Chapter 202 - 190: Waking from a Nightmare to Broad Daylight
Chapter 202: Chapter 190: Waking from a Nightmare to Broad Daylight
Left with no other choice, Tang Qingyun had to take Wu Xiaowen and Tang Haocheng back to Wancheng first. Grandpa and Grandma had a point:
Everyone knew the child had been returned to the Tang family, and the bonds of blood could not be broken. Xiao Man might be resentful now, but she would come to understand one day. When she was a little older, she would realize the importance of family. Besides, even if she went home with them, she wouldn’t be living with her parents. She would be at school, living in a dormitory. She was a top student, a grade-skipper the school was heavily invested in. Since she couldn’t bear to leave Ping County First Middle School, they might as well let her stay there for now. Wancheng wasn’t too far from Ping County, so Tang Qingyun could visit her frequently when he had time. They could interact, communicate, and slowly grow familiar with one another. Everything would work out.
Besides, Wu Xiaowen’s transfer back to Beijing and Tang Qingyun’s advanced training were still six months away. They could give Manman some time and take things one step at a time.
After bidding farewell to Grandpa and Grandma, Xiao Feng drove the car away, leaving a trail of dust. Inside, the three members of the Tang family were quiet. Tang Qingyun leaned back in the passenger seat in silence. In the back, Wu Xiaowen and Tang Haocheng each occupied a window, gazing at the passing rural scenery, lost in their own thoughts. It was hard to say if any of them were even thinking of Tang Yaxuan.
As for Tang Yaxuan, she felt like her world had come to an end.
She still couldn’t accept that the parents who had cherished and spoiled her from childhood had abandoned her. Immersed in overwhelming grief, she was led away in a daze by Liu Fengying, following Mo Guoqiang back to the Mo Family Courtyard.
As she stepped into the farmyard, which could only be described as filthy, chaotic, and foul-smelling, a chick scurried past her. Then, she watched in horror as her little black leather shoe landed squarely in a pile of chicken droppings. She froze as if struck by lightning. After a long moment, she burst out wailing.
Liu Fengying had seen how Wu Xiaowen doted on Tang Yaxuan, and her own heart yearned to show some affection for the biological daughter she hadn’t seen in thirteen years. She had been treating her with cautious care, so when she heard her daughter cry, she immediately pulled her into a frantic embrace. Heart aching, she patted and soothed her, murmuring, "Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. Mama’s here. Mama loves my Xuanxuan. I won’t let you be mistreated!"
Mo Guoqiang turned to look, but only heaved a long sigh, shook his head, and walked away.
His injured leg had been treated at a hospital and had been recovering decently, leaving him with only a limp. He could still carry a fifty or sixty-pound load. However, because of the incident with Mo Xiaoqiang, the families of the thugs who’d been injured in the explosion had beaten him severely on two separate occasions. New wounds were piled on top of old ones, and this time, he couldn’t afford to go to the hospital. He had to make do by haphazardly applying medicinal wine and herbal remedies at home. The wounds became inflamed, and the pain grew worse. Now, not only was his limp more severe, but he couldn’t carry anything on his shoulders or even hold things properly. He was practically a cripple, having long lost his former fierceness and confidence. Seeing Xuanxuan returned to the countryside, he felt a chill creep into his heart. ’The family is already in ruins. I was counting on my daughter in the city to send money back now and then to help us get by. But now, I have to raise this pampered biological daughter instead? How in the world can we afford that?’
Disheartened and apathetic, Mo Guoqiang ignored everything. He picked up a bamboo basket and headed out to the mountainside to cut some tender grass and leaves for pig feed. He had no choice. He was the only one left in the family who could do such work. Xiaoqiang was crippled, Xiao Feng was blind, and Xiao Neng was never home. Xiao Zhi had been forced to drop out of school to manage the two disabled siblings’ every need, on top of doing all the housework and looking after Xiaohua. She was already full of endless resentment, and her tone had become sharp, harsh, and venomous, almost rivaling Liu Fengying’s.
Tang Yaxuan’s pampered sobs and Liu Fengying’s endless, gentle cooing immediately drew the attention of the other children in the house. Xiao Zhi and Xiaohua ran out into the courtyard, and Xiao Feng felt her way to the doorway. Even Mo Xiaoqiang, who had been lying on a bamboo chair screaming curses at Xiao Zhi, went quiet.
