Chapter 381: Chapter 381 Crafty ArgumentsWell aware that Wen Yue and her two sisters were still young, she neglectfully went back to her maternal home to visit relatives, leaving the children at home to fend for themselves and to somehow prepare their own lunch.

    What was she trying to accomplish?

    "Do you realize that your actions today dragged Xiao Wen down, that they dragged down our country’s development?"

    The moment Mrs. Qi sat down, she erupted in anger.

    Su Man: "...Comrade Qi, what exactly do you mean by that? How did I drag my stepson Wen Siyuan down? And how did I drag down the country’s development?" Still somewhat confused, Su Man clearly hadn’t connected Mrs. Qi’s visit with the incident of Wen Yue scalding her hand with hot water.

    "Are you genuinely clueless or are you just pretending to be?"

    Mrs. Qi spoke solemnly: "Your three children, with the eldest not even seven and the youngest not yet four, you went off to visit your relatives and left them all alone at home. What were you thinking? I heard you took a taxi to your maternal home, so why didn’t you take Wen Yue and the others with you?"

    Su Man understood then, and was overcome with embarrassment, but she still defended herself: "Even though it’s the New Year, everyone’s having a tough time, and if I were to bring along three extra mouths to feed to my family’s home, would they be pleased about it? Comrade Qi, I honestly had no other choice but not to take Yueyue and her sisters with me."

    "Yet because you didn’t take Wen Yue and the others with you, we nearly had a serious accident. Surely, you must know about it by now?"

    Mrs. Qi locked eyes with Su Man: "You expect a child not even seven years old to cook for herself. Did it never cross your mind that she could get scalded by boiling water or something else could happen?"

    "I did teach Yueyue how to cook, plus I left the vegetables and noodles within easy reach for them, and I specifically warned them to be careful not to get scalded. I..."

    Su Man didn’t think she was in the wrong, and her words still made excuses for her actions.

    When Mrs. Qi heard this, she looked disappointed: "When you first came to our courtyard, I was really happy for Xiao Wen. I thought that marrying such a good comrade like you was his great fortune, and indeed, you seemed to care a lot about the three children from his previous marriage. People around our courtyard often praised you behind your back.

    But you... how suddenly have you changed? You’ve become impatient, started squabbling over trivial matters with children just a few years old, and now you’ve gone as far as completely neglecting them. How are you expecting Xiao Wen to focus on his work at the unit, how can he contribute to the country’s development without peace of mind?"

    With Mrs. Qi’s reprimand, Su Man felt wronged, her eyes brimming with tears: "Comrade Qi, you say I suddenly changed, no, it wasn’t all of a sudden, it was Wen Yue who truly broke my heart, making me unwilling to keep on trying to be as kind-hearted as I was to her and her sisters in the beginning.

    To end up like this, do you think I wanted this? I didn’t want this at all, but Wen Yue kept defying me time and again, ruining my reputation outside, calling me a bad woman at every turn. If I had no temper, wouldn’t it seem like I don’t have any self-respect? Besides, I am an elder, it is disrespectful for a young person to treat me like that, and if I kept on pampering them after such treatment, that would be too cheap!"

    Actually, Wen Yue hadn’t fallen asleep. At that moment, she was crouching by the door, listening to the conversation between Mrs. Qi and Su Man in the living room.

    "There’s an old saying that people are born with a heart of flesh. When Siyuan and I got engaged, I knew I was becoming a stepmother right from the start. So, I truly accepted Yueyue and her sisters from the bottom of my heart, and I promised Siyuan that I would treat them just like my own children..."

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