Grandma Zheng narrowed her eyes as she sized up Xiao Mandong. She hadn’t expected the girl to be so pretty. If she married in the future, her family would surely be able to collect a hefty bride price.
And she’d heard that this little vixen had a job and money in her hands. Wouldn’t it be better to keep the benefits in the family? Why let someone else profit when her own grandson could? Her grandson had never found a suitable match. If this marriage worked out, their family could save on the bride price and even bring back a substantial dowry. Wang Meixia was so fertile that surely her daughter wouldn’t be any different. Xiao Mandong looked thin, but her backside wasn’t flat, and her chest wasn’t small either. She’d probably have plenty of milk to feed a baby.
Grandma Zheng kept nodding, becoming more satisfied the longer she looked.
Zheng Chao looked at his stepdaughter. She was completely different from the way he remembered her. He exchanged a glance with Grandma Zheng, and they seemed to understand each other immediately.
“Why aren’t you answering what I just said? Are you waiting for me to say it for you?” Xiao Mandong hadn’t forgotten what Wang Meixia had said earlier.
Even now, they were still trying to pin the blame on her. They truly had no sense of shame. Earlier, they had accused her and someone else of having an illicit relationship without producing any evidence. But if she lost her job over this, it would mean the work unit’s investigation had confirmed the matter, and the charge of having an improper relationship with a man would be impossible to shake off.
Since Wang Meixia liked bringing up the matter of reporting people, Xiao Mandong would simply give her what she wanted.
“Twenty years ago, you became pregnant with Zheng Chao’s child. After the baby was born, you were afraid the child’s appearance was too different from the Xiao family’s and that the truth would be exposed, so you switched the child with Wang Fugui’s son. In other words, you exchanged Xiao Zhenyu’s identity with the son you had through an affair and raised that child in the Wang family. That child is Wang Lei, isn’t he?”
“Wang Fugui was naturally willing to let his son be raised in the Xiao family, because he could receive the best education there and eventually inherit the Xiao family’s property. Not only did you sleep around, Wang Meixia, you also wanted to swallow up the Xiao family’s entire fortune. What did my father ever do to wrong you? Why did you do this to him?”
Zheng Chao’s dismissal from the factory had of course not been caused by this matter. Xiao Mandong was merely testing her.
In fact, she had only pieced it together through deduction. But judging from Wang Meixia’s expression, Xiao Mandong was now certain she had guessed correctly.
“You’re talking nonsense!” Wang Meixia’s secret of nearly twenty years had been exposed by Xiao Mandong in an instant. Her legs trembled with fear.
She couldn’t understand how Xiao Mandong had found out—and how she could know every detail. Worse, she had revealed it in front of so many people. Wang Lei had been sent to the countryside as well. What kind of gossip and abuse would he have to endure now? How could a teenager withstand that?
Every onlooker stood there with their mouths hanging open. So Wang Meixia had had a child with some other man and raised him at her parents’ home. She had even wanted her nephew to inherit the Xiao family’s entire estate. Not only had she been fooling around, she had planned to swallow the Xiao family whole. What a calculating woman. City people really knew how to play—what wild lives they led.
That woman was truly vile. How could anyone do such a thing? Reporting her had been the right decision. They couldn’t just stand by and watch everything that belonged to the family fall into someone else’s hands.
Even if the family had been sent down, they couldn’t let some bastard child take the place of the family’s own son.
“But you still shouldn’t have reported your stepfather,” Grandma Zheng said. “A stepfather is still a father. You’ve also left your mother with no means of support. That makes you an unfilial daughter.”
Grandma Zheng hadn’t expected her son to give her such a pleasant surprise. Her drooping eyelids lifted at once. So she had another grandson after all! That good-for-nothing Zheng Chao had kept him hidden from her for all these years.
It was a pity the boy hadn’t been raised in the Xiao family. Otherwise, he would surely have received an excellent education and perhaps even learned medicine. The more she thought about it, the more she felt Wang Meixia was an utter fool. With such wonderful resources, she had given them to someone else’s son instead of her own.
“Bah!” Huang Chunxing spat. “Your mother already cut ties with you. What the hell does a stepfather count for? You old slut, you foul hag steeped in a thousand years of piss jars! Only a shameless bitch like you could say something so shameless. Back when you were working in a brothel, was your belt so loose that your son fell right out? A woman who can do something like this must make all her money with the two ounces of flesh between her legs!”
Aunt Huang’s words sent the surrounding villagers into fits of laughter.
Xiao Mandong couldn’t help laughing as well. She raised a hand and gave Aunt Huang a thumbs-up.
Old Lady Wang, standing nearby, was unusually quiet. She felt unwell. Lately, her hands and feet occasionally seemed not to obey her, and after getting off the train that day, she had felt nauseated. She had assumed it was simply exhaustion from the journey, but now waves of dizziness swept over her. She no longer even had the strength to curse or beat Xiao Mandong.
Xiao Mandong felt she had said enough. She took a step back and leaned against the doorframe, folding her arms as she coldly watched the whole family. She was honestly too tired to say another word.
All she had to do was wait for the police to arrive. Normally, they would have been there long ago. Why were they taking so long today?
She was starting to get anxious. Diandian had been in her space for an entire day. What if the poor thing held its urine until its bladder burst?
At that moment, the child in Wang Meixia’s arms let out a kitten-like cry. The sound was so feeble it was practically breathless.
When Wang Meixia heard the baby cry, her heart shattered.
“Xiao Mandong, I’m begging you. Please open the door, all right? I only need to change the baby’s diaper. Your little brother really can’t endure this freezing weather outside. Can’t you show even the slightest bit of sisterly concern?”
Someone in the crowd spoke in a low voice.
“Educated Youth Xiao, why don’t you let the child inside to warm up for a while? The poor thing looks so pitiful.”
The voice was not loud, but everyone nearby heard it.
Xiao Mandong didn’t move or say anything. She knew this family too well. The moment she gave them an inch, they would demand a mile.
Seeing that Xiao Mandong wasn’t responding, the speaker grew displeased. She had never liked Xiao Mandong’s lofty, superior attitude, so she added, “The adults may be scoundrels, but the child is innocent. A doctor should have a compassionate heart. Even if he were a complete stranger, you shouldn’t be so cold-blooded.”
The woman had taken the lead, and Dong Huimin immediately chimed in. “Exactly, Educated Youth Xiao. He is still your little brother. Even if you don’t share the same father, you were born from the same mother. To be so heartless toward a child—is this how you treat your patients too?”
Xiao Mandong turned and swept a glance over Dong Huimin. Dong Huimin guiltily avoided her eyes.
Then Xiao Mandong looked at the man who had made the suggestion. “My house hasn’t been lived in for a long time. It’s just as cold inside as it is outside. Since you’re so kindhearted, take them to your house and let them warm up for a while.”
She paused, then added, “And don’t you dare refuse. If you refuse, that means you’re the sort who is kind only with your mouth and cruel in your heart. Everyone, take a good look. A person like this isn’t worth befriending—always preaching benevolence and morality, yet completely without principles when it comes to actually doing anything.”
The man’s face turned bright red. He opened and closed his mouth, wanting to argue, but couldn’t get a single word out.
The villagers beside him couldn’t help laughing.
“Exactly! If you’re so kind, take them home yourself. Your heated kang bed is waiting!”
“Great benefactor, anyone can wag their tongue!”
