Oh damn, Feng the Younger, have some decency and act like a human being! (Please keep reading)

“Tell me! Feng Jiayou, explain to me, what’s the story behind Cha Jianying’s manuscript?”
“Don’t you dare make up nonsense with your eyes shut, saying Cha Jianying published two articles under different pen names this time, and both got accepted by Yanjing Literature!”
Feng’s mother marched out, brimming with fury, pointing at the Yanjing Literature magazine lying open to the page of ‘That Patch of Birch Forest’, demanding answers.
“Hehe, Mom, you’re really amazing…”
Feng Jiayou, who had been wracking her brain for an excuse, burst out laughing at her mother’s uncanny prediction.
She guessed right!
It was true that two manuscripts were accepted at once, but it wasn’t Cha Jianying—it was her son-in-law, Cheng Xue-min.
The very author of ‘The Horse Herdsman’ whom her mother had been obsessing over—Old Xu!
“Stop joking around, Feng Jiayou, tell me clearly—do you realize how much trouble this manuscript caused me at work? How people mocked me?!”
“I don’t even have the face to go to work tomorrow! Do you understand, you little troublemaker?!”
As she spoke, Feng’s mother broke down, tears streaming uncontrollably.
Today was humiliating beyond measure—she’d embarrassed herself all the way to her grandmother’s place!
“Mom! Why are you crying?!” Feng Jiayou panicked. She wasn’t afraid of the feather duster, but her mother’s tears truly terrified her.
She rushed forward to embrace her mother, desperately trying to comfort her. “Mom, we really didn’t mean to hide this from you! I know you’re always good to us, and we were wrong this time, but it’s not so bad—people shouldn’t mock you!”
“Besides, isn’t this a good thing? You should be proud! Why do you feel so wronged? Won’t you go to work tomorrow?”
“How about I go with Xue-min to work with you, so you can hold your head high?”
Wasn’t everyone in October looking everywhere for the author of ‘The Horse Herdsman’, Old Xu, hoping to invite him home for a face-to-face manuscript request?
But now, what’s going on?
If everyone already knows ‘The Horse Herdsman’ is written by her son-in-law, Cheng Xue-min, why is her mother still being ridiculed?
“Move aside!”
Her apology had been earnest at first—she really shouldn’t have kept her mother in the dark.
If Cha Jianying wasn’t the author of ‘The Horse Herdsman’, she should have said so directly, not skirted around it, nor promised to help October arrange a manuscript request.
But the conversation was taking a turn for the worse—was Feng Jiayou out of her mind?
Her mother was being mocked at work, and yet this troublemaker claimed it was a good thing, something to be proud of?
Feng’s mother shoved her aside in anger, snapping, “Feng Jiayou, tell me, what exactly should I be proud of?!”
“Should I be proud you managed to request a manuscript from the author of ‘The Horse Herdsman’ that’s even better than ‘The Horse Herdsman’?”
“Proud that you tricked everyone in the October editorial department, making them run circles around you?”
“You want to come to my workplace and boost my reputation? Thank you very much!”
“What?! Mom, you still don’t know?!”
Now Feng Jiayou was confused again. Hadn’t her secret already been exposed, which was why her mother had armed herself with the feather duster?
“I know!”
“Feng Jiayou, didn’t you just say yourself that your classmate Cha Jianying had two manuscripts accepted? One was ‘That Patch of Birch Forest’, and the other was even more impressive!”
“The front page of Yanjing Literature—now all of Yanjing is talking about your classmate’s ‘The Horse Herdsman’! Even your father wants to recommend it for translation and publication overseas!”
“Amazing, isn’t it? With such an outstanding classmate, you think you’re proud, so your mother should be proud as well, right?!”
After finishing her tirade, Feng’s mother sat back on the stone stool, needing to catch her breath.
“What are you staring at? Is it really that interesting?”

