Chapter 59: Confrontation
Cui Wanning was sitting on the living room sofa, scrolling through videos on her phone, when she saw Yu Xin walk in carrying several delivery boxes. She called out, “Yu Xin.”
Yu Xin stopped on her way to her room and walked over to the sofa. “Stepmother, is there something you need?”
Seeing that she was still holding the packages while speaking, Cui Wanning frowned in displeasure. “What kind of manners are these? Talking to your mother while carrying things?”
Yu Xin tightened her grip on the boxes for a moment, then relaxed and placed them on the low table beside her. She asked calmly, “What is it you wanted to say?”
Seeing her obedience, Cui Wanning eased her expression. “You’ve stayed home all through National Day without going out with friends. You should learn from your sister. That’s one thing, but you keep buying all sorts of random things and having them delivered every day…”
Yu Xin said nothing, waiting for her to finish scolding before replying evenly, “These packages are all from Chuchu.”
Cui Wanning’s face changed instantly.
Yu Xin pretended not to notice and continued, “Today’s delivery was a camera. Chuchu said she wanted to see the kitten, but it’s inconvenient for me to keep starting video calls for her, so she bought me a camera. This way, whenever she wants to see it, she can just turn on the feed.”
“As for the rest—things like kitten milk powder, lactose-free milk, and some daily necessities—of course I wouldn’t make Chuchu pay for those little things. I paid for them myself.” Yu Xin looked straight into Cui Wanning’s eyes.
Her tone was soft, sounding obedient and honest, but to Cui Wanning, every word was like a needle in the ear. “Honestly, I don’t want to be getting so many delivery calls every day either. Picking them up is troublesome; I have to go all the way to the neighborhood gate.”
In a neighborhood like this, who would ever have to collect their own deliveries? Normally the butler or maids would pick them up and bring them to the owner’s room.
But Yu Xin didn’t enjoy that “privilege.” Even though the servants’ attitudes toward her had improved slightly recently, it still wasn’t by much.
In short, unless specifically instructed, they wouldn’t take the initiative to do anything related to her.
Some did pity her, but after helping her once, then what? Everyone in the Yu family could see she wasn’t as favored as Yu Yuan.
More importantly, Yu Jinxin, the future heir of the Yu family, clearly favored Yu Yuan.
If a servant risked helping Yu Xin and angered Yu Jinxin, they could lose their job and might never find a better one than in the Yu household.
Cui Wanning’s expression darkened. “I’ll have Old Zhao arrange it so you don’t need to collect your own packages anymore.”
“Alright, thank you, Stepmother.” Yu Xin nodded gracefully in agreement.
She had been thinking of how to bring up the matter of the camera, but now that Cui Wanning had mentioned it herself, it was perfect.
This way, Cui Wanning would know there was surveillance in Yu Xin’s room and that Jiang Chuchu could check it at any time.
If Cui Wanning tried to secretly send the cat away while Yu Xin wasn’t there, it wouldn’t just be Yu Xin’s problem—Jiang Chuchu could check the footage and see exactly who did it.
Would a Yu family servant dare to touch the master’s belongings without permission? Of course not. They’d have to go through Yu Wenli or Cui Wanning.
And as for betting on whether Jiang Chuchu wouldn’t mind such a “small matter”… Would Yu Wenli dare take that bet? Definitely not.
Yu Xin quietly took a breath, picked up her packages again, and went upstairs steadily.
Only when she sat down in her room did she let herself feel the emotion she’d been holding back.
This was the first time she had openly faced and opposed Cui Wanning. The tension and thrill of the challenge, combined with the joy and excitement of succeeding, made her heart beat faster, and only then did her fingers begin to tremble.
She could do it—fight back in her own way. It might not be powerful enough yet and might still seem soft, maybe even insignificant to Cui Wanning, but for Yu Xin, it was already a big step forward.
It took her a while to steady her breathing. Then she pulled out her phone and sent a message to Jiang Chuchu: [Thank you, Chuchu.]
Jiang Chuchu replied quickly: [What’s with the sudden thanks?]
Yu Xin: [I just used your name to successfully confront my mother!]
She had meant to end with a period, but couldn’t help adding an exclamation mark—it seemed the only way to express her feelings right now.
Jiang Chuchu: [Nicely done! That’s my girl!]
Jiang Chuchu suddenly sat up from the sofa, startling Jiang Yuxuan, who was peeling a pomelo for her. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m happy!” Jiang Chuchu said proudly. “Xin Bao just told me she successfully confronted her mom!”
“How did she do it?” Jiang Yuxuan asked curiously.
“Oh, I haven’t asked yet.” Jiang Chuchu sank back into the sofa and quickly typed a follow-up question.
Jiang Yuxuan, halfway through his snack, was dying of curiosity and scooted closer to peek at her phone screen.
Jiang Chuchu found him a bit annoying, but since he’d been peeling fruit for her, she tilted her phone toward him.
Jiang Youwei came downstairs and saw his two children snuggled together like a pair of pandas, smiling slyly like foxes.
“What are you two so happy about?” Jiang Youwei asked.
“Nothing,” Jiang Chuchu quickly denied. “Xin Bao’s just telling me about her kitten!”
Even though her father supported her helping Yu Xin, when it involved Yu Xin’s mother—a senior—treating the matter like a joke would be impolite according to Jiang family manners.
Jiang Yuxuan caught on to her thinking and added, “Yeah, the kitten’s really cute.”
“At this rate, Mop is going to get jealous,” Jiang Youwei teased.
Mop was one of the Jiang family’s ragdoll cats, the largest and clingiest. Since kittenhood, it had loved rolling on the floor, getting its fur filthy like a mop, hence the name.
As they spoke, Mop wandered in—possibly because it heard its name—and bounded toward Jiang Youwei.
Jiang Youwei quickly stepped back. “Mop, stop! These are dress pants, no scratching!”
Not only would dark dress pants show cat hair immediately, but one swipe could snag the fabric.
Mop tilted its head in confusion, its beautiful blue eyes fixed on him.
Jiang Yuxuan waved to distract it. “Mop, come here.”
The cat’s attention shifted, and it jumped onto the sofa, settling onto Jiang Yuxuan’s lap.
Jiang Youwei took the chance to leave. He had an old friend coming over for lunch and wouldn’t be eating at home.
Once their father was gone, the siblings let out a synchronized sigh of relief.
Jiang Yuxuan handed the peeled pomelo to Jiang Chuchu. “Your classmate’s made some real progress.”
“She’s my friend!” Jiang Chuchu corrected immediately. “And she’s been working really hard!”
As a child, standing up to your parent took a lot of courage.
Yu Xin had done it—that was truly impressive.
