Chapter 53: Chapter 53 Greedy Eyes
Niu Lihua was confident, watching Zhang Ying’s face turn paler by the moment.
Zhang Ying held her daughter close, feeling as if a hammer was repeatedly striking inside her chest.
The life she had led since marrying into the Yue Family had been a lot happier than she had expected, with the only imperfection, perhaps, being her own inability to conceive.
She had never done a single bad thing, so why was heaven punishing her ?
If… if she did as Niu Lihua suggested, allowing Zhang Jinhe’s child to be adopted by Jiandong.
Then Jiandong would truly have an heir.
“Mother…” Zhang Ying bit her lower lip and looked at Lin Chunju.
But for the first time, the latter surprisingly ignored her, instead exchanging a glance with her eldest son.
Both of them immediately understood Niu Lihua’s scheme and coldly sneered.
Yue Jiandong was the first to ask, “Right now, the household registration only allows for one child. What exactly do you mean by having the child adopted by me, and how would that work?”
Niu Lihua was prepared, “We’d like to put the child directly onto your household registration, but national policy won’t allow it, ah. But it’s not a problem, as long as we all understand in our hearts, just have Jinhe’s child call you ‘dad’ and Zhang Ying ‘mom’ from a young age, as if it’s you who are raising them.”
Lin Chunju scoffed, “Sounds nicer than a song, what do you mean ‘adoption in name’? The child will be raised in your home, the household registration stays in your home, but you say it’s a child of the Yue Family? You think we’re fools to be played like that.”
Niu Lihua explained, “There’s no other way, due to the national…”
“Stop dragging the nation into this, you think I, Lin Chunju, am a fool? We provided a dowry for your son, took in a daughter-in-law, and now everything’s agreed upon quite nicely, talking about calling Jiandong ‘Dad’ and Yingzi ‘Mom’. Once the child is actually born, won’t it be whatever you choose to call it?”
Yue Jiannan curled his lips and deliberately said, “If you really want to adopt, why not just swap kids between the two families? Let Qingqing go to your place, and bring your boy over, wouldn’t that sort it out?”
Zhang Tieniu immediately protested loudly, “How can that be done! Who would want to exchange their son for a loss-making deal?”
Seeing the disdainful looks from the Yue Family, he immediately hung his head in annoyance.
Her plan exposed, Niu Lihua hadn’t expected Lin Chunju to be so shrewd. The scheme to fabricate an adoption story to swindle money was not going to work.
Only then did Zhang Ying realize their intentions, her face burning with shame, wishing she could disappear into a crack in the ground.
Yue Jiandong saw her embarrassment and whispered, “Yingzi, Qingqing is my child, the only child of Yue Jiandong, and she is my legacy!”
Zhang Ying nodded repeatedly, guiltily stroking Yue Qingqing’s head, not daring to look into the child’s eyes.
But Yue Qingqing understood her thoughts; Zhang Ying loved her, yet deep down she was a traditional woman who always felt that not bearing a child for her husband was a grave mistake.
The better the Yue Family treated Zhang Ying, the thicker her guilt grew.
Today, Yue Jiandong had taken the opportunity to clear the air, also hoping that his mother could unravel her knot.
Niu Lihua and Zhang Tieniu watched the pair display their affection and couldn’t comprehend the Yue Family’s way of thinking.
In their imagination, upon hearing that they could adopt a son, Jiandong would eagerly agree right away, with no concern for anything else.
Reality, however, slapped the two of them hard.
“What are you still standing there for, waiting for me to invite you to dinner?” Lin Chunju said, without any politeness.
The family card was useless, and the lie had been exposed.
As shrewd as Niu Lihua was, she was out of options and could only call for Zhang Tieniu.
“Let’s go, can’t you see the mother-in-law doesn’t welcome us?”
Zhang Tieniu followed behind Niu Lihua with his head down, scratching his heart out in misery.
If it hadn’t been for his daughter-in-law’s family taking advantage of having a son and demanding a high price, they wouldn’t have needed to approach the Yue Family for the dowry money with their family’s wealth.
Niu Lihua glared fiercely at Zhang Ying, thinking this wretched girl was quite lucky. After marrying her off to the poorest family in the village, she never expected that there might be a chance for her to turn things around.
With this thought, she rudely barged toward Zhang Ying.
“Move out of the way, good dogs don’t block the path!”
Zhang Ying, with her head lowered and still immersed in her own emotions, was caught off guard and nearly toppled over.
Without the time to stabilize herself, she instinctively held her child tightly.
Fortunately, Yue Jiandong quickly reached out to help, and Zhang Ying finally didn’t fall.
Yue Jiannan was angry and anxious, and raised his fist, ready to strike.
Zhang Tieniu hastily grabbed Niu Lihua’s sleeve and dragged her away, scared.
However, Niu Lihua’s gaze remained fixated on Yue Qingqing.
In that moment, when Yue Qingqing had been jostled in Zhang Ying’s arms, the mutton-fat jade hidden at her chest slipped out along the neckline.
The oily jade, free of any impurities, immediately caught Niu Lihua’s attention, her eyes brimming with greed.