Lin Wanyi grabbed Liu Chunlan's hair and slapped her face countless times, the smacks echoing loudly.
She didn't stop until she was tired and her hands ached.
Liu Chunlan thought she was finally going to let her go, but unexpectedly, Lin Wanyi threw her over to Zhao Pei.
"Sister, she didn't bully you any less. Take this opportunity to vent your anger properly."
Liu Chunlan's face was almost swollen from the beating. She trembled in fear, "You can't hit me, Zhao Pei. I'm your sister-in-law."
Smack!
Zhao Pei delivered a hard slap right to her face:
"To hell with your sister-in-law! Did I marry Liu Dabing? Was I willing?
"I was tricked by him into coming here.
"Liu Chunlan, on my first day here, it was you who drugged me, right? It was you who told Liu Dabing to tie me up, right?
"Every time I tried to run away, you beat me. Did you think I forgot?
"No, it's impossible to forget. Liu Chunlan, now I'm going to make you pay for everything.
"Go to hell!"
After being slapped countless times, Liu Chunlan finally lay on the ground, unable to move, like a dead dog.
Her face was swollen like a steamed bun, and blood seeped from the corners of her mouth.
She pointed a trembling finger at Lin Wanyi:
"A family misfortune, a true family misfortune! Why did my son marry a woman like you?
"You can't even give birth to a son, and you show no filial piety to your elders. Tell me, what is the use of a woman like you?
"Lin Wanyi, tell me, what use are you?"
Lin Wanyi clapped her hands. "Sister-in-law sure can give birth to a son, but her son's surname is Chen.
"Why don't you reflect on yourself? If one daughter-in-law hates you, it might be the daughter-in-law's fault. But if both hate you?
"Whose fault is it? You old witch, why do you never look for the reason within yourself?"
Lin Wanyi's words pierced Liu Chunlan's heart, and her chest started to ache again.
It hurt so much that she broke into a sweat.
She yelled at Lin Wanyi, "I don't feel well. I need to see a doctor. Take me there right now."
Lin Wanyi quickly stepped back several paces:
"If you don't feel well, go find your son or your daughter. Why are you coming to me?
"What do I have to do with you?"
Liu Chunlan was truly in pain. She begged Lin Wanyi:
"I am your mother-in-law. Take me there. In the past, whenever I was sick, weren't you the one who took me to the doctor?
"Why not today?"
Lin Wanyi sneered. "But even when I treated you so well in the past, you still called me a bitch.
"You also called me worthless out-of-town trash.
"Old woman, don't tell me you've forgotten all that?
"I certainly haven't."
Left with no choice, Liu Chunlan struggled to stand up from the ground, leaning against the wall:
"Then give me some money. I'll go downstairs and see the doctor myself."
Ha, money?
The corners of Lin Wanyi's mouth curled up even higher:
"You still want to ask me for money? I'm about to divorce your son, and you're still asking me for money?
"Old woman, do you want two more slaps instead?"
"You!"
With a bruised and swollen face making her look like a ghost, Liu Chunlan called Wang Meijuan:
"Juan'er, hurry and come to the hospital. I feel terrible. I need to get checked."
"Ah!"
Wang Meijuan was worried. "Mom, where does it hurt?"
"My chest hurts, in the same place as last time. Don't say any more, just hurry up and come."
Wang Meijuan hesitated, and finally said, "Mom, Borui is still at home. If I leave, he'll be scared by himself.
"Why don't you look for Wang Hao?"
Liu Chunlan was furious. "I have no idea where the hell he went. He's not answering his phone. Where am I supposed to find him?"
Wang Meijuan continued:
"What about Lin Wanyi? Mom, I am a married daughter after all. It's not really appropriate for me to interfere in my maiden family's affairs, right?
"If I keep spending money on you, Li Jun will be unhappy."
Both in pain and enraged, Liu Chunlan roared into the phone:
"Why do you care if they are happy or not? I am your mother.
"I am the mother who gave birth to you."
Wang Meijuan didn't argue with her, only saying one sentence:
"I'll find Wang Hao for you."
The phone was hung up by Wang Meijuan. Enduring the pain, Liu Chunlan called Wang Hao again.
No one answered. Still, no one answered.
She really had no other options, so she called Wang Kai:
"Kaikai, Mom is at the hospital. Mom doesn't feel well. Come and take me to see the doctor."
Wang Kai's voice was ice-cold:
"You're already at the hospital. Just go find a doctor directly. What use is there in me going?"
Liu Chunlan gripped her phone tightly:
"I don't have money, Kaikai. Mom doesn't have money.
"An examination at this hospital will cost at least a few hundred. Where would I get that kind of money?"
Wang Kai's voice remained completely flat:
"Mom, stop pretending to be poor. How could you not even have a few hundred yuan?
"You're overacting. Hurry up and go find a doctor for your checkup."
Liu Chunlan felt utterly miserable.
She could actually take out those few hundred yuan, but she couldn't bear to part with it.
Most of her money had been given to Liu Dabing, so she didn't have much left on hand.
She had no job and no pension, and Wang Jianguo drank every day.
Every penny she spent was a penny gone forever.
How could she bear to spend it?
But it hurt. Her chest hurt so much.
Having no choice, she leaned against the wall and dragged herself step by step downstairs to find a doctor.
The doctor prescribed a whole stack of examination forms for her.
After queuing for a long time, she looked at the fee: 1,100 yuan.
She was scared to death.
Instantly, she felt like her chest didn't hurt anymore.
So expensive. She wouldn't pay it, absolutely not.
She only had a few tens of thousands saved up for her coffin.
The people behind her were urging her:
"Hey, hurry up. We're all in a rush."
She finally stepped out of the line. Having not paid a single cent, naturally, she couldn't do any of the examinations.
She felt awful inside.
She had given birth to two sons and one daughter.
She had originally thought her old age would be incredibly happy.
She never expected that now she was sick, not a single person cared about her.
Looking at the people coming and going in the lobby, looking at those being supported by their daughters.
Her nose stung, and tears fell from her eyes.
She remembered how in the past, whenever she was sick, Lin Wanyi would run around taking care of her, asking after her well-being, terrified that she might be uncomfortable.
She felt a mix of complex emotions. Lin Wanyi wasn't so hateful anymore.
She instinctively unlocked her phone to find Liu Dabing, but suddenly remembered that Liu Dabing had been arrested.
She thought for a moment and called Liu Xiulan.
Right now, she was the only person who could help Liu Chunlan.
But Liu Xiulan said bluntly:
"I've left. I went back south to take care of my eldest grandson."
Liu Chunlan accused her over the phone:
"Big brother has been arrested, and you're just leaving like this?
"Washing your hands of everything? Big sister, he is your big brother too."
Liu Xiulan was carrying her luggage. She wasn't going to take care of her grandson; she was going out to work.
She originally thought she could come back and rely on Liu Chunlan and Liu Dabing.
Now she realized that they were worse than one another.
One was an evil mother-in-law, and the other was a human trafficker.
She would rather do manual labor than get involved with them.
Liu Chunlan couldn't find anyone else anymore.
There was only Wang Jianguo.
This man who had never treated her like a human being his entire life.
Left with no choice, she gritted her teeth and dialed Wang Jianguo's number anyway:
"Jianguo, my chest hurts, it really hurts.
"Give me some money so I can go get it checked out.
"I..."
Before she could finish her sentence, a woman's panting came through the phone:
"Big brother, was my service okay?
"You have to give me a little extra money, and look for me next time."
Liu Chunlan almost collapsed onto the floor.
She screamed frantically into the phone:
"Wang Jianguo, where are you?
"Where the hell are you?"
