```
Sensing Su Chaoxi's gaze, her mother-in-law put on a pleasing smile and lightly coughed before saying, "As a young lady, it's always right to have some pocket money on you. You've worked hard today."
Su Chaoxi felt even more guilty.
How confused and mindless must she have been in her past life to think that her mother-in-law was nothing but trouble?
Meeting her mother-in-law's cautious gaze, Su Chaoxi knew she had to accept the money.
If she didn't, her mother-in-law might worry that she would harm the children.
So, Su Chaoxi responded with a soft smile, "Thank you, Mom."
Her sweet smile instantly put her mother-in-law at ease.
A smile appeared on her mother-in-law's face, "Don't mention it, we are a family after all. Do you need a hand with anything?"
"No, thank you, Mom."
Having said that, Su Chaoxi knocked on the children's room door.
As if waiting right behind it.
Xie Mizhi swung the door open instantly.
When the little girl saw her mother, her eyes seemed to light up.
With a gentle smile, Su Chaoxi said, "Mimi, it's bath time."
Xie Mizhi, filled with joy, threw herself into Mommy's arms, all anticipation.
Su Chaoxi lifted her daughter and turned her gaze to Xie Xunzhi in the room.
The tiny Xie Xunzhi was standing not far away.
His eyes, just like Xie Tianyin's, resembled a little wolf cub on guard against predators.
Feeling a pang in her heart, Su Chaoxi smiled faintly at him and said, "Xunxun, it's time for your bath."
Xie Xunzhi remained silent.
But he silently followed.
The wariness in his eyes made it clear to Su Chaoxi.
Had she not taken Xie Mizhi away, he would never have gone with her.
He was guarding against her, fearful she'd harm his sister.
Su Chaoxi felt a bitter taste in her mouth, her sense of apology to the children deepening.
Xie Mizhi laughed sweetly in her mother's arms.
Her little hands gestured about as if she was calculating something.
Su Chaoxi was charmed by her daughter and hugged and kissed her repeatedly, "My Mimi is so adorable!"
After picking out their pajamas for the night,
Su Chaoxi led the children into the bathroom.
The grandmother had already filled the bathtub with water.
Seeing Su Chaoxi tenderly holding her daughter, her face showed rare relief.
Could it be that what Su Chaoxi just said was true?
Did she genuinely want to return to the family, and had she herself misunderstood?
Delighted but not daring to ask outright, the grandmother merely said, "Chaoxi, are the two kids bathing together?"
"Together," Su Chaoxi smiled faintly, "if you're free, would you teach me how?"
The grandmother was elated, "Of course, I can!"
Without supervision, she really feared something might happen.
Now that Su Chaoxi was offering an opportunity, why wouldn't she take it?
The grandmother immediately rolled up her sleeves, recently having bathed Xie Xunzhi.
But when Xie Xunzhi's clothes came off, Su Chaoxi saw a bruise on his shoulder.
"My goodness!" the grandmother exclaimed in shock, "How did this happen!"
Su Chaoxi was startled, too, and asked, "Xunxun, how did you get this?"
Xie Xunzhi didn't speak but hugged his arms and lowered his gaze.
The grandmother examined him.
Aside from his shoulder, there were also bruises on his thighs.
The grandmother barely touched them when Xie Xunzhi flinched away in pain.
His little face looked pale and pained.
This broke the grandmother's heart.
Wen Jingshu's eyes reddened, filling with tears as she suddenly looked at Su Chaoxi, resentment and blame in her gaze.
Su Chaoxi felt like she'd been struck by lightning, and spoke up, "Xunxun, can you tell Mommy who did this to you?"
There was a nasality in Su Chaoxi's voice.
Wen Jingshu noticed that Su Chaoxi's hands were tightly clenched and her complexion didn't look good.
It seemed, perhaps, she really wasn't involved?
Xie Xunzhi didn't even glance at Su Chaoxi and stayed silent.
Wen Jingshu wiped away tears and gently said, "Xunxun, tell Grandma who bothered you. Grandma will get back at them for you!"
