The Abandoned Daughter's Second Chance

Chapter 206: Chapter 194: Filial Piety and Upbringing

Inside the house, Mo Shuixia was focused on kneading dough when Guan Ailan ran in, shouting excitedly. Without even washing her hands, Mo Shuixia rushed straight out, grabbed Liu Fengying, and began dragging her out of the courtyard. She was tall and quite strong, and Liu Fengying couldn’t break free at all, able only to hurl a stream of curses.

Tang Yaxuan stood motionless, glaring at Mo Xiaoman. "She raised you for over a decade! How can you treat her like this? Have you no sense of filial piety? No upbringing? You’re too heartless!"

Mo Xiaoman replied calmly, "And why don’t you mention that I was abused by her for over a decade, serving as this family’s indentured servant? You just stand by and watch as someone drags your own mother away, completely unfazed. Is *that* what you call filial piety?"

Tang Yaxuan shot back, "She may have given birth to me, but she didn’t raise me!"

Mo Xiaoman was speechless.

"You all heard her. How do you even respond to that?" Mo Xiaoman asked the children in the courtyard.

The children fell silent, all a bit dumbfounded. They had never experienced anything like this, so they really didn’t know what to say.

Guan Ailan scoffed and rolled up her sleeves. "What utter nonsense. What’s there to respond to? Just throw her out! One look at someone like her is more than enough. Keeping her around is making me sick!"

Xiao Man took a bamboo switch from a nearby child and pointed it at Tang Yaxuan. "Are you going to walk out on your own, or do I have to ’escort’ you?"

Tang Yaxuan’s gaze shifted to Grandma. Previously, she had been unwilling to suck up to a simple country woman, her heart still clinging to a last shred of pride and a sense of superiority. But at this moment, she couldn’t worry about that anymore. She had no desire to return to the filthy Mo Family Courtyard; to replace Mo Xiaoman and stay here, she had to plead with Grandma.

"Grandma, I’m the real granddaughter of the Mo family! I’m willing to live with Grandpa and Grandma!"

Grandma shook her head. "You won’t even acknowledge Liu Fengying, so I doubt you’d acknowledge Mo Guoqiang. How can you call yourself a true daughter of the Mo family? In any case, this has nothing to do with me. You don’t need to call me Grandma. Go home."

With that, she turned and went back inside the house.

Just as Tang Yaxuan was about to say more, Xiao Man’s bamboo switch swung at her. Tang Yaxuan shrieked and jerked her head to the side, but the switch never landed on her face or body. She only felt a sharp prick on the side of her neck, as if from a thorn. Soon, half of her body was overcome by a numb, tingling itch. She wanted to scratch but couldn’t tell where the sensation was coming from. It was agonizing!

Hopping on one leg, her limbs flailing in a bizarre, convulsive manner, Tang Yaxuan became a source of great amusement for the children. They all roared with laughter. "What did you do to me?" Tang Yaxuan shrieked through her tears. "Mo Xiaoman! Mo Xiaoman, you goddamn bitch! You worthless slut... I hope you die a horrible death!"

Mo Xiaoman said, "Everyone, take a listen! So this is what they call a ’good city upbringing’!"

Guan Ailan was half-furious, half-laughing. "If any of you ever say I have a foul mouth again, I’ll beat you senseless! Get over here and witness what a *truly* foul mouth is! It’s absolutely putrid! What ’good city upbringing’? Dammit, the way she spouts those vicious curses, she’s ten times worse than the sharpest-tongued old biddy in the village!"

"Screw your ’city folk’!"

"She’s not from the city, she’s just an impostor!"

"Hahahaha! An impostor!"

"Get out of here, impostor!"

Mo Xiaoman said to Tang Yaxuan, "I told you to leave quietly, but you insisted on an escort. Learned your lesson, haven’t you? One of my family’s fleas jumped on you. Hurry and get out. The moment you leave this courtyard, it’ll let you go!"

The moment she heard that, Tang Yaxuan bolted for the courtyard gate, running as fast as her legs could carry her. The children howled with laughter, nearly falling over.

Xiao Man followed her to the gate and flicked Tang Yaxuan’s neck with the bamboo switch. Sure enough, she instantly felt normal again. The numbness and itching vanished.

Tang Yaxuan pointed at Mo Xiaoman. "Doing this to me... It’s despicable! I’m going to tell my father! I’m going to tell my mother!"

