We Weren’t Fated, I Just Played My Cards Right - Chapter 38

On the ride back, Zhang Yang sat in the passenger seat, animatedly recounting his experiences over the past few days to his father. Zhang Shijing listened attentively, occasionally engaging in conversation.

He didn’t ask why his son had run away from home, treating it as nothing more than a short trip.

However, whenever Zhang Shijing steered the conversation toward his wife Lü Yao, Zhang Yang immediately clammed up, his resistance obvious.

Zhang Shijing sighed helplessly. Sitting in the back, Lü Yao rested a hand on her abdomen, unbothered by her stepson’s attitude—or more accurately, she was used to it.

In this household, apart from Zhang Shijing, no one welcomed her.

Upon arriving home, Zhang Shijing got out of the car and thanked Dong Zhenghao once more before entering the house with his son and wife.

Dong Zhenghao watched the Zhang father and son walk ahead, with Mrs. Zhang trailing behind, and shook his head.

Returning home after four days away, as soon as the door closed, Dong Qi barely had time to feel happy before he saw his father raise a feather duster that had somehow appeared in the entryway.

He swore they didn’t have this thing before they left!

True, but in the four days he was gone, his two sisters had ordered four feather dusters—just in case one wasn’t enough.

“Running away from home, huh? You’ve got some nerve!” Dong Zhenghao brandished the feather duster and advanced menacingly toward Dong Qi.

“Dad, Dad, I was wrong! I’ll never do it again!”

Faced with the threat of violence, Dong Qi immediately caved, his attitude of repentance impeccable.

During his days away from home, he had learned one thing: you absolutely do not cross the person who holds the family’s financial power.

He had been too naive before, unaware of life’s hardships.

Dong Zhenghao looked at his son in surprise—since when did Dong Qi know how to apologize?

“Your tutor has been arranged. Classes start tomorrow.” Dong Zhenghao temporarily shelved the corporal punishment, holding the feather duster as he spoke to his son.

“Got it.” Dong Qi drooped his head dejectedly, thinking to himself that this hurdle was insurmountable.

Math—was that even meant for humans to learn?

“I don’t expect you to excel, but at the very least, you can’t do worse than your two sisters!”

“Dad, you’re really setting him up for failure. With his IQ only capable of scoring eleven points, the passing mark is a bit too high for him,” Liu Mumu chimed in sarcastically from upstairs.

Dong Qi couldn’t hold back and roared, “Liu Mumu!”

Only to earn a smack from his father: “What are you yelling for? Is your sister wrong?”

“No, she’s not.” Dong Qi swallowed his indignation and shut his mouth.

Liu Mumu leaned against the stair railing, resting her chin on her hands, feeling somewhat bored. She had expected the kid to throw a tantrum after coming back from his trip, but surprisingly, he had turned docile.

On his first night back home, Dong Qi had another nightmare—this time about math, where every test paper showed a score of eleven. When he returned home, his father was waiting at the door with the feather duster, ready to beat him.

Between the exams and the beatings, he woke up exhausted, both physically and mentally.

The next morning, he noticed his parents also looked like they hadn’t slept well. His mother kept yawning throughout breakfast.

“Mom, didn’t you sleep well last night?” Dong Qi ventured to ask.

Jiang Li quickly glanced at Dong Zhenghao, who was silently eating his congee. Last night, she had dreamed that Lao Dong’s ex-wife returned, that they remarried, and that she and the two children were kicked out of the house.

But she couldn’t say that in front of the kids. Jiang Li shook her head at her son. “It’s nothing, just a bit of insomnia.”

Insomnia was still better than nightmares. Dong Qi sighed in relief.

He thought to himself that since his mother hadn’t had nightmares, it probably wasn’t his fault.

Everything seemed normal in the Dong household.

But next door at the Zhang residence, chaos erupted early in the morning.

Lü Yao had prepared breakfast for the whole family, but by eight o’clock, her mother-in-law still hadn’t come downstairs to eat.

