After saying that, Jiang Xiaobai shook her head, as if she felt resigned. “I’m not very sure what you want me to go out and explain. I’m a little slow; why don’t you say it out clearly?” she asked.
The more innocent Jiang Xiaobai looked, and the more she seemed to not know the situation, the more it enraged Jiang Mei.
When Jiang Yoo, who was standing at the side, saw the method she used to tackle Jiang Mei, he could not help but lower his eyes and slightly smiled. It seems like she is planning to goad her.
The more agitated Jiang Mei seemed, the calmer Jiang Xiaobai looked. Through this way, Jiang Mei would be humiliated in front of all the elders. Though this method was a little despicable, somehow, he felt excited to watch this. Well, Jiang Mei started this.
“Jiang Xiaobai, stop pretending. You have heard what I just said, but now, you want me to say it out clearly. Aren’t you ashamed? You still let Uncle Yanke and Aunty Xiaoyu take care of you when you are almost 30 years old and are no longer a child.”
The surrounding onlookers listened to their conversation and compared their current demeanor—Jiang Xiaobai maintained her composure, but Jiang Mei was making a fuss. It was obvious who was more mature.
The second daughter-in-law of the Jiang family, who was also Jiang Mei’s mother, had been observing the surroundings. Upon noticing the disdain toward her daughter in everyone’s eyes, she realized that the incident was progressing toward an undesirable direction. Instantly, she tugged Jiang Mei’s hand in secret. “Mei, stop making a scene. Why are you creating troubles on such an occasion?”
However, Jiang Mei retracted her hand. “Mom, I’m just asking for justice on behalf of Uncle Yanke and Aunty Xiaoyu. They don’t have a son, but only a daughter, and a useless one at that. I cannot bear to see this carry on.”
Hearing her words, Jiang Xiaobai’s lips could not stop twitching because Jiang Mei actually said that she was about to turn 30 years old.
Geez, I’m just barely over my twenties. What do you mean by saying that I’m almost 30 years old?
Upon having such thoughts, Jiang Xiaobai let out a scornful laugh before saying, “Jiang Mei, we are both the same age. You can think of yourself as someone who is almost 30 years old, but I don’t think of myself that way. If you really want to defend my parents against injustice, let’s talk it out. From your tone, you seem to have some comments with my parents for having only a daughter.”
When this topic was brought up, Jiang Mei felt full of herself. “That is the truth. Everyone knows that in Chinese culture, there are three unfilial acts, and one of them is to not have a son. You are the only daughter in your family, but you are such a failure.”
“Oh, do you mean that women are incomparable to men?”
Jiang Mei, who had a brother, arrogantly remarked, “All I know is that I have an elder brother, but you don’t.”
“Heh. Jiang Mei, you are a woman, yet you are not proud of yourself; you’re proud of a man instead. I wonder how you regard all the women here now. How do you regard granny?” Jiang Xiaobai sneered.
Jiang Xiaobai threw the question back at Old Madam Jiang as she clearly knew that although Old Madam Jiang was unsatisfied with their family, she had never shown it on the surface. However, Jiang Mei pointed out that it was considered an unfilial act to not have a son. Therefore, Jiang Xiaobai used this as her weapon against Jiang Mei.
As expected, when Jiang Mei heard her words, which asked about how she regarded Old Madam Jiang, she felt a little panicked and subconsciously looked at Old Madam Jiang.
Meanwhile, Old Madam Jiang, who was dragged into the situation by Jiang Xiaobai, looked at Jiang Mei in displeasure.
Feeling flustered, Jiang Mei immediately explained, “Granny, this wasn’t what I meant. Since the three children you gave birth to are so outstanding, of course you are impressive.”
After she coaxed Old Madam Jiang, the guests, who were standing at one side, were uncontented.
“Jiang Mei, judging by what you said, are you saying that it’s my fault for not having a son? You are a young lady and also someone from the modern generation; how could you have such an old way of thinking?”
“Oh, my. How could a young lady like you have such a horrifying opinion? In the future, if you get married but don’t have a son, are you going to feel so ashamed of yourself that you can’t afford to live?”
“I wonder how this second daughter-in-law of the Jiang family brought up her daughter. Not only did she stir things up at this kind of an occasion, she even insulted her cousin in front of everyone, and not to mention she also demeaned us women.”
“Is this something that a normal human would’ve done?”
The discussion got louder and louder, and all of them were about their dissatisfaction toward Jiang Mei.
Jiang Mei became utterly panicked. She wanted to explain, but she was helpless as whatever she said was refuted. In the end, she yelled while pointing at Jiang Xiaobai, “It was her! She was the one who dragged me into this mess. Jiang Xiaobai, you intentionally put me through this; you just wanted everyone to reprimand me.”
“Jiang Mei, how did I put you through this? If you didn’t have such thoughts, it would have been impossible for me to force you to say it.” Jiang Xiaobai looked shocked.
“This young lady looks young; how could she be so vindictive toward her cousin?”
“It was probably out of jealousy. Jiang Xiaobai is so good-looking, so she felt dissatisfied. Look at her face—she had a nose job and even a chin surgery…”
“Oh, I see. Now that you mentioned it, this Jiang Xiaobai is really pretty. She has completely inherited her mother’s beauty.”
Women’s mouths could be terrifying, especially when it came to mocking people. When the victim they intended to insult happened to be of the same gender, they would know what to say that would hurt her the most.
Therefore, everyone deliberately attacked her weaknesses. Being insulted in front of everyone, Jiang Mei’s eyes turned red, and her tears instantly fell. She ran to Old Madam Jiang and cried, “Granny…”
Old Madam Jiang had been pampering Jiang Mei and disliking Jiang Xiaobai all this while. Therefore, when she saw her granddaughter crying terribly, her brow involuntarily furrowed as she looked at Jiang Xiaobai before stating in a stern voice, “Xiaobai, no matter what happened, you two are cousins. You shouldn’t mislead everyone to rebuke Jiang Mei. She’s just a girl.”
Her words left Jiang Xiaobai speechless. We are cousins? When she was trying to mislead everyone to disdain me, why didn’t anyone consider that we are cousins? Also, is Jiang Mei the only one who’s a girl? Am I a boy, then?
Of course, Jiang Xiaobai did not have the guts to throw these harsh words directly at Old Madam Jiang. She merely put on a faint smile, and her voice and tone became even calmer. “Granny, you’ve misunderstood me. I didn’t mislead everyone to rebuke Jiang Mei. It was just that, as a girl, she mocked us females by saying that we are useless. As a girl, I would certainly be angry.”
Old Madam Jiang pulled a long face. “Are you saying that I favor her?”
“No, no.” Jiang Xiaobai shook her head. “You’re the fairest and most impartial person. This is a fact that everybody knows, right?”
Everyone was speechless. Fairest, my foot! However, they were willing to save Old Madam Jiang’s face.
“Of course. You’re the fairest and most impartial person, Old Madam Jiang. You most certainly won’t be biased.”
“That’s right, Old Madam Jiang. This Jiang Mei from your family went a little overboard. However, considering the fact that she is still young, we will let her off. Old Madam Jiang, you must know that it is easy for one to be impulsive when they are mad, so please don’t take the things we just said to heart.”
