Liu Chunlan covered her face and cried loudly:
"Wang Meijuan, I am your mother. How could you hit me?
"I am your mother!"
"Mother my foot! What kind of bullshit mother are you?"
Wang Meijuan felt absolutely no guilt. Instead, she slapped Liu Chunlan on the left side of her face again:
"You have the nerve to call yourself my mother?
"Think about it carefully. When have you ever treated me well?
"With all that money, you didn't plan to leave a single cent for me, did you?
"You were going to give it all to your son, right?
"Liu Chunlan, you must explain everything about this money today, or you can forget about ever having a peaceful day."
Liu Chunlan cried even more heartbrokenly. She turned to look at Wang Hao:
"Haohao, Haohao.
"She hit me. Your older sister hit me. You are my son, and I love you the most.
"Are you just going to watch me get beaten by her?
"Aren't you going to help me?"
Before Wang Hao could say a single word, Wang Meijuan pointed at him first:
"I know now, Wang Hao. Did she give all her money to you?
"Yes, she definitely gave it all to you. She just said you are the one she loves the most.
"Plus, you two have always lived together. You had the most opportunities.
"Tell me, how much did she transfer to you?"
Wang Hao irritably threw away his cigarette butt:
"Wang Meijuan, what nonsense are you talking about? When did she ever give me money?
"For the past eight years, I've given her two thousand a month, but I've never seen a single cent from her.
"Don't falsely accuse me."
"Then where is the money?"
Wang Meijuan was driven mad with anger. She directly grabbed Liu Chunlan's hair:
"Speak! Where is the money?"
Liu Chunlan's scalp stung from being pulled.
She desperately grabbed her own hair:
"Let go! Wang Meijuan, let go! I am your mother."
Wang Meijuan didn't let go; she even pulled harder:
"If you don't speak, I'll pull you bald."
Liu Chunlan was in too much pain, so much that she truly couldn't bear it.
She finally opened her mouth:
"I'll tell you. I'll tell you.
"Let go, and I'll tell you right now."
Wang Meijuan finally released her grip, and Liu Chunlan's eyes darted around evasively.
Seeing Wang Meijuan's hand about to reach out again, she immediately spoke up:
"The money was all spent by your uncle."
"What?"
Wang Meijuan and Wang Hao widened their eyes at the same time:
"What did you say? Who? Liu Dabing?"
Wang Hao simply couldn't believe his ears:
"You gave all the money to Liu Dabing? All of it?"
Wang Meijuan also screamed loudly:
"Hundreds of thousands, and you gave it all to him?
"Speak! Tell me right now!"
Liu Chunlan lowered her head:
"I had no choice. He lost money gambling and was being threatened with a knife for his debts.
"What was I supposed to do if I didn't give it to him? Just watch him die?
"He is your uncle, my older brother.
"An uncle is the closest relative, Juan'er, Haohao. An uncle is the closest."
Wang Hao just found it utterly ridiculous.
He had always thought he was the most important person in Liu Chunlan's heart.
He never expected this.
Her own son still couldn't compare to her older brother.
Wang Meijuan was even closer to losing her mind.
She had been waiting for Liu Chunlan's money to make Li Jun change his mind and come back to her.
But now Liu Chunlan was telling her it was gone. The money was gone.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars, all gone.
She couldn't accept it, no matter what.
She slapped Liu Chunlan again:
"Go to hell, Liu Chunlan! You can fucking go to hell!"
She slapped her, one strike after another.
Without holding back in the slightest.
Liu Chunlan frantically begged for mercy:
"I am your mother, Wang Meijuan. Stop it."
It would have been better if she hadn't yelled. The moment she did, Wang Meijuan grew even angrier and hit her even harder.
She couldn't even remember how many times she had slapped her, not until her hand grew sore.
Not until blood trickled from the corner of Liu Chunlan's mouth.
She finally stopped, letting Liu Chunlan collapse on the floor like a dead dog.
Liu Chunlan reached out to Wang Hao:
"Haohao, save me. Save me.
"My son!"
Not only did Wang Hao not save her, but he kicked her instead:
"Liu Chunlan, from now on, you are not my mother, and I am no longer your son!"
Liu Chunlan's face was covered in old tears:
"Is it just because of that little bit of money? Haohao, just because of that money, are you two siblings abandoning your own mother?
"No matter what, I am still your mother."
Wang Hao smoked cigarette after cigarette.
He couldn't figure out how there could be such a selfish mother like Liu Chunlan in the world.
He carefully recalled the past years, and the more he thought about it, the worse he felt.
Finally, he made a phone call to Wang Kai.
He wanted Wang Kai to know as well. Liu Chunlan's money.
Was all gone.
Lin Jiajun and Chen Hui's wedding was fast approaching.
Li Suhua took her to buy the traditional three gold jewelry pieces.
When they headed out, Li Suhua asked Lin Wanyi to come along.
At the jewelry counter, Chen Hui hesitated looking at the price of gold:
"Auntie, the price of gold is too high right now. Just buying a little bit will be fine."
Li Suhua, however, said:
"No, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event for you. A wedding cannot be shabby.
"Huizi, we still need to buy what must be bought."
Chen Hui browsed around, but even a thin gold bracelet cost twenty to thirty thousand.
She felt it was too expensive and ultimately only bought a pair of earrings, a necklace, and a pair of plain rings.
Altogether, it cost less than thirty thousand.
Li Suhua wanted her to buy a bracelet as well, but she adamantly refused.
She even tried to persuade Li Suhua instead:
"Auntie, the money Jiajun earns from driving every day is hard-earned. Gold can't be eaten for meals. Buying these is enough for me."
Li Suhua was gratified that Chen Hui was so sensible, yet her heart ached because she was too sensible.
Just as she was about to buy the gold bracelet Chen Hui had been looking at earlier, Lin Wanyi took Chen Hui's hand first:
"Huizi, your older sister isn't very well-off right now and doesn't have much money, so I can't buy you a big one.
"I can only buy you a small one."
"Sister."
Chen Hui's eyes welled up with tears. She tried to take the bracelet off and return it to Lin Wanyi:
"Sister, you are on your own and raising Keke. You have it much harder than I do.
"Plus, you don't even have a gold bracelet yourself. I can't take yours. You wear it."
Lin Wanyi pressed down on her hand:
"This is for you, so it's yours. Huizi, I wish you and Jiajun happiness."
Chen Hui's tears flowed even more fiercely.
Growing up, she had never experienced warmth and familial love at home.
Now, she had received it all.
It was the Lin family who gave her these things.
She went home happily with Lin Wanyi, but as soon as they reached the door, she saw the person she wanted to see the least.
Tang Guixiang.
She was standing outside the courtyard gate, pounding on the door:
"Li Suhua, open the door for me. Open the door.
"Li Suhua, Lin Wanyi, open the door right now.
"Don't pretend you're not home. If you don't open it, I'm going to kick it down."
Chen Hui was full of anger. She got out of the car and shouted at Tang Guixiang:
"What are you doing? Mom, what are you doing here?"
Hearing Chen Hui's voice, Tang Guixiang turned her head and immediately spotted the gold jewelry packaging box in Chen Hui's hand.
Her eyes lit up, and she reached over to snatch it:
"You bought gold? How much did you buy?
"Hurry up and let me see if it passes the standard.
"Let me tell you, I went out and asked around. Getting married nowadays isn't just settled with three pieces of gold.
"It has to be five pieces of gold, at least a hundred grams or more."
She looked greedily at Chen Hui's hand:
"Hurry up and let me see how many grams you bought.
"If you bought too little, they'll have to make up for it."
