TEDWR: Chapter 46

 Glossary

· Zhang Yansheng (张雁声): The female protagonist, the reborn eldest daughter.

· Liang Zheng (梁征): Liang Yingying's nephew from her hometown.

· Zhang Huan (张寰): Zhang Yansheng's father.

· Liang Yingying (梁莹莹): Zhang Yansheng's stepmother.

· Zhang Heling (张鹤翎): Zhang Yansheng's nine-year-old half-sister.

· Zhang Shuocheng (张硕成): Zhang Yansheng's seven-year-old half-brother.

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Chapter 46

It was somewhat ironic. Zhang Yansheng had been waiting for Liang Zheng to take the initiative and steal Zhang Huan's million-dollar watch. She had even been wondering if there was any way in this life to persuade Zhang Huan not to drop the charges out of consideration for face, to let Liang Zheng be prosecuted for the theft amount.

The funny thing was, she hadn't yet figured out how to persuade Zhang Huan, and Liang Zheng hadn't even started coveting Zhang Huan's watch, yet he had done something a hundred thousand times more perverted and disgusting than in her previous life.

What was hateful was that the country's laws in this area were still not well-established. Such matters were handled under "violations of public security administration regulations." For serious cases, like secretly filming a girl for a year, it was administrative detention for ten days. For lighter cases, like Liang Zheng's—just installed and not having captured any content yet—the final punishment was administrative detention for five days.

This really was… letting Liang Zheng off too easy! He might as well have stolen the watch!

The police asked Zhang Yansheng if she demanded financial compensation from Liang Zheng. Zhang Yansheng asked, "How much can he be made to pay?"

The police considered and said, "Usually around five hundred. But in your case… nothing was actually filmed, so compensation might not even be granted."

Zhang Yansheng's face turned dark.

Zhang Huan slapped the table. "Just five days' detention?"

The police, having seen plenty of emotionally agitated victims or family members, knew it was perfectly normal for a father to be angry in this situation. They calmly told him, "Yes, five days. His case is essentially an attempted offense, so it's just five days."

Zhang Huan said through gritted teeth, "Don't detain him then. Let him out now, will you?"

Zhang Yansheng glanced sideways at Zhang Huan.

Zhang Huan's face was even darker than hers. "Let him out now! So I can kill him!"

The officer kept a straight face. "Sir, I understand how you feel. Please control your emotions. Causing serious bodily harm can lead to criminal detention."

Zhang Yansheng rolled her eyes, gave the officer a slight nod, and said, "Thank you for your trouble." She signed where needed, got up, and left.

Zhang Huan followed her.

Liang Yingying only dared to trail behind at a distance, not getting too close. Half her face was swollen.

Leaving the police station, the Zhang father and daughter paid her no attention, got into a car together, and left.

Liang Yingying stood at the police station entrance, cursed bitterly a few times, then also drove off in her Ferrari.

Sitting in the car, Zhang Huan was still trembling with anger, muttering, "I'll kill him! I will definitely kill him!"

Zhang Yansheng glanced at him, not really believing him. After all, in her past life, when Liang Zheng stole a million-dollar watch, Zhang Huan had let him off. If they had filed a case, Liang Zheng would have gotten several years.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

This time was much lighter than last life—only five days of administrative detention.

But Zhang Huan kept gritting his teeth, a murderous look in his eyes, which surprised Zhang Yansheng a bit.

She couldn't help asking, "You're that angry?"

Zhang Huan was almost angered into a laugh by his daughter's question. "Does my face look happy to you?"

Zhang Yansheng blinked.

Her confusion stemmed from her knowledge of the previous life. But from Zhang Huan's perspective, it was because his daughter was still young and didn't fully understand the seriousness of the matter.

He sighed, first suppressing his rage, and patiently spoke to Zhang Yansheng. "You discovered this early, so we didn't suffer any actual losses. But what if you hadn't discovered it? If that despicable scoundrel had really filmed you and uploaded it to some porn site, and people we know saw it, what then? What would happen to you, a young girl, in the future? And where would my face be then!"

As he spoke, his anger rose again, and he couldn't help gritting his teeth once more, his face looking somewhat ferocious.