She knocked on the door but got no response. Worried something had happened, she had to ask her husband to unlock the door with a key.

Upon opening the door, they discovered that the mother-in-law had somehow rolled under the bed, likely hitting her head, and had been unconscious for who knows how long.

The family lost all appetite for dinner and immediately called an ambulance to take her to the hospital.

Of course, the incident next door couldn’t escape the Dong family’s notice. It wasn’t until the afternoon that the Zhang family members returned one after another. Zhang Shijing stayed at the hospital to accompany Old Mrs. Zhang, first sending his son and wife home. Also returning with them was Zhang Shijing’s younger sister, Zhang Xueqi.

Back at home, Lü Yao asked Zhang Xueqi, “Xueqi, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? Should I make you something?”

“No need,” Zhang Xueqi replied coldly, glancing at her current sister-in-law. “You should rest. I’m going next door.”

“What about Yangyang?” Lü Yao then asked Zhang Yang.

Without even looking at her, Zhang Yang went straight upstairs and slammed the door shut with a loud “bang.”

Soon after, Zhang Xueqi left, leaving Lü Yao alone in the empty living room on the first floor.

She sat on the sofa, gently stroking her belly, and after a long while, sighed.

Zhang Xueqi and Jiang Li had a good relationship. Although Zhang Xueqi no longer lived in the area after getting married, the two still occasionally went shopping together.

Naturally, Jiang Li welcomed Zhang Xueqi’s visit.

After sitting down, Jiang Li couldn’t help but inquire about Old Mrs. Zhang’s condition: “This morning, I saw an ambulance at your place. Was Aunt Zhang feeling unwell?”

At this, Zhang Xueqi couldn’t help but laugh wryly: “Don’t even mention it. My mom had a nightmare last night—dreamed she was bedridden and being abused by my sister-in-law. She was so scared she fell off the bed and passed out.”

Jiang Li also chuckled: “They say dreams reflect one’s thoughts. Is Aunt Zhang really worried about that? Your sister-in-law seems decent enough—how could she possibly abuse her?”

At this point, Zhang Xueqi’s smile faded slightly: “You’re wrong about that. The more harmless someone appears, the more deceptive they can be. You only see how my mom usually treats Lü Yao poorly, but have you ever considered how she even entered our family in the first place?”

Thanks to Zhang Xueqi, Jiang Li was quite familiar with the Zhang family’s affairs: “Is Aunt Zhang bothered that she married into your family just two months after your previous sister-in-law passed away?”

As adults, Jiang Li found it hard to believe anyone could find true love just two months after their wife’s death. Those two had likely been involved long before, but it takes two to tango—shouldn’t the Zhang family share some blame instead of pinning it all on Lü Yao?

“It’s not just that,” Zhang Xueqi scoffed lightly. “Do you know how my previous sister-in-law had her accident? It was because this woman sent her some things. She was so distraught that she fell down the stairs.”

“There’s such a thing?” Jiang Li was surprised.

“Absolutely. My mom adored my brother’s first wife the most. If it weren’t for my brother insisting on marrying this woman, how could she have ever entered our family?”

Here, Zhang Xueqi was venting her grievances about her former sister-in-law. Meanwhile, in the hospital, Old Mrs. Zhang was arguing with her son.

The cause, naturally, was Lü Yao.

Recalling her dream from the previous night, Old Mrs. Zhang became increasingly convinced that Lü Yao shouldn’t stay in their home. She bluntly told her son, “I rented an apartment a few days ago. In a few days, have Lü Yao move out.”

Zhang Shijing frowned. “Mom, Lü Yao is my wife. How can I let her move out alone?”

“And I’m your mother! Tell me, what has our family become since she married into it? Our once well-behaved and obedient Yangyang was so upset by her that he ran away from home. And now I’ve hit my head—isn’t it all because of her?”

Zhang Shijing was at a loss for words. His son didn’t get along with his wife, and now he was demanding she move out—otherwise, he’d leave home. How could this be blamed on her?

