Chapter 207: Chapter 207 The Mind of a Petty Person
Zhou Xiuer just ran away like that, which caused Old Lady Zhouâs fingers to tremble with anger, pointing at the doorway. It took a good while before she managed to get her words out.
"Sheâs turned against me, completely against me, what kind of attitude is that? Huh? Such an unfilial girl." How dare she act petulant with her.
Madam Lu thought to herself that her daughter wasnât foolish, so why would she just sit there and let you hit her?
But although she thought this, she didnât dare to voice it out loud and only nudged Zhou Xuennian with her elbow.
Zhou Xuennian was just pondering over a math problem and felt displeased to be interrupted. Seeing his motherâs face contorted with rage, he said impatiently, "Mother, itâs just about a pair of earrings, whatâs it worth? It wonât be worth it if you ruin your health over them."
"If you had bought them for her, I wouldnât have said a word, but those came from Wufuâs side. Have you all forgotten the scene that girl made at our house before?" Old Lady Zhou sneered, glancing at Madam Lu.
Zhou Xuennian furrowed his eyebrows.
Madam Lu quickly said, "Mother, since Xiuer said that Ying Mei gave them to her, then it must be true. Itâs been so long, and we havenât seen Wufu coming to claim them, so it certainly must not be wrong!" Otherwise, that wretched girl would have already chased us down.
Old Lady Zhouâs anger subsided somewhat upon hearing this, and Madam Lu, seeing this, hurriedly took the opportunity to sneak away, saying, "Iâm going to the outhouse."
She didnât wait for her mother-in-law to respond and quickly went out. As for going to the outhouse, that wasnât the case; instead, she went to Zhou Xiuerâs room.
Among the Old Zhou family, Zhou Xiuer was the only young lady, and as the eldest, she had her own room. Madam Lu still thought her daughter would be in tears, but who would have thought the girl was hugging a copper mirror, admiring herself nonstop.
"Look at you, being pleased with yourself, you little stinker, I thought you were crying your eyes out." Madam Lu snorted as she approached her.
Zhou Xiuer put down the mirror, pouted, and said, "Why would I cry? If I hadnât run out crying just now, grandma would probably have forced me to return these earrings."
Madam Lu leaned in to look at the earrings, bright and red, quite fetching. She asked, "You tell me the truth, did your aunt really give them to you?"
Zhou Xiuer rolled her eyes and replied, "Of course itâs true."
"Is she that generous?" Madam Lu scoffed. If she really were so kind, she wouldnât have taken back the hairpin.
"Who knows? I wasted a lot of breath flirting with her to get these," Zhou Xiuer declared. "Itâs a pity though, theyâre just a pair of earrings." It would have been better if it were other, finer jewelry.
This is being greedy and biting off more than one can chew. In a peasantâs home, such a pair of earrings would be considered exceptionally fine jewelry. Take herself for example; in the past, owning a pair of silver clove earrings was already quite impressive, as many girls only wore red strings in their earlobes.
Unfortunately, Zhou Xiuer couldnât conceive such reasoning.
"Wasnât Wufu there at the time?" Madam Lu asked, still not relieved. Itâs not that she was being overly cautious; itâs just that Wufu made her somewhat apprehensive.
Zhou Xiuer replied, "If she had been there, would I have gotten away with it? Iâm not oblivious to whatâs good or bad," and added, "Mother, she shouldnât come over to reclaim them, right? If she really wanted to, she would have come yesterday."
Madam Lu frowned and said, "How would I know that? That damned girl doesnât play by the rules." After a pause, she suggested, "Why donât you go stay with your uncle for a few days?" If Wufu came looking, she wouldnât find anyone here.
Zhou Xiuer thought it over and agreed that it might be better to avoid confrontation. Otherwise, if she really demanded them back, all her scheming would have been for naught.
This was both mother and daughter suspecting others baselessly, for Wufu hadnât thought about coming over at all.
As for the previous matter involving Madam Lu, thereâs a difference between something being snatched away and willingly given away, right?