People often say that children who are spoiled and ignorant will get better when they grow up.
But is that really the case?
What grows up is only the body, and many peopleâs hearts never grow up, just like Aunt is an example of such a person.
âYou were born in a wealthy family, your parents spoiled you, your brother and sister-in-law tolerated you, and your husband treated you with respect and politeness because of your familyâs influence. The child inside you has never experienced any twists and turns. Those who havenât experienced setbacks are unlikely to grow up, so your behavior, in my opinion, can be summed up in two words: childish!â
âHow dare a child like you call me childish!â
Aunt has experienced too much recently, losing her elegant noble lady appearance, looking old and in despair, even angry and frustrated.
âYes, Iâm calling you childish, paranoid, and slightly delusional. You always try to impose your worldview on others. To achieve your goals, you donât hesitate to take extreme actions. If you continue on this path, youâll need to see a psychologist.â
Xiao Qian speaks with a touch of pity; her condescending attitude deeply hurts Auntâs heart.
âYouâre the crazy one, Iâm not sick! You all are treating me unfairly!â
âSighâ¦What can I say? Your family is responsible for your situation as well. They gave you too much, teaching you to take from the world, but forgot to teach you how to enjoy life and calmly deal with setbacks. Your heart is always unsatisfied, constantly feeling the lack of love , and in fact, you are not happy either.â
âWhy would I be unhappy? I have a family, a career, and my husband is a leader. What do I have to be unhappy about?â
âNo matter what, you still feel unhappy. Your heart is constantly craving for something unreachable and even goes crazy. For a person with such a typical paranoid personality and worldview, even God canât save you, and no one can change your inherent thinking. So, my being here is not to give you a lesson in ideology. No one can save your twisted outlook on life.â
âSo what are you doing here?â Aunt wants to get a stick to drive Xiao Qian out.
âIâm here to tell you what I plan to do to you. Iâm not like you; you started spreading rumors about me being kidnapped and then told the Wang family about Second Brother and Da Yiâs affairs. Now you want to create public pressure to force me to drop out of school. Did you do all this?â
As Xiao Qian speaks, she secretly presses a recording pen hidden in her pocket.
âSo what if I did it! I donât like you, and itâs a pity that I didnât manage to trap you. I regret it very much!â
âWhen I dislike someone, I confront them face to face. I canât do underhanded things behind peopleâs backs or stoop to such levels.â
âWho do you think you are? What right do you have to do such things to me!â Being looked down upon and provoked by others is an extremely uncomfortable feeling. Auntâs heart burns with rage.
âIâm nobody. Iâm just the woman Yu Minglang loves, the daughter-in-law his parents like. Iâm also a person with an IQ. When you tried to sabotage me, did you ever think that Iâm no longer the bottom rung of society that you imagined from my impoverished family background? If you mess with me, it means messing with the Old Yu Family. Are you sure thatâs what you want and that it wonât embarrass your brother? What you think about is only that I, Chen Xiaoqian, am a woman you donât like, but you never thought that messing with me would be messing with the foundation of your Old Yu Family.â
âYouâre not worthy of being a member of the Yu Family. I donât acknowledge you!â
âYou see, I told you that you have a tendency for delusion. Whether you acknowledge me or not doesnât matter. I am the Old Yu Familyâs fourth daughter-in-law, who has already been engaged through the traditional customs. Youâre a married woman who should be living her own life. Instead, you keep meddling in your natal familyâs affairs. Arenât you just bored and overfed? Do your brother and sister-in-law agree? Donât speak yet. I know youâre going to say that the world should be exactly as you imagine it. That ridiculous theory is your refuge. Youâre not a god; you canât control anyone except yourself. Understand?â
Watching Aunt gasping for breath because of her sharp words, Xiao Qian still maintains her condescending attitude.
She continues calmly.
âNext, letâs talk about what I plan to do. You like to play with reporting and public opinion, right? Iâm going to follow your example and use your rich experience to develop. Can you guess what rumors will circulate in your neighborhood later on? You didnât even visit your son in the hospital but rushed to Lin City to spend the night in a hotel with a young man. Iâll add a picture of you entering and leaving the hotel, slip some money to the reception desk, and get your hotel check-in records. Wow, it would be hard to argue against that, right?â
âYouâre talking nonsense! There was no private meeting! Youâre a real lowlife! I was there by myself!â
This accusation catches Aunt off guard.
Xiao Qian has never been one to follow the rules when dealing with people. Sometimes her methods are not entirely above board, but they are always effective.
âYeah, Iâm talking nonsense, but who will people believe, you or me? Hereâs an interesting theory in psychology called the psychology of rumors. Rumors manage to sneak past the publicâs psychological defenses before anyone suspects them. The most powerful rumors can completely sideline common sense, so many people would rather believe a rumor than the truth.â
âNo, that wonât happenâ¦â Aunt is already furious and dazed.
âLet me tell you, for a successful rumor to spread, it must meet nine rules. One of them is that a rumor has to be both within expectations and outside the realm of reason. For example, if I say you secretly met with a man, this would satisfy peopleâs curiosity about the lives of noble ladies and would be both reasonable and logical. If they hear that your husband is going to divorce you for an unknown reason, and then I spread this rumor, wouldnât it be logical?â
People tend to have all kinds of conjectures about the lives of those they havenât encountered before. Since they have never come into contact with someone of Auntâs status, they maintain a curious yet jealous attitude toward her. With a little manipulation, these emotions can easily take on wings of imagination.
âI didnât want to deal with you before because you forgot that youâre still a part of the Yu family. But I havenât forgotten that Iâm going to marry Yu Minglang. I know that families can have internal fights as long as they donât drag it out into the open. Otherwise, outsiders wonât care about our grievances; theyâll only say that the Old Yu family is in an internal strife. But rest assured, Iâm much more sophisticated than you. Before I ruin your reputation, Iâll take precautions to ensure your involvement wonât taint my in-lawsâ reputation. I have to protect the reputation of my future in-laws.â
Having laid out her thoughts, Xiao Qian stands up with a smile and flashes a brilliant grin at the now bewildered Aunt.
âIQ is a great thing, but you donât have it. Iâve already given you a heads up on what I plan to do. I guess it could be considered as a gentlemanâs way of warning. Donât say I didnât warn you. Goodbye.â
Her white coat elegantly arcs through the air as Xiao Qian makes her graceful exit.