The next morning, my phone rang at 8:16.

I was making breakfast when I saw my mother-in-law’s name.

For seven years, she almost never called me unless she needed something.

I answered anyway.

“Hello?”

Her voice came immediately.

“Why hasn’t the twenty thousand yuan arrived yet?”

I almost thought I had heard wrong.

“What twenty thousand?”

There was a pause.

Then she sounded irritated.

“The New Year money. You and Chu Yuan give us twenty thousand every year. It’s already the twenty-eighth. Your father and I are waiting to use it.”

I looked at the pot bubbling on the stove.

And suddenly laughed.

Last night, Zhao Man had thrown down her chopsticks and told me not to come back to eat next year.

My parents-in-law had sat there in silence.

Not one word defending me.

Not one word telling their younger daughter-in-law that she had gone too far.

Yet less than twenty-four hours later, they remembered me.

Not because they regretted what happened.

Because the money hadn’t arrived.

I turned off the stove.

“Mom, didn’t Zhao Man say I shouldn’t come back to eat anymore?”

My mother-in-law coughed.

“That was just something she said while angry.”

“But you didn’t stop her.”

“We’re family. Why are you keeping score over a few words?”

I smiled.

“I’m not keeping score.”

“Then transfer the money.”

“No.”

Silence.

“What?”

I leaned against the kitchen counter.

“If eating one meal at your house is enough to get me criticized, where am I supposed to find twenty thousand yuan to give you?”

Her breathing became heavy.

“You’re the eldest daughter-in-law!”

“And?”

“Supporting your parents is your responsibility!”

“Then ask your eldest son.”

“You and Chu Yuan are married. Isn’t his money your money?”

“Exactly.”

I almost laughed again.

“So from now on, you can discuss his money directly with him.”

Then I hung up.

Three seconds later, the phone rang again.

I declined it.

Again.

Declined.

By the sixth call, I blocked the number.

When I turned around, Chu Yuan was standing at the kitchen door.

He had heard everything.

His expression was complicated.

“You blocked Mom?”

“Yes.”

He rubbed his forehead.

“Why make things so absolute?”

That sentence made me look at him.

“Absolute?”

“It’s only twenty thousand.”

I stared at my husband of seven years.

“Then you give it.”

His expression changed.

“What?”

“You said it’s only twenty thousand. Transfer it from your personal account.”

He fell silent.

That silence told me everything.

For seven years, everyone in the Chu family called it “our” contribution.

But most of it had come from me.

I ran a small design company.

Apparently, Zhao Man believed “small company” meant I barely earned enough to eat.

I had never corrected her.

In reality, the business had grown steadily for five years.

Last year, my personal income had been almost three times Chu Yuan’s salary.

The twenty thousand yuan New Year gift?

Mine.

The refrigerator we bought his parents?

Mine.

His father’s dental treatment?

I paid for it.

The fifty thousand yuan Chu Hao needed when he bought his car?

Also mine.

Even the down payment on the apartment Chu Hao and Zhao Man currently lived in included eighty thousand yuan I had “temporarily lent” them.

They had never returned it.

I had never asked.

Because every time I considered it, Chu Yuan said:

“We’re family.”

Now I finally understood.

In that family, “family” meant I was expected to give.

It never meant I deserved respect.

Chu Yuan pulled out a chair.

“Sit down. Let’s talk.”

“I’m listening.”

“My parents are old.”

“Your mother is fifty-eight.”

He frowned.

“You know what I mean.”

“No. I don’t anymore.”

I opened the banking app on my phone.

Then I placed it in front of him.

“Do you know how much I’ve given your family over seven years?”

He looked away.

“Why calculate that?”

“I did this morning.”

I opened a spreadsheet.

Every transfer I could find.

Holiday gifts.

Medical expenses.

Appliances.

Loans.

Insurance.

Chu Hao’s car.

Their apartment.

Cash withdrawals I could document.

Total:

486,700 yuan.

Chu Yuan stared at the number.

His face slowly changed.

“That can’t be right.”

“It is.”

“You included the apartment money?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“That was helping my brother.”

“Exactly.”

I scrolled down.

“Your brother has never once given my parents money.”

He didn’t answer.

“Your mother has never bought my mother so much as a scarf.”

Still nothing.

“Zhao Man has been married into your family for four years. How much has she contributed?”

“That’s different.”

I laughed.

There it was.

The sentence I had been waiting seven years to hear.

“How?”

“Chu Hao doesn’t earn as much.”

“But Zhao Man told everyone last night that they’re preparing to buy a bigger apartment.”

His face stiffened.

I continued.

“And apparently she wants Mom and Dad to help pay for it.”

“That’s their business.”

“Correct.”

I nodded.

“It’s their business.”

Then I closed the spreadsheet.

“And from today onward, it has nothing to do with me.”

That afternoon, the Chu family group chat exploded.

My mother-in-law wrote first.

“Some people become arrogant after earning a little money and forget who their elders are.”

Zhao Man immediately replied.

“Mom, don’t be angry. If someone doesn’t want to contribute, we can survive without her.”

Then Chu Hao:

“Twenty thousand isn’t much. Making elderly people beg for it is embarrassing.”

I read everything.

Then typed one message.

“You’re right. Twenty thousand isn’t much. Chu Hao, you can send it.”

The group went silent.

Five minutes.

Ten.

Twenty.

Nobody responded.

I smiled and put my phone down.

But an hour later, Zhao Man sent another message.

“Eldest sister-in-law, don’t involve us. Eldest brother is the eldest son. Naturally he should contribute more.”

