From a distance, she could already see a crowd of people gathered in front of her home, and they were in the middle of an argument.
"Xiao Mandong is back," a villager shouted, and the noise instantly died down.
As she approached, she saw the bright red palm print on Xiao Manxue's face, and Xiao Mandong's anger shot straight to the top of her head.
"Who hit her?" Xiao Manxue's eyes were red, and she said with a choked voice: "Wang Meixia."
She really couldn't bring herself to call her "Mom" anymore. She had been working in the countryside for over a year, and her so-called mother hadn't written her a single letter. Now that she saw her, she was actually visibly pregnant. No wonder she hadn't sent a single cent—it turned out she was keeping a man.
And upon seeing her, there wasn't a shred of concern. Her first words were accusations, saying she was a useless good-for-nothing, that her sister had sold her own job just to accompany her, and that the two sisters were living in such a nice house while ignoring their own blood cousins—absolutely heartless.
She also said that their travel permit was only valid for half a month, and told the sisters to temporarily move back to the educated youth housing and give up the house for them to stay in for a while.
After they left, Wang Yuanyuan was supposed to move in too, and the three sisters would live together there, so they could keep each other company.
Was any of this human talk? She asked her mother why she hadn't sent them money, and her mother actually denied that their father had left them any, saying that the money was all meant for Xiao Zhenyu, and told her to have some shame and stop always coveting her brother's money. She didn't know why, but in just one year, her mother had changed into a completely different person.
Hearing Xiao Manxue's words, the grandmother was displeased.
"You damned girl, how dare you call your mother by her name? That's unfilial."
"And you, Xiao Mandong, your conscience has been eaten by a dog. Didn't you see your mother? You can't even bother to greet her..."
"Your mother is pregnant. She only came because she missed you two sisters. She rode the train for two days and has been standing here for almost an hour. Xiao Manxue, that damned girl, refuses to open the door no matter what. Her own mother comes and she won't let her inside. What are you two trying to do? How did we raise such two little beasts..."
The old lady never expected that Xiao Manxue, who had always been the easiest to handle, would be this stubborn now. No matter how much she begged and reasoned, she wouldn't open the door, and in front of the villagers and village leaders, it was an utter embarrassment.
The villagers also felt that it was a bit much to keep a pregnant woman standing outside for so long without letting her in, and they began to persuade Xiao Mandong:
"Educated Youth Xiao, your mother is pregnant. Maybe you should let her inside first and then talk."
"That's right, she also rode the train for such a long time. Whatever it is, go inside and talk it over slowly. There's no such thing as overnight hatred between mother and daughter."
Xiao Mandong looked at the woman before her—a mother she had never met in either of her two lives. She had divorced her father a year ago, taken all the money in the house, and was now pregnant with another man's child. She looked at least six months along. It was truly ironic.
"As I recall, a year ago we already published a notice in the newspaper severing our relationship. Where did we get a mother from?"
The so-called grandmother started to say something else, but Xiao Mandong cut her off directly, not leaving any face at all.
The villagers now heard the big gossip—they had already cut ties. So why did she come looking for them?
"Even if you sever ties, you can't cut the bonds of blood. Can't a mother miss her daughters?"
"If she missed them, why did she greet them with a slap?"
Hearing the villagers' murmurs, Wang Meixia's expression became extremely unpleasant: "Xiao Mandong, I am your biological mother. Whether or not we severed ties, you can't change that fact. Isn't it too much to speak to me in this tone?"
"Biological mother? You divorced my father only a year ago, right? So let me ask, how many months pregnant are you? Is this man someone you found after, or someone you had your eye on before the divorce?"
Wang Meixia never expected Xiao Mandong to speak so mercilessly, exposing her secrets in front of so many people and humiliating her. Couldn't they just go inside and talk about things?
"Xiao Mandong, is this how I raised you to behave? Making up such stories about your mother like this. Do you know how hard it is for me raising your little brother? Isn't it just to have someone to rely on? Was I wrong?"
"You taught me to be a person—is that about taking the money your ex-husband left for his daughters and, after remarrying, using it to raise another man's child? Well... that I really can't learn."
"Since we've already severed ties, we have nothing to do with you or the Wang family. Besides, you've already remarried, so we're two separate families now. What do you want from me?"
Wang Meixia was practically dying of anger at these two sisters. So what if she remarried? In the whole wide world, she'd never heard of daughters telling their mother she can't remarry.
She raised her hand to hit Xiao Mandong, but Xiao Mandong pulled Xiao Manxue back a step and dodged the slap. Wang Meixia put too much force into it and almost fell, but was steadied by a man standing beside her.
Only then did Xiao Mandong notice this unfamiliar man. He had a pair of triangular eyes that seemed full of calculation.
A figure suddenly flashed through Xiao Manxue's mind—Wang Kai, the youngest son of her eldest maternal uncle. His eyes were exactly the same. In fact, the Wang family members were generally good-looking, especially their eyes. Xiao Mandong and Xiao Manxue took after the Wang side quite a bit. A neighbor had even joked that Wang Kai looked like he was switched at birth. Xiao Mandong felt something flash through her mind but couldn't catch it. Her thoughts were interrupted by this man.
"So you're Xiao Mandong. I'm your mother's new husband, your stepfather. Even though I didn't raise you, I'm still your elder, and I have the right to educate you. Whether or not you published a notice severing ties, you still carry half of your mother's blood. As a daughter, you should show your mother at least basic respect."
"Heh, are you joking? My mother already severed ties with us. What makes you an elder of mine? And my stepfather? Are you worthy?"
Xiao Mandong looked at this man. So this was her mother's old flame from childhood.
In her previous life, she had come to know this man in great detail, though she had never actually met him face to face then.
This man was named Zheng Chao. He and Wang Meixia had been carrying on together long ago, but Zheng Chao's family was not well-off. Wang Meixia still had to support her natal family, and Zheng Chao couldn't meet the grandmother's requirements.
And they knew that if the two of them got together, the burden would be too great, and they could never live a good life. So they each planned to find a partner from better circumstances.
Her mother used underhanded means to trap her father, crawling into his bed. Back then, her father thought that no matter the reason, since he married her, he should live a good life with her. He treated her mother extremely well, and her mother used the Xiao family's money to continuously subsidize her own family.
As for this man, he tricked an only daughter from a wealthy family into marrying him. But when the woman gave birth to her second child, she died from complications. Naturally, this man took over all the assets. Now he was doing quite well for himself.
After her mother divorced, the two got back together. Later, they had a son—the very child her mother was carrying now. But that child was born frail and sickly, spending money on medicine from the moment he was born. Later, after the reform and opening up, this man lost his job and had no skill for business, so he started doing odd jobs. Their days went from bad to worse.