"Be my guest! Tell whichever parents you like! Just don’t ever show your face around me again. This is my home, and I don’t want to be too violent in front of the elderly and the children. But if you dared to curse me like that somewhere else, see if I wouldn’t beat you senseless! I don’t care if you’re some delicate, unstable thing; it’d be better for everyone if you just went full psycho!" Xiao Man finished, then pulled Mo Shuixia inside and latched the courtyard gate, shutting the mother and daughter out.

Tang Yaxuan whimpered, heartbroken and full of hate. She absolutely refused to go back with Liu Fengying, so in the end, Liu Fengying had no choice but to carry her home on her back.

Upon returning to the Mo Family Courtyard, Mo Xiao Zhi and Mo Xiaohua saw their mother carrying the grown Tang Yaxuan on her back and were instantly filled with indignation. Mo Xiaohua threw a tantrum on the spot. She was the youngest, and it had been ages since her mother had carried her. On what grounds did Xuanxuan get to be treated like such a treasure?

It was almost noon, and Liu Fengying had to go feed the pigs and make lunch. Tang Yaxuan was getting tired and drowsy; accustomed to a pampered life, she was used to taking a nap around this time. Seeing her yawn repeatedly, Mo Xiao Zhi told her to go rest on Liu Fengying’s bed. Mo Xiaofeng, too, was uncharacteristically friendly. She turned her dead-fish eyes in Tang Yaxuan’s direction and said, "Xuanxuan, you should go take a nap! By the time you wake up, lunch will be ready!"

But Tang Yaxuan refused. That grimy, dark bed was something she would avoid at all costs.

But she couldn’t get any rest sitting under the eaves with her head on her knees, either. One moment, Mo Xiaohua would pull her hair; the next, Mo Xiaoneng would be throwing pebbles at her. Mo Xiaofeng paced back and forth, using a split bamboo cane to feel her way, producing a grating CLACK-CLACK sound. And every so often, the cane would come down hard on Tang Yaxuan’s head or back...

After several warnings proved useless, Tang Yaxuan finally snapped. All sleepiness gone, she shot to her feet like a roused lion. Grabbing a bamboo pole of her own, she lunged at her younger siblings in a furious counterattack. The courtyard and house erupted into chaos once more, filled with shrieks and cries. Liu Fengying had to rush out to intervene, and only after a great deal of effort did she manage to placate the enraged Tang Yaxuan.

Mo Guoqiang came back. He had gone to a neighboring village to pay a local healer for some medicine and had also stopped by Liu Fengying’s family home. Last night, Liu Fengying had arranged with her mother and sister-in-law to borrow a new quilt for Xuanxuan to use at her school dormitory. The quilt was part of her sister-in-law’s dowry and had never been used. Liu Fengying had only secured it by promising to return it after the autumn harvest, along with an extra yarn blanket. Mo Guoqiang carried the quilt, which weighed a full eight jin, all the way home on his back—a heavy load for him.

Tang Yaxuan didn’t even glance at Mo Guoqiang. A cripple, a disabled person—she found people like that disgusting. Even Mo Xiaoqiang, who was usually carried outside for a bit of fresh air, had been kept out of sight by Liu Fengying ever since Xuanxuan arrived.

The family gathered around the table for lunch. Each person had a bowl of sweet potato congee, with a dish of pickled vegetables and a large bowl of greens in the center of the table. Tang Yaxuan, however, remained sitting under the eaves, refusing to come into the kitchen. Liu Fengying didn’t call for her. Shielding her actions from the other children, she bent over the large pot, filled a medium-sized bowl, grabbed a pair of chopsticks, and hurried outside.

Mo Xiaofeng was blind, and Mo Xiaohua was still too young and simple-minded. Mo Xiao Zhi, however, had sharp eyes and was plenty cunning. She deliberately waited a moment for Liu Fengying to return, then used the excuse of getting more congee to suddenly bolt outside. Liu Fengying couldn’t have stopped her if she’d tried.

She ran under the eaves and saw exactly what Tang Yaxuan was eating: steamed white rice with an egg and cured meat. Mo Xiao Zhi ran back, screaming and crying. The kitchen instantly erupted. Even the usually quiet Mo Xiaoneng rebelled. Mo Xiaofeng smashed her bowl and tried to flip the table, while Mo Xiaoneng dumped the entire pot of congee into the pig slop bucket. If she couldn’t have any, then no one could!

While Mo Guoqiang and Liu Fengying were inside, beating the three rebellious children into submission, Mo Xiaohua ran straight outside. She was going to rely on her own skills to snatch that meat and egg from Xuanxuan!