I replied:

“I agree. Ask him.”

Then I left the group.

That should have ended it.

It didn’t.

Three days later, while I was at my office, my assistant entered.

“Sister Xu, there are people outside looking for you.”

“Who?”

“Your husband’s family.”

I walked out.

My mother-in-law was there.

So was my father-in-law.

Chu Hao.

And Zhao Man.

Zhao Man was holding a folder.

The moment she saw me, she smiled.

Not warmly.

Triumphantly.

“Eldest sister-in-law, we’re family. There’s no need to make things ugly.”

I looked at the four of them.

“Then why are you at my company?”

My mother-in-law spoke.

“We came to settle things.”

“What things?”

Zhao Man opened the folder.

Inside were apartment brochures.

Luxury residential development.

Three bedrooms.

Underground parking.

School district.

Total price: 3.2 million yuan.

I immediately understood.

Zhao Man crossed her arms.

“Chu Hao and I found a bigger place.”

“Congratulations.”

“We’re short on the down payment.”

I smiled.

“How much?”

“Six hundred thousand.”

I actually laughed.

Zhao Man’s face darkened.

“What’s funny?”

“You came to ask the woman you told not to return for dinner for six hundred thousand yuan?”

My mother-in-law immediately interrupted.

“It’s not asking.”

I looked at her.

“Then what is it?”

She hesitated.

“A family arrangement.”

That phrase was so absurd that even my father-in-law looked uncomfortable.

Then Zhao Man pushed the brochure toward me.

“You have a company. Six hundred thousand shouldn’t be difficult for you.”

“And if I refuse?”

Her smile disappeared.

“Then don’t blame us for talking to eldest brother.”

“About what?”

She looked at me for several seconds.

“About your company.”

I stopped smiling.

Zhao Man leaned closer.

“You really thought nobody knew?”

“Knew what?”

“That five years ago, when your company almost went bankrupt, eldest brother secretly gave you three hundred thousand yuan.”

I looked at her.

She continued confidently.

“Without the Chu family, your company wouldn’t exist.”

My mother-in-law nodded.

“So technically, part of this company belongs to Chu Yuan.”

Interesting.

Very interesting.

I finally understood why all four of them had come.

This was never about twenty thousand yuan.

They believed they had found leverage.

Zhao Man pushed another document toward me.

“Six hundred thousand. Give it to us, and we won’t interfere with your company.”

I picked up the paper.

Then I tore it in half.

Zhao Man jumped up.

“What are you doing?!”

“You should have checked the facts before trying to blackmail me.”

Her face changed.

“What facts?”

I walked into my office and returned with an old file.

I placed the original bank statement on the table.

Five years ago, exactly three hundred thousand yuan had entered my company account.

But the sender wasn’t Chu Yuan.

It was me.

From the sale of an apartment my parents had bought in my name before I married.

Zhao Man stared at the document.

“No.”

“Yes.”

I turned another page.

“And since everyone is here, we can settle something else.”

I placed a loan agreement in front of Chu Hao.

His face immediately went white.

Eighty thousand yuan.

The money I had contributed to his apartment.

Unlike what he apparently remembered, it hadn’t been a gift.

My accountant had insisted on documenting it as a loan.

And Chu Hao had signed.

Repayment date:

Three years ago.

I looked at him.

“You owe me eighty thousand principal, plus the agreed interest.”

Zhao Man turned toward her husband.

“You said she gave us that money!”

Chu Hao couldn’t look at her.

My mother-in-law started panicking.

“We’re one family. Why talk about debt?”

I smiled.

“Yesterday I was family when you wanted twenty thousand.”

I tapped the apartment brochure.

“Today I’m family when you want six hundred thousand.”

Then I tapped the loan agreement.

“But suddenly we shouldn’t talk about money when your son owes me?”

Nobody answered.

I gathered the documents.

“You have thirty days.”

Chu Hao finally exploded.

“You’re threatening me?”

“No.”

I looked directly at him.

“I’m collecting my money.”

My mother-in-law’s face turned red.

“If you do this, I’ll tell Chu Yuan to divorce you!”

The room became completely silent.

I looked behind them.

Because none of them had noticed the office door opening.

Chu Yuan was standing there.

And judging by his face, he had heard everything.

His mother immediately rushed toward him.

“Son! You came at exactly the right time. Control your wife!”

But Chu Yuan didn’t look at me.

He looked at his brother.

Then at the loan agreement.

Then at the luxury apartment brochure.

Finally, he turned to his mother.

“Mom.”

His voice was strangely calm.

“Did you come here to demand six hundred thousand from my wife?”

My mother-in-law froze.

And then Chu Yuan said something none of them expected.

“Because if you did…”

He removed a bank card from his wallet and placed it on the table.

“…you should probably know that the twenty thousand you’ve received every New Year for the past seven years never came from me.”

He pointed at me.

“She paid it.”

My mother-in-law’s lips parted.

Chu Yuan continued.

“So did Dad’s dental treatment.”

My father-in-law looked up.

“The refrigerator.”

Silence.

“The air conditioner.”

My mother-in-law went pale.

“And most of the money for Chu Hao’s apartment.”

Zhao Man slowly turned toward me.

For the first time since I had known her, there was no arrogance in her eyes.

Only shock.

But Chu Yuan wasn’t finished.

He looked at his parents and said:

“You told her not to come back to eat.”

Then he took the key to his parents’ house from his keychain and placed it beside the bank card.

“Fine.”

“If my wife isn’t welcome…”

“Neither am I.”