Chapter 107 - 98: I’ll Believe You for Now
Chapter 107: Chapter 98: I’ll Believe You for Now
Mo Xiaoman then recounted the story: eleven years ago, Liu Fengying was passing through Wancheng, close to giving birth. She went into labor and was taken to Wancheng Hospital, where she had a baby girl. But her baby was swapped with another in the same ward, and the Mo family took Mo Xiaoman home, believing she was their own.
"So, you’re saying you actually have biological parents... Oh! I mean, you weren’t abandoned, you were... just switched at the hospital! Oh my heavens! That’s terrifying to even think about. I had Mao Mao at the hospital too. What if he was switched?"
Teacher Yu grabbed Xiao Man’s hand. "How do you know about this? And the other child, the one you were switched with? And your birth parents? Is there any news?"
"I accidentally overheard my adoptive parents talking. They’ve been searching for their biological daughter. I heard they have a lead—the family is in the city. But they won’t tell me the details, so I don’t know anything more."
"Heavens, you’re a child from the city, yet you ended up here. If your real mother knew..."
Teacher Yu’s eyes filled with pity. "You said earlier that the... the Mo parents are bad to you? They abuse you?"
Xiao Man nodded. "I know not all adoptive parents are like this, but they really are cruel and vicious. For as long as I can remember, I was raised with beatings and scoldings. I had endless chores every day, my food and clothing were nothing compared to what their biological child got, and I wasn’t even allowed to go to school!"
Teacher Yu’s eyes reddened, and she patted the girl’s hand. "But you’re so bright-eyed, and your skin is so fair. You look like you’ve been pampered. Your clothes are very nice, too—even cleaner and neater than the children from the factory and mining families. I just assumed..."
Xiao Man smiled, her lips pressed together. "I live with Grandpa and Grandma now; I’m their child. We’ve separated from the Mo Family Courtyard to live on our own. Grandpa and Grandma dote on me and give me the best of everything, from food to clothes... Teacher, you didn’t see me a few months ago. I was like a little beggar then, nothing like how I am now!"
Teacher Yu looked thoughtful. "Mo Xiaosu said that you’re technically the Mo family’s eldest daughter, and that you’re quite bossy and aggressive. She said Grandpa and Grandma originally wanted to raise *her*, but you swooped in and took her place."
"Teacher, you’re welcome to visit my home. You can ask my Grandpa and Grandma if that’s how things really are. The truth is, Grandpa and Grandma aren’t Mo Xiaosu’s actual grandparents; they’re her granduncle and grandaunt. Grandpa and Grandma raised the Mo brothers from childhood, so they were all supposed to live together. After the brothers divided the family, Grandpa and Grandma lived with Mo Xiaosu’s family. But Mo Xiaosu’s mother mistreated Grandma, so Grandpa got angry and decided they would move out and live separately. Grandpa made a deal with Boss Mo: in exchange for a room and over two hundred yuan, Boss Mo would give one of his daughters to be legally adopted by Grandpa to keep the two of them company. Boss Mo has four daughters, so he gave me up—the one who isn’t his flesh and blood. As for Mo Xiaosu, she’s Mo Laoer and his wife’s first child and only daughter. There’s no way they would have given her up. Besides, at that time, Grandpa and Grandma were leaving with nothing but the clothes on their backs and hadn’t even found a new place to live yet. Given Mo Xiaosu’s personality, she would have been running for the hills. Why would she ever want to go with them? If she really couldn’t bear to see them go, she could have pleaded with her parents, and the old couple might not have had to leave the Mo Family Courtyard at all!"
Teacher Yu nodded. "That makes sense. So, was it really not you who ran over and hit her yesterday? Chen Yujiao and the others were very convincing. They said you took a bamboo switch and whipped her until she was covered in welts!"
