The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 674 - 673: Sisters Fight

Chapter 674: Chapter 673: Sisters Fight

Ren’s mother didn’t hold back at all, and Ren Jingshu’s cheek immediately swelled up.

But she didn’t cry or make a fuss. Instead, she looked at Ren’s mother with a surprisingly calm gaze.

"You’ve scolded and hit me, can I have my things back now?"

Her calmness, however, greatly provoked Ren’s mother, who threw the items on the floor and viciously trampled them with her foot, as if she had lost her mind. Even the housekeeper was too frightened to come forward.

"I tell you every day to control your weight, and you just ignore it, don’t you?"

"Are you that gluttonous? Will you die if you don’t eat?"

"If you can’t even control your own mouth, what else can you do?"

"Speak up! Answer me! What else can you do besides eat?!"

Jingshu was like a pretty puppet, allowing Ren’s mother to jab her head with her finger, her red-rimmed eyes fixated on the freeze-dried snacks crushed on the floor.

There were vegetables, fruits, and starchy foods like potatoes and sweet potatoes. Each was meticulously selected for their nutritional combination.

She had indeed indulged in secret eating, but she had restrained herself, only sneaking a couple of pieces when she was unbearably hungry.

She was a living human, not a machine; she just wanted a little bit of freedom and happiness.

She really had had enough and didn’t want to endure it anymore.

She looked up with tear-filled eyes at Ren’s mother, "Fine, I’ll answer you, but can you first drop the shrew act? Because it’s really ugly."

Ren’s mother was incredulous as if hearing a wild fantasy, "What did you say?"

A shrew? Calling her a shrew?

Ren’s mother was proud and held herself in high regard. Her determination to make something of her daughter was clear.

How could such a strong woman with such concern for appearances bear the label of a shrew?

It must be said, as a daughter, Jingshu knew exactly how to hit Ren’s mother where it hurt.

"Look at you, all frantic and furious. If you’re not a shrew, then what are you? Do you think you’re being elegant?"

Ren’s mother was so angry she was panting, "Do you think I like to lose my temper? It’s you who infuriate me! Why don’t you listen to me and do as I say? And you still have the face to cry!"

Jingshu sneered, "I’m only your daughter, not your clone. If you can’t achieve something yourself, what makes you think I can?"

"And stop saying it’s for my good. I’m afraid you might start believing it yourself, forgetting your real intention, which is simply to fulfill your own unfulfilled wishes through me."

"You hope I will excel just to satisfy your own vanity, to have something more to boast about when chatting and comparing with others in your social circle."

Far from being ashamed, Ren’s mother spoke with conviction: "You are my daughter; shouldn’t you make me proud? Don’t forget, your comfortable life, the best dance teachers, the best education—all are because I provide them for you! Go ask your classmates how many of them envy you, wishing they could change places with you."

Jingshu couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore.

She laughed even as tears flowed, "If I hadn’t seen what other people’s parents are like, maybe I would think you were right."

"From childhood to now, you’ve never given me the right to choose, never asked what I wanted, nor cared whether I’m happy."

"You only set one goal after another and made plans for me. I’m like a marionette, manipulated and controlled by you."

"But what can you do? In two months, I’ll turn eighteen, and by then, you’ll have no right to interfere in my affairs any longer."

In the midst of Ren’s mother’s shocked gaze, Jingshu pointed to the mess on the ground, "Even kindergarteners know that wasting food is shameful. Did you think of the poor children in mountainous areas who can’t even get enough to eat when you were trampling on it?"

Seeing Ren’s mother speechless and taken aback, Jingshu felt a rush of exhilaration for the first time.

The emotions suppressed in her heart for so many years seemed to have found an outlet, making her feel inexplicably light in body and spirit.

The sky appeared bluer, the grass greener, the flowers more beautiful; everything seemed so delightful, as if she yearned to sprout wings and soar freely between heaven and earth.

Jingshu’s good mood lasted all the way to school.

Because she was late, Jingshu was called out by the teacher for a reprimand and was punished by being made to stand at the back of the classroom.

This was an unwritten rule in the senior three class, for every five minutes of tardiness, one would have to stand for an entire class.

Ren Jingshu was fifteen minutes late and had to stand for three classes.

Ren Yingying, a freshman, took advantage of a bathroom break to specifically run to Ren Jingshu’s classroom and upon seeing her standing as punishment, immediately reveled in her misfortune.

She deliberately exposed Ren Jingshu’s "secret snacking" in front of their mother, causing Jingshu to be beaten and scolded, and also made sure the driver didn’t wait for Jingshu, resulting in her being late for school and forced to stand as punishment.

In opposing Ren Jingshu, Ren Yingying was truly adept, displaying a slyness that belied her fifteen years.

...

Come noon when school let out, Ren Jingshu and Ren Yingying rode home together in the driver’s car.

It was hot and with the main road being congested, the driver took a detour down a shaded lane.

"Uncle Dong, please pull over."

Shortly after turning into the shaded lane, Ren Jingshu suddenly called for a stop.

This made Ren Yingying discontented, "What are you doing?"

Ren Jingshu didn’t respond but, after the driver parked, she took out ten yuan and handed it to him.

"Uncle Tian, could you please go buy me a bottle of water?"

"Sure, young miss, just give me a moment."

The driver took the money and got out of the car.

The blistering sun was typical, and for a delicate girl like Ren Jingshu, fear of getting a tan was quite normal.

If it were him with such a beautiful and talented daughter, he too would hate to have her under the harsh sun.

As soon as the driver left, Ren Jingshu got out of the car, walked around from the rear to the other side door, and under Ren Yingying’s bewildered gaze, opened the door, grabbed her by the hair, and dragged her out of the car to beat her up.

"Ah! What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Help! She’s hitting me!"

"She’s killing me!"

After beating her to exhaustion, Ren Jingshu sat directly on Ren Yingying, slapped her face until her mouth was swollen, "Shut up! Otherwise, I’ll tear your mouth apart, believe it or not?"

"Wuu wuu wuu..."

Ren Yingying covered her mouth, looking at Ren Jingshu with eyes as if she had seen a ghost, her face full of shock and tears, "How dare you hit me, I’m going to tell mom and dad, you bullied me..."

Before she could finish, Ren Jingshu choked her throat, silencing her completely.

Ren Jingshu was tall with long fingers, and years of dance practice endowed her with excellent physical stamina and strength, strangling Ren Yingying as easily as choking a chicken.

She toyed with Ren Yingying’s throat under her fingertips like a plaything.

"Ren Yingying, I’m warning you, don’t provoke me again, or next time I’ll be even more ruthless."

Watching Ren Jingshu get back into the car, the driver who had been hiding wiped the sweat from his forehead and ran back to the car’s side pretending to have just returned, exclaiming to the weeping Ren Yingying lying on the ground:

"Second Miss, what happened to you? Did you fall? Are you hurt? Let me help you up."

With swollen eyes, Ren Yingying stared at the driver incredulously: Are you blind? Does this look like I fell?

The driver kept his own counsel: You sisters can spar all you want but don’t get me fired, I have to support my family, you know?

With the driver’s assistance, Ren Yingying quickly stood up.

However, upon opening the car door and seeing Ren Jingshu in the back seat, she dared not get in the car, fearing Jingshu would go crazy again and beat her up.

"I don’t want to ride in the same car as her!"

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