Su Ling’s hair was pulled painfully by Liu Xiulan.
She clutched her head tightly and shouted,
“Liu Xiulan, let go of me, let go!”
Liu Xiulan refused to let go:
“Open the door for me, and I’ll let go. I can’t believe a mother can’t enter her own son’s room?”
Su Ling had never really fought with anyone before.
She was no match for Liu Xiulan.
Left with no choice, she resigned herself to opening the door for Liu Xiulan.
When Liu Xiulan swaggered in and sat on the sofa, Su Ling had already called Wang Kai:
“Wang Kai, get your ass back here right now.”
By the time Wang Kai rushed back, he was drenched in sweat. Seeing Liu Xiulan on the sofa, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him:
“Mom, what are you doing here?”
“What am I doing?”
Liu Xiulan scowled with displeasure:
“Son, I’m your mother. Do I need a reason to come to my own son’s house?
Do I need to make an appointment?
By all rights, you should be the one inviting me here to live out my old age with you. Now that I’ve come on my own, you’re asking me why?
I slogged to send you to college. What kind of lessons did you learn there?”
Wang Kai’s face darkened.
Su Ling shoved a large clump of hair in front of him, so angry she nearly fainted:
“Look at this! Take a good look! She yanked all of these out of my head.
Wang Kai, how are we going to settle this?
She stormed into my home like a lunatic and tore at my hair.
She’s nothing but a mad dog.”
Wang Kai grew even more furious.
He grabbed Liu Xiulan:
“What do you want? What exactly do you want?
The last time I left, I told you: don’t come looking for me again, ever.
Why show up uninvited? Why do you have to disrupt my peaceful life?”
Wang Kai’s attitude stung Liu Xiulan.
Her eyes reddened:
“Kaikai, I’m not feeling well. I came to the city to see a doctor.
But I’m just an old woman with no one to help me. I can’t figure anything out.
At the hospital these days, I can’t even manage to register. Everything has to be done on a phone.
I had no choice but to come to you. Please take me to the hospital.”
Before Wang Kai could answer, Chen Qingxiu, who had rushed over after getting the news, strode in and slapped Liu Xiulan square across the face:
“Who told you to come to my house and hit my mom?
Who gave you the guts?
What right do you have to hit her?”
The slap nearly knocked Liu Xiulan to the floor.
Her ears rang:
“Chen Qingxiu, I’m your mother-in-law.
How dare you hit me?”
Chen Qingxiu showed her no courtesy:
“Mother-in-law? What kind of lousy mother-in-law are you?
I’ve never acknowledged you as one.
And you have the nerve to come to my house and lay your hands on my mom? You’ve got some nerve!”
Liu Xiulan was about to explode with rage.
She covered her cheek, turning to Wang Kai:
“Son, are you just going to stand there and watch her hit me?
I’m your mother! Are you going to let her treat me like this?
Control her!”
Wang Kai showed her no sympathy. Instead, he joined Chen Qingxiun in berating her:
“Who told you to come? I didn’t ask you to.
And you started it. My mother-in-law is a well-bred, reasonable woman—she’d never throw the first punch.
Mom, stop making a scene here. Go back home.”
Liu Xiulan felt as if her heart was breaking.
She couldn’t understand:
“Kaikai, don’t you know who your real mother is?”
Wang Kai tried to drag her out:
“Come on, Mom, let’s go. We’ll talk somewhere else.
You’ve already torn apart Wang Hao’s family—are you bent on destroying mine too?”
“Liu Xiulan, are you really our mother?”
That one sentence completely broke Liu Xiulan.
She shoved Wang Kai away:
“What kind of nonsense are you talking?
“I went through hell to give birth to the three of you—I nearly died three times in childbirth.
“I worked my fingers to the bone to raise you, even sending you to school.
“And now just because I don’t have any money, all three of you are abandoning me one by one?
“You won’t even admit I’m your mother?
“Wang Kai, do you have a conscience?
“Put your hand on your chest and ask yourself—do you have any conscience at all?”
Wang Kai tugged at his hair in frustration:
“Enough, Mom. Save those speeches for Wang Hao, okay.
“I’m a son-in-law who married into the family. I’ve told you a hundred times—I have nothing to do with the Wangs anymore.
“Just go. Get out of here, all right?”
Liu Xiulan was utterly disappointed in Wang Kai.
She thought back to a few years ago, when Wang Hao and Lin Wanyi were still around. Back then, she had everything handed to her on a silver platter—she never had to suffer like this.
The more she thought about it, the more miserable she felt, until finally she blurted out:
“Wang Kai, you’re an ungrateful bastard.
“Both you and your wife are ungrateful.
“You’re nothing compared to Wang Hao and Lin Wanyi—you’re not as filial as they were, you...”
Before she could finish, Chen Qingxiu picked up a basin of cold water and drenched her from head to toe.
Chen Qingxiu tossed the basin aside and clapped her hands:
“Yeah, Lin Wanyi was great. She was perfect in every way.
“Too bad she’s gone. She left Wang Hao, and she left you too.
“You old hag, you just don’t have the luck to enjoy a good life. You deserve to starve to death, to be gnawed on by rats.
“You deserve to rot!”
The cold water soaked through every layer of Liu Xiulan’s clothing.
She hugged herself, shivering:
“Chen Qingxiu, I’m going to sue you. I swear I will.”
Chen Qingxiu didn’t even glance at her. She turned around, helped Su Ling, and shut the door.
Without her hundreds of thousands, Liu Xiulan was nothing in Chen Qingxiu’s eyes.
Liu Xiulan’s heart felt as ice-cold as her soaked clothes.
Wang Kai, seeing her pathetic state, felt a flicker of pity:
“Come on, I’ll buy you some new clothes to change into.”
All the way, Liu Xiulan couldn’t stop crying.
She didn’t understand how her life had come to this.
She called Wang Hao again. This time, he finally answered.
Liu Xiulan burst into sobs:
“Son, where are you? Your mother is being bullied to death here!”
Wang Hao said coldly:
“I can’t do anything about it either. I’m at Wanyi’s parents’ house right now.
“Mom, talk to our eldest brother about your problems.”
When Liu Xiulan heard that Wang Hao was at Lin Wanyi’s parents’ home, she thought the marriage between Lin Wanyi and Wang Hao might be turning around. She quickly said:
“Did Lin Wanyi ask you to go? Is she thinking about remarrying you?
“Haohao, I don’t care what you do—you have to bring Lin Wanyi back.
“Our family really needs her now.”
Wang Hao just found her ridiculous. Too tired to argue, he hung up directly.
Back then, she had looked down on Lin Wanyi, calling her a “foreign goods” under her breath. And now she needed her.
Liu Xiulan stared at her phone, thinking she had found a ray of hope.
She was convinced that Wang Hao would manage to coax Lin Wanyi back.
In her mind, her good days were just around the corner.
She even thought, if Lin Wanyi came back this time, she would be a little nicer to her.
After going through all this, she had to admit—Lin Wanyi was truly a daughter-in-law without a single flaw.
Especially compared to Chen Qingxiu, it was like comparing heaven and earth. But she had no idea that Wang Hao stood no chance. Not a single one.