Xiao Man couldn’t help but laugh. "I didn’t whip her. I whipped her hooligan of a cousin! Teacher, do you know what her cousin said to me? He used this sleazy tone and said, ’Hey, Little Ni’er, how about your big bro takes you to the movies tonight!’ Who else was I supposed to hit? Besides, this didn’t even happen yesterday. I was on the mountain all day yesterday gathering chinquapins. Guan Ailan, Mo Shuixia, Mo Linghui, and a few students from the third and fourth grades can vouch for me! It happened on Saturday, after school let out at noon. I was passing by when Mo Xiaosu and her cousin blocked my path. Mo Xiaosu started cursing at me and even tried to rip my clothes off, saying they were bought with Grandpa’s money and should belong to her! Of course I wasn’t going to let her strip me, especially not in front of a guy, so I gave her a push. Her cousin tried to jump in, so I whipped him with a bamboo switch, and they both fell down. That is the truth of what happened! It’s not like I went out of my way to pick a fight with her. I don’t have time for that."
Teacher Yu’s gaze hardened. "Mo Xiaosu? She tried to strip your clothes off in front of a boy? She always seems so innocent and kind, so lively and well-behaved. How could she do something like that?"
"Teacher, everything I said is the truth!"
"Alright, I’ll believe you for now."
Teacher Yu patted Xiao Man’s hand. "Go on to class. I’m going to call Chen Yujiao and the others in one by one to get their side of the story. In a few days, I’ll start my home visits. I’ll stop by Mo Xiaosu’s house, and I’ll come see your home as well!"
"Okay, I’ll go now. Goodbye, Teacher!"
Xiao Man waved at Teacher Yu. Teacher Yu nodded with a smile, watching the girl’s figure recede as she ran off. She couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh. ’I wonder whose child she really is? I have relatives in Wancheng myself... Maybe I should try asking around for her.’
When she got back to the classroom, Mr. Chen wasn’t there; he had assigned seatwork. Guan Ailan, who sat in the second row, waved Xiao Man over, reminded her about the assignment, and then casually asked, "So? How did it go? What did Teacher Yu say to you?"
Xiao Man glanced at the eavesdropping ears all around them, her gaze pausing on the faces of Chen Yujiao and Lin Meilian before she replied, "She said a lot. Unlike some people, I don’t go around stirring up trouble and fanning the flames. I just told the plain truth, and Teacher Yu believes me! And what’s more, Teacher Yu told me..."
She intentionally trailed off, leaning in to whisper in Guan Ailan’s ear instead.
Chen Yujiao and Lin Meilian’s faces went pale. Guan Ailan clapped her hands and beamed. "That’s wonderful! Just wonderful!"
After school, the four friends huddled together, whispering as they shuffled toward the school gate. Once they left the school grounds, they would have to go their separate ways, so they deliberately dragged their feet, trying to make the short walk last as long as possible, wishing they could stretch it out even further.
The subject of today’s gossip was, naturally, Teacher Yu. Mo Linghui said, "I heard Mo Xiaosu talking about it last semester. She said Teacher Yu is getting transferred to the county seat soon because her husband is a doctor at the county hospital, and her in-laws are both teachers at the county high school!"
"Teacher Yu has such a good life! So why does she always ride her bike to the mining area? Who does she live with there?" Guan Ailan asked.
Mo Linghui replied, "Not the mining area, the paper mill. Her parents work there."
"Oh, is that so? Mo Xiaosu sure knows a lot!"
"Of course she does. Mo Xiaosu has no shame. She took advantage of the fact that Teacher Yu likes her and insisted on going with her to visit her parents. Then, Mo Xiaosu went back again with her own mother, bringing gifts like chicken, meat, and eggs to see Teacher Yu’s new baby!"
"Isn’t that just like visiting relatives?"
"Exactly. Why else would Teacher Yu dote on her so much?"
Xiao Man listened in silence, unable to get a word in. She thought back to her previous life. Mo Xiaosu had gotten sick during the middle school entrance exams, which hurt her performance, and she only managed to get into the commune’s junior high. But later, she had somehow pulled some strings to transfer to the county’s junior high and even got into the advanced class. From there, she went on to high school and then college. ’Could it have been Teacher Yu who pulled those strings for her?’