Chen Qingxiu didn’t dare say another word. She remembered Lin Wanyi and Wang Keke.
Back then, Liu Xiulan hadn’t just taken Wang Keke away; she had also viciously fed her the peanuts she was allergic to.
It had nearly killed Wang Keke.
Liu Xiulan wasn’t normal.
She would stop at nothing to get what she wanted.
Thinking about it, Chen Qingxiu was terrified.
For the first time, she humbly begged Liu Xiulan:
“What do you want? Mom, tell me, what do you want?
“If I can agree to it, I will. Just tell me, what will it take for you to let my son come back?”
“Ha ha ha!”
Liu Xiulan laughed even more gleefully:
“Chen Qingxiu, you’re pathetic—even more pathetic than Lin Wanyi.
“Before, I gave you face, but you didn’t want it. You insisted on going against me. Now look at you.
“Who’s your mom? Did I ask you to call me that?
“How shameless can you be? Listen to me carefully.
“My condition is still very simple: change Haohao’s last name back, right now.
“I want to see ‘Wang Hao’ on the household register. Come find me after you’ve changed it.”
She hung up with a bang. Chen Qingxiu slapped Wang Kai across the face:
“This is your mother!
“Wang Kai, this is your mother. I was blind to marry you back then.
“Now what? Tell me, what do we do now?”
Wang Kai covered his face, not daring to move. He let Chen Qingxiu hit him and yell at him.
Only after she had vented did he say:
“Honey, calm down first. Think about it carefully. My mom’s only demand is to change our son’s last name.
“That’s her obsession. It also shows she loves the child—she wouldn’t hurt him.
“Maybe we should just go along with her and change his last name.
“It’s just a name. You don’t have to take it so seriously, right?”
“Wang Kai!”
Chen Qingxiu was practically screaming:
“Did you and your mother plan this? Did you already scheme together?
“She kidnaps my son, and you come to be her spokesman. Wang Kai, you’re not even human!”
Chen Qingxiu’s parents also scolded Wang Kai:
“Wang Kai, you can’t burn the bridge after crossing it. These conditions were all agreed upon before you got married.
“Otherwise, why would our family give you fifty grand? We paid for the child’s surname.
“A few years have passed—are you regretting it now? Are you trying to rebel?”
Wang Kai tried to explain on the surface, but deep down, that was exactly what he thought.
He was a man, and because he had married into the family, he always felt humiliated.
But back then, Liu Xiulan hadn’t offered a penny of bride price. If he hadn’t agreed to be a live-in son-in-law, he wouldn’t even have had a wife.
Let alone the good life and good job he had now.
Before marriage, he had gotten drunk many times.
He didn’t want to be a live-in son-in-law, but he had no choice—after all, his parents couldn’t provide for him.
After the child was born, he had brought up letting the child take his surname, Wang.
He suggested the second child could take the surname Chen.
But Chen Qingxiu strongly opposed it, even threatening to keep the child and kick him out.
He had no way out. He knew clearly that his job and his life depended on the Chen family’s help.
Without Chen Qingxiu, he would never find a better woman.
He was more sober than Wang Hao. He thought things through more than Wang Hao did.
He always considered himself first: whoever treated him well or was useful, he’d listen to them.
So for his own future, he chose to endure.
But over the years, he knew many people had laughed at him for being a kept man and marrying into the family.
Especially Liu Xiulan, who pestered him every now and then to change the child’s surname back.
Outwardly, he disagreed, but inwardly, he had thought about it countless times.
Now, he wanted to seize the chance to fulfill his wish.
So he kept persuading Chen Qingxiu:
“Honey, I didn’t scheme with my mom. I had no idea she would take Haohao away.
“But think about it: she’s crazy. She does things without considering the consequences.
“Back then, to stop Lin Wanyi from going back to her parents’ home, she nearly killed Wang Keke.
“Now, I don’t know what else she might do.
“I’m afraid our son will get hurt. Honey, think it over—compared to a surname, isn’t our son’s life more important?”
Chen Qingxiu just cried and said nothing.
Wang Kai then looked at her parents:
“Dad, Mom, I’m only saying this now because I’m worried about Haohao’s safety.
“My mom, when she loses it, she truly doesn’t care about the consequences.
“Please talk some sense into Xiuxiu. Let’s change the child’s surname first. Once we find him, I’ll definitely change it back.
“Xiuxiu and I have been married for over ten years. Don’t you trust my character by now?”
Chen Qingxiu’s parents hesitated.
When they had agreed to pay fifty thousand to bring Wang Kai into the family, the most important condition was the surname.
But now, their grandson’s life mattered more.
After thinking it over for a long time, Su Ling nodded:
“Xiuxiu, why not do as Wang Kai says? Let’s bring Haohao back first.”
“No!”
Chen Qingxiu firmly refused:
“I won’t fall for Liu Xiulan’s trap. That’s exactly what she wants—my compromise.
“Why should I listen to her? I’m not Lin Wanyi, that pushover. I won’t be led around by her.
“The police will find her. She can’t escape.”
Her resolute attitude made Wang Kai’s hidden agenda all the more embarrassing.
Just then, Liu Xiulan called Wang Kai again:
“Son, you know I don’t have much money. Haohao says he’s hungry and wants to eat.
“Transfer me thirty thousand.”
Chen Qingxiu was furious. She snatched the phone:
“Liu Xiulan, this is blackmail!”
“Hmph!”
Liu Xiulan sneered:
“What are you talking about? I’m asking my son for some money—how is that blackmail?
“He’s my son, I’m his mother. I can’t ask for money?
“Damn it, I get it now. It’s you who’s been turning my son against me.
“He’s corrupted by you. You teach him to go against me every day. Now I’ll do the same with your son. I’ll make sure he never gives you a single cent when you’re old.
“Let’s see if you’ll regret it then!”
“You old hag! You damn old hag!”
Chen Qingxiu screamed hysterically, but Liu Xiulan was delighted.
She watched the sleeping Chen Hao, feeling an unprecedented satisfaction.
Her grandson was by her side. She finally had a grandson.
Ha ha ha.
She laughed out loud a few times.
Once Wang Kai went to change the surname back, she would definitely shove the household register in Zhang Cuihua’s face.
A grandson? Who didn’t have one?
The more she thought about it, the happier she got.
She was still bitter that Lin Wanyi had refused to have a second child back then.
But that was fine. She had her own real grandson now.
When the time came, she would not only humiliate Zhang Cuihua but also Lin Wanyi.
Lin Wanyi might not have given birth, but she, Liu Xiulan, still had her own big grandson.
She stroked Chen Hao’s face as if she were seeing Wang Kai as a child.
How wonderful. Having a grandson truly was wonderful.
Just thinking about it, she drifted off to sleep.
She had a dream.
In the dream, Lin Wanyi was massaging her, and Chen Qingxiu was washing her feet.
She was lying in a rocking chair, basking in the sun.
Wang Keke and Chen Hao were running around her in the yard.
Life was so, so comfortable.
But just as she started to enjoy it, she heard a loud bang.
Then several police officers surrounded her. Chen Qingxiu viciously slapped her across the face.
Then another slap, and another.
She thought she was still dreaming. She screamed—
"Chen Qingxiu, I have your son in my hands, and you still dare to hit me? Do you want to die?"
Slap, slap, slap!
After several more slaps,
Liu Xiulan finally came to her senses.
Only then did she realize that this was real, not a dream!
