"Madame, I married into the Ou family, but I am not a vassal of the Ou family. I have my own work and life," Xia Zhiwan answered without being too arrogant or humble.
Madam Ou did not expect that her daughter-in-law would talk back to her this confidently. She told someone to close the door and lock it before sitting on the sofa ostentatiously.
"You won't even refer to me as your mother-in-law. I didn't even get to drink a cup of tea from my daughter-in-law. With this level of quality from the Xia family, the fact that the Ou family is willing to marry you is already an act of benevolence!"
Xia Zhiwan gritted her teeth and tried to control her anger. She wanted to say that she was not willing to marry into the Ou family in the first place. She really did not care about the power the Ou family held.
Furthermore, this place was as desolate as a haunted house. There were also a lot of insects roaming around at night. She did not want to live here at all!
"Mother-in-law, please have a cup of tea," Xia Zhiwan said as she swallowed her anger while passing a cup of tea to Madam Ou.
However, Madam Ou clearly came here to look for trouble. She flipped the teacup, which caused the tea to spill onto Xia Zhiwan's body.
Xia Zhiwan got angry and put down the teacup. She then said respectfully, "I don't care if you want to drink it or not. I am going to work."
"I-is this how a daughter-in-law should act?!"
Madam Ou felt gravely insulted as she saw that the young and pretty face did not fear nor respect her.
Even if Xia Zhiwan gave herself such airs, did she not marry a paralyzed man? What was she acting so proud for?!
Madam Ou looked down on Ou Ruoming because she was not his biological mother, but his stepmother.
"The Xia family arranged a marriage with us because you wanted a few more sales connections, right? If you give me an attitude once more, let's see what else can the Xia Corporation get?!"
Xia Zhiwan paused for a while. She insisted on going to work for Xia Corporation, but if her resistance brought more harm to the company, then she would naturally need to weigh the benefits and costs.
Madam Ou crossed her legs after she saw that Xia Zhiwan hesitated. "Why aren't you giving me another cup of tea? I have been sitting here for so long. You have no manners at all!"
"The house is so dirty, and yet you didn't know how to clean it up. Don't ever think that you could enjoy the life of a young madam once you are married into the Ou family!"
"You didn't sweep the floor until it was clean. My shoes are dirty, come and polish them for me!"
A series of orders and condemnations made it seem like it was a master-servant relationship rather than a relationship between a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law.
Xia Zhiwan might be gentle, but she would definitely not swallow her humiliation anymore.
She poured another cup of tea which was piping hot. She then walked towards Madam Ou and shook her hand, which caused the tea to pour onto Madam Ou's body.
Madam Ou was scalded until the point she lost all composure. She gritted her teeth and scolded Xia Zhiwan, "Did you do it on purpose?! How can a woman like you marry into the Ou family?! I will let Ou Ruoming end you!"
Xia Zhiwan answered out of guilt, "Oh my, I am so sorry mother-in-law. Look at how clumsy I am. This must be because I had always been a young mistress in the Xia family. As such, I can't serve anyone at all. If Ou Ruoming could wake up and get a divorce with me, then that would be the best outcome! You can let him find another daughter-in-law to be your maid!"
Madam Ou definitely could not wake Ou Ruoming up, let alone let him get a divorce with Xia Zhiwan. She just wanted to scare Xia Zhiwan, but she did expect that Xia Zhiwan would not be concerned about it at all.
"Y-you uneducated piece of trash! What a sly and cunning woman! You deserve to get rejected by the He family!"
Xia Zhiwan was unconcerned. She then took a shoe brush and kneeled down to polish Madam Ou's white leather shoes. The expensive shoes were then covered with a layer of black shoe polish.
"Get away from me! What are you doing?!"
"Mother-in-law, weren't you the one who told me to polish your shoes?"
"Scram!" It pained Madam Ou to see her shoes getting ruined.
Xia Zhiwan threw the shoe brush away and took a feather duster. She then dusted the room as dust particles began to float in the air.
"Mother-in-law told me to dust the place. Let me…"
Madam Ou covered her nose and mouth in fear that she might inhale any dust. She then fled the place in a hurry.
"You are insane! Just wait! I will let Ou Ruoming get a divorce with you!"
Xia Zhiwan wiped off her sweat. She then said in her heart, "Finally got rid of this menace".
As for a divorce, she was, in fact, looking forward to it! Furthermore, it was their family who mentioned it, not her!
Who knew that Madam Ou would tell Aunty Rong, "From today onwards, she is not allowed to leave the house. She should behave herself and stay at home to take care of her husband!"
Xia Zhiwan was grounded. As such, she could only call her assistant, Weiwei, to apply for a long-term leave.
However, even if she could not go out, she would still need to eat and drink, right?
This empty house was not a place that humans could live in. There were no ingredients in there. As such, Xia Zhiwan grabbed her handbag to go out to buy some food but was stopped by someone else.
"Madam won't allow you to go out. I will send you anything you need."
The servants here were like robots. They were emotionless as they all had poker faces.
Furthermore, the food that they provided her was pitiful. They only gave her a packet of noodles and a few vegetables. It was hard for her to think that this was not intentional.
The Ou family's wedding dowry was so luxurious, so why were they so stingy with her? Maybe it was all a part of her stingy mother-in-law's plan?
Xia Zhiwan ate the tasteless noodles and finally realized how it felt like to be a daughter-in-law who was bullied. Furthermore, what was even worse was that her husband could not even help her at all…
She could not fill her stomach. It was already hard enough to survive this disgusting life.
Later once night fell, the Ou residence had a power cut.