Cui Lijuan let out a cold laugh. From the moment Tang Guanshan had forced her to abort the child in her womb, she had begun taking revenge on Tang Jing. Xiao Mandong had been right—she was deliberately spoiling Tang Jing, indulging her until she became completely unbearable. Since Tang Jing was already spoiled and overbearing, Cui Lijuan intended to make her even more lawless.
When she married Tang Guanshan, she had genuinely treated Tang Jing as her own daughter. The child was so young, with neither a mother nor a father, and Cui Lijuan had thought she was truly pitiful. She could not help thinking of her own children, so she had sincerely cared for Tang Jing back then. She had also hoped to build a good life with Tang Guanshan. Having been injured while giving birth to her daughter, she might not be able to have another child. If Tang Guanshan had a niece to raise, perhaps he would not feel too disappointed.
What she had never expected was that, when Tang Jing was fifteen, she suddenly became pregnant. At the time, Cui Lijuan had been overjoyed. She had never been able to express how much she longed for a child, and this new life had seemed like something to anchor her heart to.
Tang Guanshan had been happy too. Who would not want a child of their own? But Tang Jing had cried and made a scene at home, insisting that once they had a child of their own, they would no longer want her. No matter how much they tried to reassure her, nothing worked.
She had even run away from home and gone to stay with her maternal grandmother for more than half a month. In the end, her grandmother and uncles came to the house to take Tang Jing back. Anyone with eyes could see what that family was planning.
They had raised her to fifteen, and in two more years she would be old enough to marry off in exchange for a bride price. But Tang Jing had declared that unless they gave up the baby, she would return to her grandmother’s family. How could Tang Guanshan agree to that? He had raised the girl since she was three years old. In the end, he could only force Cui Lijuan to have an abortion, telling her they could have another child in a few years, once Tang Jing had grown more sensible.
The moment Cui Lijuan lay down on the operating table, she secretly swore that she would ruin Tang Jing by indulging her. She had never heard of an uncle and aunt needing their niece’s permission before having a child.
Tang Guanshan saw that she had fallen silent and walked over to Xiao Mandong, forcing a faint smile onto his face.
“Doctor Xiao, I’m terribly sorry. My wife doesn’t know any better and has caused you trouble.”
He was already seething with annoyance. The moment he entered the residential compound, he had heard that Cui Lijuan had brought Tang Jing to cause trouble for Xiao Mandong. That woman was no help to him at all; all she knew how to do was create problems. She worked at the hospital too—didn’t she know how highly the hospital valued Doctor Xiao? How many unmarried women were ever given the opportunity to receive a staff apartment?
If word reached the hospital director, he might think Tang Guanshan had deliberately made things difficult for Doctor Xiao. She was truly good for nothing but causing trouble and ruining things.
“Oh, now I understand!” Qian Yuxiu said after listening for quite some time and finally piecing everything together. “Tang Jing is your niece, isn’t she? And you’re a hospital administrator. So because your niece has connections at the hospital, she can treat ordinary people’s lives as if they mean nothing? That day at the hospital, my brother almost died because of your precious niece. It was Doctor Xiao who saved him. The hospital has already issued the appropriate punishment, so are you dissatisfied with the hospital’s decision, or are you dissatisfied that Doctor Xiao saved someone? How dare you come here and make trouble for her? Having connections really does make a difference—even if someone nearly kills another person, there’s still someone willing to protect them.”
After hearing this, Qian Yuxiu finally understood why Tang Jing was so arrogant. It turned out she had powerful people backing her.
“That’s right. Tang Jing has been domineering since she was little. Isn’t it all because those two spoiled her?”
“If Section Chief Tang weren’t protecting her, someone who made such a serious mistake would definitely be fired. And yet she’s still unhappy about being transferred to the cashier’s office.”
“Section Chief Tang really can’t tell right from wrong. He even makes his own wife take the blame for his niece. Who does that? Cui has taken the blame for that precious niece for years. If it were me, I would have left him long ago.”