So, he was genuinely angry.

Well, Zhang Yansheng thought, that's just as effective as stealing the watch. Good enough.

Liang Yingying's Ferrari followed Zhang Huan's car closely into the courtyard. The Zhang father and daughter got out of the car, neither looking at her, and walked straight into the house, talking as they went.

"Are you sure there are no other cameras?"

"None. I searched once, and the police searched once. These things are either aimed at the bathroom or the bed. There aren't any in either location now."

"...Goddamn it!" Zhang Huan cursed crudely.

"I'll sleep in a guest room tonight," Zhang Yansheng said. "Tomorrow, I'll find a renovation company to completely redo my bathroom."

The Zhang residence had more than one guest room. The one Zhang Yansheng would sleep in was definitely not the one Liang Zheng had used a week ago.

As for redoing the bathroom… in an ordinary household, that might seem overly fastidious. But Zhang Huan was in the midst of his fury and said directly, "Redo the whole room!"

Zhang Yansheng immediately refused. "No! My room was decorated by my mom!"

"Oh! Right, right! I forgot!" Zhang Huan quickly said. "Then just the bathroom! Don't worry about it. I'll have my secretary arrange it tomorrow." But Zhang Yansheng's mood had clearly turned foul.

Zhang Huan felt somewhat awkward.

Liang Yingying had gotten out of the car and chased after them. On the stairs, while the father and daughter were talking, she kept her head down, not daring to interrupt.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Reaching the second floor, Zhang Yansheng turned her face away and went back to her room. Behind her, she heard Liang Yingying quickly catching up to Zhang Huan, her voice ingratiating and pleading, calling out, "Darling! Darling! Husband~"

But she didn't hear Zhang Huan's voice. He was still furious and was ignoring Liang Yingying.

Zhang Yansheng had seen through everything completely.

Liang Yingying was nothing.

In her past life, Zhang Yansheng had been suppressed by her entirely because she herself had been too weak. Young, constrained by upbringing and morality, she didn't know how to curse and refused to resort to violence.

When a well-bred young lady confronted a bottom-line shrew, of course Zhang Yansheng was at a disadvantage. The teenage girl had veered off the right path, filled with regret and no way out.

Fortunately, she was reborn.

Zhang Yansheng returned to her room and looked around…

The wallpaper pattern, the style of the chandelier, the overall color scheme… these were all traces left by her mother.

Later, those traces had all vanished.

Back then, she hadn't returned home for nearly a year. When she finally came back, the entire house had been completely renovated.

Walking into the house at that time, she felt as if someone had punched her in the chest, unable to catch her breath for a long time.

The entire house bore Liang Yingying's imprint.

Completely, utterly, it was no longer her home. She had a hysterical outburst, which only earned her a face full of Zhang Huan's helplessness and impatience. There was no way to restore the house to its original state.

But in this life, this life, Zhang Yansheng would absolutely not let that happen again!

How Zhang Huan lectured his wife on the third floor, Zhang Yansheng didn't know. In any case, for the next few days, Liang Yingying didn't go out, staying at home listless and dejected.

Zhang Huan's secretary called Zhang Yansheng the next afternoon to confirm the bathroom renovation. In the afternoon, a designer came to take measurements and discuss her requirements.

Zhang Yansheng's request was simple: "Exactly as it is. Replace it with new items that are identical. The key is to keep it exactly the same."

Designer: "..." So what's the point of my existence?

Zhang Yansheng: "Same brand, same model. If it's not available on the market, contact the manufacturer."

The designer was defeated.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

During these days, Liang Yingying was exceptionally low-key, dressing as primly as a nun, her speaking voice softened to an unbelievable degree. Even when talking to Zhang Heling, she was like this, not daring to show impatience with Zhang Shuocheng either, afraid of irritating Zhang Yansheng's nerves.

Every morning, she didn't dare sleep her beauty sleep, getting up early to serve Zhang Huan breakfast—though there was really nothing for her to do, Zhang Huan wasn't without hands. She just carried plates, poured milk, and hovered around Zhang Huan with soft, gentle words.

