Chapter 2 Courtesy

The implication in her mother-in-law's words hit Wendy like a thunderbolt. She turned pale and didn't know how to form words.

People in this family had been bullying her for years.

She had been retching because of a stomach illness, and there was nothing going on between her and Andy Wang. Wendy had never expected that her mother-in-law would entertain such a dirty thought.

Even though Celia didn't know Wendy well, her heart ached with pain. She couldn't bear to see her mother's humiliated face.

Immediately, she went forward and asked her mother to stand up. She didn't want her to kneel anymore. Fearlessly, she looked at her grandmother and her two aunts who seemed to be enjoying the scene. "You can insult me, but not my mother! I tell you, from now on, if anyone dares to insult my mother again, I won't spare them. I have faced death already so I am afraid of nothing. Besides, there is no way I am going to marry Harold. You all better get this idea out of your mind!"

Her grandmother, Lucy and Mary looked at Celia with astonishment. They didn't expect Celia was capable of answering back. Presently, Celia was like a whole new person.

But her grandmother was the most respectable person in the family. She couldn't tolerate such behavior here. Coldly, she replied, "The new semester will begin in half a month. If you can't marry him, then don't. I'll handle the matter with Li family. However, you will have to arrange the money for Wade's tuition. Besides, we don't support idle people. We were generous enough to have raised you and your mother for eighteen years. But from now on, you can move to the woodshed."

"Are you driving us away? Well, you can drive us away today. But I bet one day you will beg for us to be back!"

Celia spat out angrily. There was no fear in her voice. Everyone was shocked since this wasn't the reaction they had expected, including her mother. Wendy didn't expect Celia would make such a daring statement.

Grandmother, of course, was happy to use this opportunity to get rid of these two burdens. Once she understood they would leave without a fight, she offered to give them five kilograms of food.

After grandmother, Lucy and Mary left, Wendy took Celia's hands and looked at her carefully again. She asked anxiously, "Celia, tell me, do you feel anything wrong with you?"

"Mom, I'm full of energy. There is nothing wrong with me. Trust me! I'm fine." Celia walked in front of her mother and smiled.

"Well, you shouldn't have been angry with grandma. Wade needs 500 dollars to go to school. Where can we earn that money? Moreover, the woodshed is dilapidated. On normal days, it is easy to survive there. However, if it is raining, our lives will be hard. I'm fine with living a hard life, but the thing is I don't want you to suffer with me." Wendy looked at Celia with pleading eyes. "Can we go and beg for grandma's mercy? Maybe she will allow us to---"

"Stop, Mom! Why do you still expect their mercy? After everything we have done for them, they still treat us like trash. We regard this place as a shelter from wind and rain, but this place gives us nothing but insults. I would rather live in a miserable condition than listen to their taunts! We need to make a house of our own. I don't want to live under the same roof with them!" Celia insisted, hoping to add some sense into her mother's head.

Before she was reborn, she had relied on her own ability to become the CEO. She firmly believed that she could make her life better. With her hard work and skills, she wished to bring herself and her mother out of this pauper life.

After getting their stuff, Celia and her mother moved to the woodshed at the entrance to a village, followed by her grandmother's complaining eyes.

The woodshed used to be the warehouse of the public service but it had been deserted for years. A few years ago, Tang family rented the place to put firewood. However, it was too far from Tang family's house. Besides, that place was in an awful condition, making the rain very easy to get in. Hence Tang family put firewood beside the house and kept the warehouse unused all these years.

From now on, Celia and her mother were supposed to sleep here.

The woodshed was a mess and on the verge of getting completely destroyed. The sun could be seen clearly from the inside.

"Celia, are you sure you can live here? If not, we can still beg grandma." Wendy looked at Celia in disbelief seeing the condition of their new home.

"Well, Mom, since we've come here, we should settle down. This is not such an awful house considering we don't need to swallow insult and humiliation silently here. I know you're sad, but I believe this is only temporary. We'll find a much better house soon!" Celia comforted her mother as she looked into her eyes.

"Alas, it's all my fault. I'm so useless! If your father hadn't died early, we wouldn't have been driven out of the house..." she faltered in her speech and began to cry.

"Mom, we can still lead a happy life. We don't need men to support us financially. Trust me!" Celia said confidently.

Teary-eyed, Wendy nodded. She looked at Celia sadly and said, "I feel that you've changed a lot after falling into the water. You never dared to go against grandma before, let alone move out. What has gotten into you today?"

As the saying goes, no one can know the daughter better than her mother. Although Wendy did not know what had happened to Celia, she could clearly feel the change in her personality. She was totally different from what she had been before.

Celia didn't want more people to know about her true identity. Listening to the suspicious tone in her mother's voice, she held Wendy's rough hands and said, "What change, Mom? Have I become more beautiful than before?"

"You are always the most beautiful woman according to me!" Wendy scratched Celia's nose. She took a deep breath and said, "Since we have moved out, we have to make this place home. Let's clean it up first and then figure out a solution."

The woodshed was very large. Celia and Wendy decided to clean the place first so that they wouldn't have to live in the wild.

They were both exhausted after sweeping the place so they cooked some millet porridge to fill their stomach.

There was not much food for them, so they had to try every means to change the current situation. Otherwise, they would soon starve to death. After all, that vicious grandmother had only given them five kilograms of food.

Looking at her mother who was busy dealing with things, Celia was worried about how to change the situation. When she saw the green and plump bamboos on the opposite mountain, a good idea popped into her mind. She seemed to have found a way to make money.

"Mom, I've got a brilliant idea!" Celia couldn't help but get excited. Without wasting any time, she got hold of a sickle and got ready to cut some green bamboos.

"Are you okay, Celia? Why did you take a sickle?" Wendy walked to Celia and asked anxiously.

"I'm going to cut a few bamboos, and I'll be back soon."

Without waiting for her mother's consent, Celia rushed out of the room.

However, as soon as she was out of the building, she saw a strong man walking with a sack full of food on his back. He was none other than Andy Wang whom her grandmother had mentioned earlier.

He must be plotting something.