Tang Guanshan pushed his way through the crowded throng, his eyes fixed dead on Cui Lijuan as he pointed at the Xiaoli standing off to the side.
"Cui Lijuan, are these two kids yours?" Tang Guanshan ground these words out one by one through gritted back teeth.
Back then, even though he was already getting on in years and his family was dirt poor, he never thought he would end up with a woman who had already given birth to children. He had assumed Cui Lijuan was a perfectly innocent, unspoiled young lady, and never imagined he had ended up with something else entirely — a woman who had already borne two kids!
Cui Lijuan stumbled back in fright at the ferocity of Tang Guanshan's expression. "Guanshan... Guanshan... listen to me, it's not what you think."
"I'm asking you — are they your children?" Tang Guanshan's roar was so loud it silenced every single person around them.
All eyes turned to Cui Lijuan, everyone waiting for her to give her answer.
Cui Lijuan's lips trembled. "Yes."
Now that the cat was out of the bag, she no longer saw any point in making excuses. This exact scene had played out in her dreams countless times, and as she let out a long, heavy breath, she felt nothing but the release of years of pent-up pressure.
Tang Guanshan's veins bulged and throbbed all over his body at Cui Lijuan's admission. He stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face. The blow sent Cui Lijuan tumbling straight to the ground, her cheek instantly swollen and red, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth as she lay sprawled on the floor.
It was the first time she had ever been hit. She covered her stinging face, stared back at Tang Guanshan with unyielding fury, and began to sob as she called him out for every terrible thing he had done over all these years.
"Tang Guanshan, back when you wanted a wife, you didn't want to spend a single cent, but you still expected to find a woman with a stable job, who would obey you, and who was pretty on top of all that. What did you even have? You were so poor you could hear the clatter of your own empty pockets, and you already had a little dependent tagging along with you!"
"If I didn't need to bring my mother along to live with a husband, do you think I would have ever married you? All these years, have I ever spent a single cent of your salary? You spent every last bit of your paycheck on your precious niece. You wouldn't even give me money to buy basic rations. It was my salary that kept the whole family fed. I worked in the cafeteria, I ate my meals there every day, and I still had to cook and buy groceries for all of you. And for the sake of your niece, you forced me to abort my own child. I have never met anyone who would get rid of their own flesh and blood just for a niece! You dare act like you're too good for me? Then let me ask you, Tang Jing — who exactly is her father? And who is that woman named Wei Ping on those money orders you keep hidden in your desk drawer?"
"Use your head for once — do you really think a woman who had every good thing going for her would choose not to have kids, wait on your niece hand and foot, sleep with you, and earn money to support your entire family? Does that sound even remotely possible?"
She was determined to make Tang Guanshan see that if she really had been a untouched young lady, she never would have married him. Didn't he have any idea what his own lot in life was?
"You whore! You shameless whore!"
Tang Guanshan completely lost his mind, and kicked Cui Lijuan hard in the torso.
He never in a million years expected Cui Lijuan to air all their private family business in front of a crowd of strangers, painting him as a completely worthless loser. He hated nothing more than being looked down on, being shamed for being poor. He was a section chief now! This woman had just ruined all the years of hard work he had put in. For the rest of his life, people would whisper about him behind his back, gossip nonstop. She had even found the money orders, and announced their existence to everyone out loud. This bitch deserved to die.
Cui Lijuan let out a low, pained groan at the kick, curling up on the ground as she clutched her stomach.
Bowen stood frozen nearby, staring at the scene in total terror. He instinctively took a step forward, about to rush over to shield Cui Lijuan, but Xiaoli grabbed him and held him tight.
"Brother, don't go over there. Listen to me, stay put."
Bowen had always been the kind of older brother who listened to his little sister, so he obediently stepped back and positioned himself to shield her behind his back.
Shi Xiaoli's face remained impassive. Ever since the moment Cui Lijuan had handed them fifty yuan and ordered them to go back to their hometown immediately, she had known that this woman was nothing like the loving mother she had once imagined.