"Mom, who’s that?"
Xiao Zhi and Xiaohua stared curiously at Tang Yaxuan, who stared back at them with a look of utter disgust. She took in their dirty, wrinkled, ragged clothes and their small, stray-cat-like faces. When she saw a louse crawl out of Xiaohua’s messy hair, Tang Yaxuan let out a piercing shriek and began to cry even harder.
"Aunt Liu, I’m begging you, take me to my mother... I don’t want to be here! I want to find my mother!"
"Oh, Xuanxuan, be a good girl. They’ve already gone back to the city."
"Then I’ll take a car back to the city! I have money!"
"But there’s no bus at this hour. Why don’t we stay here for tonight? Tomorrow, tomorrow Mama will take you, how about that?"
Liu Fengying patiently coaxed her biological daughter. In her estimation, since Tang Qingyun and Wu Xiaowen adored Xuanxuan so much yet had still been willing to give her up, there must be a reason she didn’t know about. Before they left, Tang Qingyun had said she would "temporarily" study in the countryside. And Wu Xiaowen had made it very clear: "Mama will definitely come back to get you!"
’So,’ Liu Fengying thought, ’what I need to do now is placate my daughter for the time being and send her off to board at school. With her here, the city folk will definitely have to send money and things. Once that couple handles whatever it is they need to handle, Wu Xiaowen will come and take her back. My daughter is destined for a good life; she’ll never escape wealth and privilege. And I, her mother, will have someone to rely on!’
When Xiao Zhi and Xiaohua heard that the clean, beautiful girl before them was the legendary Xuanxuan—their own older sister—their eyes went wide. But from behind them, Xiao Feng rushed forward, raising a wooden door bolt she had pulled from the main gate. She hurled it viciously at Tang Yaxuan, screaming through clenched teeth, "Damn you, Xuanxuan! You rotten Xuanxuan! Give me back my eyes! It was your horrible idea that made me blind! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!"
Caught completely by surprise, Tang Yaxuan couldn’t react, and Liu Fengying didn’t notice in time either. She could only watch helplessly as the bolt flew straight at Tang Yaxuan’s face, striking her forehead, nose, and mouth. A partially embedded iron nail on the bolt tore a gash across her lip. Tang Yaxuan’s vision went black, and she collapsed, her face covered in blood. The sight terrified Liu Fengying.
When Tang Yaxuan awoke in Liu Fengying’s bed, she ran out into the courtyard and saw that dusk had fallen. She opened her mouth to cry, but the movement tore the gash on her upper lip open again. Fresh blood trickled out, and the pain was excruciating. She clamped her mouth shut, reduced to pitiful whimpers.
Hearing her, Liu Fengying hurried over to comfort her again and coaxed her back inside. It was only then that Tang Yaxuan noticed the room was filled with people—men and women, old and young, at least seven or eight of them.
As unwilling as she was, Tang Yaxuan couldn’t run away now, and she had nowhere else to go. She could only listen mechanically as Liu Fengying introduced everyone: "This is your maternal grandmother, this is your eldest uncle and his wife, this is your eldest aunt, second aunt, youngest aunt..."
There was one middle-aged couple Liu Fengying didn’t introduce. They had hostile expressions and kept repeating, "Your own biological daughter is back, so you’d better hurry up and find our daughter! And don’t you think about shorting us on the money you owe! Our daughter wasn’t lent to you for free!"
For once, Liu Fengying was submissive, speaking placatingly to the couple.
Tang Yaxuan was pulled and prodded by her grandmother and various aunts, who gawked at her as if she were a curiosity. "She looks just like us!" they commented with laughs. "Now *this* is one of our own!"
She felt like a puppet, wanting to cry but unable to. Not only did her mouth hurt, but her nose and forehead throbbed with pain as well. Her eardrums rang from Mo Xiaofeng’s ceaseless shrieking, the loud thuds of Mo Xiaoqiang pounding on his bedframe from inside the room, Xiao Zhi’s incessant complaining, and Xiaohua’s whimpers...
Tang Yaxuan stared up at the dim, yellow lightbulb hanging on the wall. ’I must be having a nightmare,’ she thought. ’Nightmares always end. When I wake up from this, it’ll be morning!’