Xie Mizhi, looking distressed, gently tugged at her brother's hand,
offering silent comfort.
Xie Xunzhi, feeling his sister's sadness, slowly said, "It was... "
He hesitated,
glancing at Su Chaoxi, seemingly afraid to speak.
Immediately understanding, Wen Jingshu turned to Su Chaoxi and said, "Chaoxi, you should step out for a bit. The children won't speak with you here."
In that moment, Su Chaoxi felt as if she'd been struck by lightning.
Seeing her unresponsive, Wen Jingshu couldn't hold back, her voice breaking with tears, "Chaoxi, you know who did it, right? It must be that good brother of yours!"
As if to confirm something, Wen Jingshu asked Xie Xunzhi, "Was it your little uncle?"
Xie Xunzhi's little uncle.
That was Su Chaoxi's brother, the six-year-old Su Aolong!
Xie Xunzhi looked at Su Chaoxi and nodded.
"I knew it!" Wen Jingshu erupted, "It's that kid! When you insisted on taking him to the Su Family's place, Xunxun always came back bruised and battered, not a single spot undamaged!"
Wen Jingshu's tears fell, "Every time it's hidden where it can't be seen. Don't you care as a mother?"
Su Chaoxi's mind buzzed, "I didn't know..."
"How would you know? Every time I mentioned it, you just thought it was kids playing rough, unintentional. You have no idea the suffering your son has been through!"
```
Wen Jingshu's emotions became somewhat uncontrollable, her voice unconsciously rising a few notches.
But after she finished, she became somewhat afraid and said, "Chaoxi, I didn't mean to blame you..."
Su Chaoxi also started to cry, "I'm sorry..."
In her past life, her eyes only contained the pursuit of her parents' love and attention.
She had never felt that such a small child could cause so much harm.
She reached out to her son, "I'm sorry, Xunxun, Mommy was wrong, I never noticed these things."
Wen Jingshu stood there dumbfounded.
It was her first time seeing Su Chaoxi like this.
Guilt, repentance.
Xie Xunzhi felt the same.
So the moment Su Chaoxi reached out, Xie Xunzhi avoided her.
He still looked at Su Chaoxi with wariness in his eyes.
Su Chaoxi's heart was sliced with pain.
Wen Jingshu quickly interjected, "Let's bathe first, don't catch a cold, a hot bath is good for promoting blood circulation and dispelling bruises."
Xie Xunzhi, as if pardoned, hastened into the water.
Su Chaoxi wanted to bathe her son.
But Xie Xunzhi wouldn't let her touch him.
After the bath, Wen Jingshu immediately took out the injury ointment and applied it to the child.
Seeing Xie Xunzhi's pain-stricken appearance, Xie Mizhi's heart broke.
The little girl sat on the side, tears whirling in her eyes, one hand holding onto her brother.
Xie Xunzhi was so pained that his face turned white, but he still comforted Xie Mizhi, "Mimi, don't cry, brother is not in pain."
His mature words made Wen Jingshu and Su Chaoxi feel even worse.
Wen Jingshu's tears swirled in her eyes, but she dared not say anything else.
Su Chaoxi got up silently and had the driver send her the surveillance footage they found in the afternoon.
Su Chaoxi watched it carefully several times.
She then realized that in a certain blind spot of the surveillance, Su Aolong was abusing Xie Xunzhi.
With the car as cover, Su Aolong beat and kicked Xie Xunzhi, who was only as tall as his neck.
It was not just playful fighting between children, the blows were vicious!
What made Su Chaoxi's blood run cold was seeing her own grandmother, Old Mrs. Su, watching the entire incident from the sidelines.
She showed not the slightest intention of intervening!
The more Su Chaoxi watched, the redder her eyes became.
Just then, her phone rang.
When Su Chaoxi saw the caller, her hatred for the Su Family reached its peak once again.
It was her mother, Yang Yingrong.
The ringtone of the phone kept sounding, as if Yang Yingrong would not stop calling until Su Chaoxi answered.
