"You liar, you..." Du Xiaowei was so enraged he couldn't even form complete sentences.
"I never said this was the original document, so where's the deception? If anything, your entire family are the real liars." Mu Yuting pointed at them one by one, listing their faults.
"The crooked beam at the top sets the standard for those below. Let's start with you, the top beam—Du Daqiang. You were once a farmer who used connections to become a temporary security guard at a textile factory in the city. With your average looks, bad temper, and poverty, you couldn't find a wife even in your thirties, so you conspired with a matchmaker to trick someone into marriage."
"The matchmaker helped you deceive Zheng Xiangmei from a poor mountain village in Y County. You lied to her, claiming you were a permanent urban worker with a city household registration, a house, and the ability to get her a cushy job at the factory. In reality, you were a temporary worker without urban residency, renting your place in the city, and arranging a job was impossible. Aside from being a real man, every other detail about you was fake."
"After the marriage scam succeeded, you followed the matchmaker's advice and quickly got her pregnant, then had two children in a row, using them to tie her down. If she tried to leave, you'd beat her and the children. Eventually, she was subdued by the violence and trapped by the children, so she stayed."
"You violated the national family planning policy by hiding to have two sons. You gave birth but didn't provide—leaving them cold and hungry, without enough food, clothes, or education, and even depriving them of basic healthcare."
"You made your younger son drop out of school early to work, and all his earnings went to supporting the family; you were too stingy to pay for your elder son's hepatitis B vaccine, so he contracted it in elementary school, but your whole family concealed his illness and deliberately tricked more women into marriage to harm them."
"What fine family values, what a splendid tradition—what a bunch of top-notch specimens!" Truly a notorious "three-excellent family."
These were hard truths, leaving no room for rebuttal. Du Daqiang was so furious he raised his arm and lunged forward, but his son Du Dawei held him back firmly.
"Now for the second crooked beam—Zheng Xiangmei. Back in your poor mountain village in Y County, you had a honest farmer husband, but you despised his poverty, abandoned him, and were determined to marry into the city for a better life. So you hid your marital history and married Du Daqiang. Unfortunately, you still got duped, jumping from one poor pit into another poor and abusive fire pit."
"For your own and your children's safety, you had to submit to Du Daqiang. Luckily, he was foolish, and you gradually learned to manipulate him to make your own life more comfortable. The most disgusting part is how you treated your miserable experiences as life lessons to teach your sons—to deceive, tame, and ruin other girls."
"Take your son Du Dawei's college sweetheart, for example—she was your first test subject. After Du Dawei got into university, his tuition and living expenses were entirely paid by his girlfriend's part-time jobs. In the end, he heartlessly abandoned the girlfriend who supported him and even had an abortion for him. You were the one who handled the aftermath, telling that girl that a promiscuous woman who didn't know self-respect and had an abortion wasn't good enough for your son."
Mu Yuting thought to herself: And me in my past life. You taught your son to trick women into marriage, then used violence to break me, used my child to tame me, forced me to yield, and drained my mother's entire savings through my marriage...
Du Daqiang could hardly believe it. He erupted with a tremendous force, violently shaking off his son Du Dawei's grasp, and seized Zheng Xiangmei by her long hair, dragging her to her knees before him.
He snarled viciously, "Zheng Xiangmei, you weren't a virgin, and this wasn't your first marriage? The matchmaker said you were a first-time bride and a virgin, that's why I agreed. You wretched woman! You still think you can manipulate me? Do you think I'm stupid?"
Zheng Xiangmei fought back fiercely, tearing and clawing to free her hair. But she was no match for the immensely strong Du Daqiang. With her hair being yanked, she cried out in pain.
"Du Daqiang, you're the one who deceived me into marriage! You lied to me about so many things, none of it was true. I married you, but you never arranged that factory job for me. Instead, you forced me to set up a stall polishing shoes and to wake up in the middle of the night to make breakfast to sell. Someone as beautiful as me married to enjoy a comfortable life, not to suffer and struggle with you!"
