Chapter 409 - 356: Summer Vacation
Chapter 409: Chapter 356: Summer Vacation
Wu Xiaowen never imagined that, in her immense rage, she could be just like Wu Xiaorui and kick the door open with a single blow. When she saw Wu Xiaorui’s room, perfectly neat and clean, her anger soared. She strode forward and violently swept the green silk-shaded lamp from the nightstand onto the floor. Then, with another shove, the dual-cassette recorder on the tall chest of drawers on the other side fell to the ground with a loud THUD. It didn’t shatter into a million pieces, but from the sound of it, the machine was definitely broken.
A series of loud crashes finally woke Wu Xiaorui, who was sleeping soundly inside her snow-white bed canopy. She was exhausted; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been sleeping so deeply.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Wu Xiaowen frantically trashing her room. Wu Xiaorui was furious. She leaped out of bed and charged at Wu Xiaowen. The two sisters erupted into another brawl. At first, the enraged Wu Xiaowen could hold her own against Wu Xiaorui, but she quickly began to lose ground. Soon, Wu Xiaorui had her pinned to the floor again, grabbing her hair and viciously slamming her head against the ground. THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Wu Xiaowen shrieked in pain, screaming, "Xuanxuan, help me!" Tang Yaxuan, who had been watching the terrifying scene from the doorway while biting her fingers, deliberated for ten seconds. Then, resolutely, she ran to the corner of the living room, grabbed an unopened bottle of liquor, rushed back into the room, and smashed it hard against the back of Wu Xiaorui’s head... And the world fell silent.
Bai Lihua had just returned to the Bai Family home when he received Wu Xiaowen’s call. The woman on the other end of the line was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, leaving him so shocked he was nearly speechless. Once he confirmed that Wu Xiaorui had only fainted and was still breathing, he rushed out the door and sped to Wu Xiaowen’s house.
Wu Xiaorui was only out for a moment. She was in good physical shape. When she came to, her mind was clear, and she could still point at Wu Xiaowen and Tang Yaxuan—who were clinging to each other and sobbing—and curse them out. If not for her injury, she certainly wouldn’t have let it go so easily; she would have given the mother-daughter duo a brutal thrashing.
Bai Lihua and Wu Xiaowen took Wu Xiaorui to the hospital to have her wound treated. The doctor said she needed to be observed overnight, so Wu Xiaowen had no choice but to stay with her. The two sisters finally came to an agreement: they wouldn’t let the Wu Mansion know about this. However, since Wu Xiaorui had lost a lot of blood and suffered a shock, she would need to take time off to rest. Wu Xiaowen had to compensate her. In addition to serving her four good meals a day, she had to give Wu Xiaorui 1,500 yuan. This amount included compensation for lost wages, nutritional expenses, and emotional distress.
This incident meant Wu Xiaowen couldn’t go to the Tang Mansion the next day, which was a Sunday. For various reasons, she was also unable to go for the following two weeks. Lin Aizhen, who was fixated on the "good things" at the Tang Mansion, was very displeased that her eldest daughter had failed to follow through on her promise.
Life for the Tang Family, however, continued as usual. Monday through Friday was peaceful and pleasant, while Saturdays and Sundays were filled with a light and joyful atmosphere. The family was already happy whenever Xiao Man came home, and on top of that, friends of all ages would come over to see her—often four or five, sometimes seven or eight, and occasionally even more. When young people get together, things are bound to get rowdy. It felt like they were going to tear the whole house down.
Xiao Man appeared quiet and gentle, but when she really let loose, her wild and mischievous streak was a match for any boy’s. Even she found it incredible. ’Have I become a different person, now that I’m young again in this life? Or maybe... this has always been my true nature. In my past life, I was trapped in hardship—never enough food or warm clothes, always terrified, with endless work to do every day. How could I have been in any mood for fun and laughter? My real personality was probably worn away back when I was just a child.’
Grandpa Tang and Grandma Tang warmly welcomed all the young people who came to visit. Whether they were children from powerful and influential circles or kids from the neighborhood whom Xiao Man had met by chance, they treated them all the same. Seeing their granddaughter and her friends having so much fun made them happy too.
For many years, the Tang Mansion had grown accustomed to quiet; at times, even those living inside felt it was too cold and lonely. But there was nothing to be done. The Tang family had few descendants. As children, Tang Qingshan and Tang Qingyun never brought friends home, so their parents didn’t even know who their friends were. When it came to Tang Haocheng, he was even more solitary and somber. As for the fake granddaughter, Tang Yaxuan, Wu Xiaowen’s selfishness had prevented Grandma Tang from bringing her back to Beijing to raise her. And since Grandma Tang disliked her from the bottom of her heart, Tang Yaxuan, despite visiting Beijing several times, never had the opportunity to invite friends over to the Tang Mansion.