Watching Cui Lijuan now, curled up on the ground after being beaten, she could not help but think of the image of her own brother, huddled in a corner when he was bullied, and the helpless look on her grandmother's face back then...
"Alright, Guanshan, that's enough. Stop hitting her, we can talk this out properly, there are so many people watching," Xie Yu, a good friend of Tang Guanshan's who lived in the same compound, quickly rushed over and wrapped his arms around him from behind, holding him back before he could land another blow.
Tang Guanshan struggled for a long while, then took several deep, heavy breaths to force the surging rage in his chest to settle. He reminded himself he could not afford to lash out right now. He had just gotten wind of a piece of news: his superiors had suddenly launched an investigation into him, and he had no idea what had triggered it. He could not let this shameless woman ruin his career any further.
He pointed at Cui Lijuan on the ground, his voice sharp with fury. "Get out of here. Right now, this instant."
Then he shifted his finger to point at Xiaoli, his tone full of unmistakeable command. "The two of you come with me too. We're going home to sort this whole mess out clearly."
He was already set on dragging them back to his place to deal with them in private. Having so many onlookers gawking at the scene made him feel as if his own face had been ripped off and trampled underfoot. Once they got behind closed doors, he would definitely beat that shameless girl within an inch of her life.
The crowd watching the commotion was not ready to let the matter drop just as Tang Guanshan was about to leave. Zou Yan quickly called out to stop him. "Wait a second, don't go! Is Tang Jing really your own biological daughter? And who exactly is this Wei Ping everyone is talking about?"
"This is my family business. No outsider has any right to butt in and make nonsense accusations, and you'd better stop spreading malicious rumors about Tang Jing. She's my niece, and what you people are doing, slandering a young girl's reputation like this, is completely unacceptable. I can report all of you to the public security bureau for this," Tang Guanshan retorted.
Tang Guanshan had always carried himself with the air of a superior leader, and he could not stand being publicly interrogated like this, especially by a young girl with no family background or status to speak of. She was being utterly unreasonable in his eyes.
Zou Yan curled her lip and muttered under her breath, acting like she did not think he was all that important.
Tang Guanshan turned his gaze back to Cui Lijuan once more. "You gave birth to a bastard of your own, and you still dare to bite the hand that feeds you and slander me? You really are something else."
"Section Chief Tang, my father and Cui Lijuan were properly and lawfully married, they held a wedding banquet back in our village. How dare you keep calling the child she had before she married my father a bastard? With that kind of conduct, what right do you have to hold the position of section chief?" Xiaoli shot right back at him. This man had no right to insult her and her brother, and as far as she was concerned, neither of the two adults in front of her was any good.
Tang Guanshan glared furiously at Xiaoli, but Xiaoli stood her ground, her neck stiff and her gaze unflinching. She knew that if she showed even a sliver of fear now, she and her brother would be completely at their mercy.
Tang Guanshan flung his sleeves in a rage and turned to walk toward his home.
Xiaoli tightened her grip on her brother's hand, glanced back at Xiao Mandong without saying a word, then turned to follow behind Tang Guanshan as he walked.
She knew she had to negotiate with them. She and her brother's household registrations had to be settled properly, and she also needed a job that would let her support herself and her brother. These past few days, she had done her research thoroughly. People with formal, official jobs feared nothing more than having their reputations ruined. If they refused to meet her terms, she would go to the hospital where Tang Guanshan worked every single day to make a scene, and keep it up until they could not stand the chaos anymore. If they gave her a job, no matter how tough or tiring it was, as long as it paid enough for her to take care of her brother, she would take it.
They had not walked very far when a cry suddenly rang out from behind them. "Cui Lijuan... Cui Lijuan, are you alright?"
Xiaoli froze in her tracks and turned back to look. Cui Lijuan was still lying on the ground, both hands clutching her stomach. Her face was deathly pale, and even in the middle of winter, her forehead was covered in a thick layer of fine, dense sweat, looking as if she was in immense agony.
