s quite successful and became a military officer, his parents died young, so he was raised by his aunt. I also heard..."

"He’s very good to his aunt’s family and is close with his cousin, Zhang Yun. If our brother can make Zhang Yun fall for him, it would be normal for him to spend a little of her money, right? Dating always costs money."

"Then, brother can get the money back through Zhang Yun."

"If Zhang Yun doesn’t have any money, just have her ask Lu Zhengchuan for it."

Zhao Xiangxiang instigated the plot, completely disregarding the lives of others, her mind solely on her schemes and the money she’d lost.

She didn’t reflect on how her own scheme to manipulate Su Jue had backfired, causing her to lose money. Instead, she had grown accustomed to this life of swindling and refused to take a proper path.

"You have a point!" A devious idea sparked in Mrs. Zhao’s mind. "If Zhang Yun doesn’t cooperate, just tell your brother to sleep with her. Then she’ll have to marry him. With Zhang Yun in the picture, and Lu Zhengchuan being a military officer, he’ll definitely have the power to promote your brother."

"Speaking of which, your brother only got scammed because he has no connections. Otherwise, those people wouldn’t have dared to be so ruthless. They wouldn’t have had to worry about retaliation."

The more the mother and daughter talked, the better the idea sounded. They immediately went home and made arrangements for Zhao Qingsong to go to Yang Province.

「Meanwhile.」

As soon as Zhao Xiangxiang left, Su Wan asked Aunt Zhao to make a phone call to inform Mother Su and Father Su.

「Ten days passed quickly.」

Huang Qing had already been discharged from the hospital and had gone home for her postpartum confinement. Perhaps feeling too ashamed to face Su Wan, she had left without a word.

Su Wan’s due date was approaching. Her C-section was scheduled in three days, and she had notified Father Su and Mother Su. 𝖋𝙧ⅇ

The elderly couple arrived two days early.

At the same time, Lu Zhengchuan, far away on the front lines, also received a call from Su Wan. When he learned she was about to give birth, he was both overjoyed and nervous. "Wanwan, make sure they save you. No matter what, make sure they save you."