Rebirth of the Fierce, Pampered Wife

As usual, Zhang Wei Qiang went to pick up Zhang Minzhen after work. From a distance, he saw her standing at the entrance of the supply and marketing co-op, her face beaming with a brilliant smile. ’Is there some good news?’ he wondered.

Sure enough, when she saw him approaching, Zhang Minzhen smiled and shared the great news. "Gu Jinhua came by today and told me to go to the Gu family’s home tomorrow first, and then go with Gu Lihui to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get divorced. I’ve already requested the day off."

"It’s been dragged out for days, so it’s about time it’s settled. I just wonder if they’ve sorted out the house certificate for the place in Lihua Village," Zhang Wei Qiang said, happy to hear the news. "I’ll take the day off tomorrow and go with you."

"No need, Brother. It’s not good for you to keep taking time off work for my sake. I don’t think there will be any more complications, so just having Mom and Dad go with me tomorrow will be fine." Zhang Minzhen shook her head. "I also got a notice today that my job will end this month. As for the dorm, I heard Gu Jinhua already hired people to move everything to the Gu family’s house, so I also went with her today to turn in the key to the apartment they assigned me."

As she said this, Zhang Minzhen wasn’t the least bit sad; she had long been mentally prepared. Instead, she thought of something and started laughing so hard that Zhang Wei Qiang gave her a sideways glance.

Seeing his questioning gaze, Zhang Minzhen said between laughs, "When we went to turn in the key, Gu Jinhua insisted on going with me the whole way. When she saw that I didn’t look upset at all after hearing I was being let go, she waited until we were alone and deliberately told me she was the one who got me fired. She just can’t stand to see me doing well."

Zhang Wei Qiang raised an eyebrow. His unasked question was: ’Then why are you laughing so happily?’

Zhang Minzhen just couldn’t stop laughing. "When I heard that, I didn’t waste any words on her. I just went and slapped her right across the face, then told her, ’Go on, try and hit me back.’ She immediately chickened out. She just watched me leave and didn’t dare make a peep. Brother, do you think I was just acting tough because I have you to back me up? But if I hadn’t done it myself, I never would have known how good it feels to just... get physical with someone."

Zhang Wei Qiang couldn’t help but laugh too. "You did well today," he praised. "But getting physical isn’t a good habit. It mainly depends on who you’re doing it to."

"I know. Don’t worry, Brother, I won’t get addicted to hitting people." After speaking, Zhang Minzhen glanced around, leaned closer to Zhang Wei Qiang, and whispered, "It’s so strange. The apartment is completely empty. Knowing Gu Lihui, he would have definitely gone to get the money out beforehand. But I didn’t hear Gu Jinhua mention the money even once. That’s too weird. Brother, what do you think is going on? It can’t be that Gu Lihui still hasn’t noticed all the money is gone, right?"

"It’s probably impossible that he hasn’t noticed. The way I see it, he just doesn’t suspect you." Zhang Wei Qiang fought back a smile as he spoke. "That cupboard is an old piece of furniture. Gu Lihui might not be the only one in the Gu family who knows its secret. If you had done things half-heartedly, taking some and leaving some, they might have suspected you. But you took every last bit. That’s not your style at all, which actually cleared you of all suspicion."

"Ah..." Zhang Minzhen froze for a moment, a look of both amusement and exasperation on her face.

"It’s fine if I don’t go tomorrow. Everything has already been settled anyway, so just having Mom and Dad with you is enough. But you should still secretly remind them to be prepared. You have to be on guard in case someone tries to trick you tomorrow. Don’t let yourselves slip up and give the game away," Zhang Wei Qiang reminded her with a smile.

"Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. I’m not the person I used to be. It won’t be so easy for anyone to trick or bully me again." Zhang Minzhen clenched her fist, her words also a reminder to herself not to be as weak as she had been before.

Zhang Wei Qiang just smiled without saying anything. He had offered not to go with her because his little sister was already trying to stand on her own two feet. The fact that she dared to hit Gu Jinhua spoke volumes. He was happy to see his sister change, and while he felt the change was a few years overdue, any change was a good thing, wasn’t it?

