Chapter 154: Settling the Score
Old Lady Mu hadn’t expected Mu Jingzhe to suddenly flare up, and her eyes were filled with disbelief. “Mu Jingzhe, I am your grandmother!”
“Grandmother? When have you ever regarded me as your granddaughter? How could a grandmother say such awful things about her granddaughter?”
Mu Jingzhe sneered. She didn’t let go of Old Lady Mu as she turned to face her. Old Lady Mu still wanted to attack but was stopped by her in an instant. “Be careful if you don’t want your arm to break. Your old bones are much more brittle than firewood. If you don’t want your bones to be completely shattered, shut up.”
Old Lady Mu’s heart palpitated as she looked at Mu Jingzhe. She felt that Mu Jingzhe was truly capable of that.
There was a hint of fear in her eyes as she finally calmed down from her enraged state.
“Have you calmed down? Then let’s settle the score now.” Ever since Mu Jingzhe had transmigrated there, she had never attacked anyone unless she was attacked first. She had always kept a respectful distance from elderly folks, especially people like Old Lady Mu.
In this day and age, things were different from the modern age. Even in the modern age, hitting elderly folks was frowned upon, but Old Lady Mu was way too biased. Mu Jingzhe hadn’t intended to do anything to her. After all, it was all in the past. She’d just wanted to live in harmony.
However, Old Lady Mu seemed to have misunderstood her att.i.tude and mistakenly thought that she was easy to bully.
“In the past, I never tried to be calculative to deal with your favoritism. I just thought that it was all in the past, but judging by what you’re saying now, it seems like we’ve got to revisit that. In that case, since everyone’s here, let’s settle the score properly.”
Mu Jingzhe pressed Old Lady Mu down, not allowing her to move. She then said, “Firstly, before my father’s share of the family a.s.sets got carved out, the Mu Family never split up the family a.s.sets, right?”
Old Lady Mu rolled her eyes and thought to herself, ‘Isn’t that obvious?’
“n.o.body splits up the family a.s.sets when the elderly are still around. I’m not dead yet.”
“Alright, since the family a.s.sets weren’t split up, then we should have worked together and eaten together. Forget about everything else. Mu Xue and I are both granddaughters of the Mu Family, so we should have had the same status. In reality, Mu Xue and I were living completely different lives.
“While she ate well, I had to put up with your att.i.tude every time I ate. If I picked up some leftovers from her, you’d say that I s.n.a.t.c.hed her food. But if you ask your conscience, did I really s.n.a.t.c.h anything from her? My parents worked to put some of that food on the table. Isn’t the money they earned by working enough to support a child like me?
“Don’t say that Mu Xue enjoyed such treatment because Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt are hardworking and capable. That’s not the case. Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt are exactly the same. They aren’t much better than my parents, so Mu Xue and I should have been equals.
“In reality, because you’re biased and unreasonable, Mu Xue’s status has been different since she was born. You care only about her, and everything belongs to her. But why should everything be hers?”
Mu Jingzhe recalled. “Let me recall the most ridiculous and absurd incident. Oh, right, the rabbits. My dad used to catch rabbits and say it was so that everyone could eat some meat, even though it was obviously because he felt sorry for me and my younger brother. But every time he caught a rabbit, you said it was for Mu Xue and gave it to her.
“My mother secretly fed me two pieces, and you said I was stealing from Mu Xue. What a joke. Didn’t my father catch the rabbit? When did it become hers?”
These few sentences stunned everyone in the village, including Old Lady Mu. She wanted to retort but didn’t know what to say.
Mu Jingzhe continued. “The money was earned by everyone, and you were merely safekeeping it for the family. However, the things you bought with this money were all Mu Xue’s. Mu Xue has been having malted milk since she was young and has a good foundation. My mother didn’t eat well and had a low milk supply. She begged you to give me some, but you refused, saying that it was all for Mu Xue.