Once again, she saw her stubborn husband focused entirely on the manuscript Feng Jiayou brought home, oblivious to the uproar around them.
He managed to keep calm, reading intently, not saying a word.
Feng’s mother, unable to contain her annoyance, snatched the manuscript from his hands, muttering irritably.
“What are you doing—” Caught off guard, he was jolted from his immersive reading, and instinctively tried to snatch it back, unable to bear leaving the last half unfinished.
This manuscript was just… far too bold!
Yes, bold—so much so that even he, a recently reinstated scholar, found his hands trembling.
Seeing the murderous look on his wife’s face, he quickly withdrew his hands, turning to Feng Jiayou and urgently asking:
“Jiayou, was this manuscript really written by Cha Jianying—the author of ‘The Horse Herdsman’, Old Xu?”
The styles were completely different, and this one was deeper, bolder than ‘The Horse Herdsman’!
Feng’s father suspected someone at Yanda was secretly using his foolish daughter’s hand to publish such a daring article.
No wonder his wife was so furious she reached for the feather duster!
“Dad! Yes, this is a brand-new manuscript by Old Xu, the author of ‘The Horse Herdsman’! He originally meant to submit it to Yanjing Literature, but I intercepted it for Mom!”
“Feng Jiayou, are you still spouting nonsense?!”
Still lying—Feng’s mother was beyond words now.
“Mom, I really am NOT lying! This is truly a new piece by Old Xu. If I’m lying again, I swear I’ll…”
As Feng Jiayou was about to swear an oath, her younger sister, Feng Jiamei, walked in from outside, seeing the three of them gathered around the stone table in the yard, and called out, “Mom, Dad, Sis—what are you all doing out here? I have good news: Da Lao Cheng’s exam results are out!”
No one responded, so she came over, curious.
“Isn’t this Da Lao Cheng’s handwriting? What, is he trying to write manuscripts like my sister, hoping to earn manuscript fees?”
Her sharp-eyed younger sister glanced at the page, instantly recognizing the handwriting and teasing her brother-in-law, Da Lao Cheng!
Well, Da Lao Cheng really did have substance. His results in the transfer exam for their repeat class were out—first place!
His score was over 470, a hundred points higher than second place!
Now their Yanda Affiliated High School was abuzz—everyone said next year’s national college entrance exam top scorer would surely be Da Lao Cheng!
Such exciting news—she couldn’t wait to bring it home, but her parents and sister showed no reaction, all fixated on the sprawling manuscript. Was it really that interesting?
Da Lao Cheng was brilliant in exams, but wasn’t language his weak point? How good could his writing be?
“My brother-in-law’s handwriting?!”
“So this manuscript was written by Xue-min?!”
Her exclamation startled both parents, especially her mother, who looked utterly bewildered.
“Yes! One glance and it’s obviously Da Lao Cheng’s handwriting!” Feng Jiamei nodded, puzzled, “Sis, is Da Lao Cheng writing manuscripts now? How are they? Can he get published and earn manuscript fees?”
“If he earns manuscript fees, is he going to pay me back the ten yuan from last time? He promised to buy me a pen, but Mom deducted it from my allowance!”
Still hung up on the ten yuan she tricked out of Da Lao Cheng last time, Feng Jiamei was plotting to trick him again someday when her sister and mother weren’t home.
“Feng Jiayou, stop right there! Where do you think you’re going? Aren’t you going to explain this manuscript?”

When Feng Jiamei recognized her brother-in-law’s handwriting, Feng Jiayou knew things were bad and tried to slip away.
But her mother called her back!
“Ah… Jiamei, you said your brother-in-law’s results are out? How did he do?”
The score couldn’t be bad, so their reaction was muted.
Now, Feng Jiayou hoped to shift the topic.
“Over four hundred seventy points, crushing everyone—first place!” Feng Jiamei declared proudly.
“The English was calculated according to the college entrance exam standards, at ten percent!”
Afraid they wouldn’t understand, she added another explanation.
“Don’t change the subject—go back to your room and do your homework!”
Crushing everyone—first place?!
Feng’s mother was momentarily stunned, but compared to the unsurprising score, what really mattered was the manuscript in her hands.
And that troublemaker was nearly swearing this was indeed Old Xu’s new work!
But her younger daughter recognized the handwriting at once—it was Cheng Xue-min’s.
Wasn’t this too confusing?
Feng Jiayou, you’d better give a proper explanation!
She shooed away the bothersome Feng Jiamei, then pressed Feng Jiayou: “Feng Jiayou, did Xue-min write this manuscript? You couldn’t get Old Xu’s work, so you used Xue-min’s to fool me?”
“Jiayou, did Xue-min really write this?” Feng’s father was equally shocked, no longer caring about the score or the ‘Horse Herdsman’.
His biggest concern now was whether this exceptionally bold manuscript was written by his son-in-law, Cheng Xue-min.
“Xue-min, come here, we have something to ask you!”
Impatient, Feng’s father called toward the east wing.
“Dad, Mom, we really didn’t mean to hide this from the family…” Cheng Xue-min came out, exchanging glances with Feng Jiayou, ready to confess in hopes of leniency.
But before he could finish, Feng Jiayou jumped in: “Dad, Mom, let me explain! Xue-min isn’t very articulate—let me tell it all, we’ll confess everything!”
Oh, come on, woman, that’s not fair! Are you just trying to shift the blame?
Having his chance to speak snatched away, Cheng Xue-min was dumbfounded, resigned to letting Feng Jiayou dump the responsibility on him while she played the dutiful daughter.
…