Chapter 656 - 564: Just Deserts
Chapter 656: Chapter 564: Just Deserts
With a cold expression, Xiao Man stood on the street corner with Wu Xiaowen. She ignored the woman’s tears and pleas, watched the others disappear in a taxi, and then turned to leave. She didn’t head back to the Tang Mansion, but walked down the main street instead, looking for a shop to buy a new toy for Weiwei.
Seeing Xiao Man about to walk away, Wu Xiaowen grew anxious and ran forward to grab her arm. "How can you act like this? Mom is talking to you, didn’t you hear me? Your grandmother is incredibly strict about manners and a proper upbringing. If she saw you acting this way, she would be furious!"
Xiao Man sidestepped, flinging Wu Xiaowen’s hand off. Her gaze was ice-cold. "You don’t have the right to mention my grandmother. And stay away from me. Don’t touch me. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless. This time, it won’t be for just two or three days. I’ll make you mute for life!"
"You!" Wu Xiaowen could finally no longer hold it in, and fury flared in her heart. "I carried you for ten months and risked my life to give birth to you! Do you know that you’ll be punished by heaven for treating me this way? You should learn a thing or two from Hao Hao. I’m not asking for much. You owe me the most basic respect and filial duty!"
"You don’t deserve my respect or devotion! My grandmother was right—you’re not fit to be a mother! Women are born with maternal instincts; they dote on their children and do everything to protect them. Even a mother hen will fight a hawk to the death to save her chicks. But you? What did you do to me? You know perfectly well why you were so desperate to get pregnant and give birth! No one is a fool. You did it for the Tang family’s power and influence. You probably didn’t even love Tang Qingyun back then. You still had Bai Lihua in your heart, didn’t you? You can do whatever you want for a better life, for your parents and relatives—no one has the time to judge you for that. But you deliberately destroyed my chance to live, and for that, you deserve to die! Hiding my existence from the Tang family, repeatedly stopping Tang Qingyun from seeking the truth, letting Liu Fengying torture me and make my life a living hell... As far as I’m concerned, your sins are unforgivable! How do you have the nerve to show your face in front of me? Get out of my sight!"
Stared down by Xiao Man’s gaze, which was so cold it felt tangible, Wu Xiaowen’s face turned ashen. She stood stiff and speechless. Despite her immense, fortress-wall-thick shamelessness, the weight of the facts in Xiao Man’s repeated, harsh condemnations left her in the wrong and stripped her of her momentum. But she had already been waiting for Tang Qingyun for days. If she couldn’t find him soon, she was done for. So, even though she was about to faint from rage, she had to endure it. Forcing herself to press on, she moved again to block Xiao Man’s path. She bit her ravaged red lips, and two tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
"Manman, Mom knows she was wrong..."
"Watch your mouth. My mother is at home right now, and she’s doing just fine. You’ve already made me late for one thing. Waste any more of my time, and I’ll really have to get nasty."
Wu Xiaowen choked on her words and hurriedly said, "I have an emergency, I need to see your dad... oh, I mean, Hao Hao’s father. Can you do me a favor and call him? Tell him to come here, please? I promise, I will never bother you on the street again!"
Xiao Man sneered. "I’m busy. I have no obligation to do that."
"Do it for Hao Hao’s sake!"
"No."
The hand Wu Xiaowen had just placed on Xiao Man’s sleeve was flung off again. Trembling with anger, her patience finally snapped. "Tang Manman! I’m really in trouble! I need to get life-saving money from your dad! Have you no conscience? You’re always demanding this and that from other people, but you need to have some grace and a better attitude yourself! With that arrogant, holier-than-thou look, you look down on everyone. You’re as cold and hard as a rock that can never be warmed. You’re not the least bit lovable—who could possibly like you? You’re a far cry from Hao Hao and Xuanxuan!"
"Isn’t that what you’ve always thought? That I could never compare to your sweet, adorable Xuanxuan? Well, where is your Xuanxuan now? Why don’t you go ask her for help? Oh, that’s right. I remember you were being treated at De Ren Hospital a few months ago. I heard that was Xuanxuan’s way of repaying her ’loving adoptive mother’ with ’respect and filial piety.’ How did that feel? Pretty thrilling, wasn’t it? The wonderful daughter you and Tang Qingyun raised with your own hands, doting on her every whim, and her final reward for you was a bloody stabbing! How exciting, just like a movie. It’s a good thing Hao Hao went abroad to study, far away from you and Wu Qin. Otherwise, he would have ended up just like you—dead without even knowing how it happened! So this is your so-called ’gentle and lovely’ girl, the one you trampled me underfoot for. Why couldn’t your perfectly happy, loving family stick it out? It’s so fake it’s nauseating!"