Since Xiao Man’s return, the house was often bustling with life and energy. Grandpa Tang and Grandma Tang had lived in the quiet mansion for most of their lives, but they didn’t find the change jarring. They quickly adapted to and grew to love this new way of life.
In the blink of an eye, it was July, and summer vacation had begun. Xiao Man returned home first, and Tang Haocheng followed two days later from school.
Tang Haocheng had originally planned to follow his mentor to the Northwest Desert Area during the summer vacation. Xiao Man asked him what he was going there to investigate. At first, Tang Haocheng wouldn’t tell the truth, but after a disdainful look from his sister, he quickly spilled everything. There was a secret national research base there, and his mentor was involved in a project. The plan was to bring a few exceptionally outstanding students along to give them a learning opportunity.
After hearing him out, Xiao Man thought for a moment and then directly objected, threatening to tell their grandparents. Their grandpa might be okay with it, but their grandma already disapproved of her young grandson spending all his time holed up in a research lab. Tang Haocheng knew his trip to the Northwest was ruined and couldn’t help but complain, "Sis, you’re holding me back! You could be destroying a great scientist!"
Xiao Man scoffed. "How old are you? Are you even fifteen yet? If you hadn’t gone through that physical refinement to strengthen your body, you’d still be a total weakling. No matter how heaven-defyingly smart you are, spending all day on this research and that, exposed to all sorts of equipment, chemical agents, and gases... your young body’s resistance isn’t as good as an adult’s. Don’t you think problems could arise? A great scientist, you say? We’d be lucky if you don’t die an early death!"
Tang Haocheng’s heart lurched as he recalled a dream he once had. ’I really did have an incurable disease. If my sister—who had turned into an ugly monster—hadn’t shown up and given me her blood, I definitely would have died! She saved my life in the dream, and in reality, she patiently nursed me back to health and guided me onto the Cultivation Path. My body is more than ten times stronger than before. I can’t say I’m immune to all poisons, but that time in the jungle at Nanzhou Base, I was bitten by a Five-step Snake and was completely fine. It stunned the accompanying professor. After all, even after receiving antivenom, some people would still be weak and dizzy for a day or two. But I was perfectly fine, running around like normal, not even needing a stretcher! This is my real sister. She’s looked down on me, hit me, and yelled at me, but deep down, she truly cares for me. I’m so lucky. The sister I lost in my dream has come back in reality. In this life, we’ll never abandon each other!’
The siblings sat at the table eating fruit, glancing at the television now and then. Tang Haocheng was usually too lazy to eat, but he loved anything his sister made and served him. He popped a slice of peach into his mouth, chewed a couple of times, and swallowed. Tang Haocheng said, "My body has been strengthened, so there won’t be any danger. Why won’t you let me go with my mentor? Do you want me to go back to Gongdao Village with you?"
Xiao Man looked at him. "What, is your mentor more appealing than your big sister? You don’t want to go back to the countryside with me?"
Tang Haocheng shook his head, then nodded, nearly choking on a bit of fruit juice. He coughed and laughed at the same time. "Sis! How can you even make that comparison? My mentor is an old man... COUGH, COUGH, COUGH! I—of course I’m willing to go back to the countryside. We should go back and visit Grandpa and Grandma. And while we’re there, we can see Dad!"
Xiao Man was speechless. For a moment, she had actually forgotten that Tang Qingyun was in G Province.
Pretending she hadn’t quite heard Tang Haocheng, she adopted the tone of a lecturing older sister. "Look at you. You’re going to be a total workaholic, forgetting everything the moment you step into a laboratory. I’m only reminding you of this because I’m in the mood; otherwise, I couldn’t be bothered, lest you get annoyed with me. You have to understand, family and friends need your time and attention too. No matter how important your work is, you have to set aside some of your time for family. A while back, you kept using ’busy with school’ as an excuse not to come home, and Grandpa and Grandma were constantly talking about how much they missed you. They’re getting older, and they just want to see their grandson more often. Vacation has barely started, and you’re already trying to run off. There’s nothing wrong with pursuing knowledge and dedicating yourself to science, but you could spare a thought for your elders’ feelings, couldn’t you? There will certainly be other opportunities to go on study trips with your mentor."
"Alright, what you said makes sense, Sis. I’ll remember it!" Tang Haocheng accepted her advice readily. He patted his chest and grinned. "I’ll do my best to follow it from now on!"