Zhang Yansheng watched coldly from the sidelines, gradually understanding why Zhang Huan had taken a fancy to a woman like Liang Yingying.

From a woman's perspective, she naturally saw Liang Yingying as big-breasted and brainless, vulgar. A man who fancied such a woman must be low himself.

But in reality, what men wanted and what women thought men should want were not the same thing at all.

Yet even with Liang Yingying trying to curry favor like this, Zhang Huan didn't give her a good look.

Liang Yingying relied on Zhang Huan to live. Zhang Huan valued her, she had weight. Zhang Huan didn't value her, she was lighter than a fart.

Zhang Yansheng remembered that she later found out Zhang Huan actually had other women outside.

Liang Yingying was not only older, no longer youthful, but after being placed in the home as the "wife," she had lost her novelty for Zhang Huan.

In this society, there was never a shortage of young girls who wanted to trade their youthful bodies for a better life.

Younger, prettier ones were plentiful.

Back then, Zhang Yansheng hardly came home anymore but had heard about it. Yet she never saw Liang Yingying make a fuss about it.

She simply didn't dare make a fuss. What if she did, and Zhang Huan wanted a divorce and remarried some fourth or fifth wife? She had both a son and a daughter anyway; Zhang Huan's assets would go to her children in the future. She didn't care about Zhang Huan's affairs outside.

Was such a marriage and life meaningful? Zhang Yansheng wondered.

However, she wasn't really in a position to mock Liang Yingying, this gold digger. She, a young lady born with a silver spoon in her mouth, had also lived emptily, as if without a soul.

Looking back, it sent chills down her spine. She stopped paying attention to Zhang Huan and Liang Yingying, finished her milk, and went upstairs to study.

Liang Zheng was detained for five days. Zhang Yansheng thought it was too short; Zhang Huan thought it was too long. He waited a full five days for Liang Zheng to be released.

As Liang Zheng walked out of the detention center, a black van stopped in front of him. The passenger window rolled down, revealing his aunt, Liang Yingying.

Liang Yingying's face was taut as she said, "Get in."

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Liang Zheng was about to say something when the van door opened. Two men got out, directly pulled him inside, and the door closed immediately.

Liang Zheng's face changed dramatically. Struggling, he called for help from Liang Yingying in the front. "Aunt! Aunt!"

Liang Yingying put on her sunglasses, not daring to look back, and comforted him in a trembling voice, "Later, you… bear with it, okay? You won't die. Be good, okay."

With each "okay," Liang Zheng trembled.

When Liang Zheng was returned to his rental apartment, one arm was fractured, and one leg had a hairline fracture.

Those men dumped him and left. Liang Yingying didn't leave. She didn't drive either; she called a car to take him to the hospital.

The doctor found bruises all over his body, clearly from a beating, and wanted to call the police. Liang Yingying desperately tried to stop it, saying, "It was an accident within the family! Family matter, family matter!"

Liang Zheng, already scared out of his wits, didn't dare say anything either.

If it was a "family matter," the police usually just smoothed things over. In the end, they didn't call the police.

All of Liang Zheng's belongings in the rental apartment had been smashed.

Facing his shattered laptop, Liang Zheng felt like crying but had no tears.

"Cry what cry! I'm the one who wants to cry!" Liang Yingying, having held back until now, finally could point at Liang Zheng's nose and curse him out. "What kind of stupid idiot are you! What were you thinking, installing a camera in my house! Without me, do you think you could live a good life! Look at your parents, each lazier than the other! Who the hell would support you! The house you live in was bought with my money! And that's all the Zhang family's money! Are you out of your mind, offending the Zhang family!"

She cursed her fill, panting heavily with anger.

Finally, she took out a roll of cash from her purse and threw it at Liang Zheng. "Take it. Buy a ticket yourself. Go back to wherever you came from."

"Go back and tell the family: from now on, no one is to come! Not even for the New Year!"

"Zhang Huan said that from now on, no one from the Liang family is allowed to appear before his eyes."

The Zhang family had never lacked poor relatives looking for handouts. From now on, the Zhang family would have no relatives named Liang.

(End of Chapter)

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