As for his mother hitting her head, that was even more absurd. It wasn’t as if Lü Yao had pushed her out of bed.

But sometimes, reasoning was pointless—especially when the person before him was his mother.

In the end, Zhang Shijing had no choice but to say, “Mom, Yaoyao is pregnant. She’s four months along. I didn’t tell you earlier.”

“What?” Old Mrs. Zhang sat straight up in bed, her eyes lighting up with excitement. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

Zhang Shijing smiled. “We had someone check. It’s a girl.”

He had long wanted a daughter and was filled with anticipation for this child.

He didn’t notice the obvious displeasure on his mother’s face when she heard it was a girl. Still, she didn’t bring up Lü Yao moving out again.

Old Mrs. Zhang stayed in the hospital for two days until she was confirmed to be fine, then returned home.

That very night, she began having nightmares again.

This time, she didn’t fall out of bed but cried and screamed, startling the entire household awake.

Zhang Xueqi rushed into the room to calm her mother, only to hear her muttering incessantly, “The child… the child…”

After finally soothing the old woman back to sleep, Zhang Xueqi left a light on and stepped out of the room, her expression grave as she asked her brother, “Mom kept talking about a child. What child is she referring to?”

Zhang Shijing could only explain, “Your sister-in-law is pregnant. I told Mom a few days ago.”

“If that’s all, then why was Mom so terrified?” Zhang Xueqi clearly didn’t believe him.

“How should I know?”

Zhang Shijing was equally frustrated. Earlier, Zhang Xueqi had repeatedly asked their mother what she had dreamed about, but she only mentioned the child. Yet after learning about Lü Yao’s pregnancy, his mother’s attitude had actually improved.

The whole family had a restless night because of Old Mrs. Zhang’s nightmares.

The next day, Zhang Xueqi visited the Dong household again.

Jiang Li hadn’t been in good spirits lately, sleeping poorly at night. Hearing the knock but too lazy to move, Liu Mumu got up to answer the door.

Seeing Jiang Li’s stepdaughter, Zhang Xueqi was momentarily taken aback before nodding at her.

This time, Zhang Xueqi had come to ask Jiang Li for help.

“You want me to find you a master?” Jiang Li’s first reaction was to glance at Liu Mumu after hearing Zhang Xueqi’s request.

Then she averted her gaze and asked curiously, “I thought your family didn’t believe in this sort of thing. Why the sudden need for a master?”

Zhang Xueqi sighed helplessly, “My sister-in-law is pregnant, but these past few days my mother has been having nightmares, saying the child is haunting her in her dreams. She insists the child is jinxing her. I was wondering if we should find someone to divine it, just to put her mind at ease.”

Actually, she left out half the story. Her mother was also pressuring her sister-in-law to abort the child, and now there was a huge fight at home between her mother and brother.

Although Zhang Xueqi didn’t particularly like this sister-in-law, it was still a child—already four months along. They couldn’t just abort it for such an absurd reason.

Jiang Li hesitated before saying, “I do know a master, but I’ll have to ask them first before I can give you an answer.”

“Alright, please ask the master for me. I’m really at my wit’s end.” The old lady at home couldn’t be reasoned with or moved, and even her brother was powerless.

After seeing Zhang Xueqi off, Jiang Li turned her intense gaze toward Liu Mumu.

“What do you want to ask?” Liu Mumu fiddled with her phone without looking up.

“About the situation with Old Lady Zhang—is she really being jinxed by the unborn child?” Ever since witnessing firsthand how terrifying Liu Mumu’s fate could be, Jiang Li no longer dared to dismiss such things as impossible.

“Even if a child were to jinx their family, they’d have to be born first to do it. A child that hasn’t even fully formed yet doesn’t have that kind of power.”

“Then why is Old Lady Zhang having nightmares?”

Liu Mumu tilted her head toward Jiang Li. “Psychological stress, or…”

“Or what?”

“Or maybe she just doesn’t want that child.”

The only one truly fated to be so unlucky as to bring misfortune to her family was Liu Mumu herself.