Wu Xiaowen glared at Xiao Man. "You damn brat! So you were just lying in wait for me, weren’t you? Ever since you returned to the Tang family, nothing has gone right for me. My life has become a complete mess... You wicked, evil thing! You’re the one who’s been cursing me, hoping my family would fall apart and come to a bad end! Your heart is black to the core! In a past life, I must have had a blood feud with you!"
"Hah!" Hearing Wu Xiaowen curse her, Xiao Man didn’t feel angry at all. Instead, she felt a strange sense of delight, and a smile blossomed on her face. ’I might actually be turning into a sadist,’ she thought.
"You’re right. I do have it out for you. Because I’ve hated you in my past life and in this one! So, if you want to live peacefully, don’t show your face around me. Otherwise, don’t blame me for cursing you! And don’t underestimate my curses. Look, I came back, and you were kicked out of the Tang family. Wu Qin, who had taken my place, was sent packing back to the countryside. Everything that was mine is coming back to me... Hmm, thinking about it that way, my mood has improved quite a bit. I’m leaving now, no more time to waste!"
Xiao Man skipped away. Wu Xiaowen chased after her for a dozen steps but couldn’t catch up, and instead tripped and fell. Frustrated and enraged, she collapsed on the snowy ground, pounding it with her fists and wailing. Two young passersby kindly helped her up, leaned her against the roadside railing, then left. Wu Xiaowen clutched her chest, gasping for breath as she stared in the direction Xiao Man had run, muttering angry curses. Meanwhile, the regret buried deep in her heart slowly began to surface—
’I was truly wrong back then. I don’t even know why I was so stubborn, so bewitched. How could I have thought that damn brat could never be as brilliant as Xuanxuan? Ugh, that damn Xuanxuan! Don’t think about her, don’t even mention her name. The moment I do, the healed knife wounds on my face and body start to ache and itch again. The doctor said it’s psychosomatic, which is just infuriating!’
’That damn brat has blossomed into someone exceptional, while Wu Qin has become the biggest joke and disgrace of my life. What a huge irony! Wu Qin is a useless piece of dog shit, completely unreliable. But that damn brat is not only stunningly beautiful, she also possesses miraculous medical skills. Anyone who meets her is captivated. The Tang family treats her like a precious treasure, and she’s set to marry into the Gu family in the future... My mother was right all along. If I can just latch onto her, I can regain everything I’ve wanted and lost. But the brat hates me so much. What am I supposed to do?’
After her fall, Wu Xiaowen was a complete wreck, disheveled and pathetic. She was no longer in the mood to wait for Tang Qingyun, and since she couldn’t catch up to Xiao Man, she had no choice but to trudge home dejectedly.
Xiao Man went into a shopping mall and, after browsing for a while, bought another model airplane for Weiwei. When she came out, she found a public phone booth and called the clothing company. As expected, it was Lu Jianling who answered. Lu Jianling laughed and said that her brother had already picked Yang Liu’er up and taken her home. Weiwei hadn’t left the house all day and would be staying home, because his maternal grandmother, uncle, and aunt had come to visit.
When Xiao Man heard the Lu Family had guests, she decided against going over. But Lu Jianling quickly said, "Listen to me, you should come! Liu’er was just talking about you today. She said your family must be busy with some happy event, otherwise she would’ve called. And, well... we can talk when we see each other. Anyway, just come! I’m about to call home to tell my brother and sister-in-law, and I’m getting ready to leave work. Just tell me where you are, and I’ll drive over and pick you up!"
Lu Jianling was bolder than Yang Liu’er. Lu Jian Country had volunteered to personally teach his sister and his wife to drive. Lu Jianling already dared to get on the road by herself, while Yang Liu’er wouldn’t drive unless Lu Jian Country was with her.
Yang Liu’er said that in her past life, other than a bicycle, she didn’t know how to operate a motorcycle or a car. Xiao Man, of course, had only started learning to drive after she was with Gu Shaojun; her skills were decent. In this life, Gu Shaojun and Zheng Shaolian had only taught her a few things before she "smartly" got the hang of it. It was just that the family had a driver, so she usually didn’t get the chance to drive herself.