“My mother’s heart ached for me, so she stole some to feed me and you chased her to beat her up. She was still in her confinement period, yet she was chased all over the village and forced to hide. She was scolded by you for more than ten years. In the end, Mu Xue grew up having malted milk and eating white rice and noodles that you specifically made for her. As for me, I grew up drinking rice soup. Even then, my mother had to get beaten up in exchange for it. To be honest, I find it amazing that I made it to adulthood. How didn’t I starve to death? Am I right?
“When we got bigger, Mu Xue had walnut cookies and canned fruit to eat. In fact, she could afford to be picky about the fruit she ate. But when I drank the leftover soup from the fruit cans that Mu Xue couldn’t finish, you’d say that I s.n.a.t.c.hed Mu Xue’s food. Ask yourself honestly, did I really s.n.a.t.c.h it?”
When the villagers heard this, they felt extremely uncomfortable. In the past, they’d only known that Li Zhaodi and Mu Jingzhe were awful people, while Mu Xue was snow-white and cute. But if this snow-white cuteness had been built on bias, everything now seemed ugly and strange.
Old Lady Mu’s face alternated between shades of green and white. She ignored Mu Jingzhe’s words and said, “Don’t make yourself sound so innocent. Did you really not s.n.a.t.c.h it? Have you forgotten how many clothes and shoes you stole from Xiao Xue?!”
“I haven’t forgotten. We have to take things slowly. Now that we’re done talking about food, let’s talk about clothes. I did s.n.a.t.c.h Mu Xue’s clothes and shoes, but why did I do it? Don’t you know?”
Mu Jingzhe snickered. “Because I’ve never worn a new set of clothes since I was young! Even my diapers were only Mu Xue’s hand-me-downs. You said a little girl has no need to wear new ones and Mu Xue’s old ones were good enough for me. That’s why you never bought me new ones.
“Yes, most of the people in the village are like this. After the older kids finish wearing a piece of clothing, it gets pa.s.sed down to the younger kids. But I’ve never seen anyone like you. You didn’t let me buy new ones, and you couldn’t even bear to give me old ones. You cursed every day as if you were distributing alms. Mu Xue couldn’t even wear them anymore, but you simply refused to give them to me. Why was it such a heinous crime for me to s.n.a.t.c.h them?
“During the Chinese New Year, all the children in the village, old and young, would wear new clothes. Not me. My mother tried her best to save money to buy me a new set and was scolded so badly by you that she couldn’t even lift her head. You even s.n.a.t.c.hed that new dress for Mu Xue. My mother and I were so angry that we took two pieces of Mu Xue’s old clothes, and you called it stealing.
“I was not allowed to buy new clothes, and when a new dress was bought for me, I was not allowed to wear it. You refused to let me have her old clothes as well. Did you expect me to be naked?
“After all is said and done, what you said about me s.n.a.t.c.hing Mu Xue’s things was actually me s.n.a.t.c.hing back the portion that should have belonged to me but had instead been given to Mu Xue.”
Mu Jingzhe got increasingly out of control. “I just don’t understand. We’re both granddaughters of the Mu Family, so why was I born to be a cheap wretch while she was born to live like a rich and pampered young miss? Why?”
As she asked this, Mu Jingzhe cried uncontrollably and a strange emotion welled up in her heart. She felt wronged and relieved. This was the part that she felt the most indignant and baffled about. She desperately needed an answer.
For the first time, Mu Jingzhe realized that perhaps the original owner of the body had not left completely. She had been waiting for an answer because she couldn’t figure it out.
This was the first time Mu Jingzhe empathized with the original owner of the body. This was the first time she experienced her grievances and resentment.
The original owner of the body had only imitated Mu Xue so crazily in the past to try to gain some love. Even if it was just a little, it would be good if Old Lady Mu and the villagers treated her 1/10 as well as they treated Mu Xue.
However, in the end, she’d only been treated with mockery and, even worse, disgust.