“Exactly. Years ago, she even had her own child aborted for the sake of this niece. Tsk, tsk…”
Tang Guanshan stood rooted to the spot, listening to everyone’s remarks. His face flushed red, then turned pale. Ever since he had become a section chief, no one had ever spoken to him like this. That young woman’s words felt like slaps striking him across the face.
He clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails nearly dug into his palms. How dare some little girl humiliate him in front of so many people without showing him the slightest respect? Gritting his back teeth, he swallowed his anger.
He recognized her as the sister of the patient from that day. He could not afford to provoke her. If she wrote another letter of complaint, forget about Tang Jing—even his own job might be at risk.
He turned around and glared fiercely at Cui Lijuan.
“What are you still standing there for? Go home!”
At that moment, he did not want to say anything else. He only wanted to leave as quickly as possible. But Qian Yuxiu’s final remark nearly made him lose control.
“Why are you leaving? You’re awfully good to your niece. She wouldn’t happen to be your illegitimate daughter, would she?”
As she spoke, Qian Yuxiu looked at Tang Guanshan provocatively.
“Bullshit!”
The moment Tang Jing heard that, she charged forward, but Tang Guanshan grabbed her and pulled her back.
“I, Tang Guanshan, have always conducted myself honorably. Young lady, watch what you say.”
With that, Tang Guanshan dragged Tang Jing away. The more he said now, the worse things would become. Once he got home, he would definitely investigate that damned girl’s background.
Cui Lijuan had taken Qian Yuxiu’s final remark to heart. As she watched the backs of the two people ahead of her, she fell deep into thought…
At the Tang family home, the moment the door closed, Tang Guanshan slammed his palm onto the table.
Bang!
The enamel mug on the table was knocked to the floor, and tea spilled everywhere.
Cui Lijuan jumped. “Tang Guanshan, what are you doing?”
“Cui Lijuan, before we got married, we agreed that I would accept you and your mother into my home, and that you would help me take care of my niece. Do you know what the things you said today could do to Tang Jing?”
As he spoke, Tang Guanshan repeatedly slapped the table. He was truly furious.
“Why should I keep taking the blame for her? I’m only her aunt by marriage, not her mother. Haven’t I taken the blame for her enough already? Back when she was in school…”
“Stop bringing up the past!” Tang Guanshan cut her off before she could finish and turned to leave.
He had to explain what happened today to the hospital director first. If word reached the director before he could do so, the situation might become impossible to resolve.
Cui Lijuan was so angry that her chest heaved violently. Clutching the corner of her clothes, she gritted her teeth and stared at the door Tang Guanshan had slammed shut, feeling as though something were lodged in her chest.
Could Tang Jing really be Tang Guanshan’s daughter? She had never once suspected it before.
“Lijuan?” Cui’s mother called from the inner room.
“Husband and wife should talk things out calmly. The argument was so loud that the neighbors must have heard. What will that do to his reputation?”
Cui’s mother understood her daughter’s grievances. She knew that she had been a burden to her, and that during the more than ten years she had been married to Tang Guanshan, Cui Lijuan had suffered countless injustices and endured tremendous hardship while caring for his niece.
But Tang Guanshan cared deeply about his reputation, and they still had to go on living together. The residential compound was small, and they could not let everyone know about their family problems. What if it affected her son-in-law’s work?
Hearing her mother’s words only made Cui Lijuan feel even more restless.
Her mother always urged her to be understanding toward men and to treat her niece better. She said that a man who treated his niece so well was loyal and affectionate, and that only capable men were so domineering. Taking the situation to heart, she had always treated Tang Jing with kindness.
But what had she gotten in return? Her tolerance had only become an excuse for Tang Jing to push her limits further and further.
She took a deep breath and forced down the tightness in her chest.
Once she had cared for her mother until the end, she would sell off her job and go in search of her own children. Surely her children would be especially sweet and well-behaved.