Su Chaoxi took a deep breath, trying to sound calmer, "Hello?"
"Su Chaoxi!" Yang Yingrong yelled furiously, "Where are you?"
She didn't wait for Su Chaoxi to answer.
Yang Yingrong continued to command, "I don't care where you are, come home right now, immediately!"
She didn't have a shred of respect for her.
Su Chaoxi had long grown accustomed to the disdain she received from her family.
"Excuse me, may I ask what's the matter?"
"How dare you ask? Today you took your brother and your son out causing trouble, and then you just walked away, leaving us with a total mess. Do you have no conscience at all?"
Yang Yingrong was so angry she was gnashing her teeth, "Now your brother has been threatened by those people and is so scared he's crying at home. This is all your fault!"
"I'm telling you, you better come back right now and console your brother, or don't blame me for not recognizing you as my daughter!"
Yang Yingrong spoke with such a heavy tone, her words leaving no room for negotiation.
If it were the Su Chaoxi from her previous life, she would have certainly been terrified by this threat, wishing she could rush to the Su Family home and curry their favor immediately.
Yang Yingrong took this for granted.
And so after she roared those words, she hung up the phone directly.
Without giving Su Chaoxi any chance to speak.
Su Chaoxi listened to the busy tone on the other end and tugged at the corner of her mouth.
This family was truly suffocating.
Just as Yang Yingrong hung up, Old Mrs. Su asked anxiously, "How did it go?"
Yang Yingrong scoffed, "How else could it go? In less than half an hour, she's definitely going to come groveling with her little bastard to apologize to Longlong."
Old Mrs. Su said through clenched teeth, "That's how it should be. That girl actually neglected her brother, she's such an ingrate!"
As she spoke, she turned to her daughter-in-law, "She even said she would give Longlong a million, so don't forget to take the money from her. She earns so much just by sleeping with a man once; we must find a way to drain all the money off her, since she has plenty of opportunities to sell herself!"
Yang Yingrong was unfazed, "Don't worry about it. When has she not been stripped bare by them? This time I spoke so harshly, she might even bring some other 'surprise' with her."
Greed flickered in Old Mrs. Su's eyes, "Last time I had my eye on the green bangle her mother-in-law was wearing. If she could bring that jade bangle over, that would show some real sincerity."
Yang Yingrong hesitated, "I've already hung up the phone. You should have said this earlier. Never mind, tell her tomorrow, she's so obedient she'll definitely find a way to bring it to you."
Old Mrs. Su was full of determination.
In their eyes, it was only natural for Su Chaoxi to empty everything to please them.
-
Su Chaoxi was in the study, watching the surveillance footage.
The call she had just been on was on speakerphone.
So Wen Jingshu, who happened to pass by the door, heard everything crystal clear.
Seeing that Su Chaoxi hadn't moved for a long while after hanging up, Wen Jingshu couldn't hold back any longer and pretended to ask casually, "Chaoxi, are you going out?"
Su Chaoxi looked over and said, "Mom, I'm not going out."
Wen Jingshu felt even more puzzled and looked back and forth at Su Chaoxi.
A phone call from the Su Family,
and Su Chaoxi used to run faster than a rabbit,
anxious not to displease them.
What was different today?
Su Chaoxi could tell what Wen Jingshu was thinking and said softly, "I've checked the surveillance. The bruises on Xunxun are indeed from Su Aolong. I'll give you an explanation tomorrow."
Her mother-in-law was even more shocked, instinctively feeling that Su Chaoxi was throwing a tantrum.
She chuckled nervously, "I'm not an unreasonable person. If the other party comes to apologize..."
"Mom," Su Chaoxi interrupted her, "Do you not know what kind of people they are? Asking them to apologize is harder than reaching heaven."
Wen Jingshu, feeling stung by the truth, was somewhat disappointed, "So we're just going to let it go?"
"Of course not," Su Chaoxi shook her head and said calmly, "The best way to deal with thugs is with an eye for an eye."
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