「The bicycle carrying the two of them soon arrived at the entrance of the town’s central elementary school.」

School had, of course, let out long ago. The two of them picked up Gu Nuan Nuan, who was doing her homework in the reception office. On the way, when Nuannuan heard that her mom and scumbag dad had set a date for their divorce tomorrow, she couldn’t help but cheer and jump for joy. She even added expectantly, "I wish I could go watch."

"What’s so interesting about your parents getting a divorce? I think you just want an excuse to skip school, don’t you? Your final exams are coming up soon. How are your studies going? Have your grades slipped?" Hearing that her daughter wanted to join in on even this kind of "excitement," Zhang Minzhen couldn’t help but wonder if the recent family turmoil was distracting her from her studies. ’Have I been neglecting my daughter too much?’ she thought, and began to anxiously grill her about her schoolwork.

"Mom, I was just saying! Not only have my grades not slipped, they’ve actually improved a lot lately."

"Really?"

"It’s the gospel truth! If you don’t believe me, just wait for my final exam results. I’ll get perfect scores on everything... wait, you can’t count the essay score. Even if you write a good one, teachers don’t always give full marks for that." Seeing the consequences of her words, Gu Nuan Nuan was filled with regret. She quickly let out a couple of fawning laughs, then realized that since she was sitting on the front of her uncle’s bike, no one could see her smile anyway, so she quickly switched to using her words.

"Alright, if that’s really the case, then Mom will definitely give you a reward. Whatever you want, as long as it’s something I can afford, I promise," Zhang Minzhen said, making the promise casually in her delight.

"What about Uncle? Will Uncle give me a reward too?" An idea sparked in Gu Nuan Nuan’s mind, and she immediately felt this was an opportunity she had to seize. ’If I can get a promise from Uncle, then on July 16th, I can ask him to stay here instead of going to help out at my aunt’s parents’ house.’

"What do you want?"

’This could work.’

Hearing the usual fondness in her uncle’s mellow voice, Gu Nuan Nuan’s heart couldn’t help but beat faster. Filled with anticipation and nervousness, she licked her somewhat dry lips and asked in a slightly trembling voice, "Uncle, I haven’t thought of anything yet. If I do well on my exams, can I save my request for later, until I’ve decided?"

"Uncle, I definitely won’t ask for anything too unreasonable, or something you can’t do," Gu Nuan Nuan quickly added, afraid her uncle would refuse. She mused to herself that her future request might be a *little* unreasonable, but definitely not *too* unreasonable.

"Alright, Uncle promises. I don’t even need you to get perfect scores. As long as your average is over 95, Uncle will unconditionally grant you one request, as long as it isn’t too unreasonable. How does that sound?" Zhang Wei Qiang didn’t know what Gu Nuan Nuan was plotting, but he couldn’t miss her nervousness.

He chuckled to himself, assuming she had already decided what she wanted but was too shy to ask for it directly, so she came up with this excuse to make a "request" legitimately. At that thought, he felt a slight pang in his heart. ’After all, I’m just her uncle, so Nuannuan still doesn’t dare to be as unrestrained with me as she is with her mom.’ His heart softened, and he added another promise, "This promise from your uncle isn’t just valid for this semester. From now on, as long as you can manage it on your final exams every semester, the offer stands. How about that?"

"Uncle, I love you so much!"

Having gotten the promise she wanted most from her uncle, Gu Nuan Nuan was so happy that in her excitement, she forgot she was still on the bicycle and turned around to hug him.

"HEY HEY, sit still! Don’t move around."

If it weren’t for Zhang Wei Qiang’s unusually quick reflexes, Gu Nuan Nuan’s sudden move would have sent all three of them crashing down, bike and all. Instead, the bicycle merely wobbled precariously a few times.

"This child, what’s gotten into you?" Zhang Minzhen scolded with a laugh, feeling a little jealous. ’My daughter doesn’t even bother to ask about my promise, but she’s clinging to her uncle for one. The contrast couldn’t be more obvious.’

Sticking out her tongue, Gu Nuan Nuan silently turned back around. All the way home, she couldn’t help but let out a few secret giggles whenever she thought about it, a state that lasted until they arrived at her grandmother’s house.