Du Dawei and Du Xiaowei stood by watching, completely unmoved. In their household, such violent scenes had happened too many times; they had grown numb to it. As long as no one was killed, life would just go on after the fight.
Mu Yaojia's saintly compassion flared up again. She couldn't bear to see a woman being beaten and stepped forward to intervene and pull them apart. Mu Yuting gripped her mother's arm tightly, stopping her.
"How can you be so heartless? Standing by without helping?" Mu Yaojia was a bit angry, wondering how the daughter she raised could lack any sympathy.
"If I hadn't called off the engagement, that would be me in her place," Mu Yuting released her mother's arm, her expression cold. "If you go over there, don't consider me your daughter anymore."
She thought to herself: In my past life, when I was being beaten, where were you, Mom? You didn't live with me, so you didn't see it. But when I couldn't take it anymore and wanted a divorce, you came and repeatedly urged me to endure and forgive for the sake of the children. And now, you want to feel sorry for the very person who taught her son to deceive his way into marriage...
Once a person's heart turns cold, it can never be warmed again.
Seeing her daughter's resolute attitude, Mu Yaojia hesitated.
"Pah! I don't need your fake sympathy. I have two sons. When they marry, they'll take me to enjoy a life of luxury. You only have a daughter; your line will end with you! Your family's wealth won't stay in the family; it'll just benefit your son-in-law."
Despite having lost clumps of hair and being slapped several times across the face, Zheng Xiangmei remained proud because she had borne two sons. As long as her sons were there, she had hope—someday she would leave with them to enjoy prosperity, free from this violent, worthless husband.
Mu Yaojia trembled violently; those words struck a deep chord. She looked at Zheng Xiangmei, then at Mu Yuting, lost in thought for a moment, stunned.
"Let's talk about you, the crooked beam—Du Dawei. You've perfectly inherited your father's violent impulsiveness and brutishness, along with your mother's selfish cunning and pretense—two completely opposite traits."
"You wanted to change your financial situation through marriage, to escape that disgusting family, to avoid being dragged into the mire by them. So you worked hard to get into university and found a diligent, hardworking girlfriend to be your long-term meal ticket, supporting you, providing both financial and physical pleasures. But you're still not satisfied."
"You refuse to keep striving and instead seek to deceive officials' children or wealthy beauties into marriage, aiming to directly plunder their family fortunes. Unfortunately, you failed. Women from those social strata don’t casually date across classes, and on the rare occasions they do, they only choose outstanding and handsome ‘phoenix men’—those who rose from hardship. But you—you’re no phoenix, just a common chicken."
Du Dawei’s fists clenched unconsciously. Every word struck a chord, bursting the bubble of his fragile self-esteem.
"After your dream of climbing the social ladder through marriage shattered, you had to settle for the next best thing: targeting an only daughter from a comfortably well-off family. You wooed me with your ‘warm guy’ act, hid your illness and family background to trick me into marriage, yet never intended to treat me well—only to drain me dry before kicking me to the curb."
"You couldn’t stand up to your domineering father. You watched coldly as your mother suffered abuse. You were heartless toward women who loved you. And you selfishly used your lawfully wedded wife." Mu Yuting let out a slow breath. "Tell me, how does someone like you have the right to extort 400,000 yuan from me as a breakup fee?"
Du Dawei was so enraged he nearly choked. After all that character assassination, how did the conversation circle back to "extortion"?
The private room door burst open with a crash as several police officers rushed in. Seeing a woman being assaulted, they immediately moved to intervene.
Zheng Xiangmei was finally rescued—her face swollen like a pig’s trotter, a front tooth knocked out, and clumps of hair torn away. Du Daqiang’s hands were scratched and bleeding from her nails, while Du Dawei also sported a swollen face and a bleeding lip.
"Who called the police?" an officer asked, once order was restored.
"I did," Mu Yuting replied calmly. "This family was trying to extort 400,000 yuan from me."
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