The cold aura radiating from Lin Huaiqing was intimidating. The fierce presence he had developed from years of solving cases pressed down on Zhao Xiuxiu so heavily that her legs gave way and she dropped to her knees. She shook her head repeatedly, sobbing, "Director Lin, I was wrong, I really didn't know. I only discovered it when I did my rounds in the middle of the night. Wuwu... I'm sorry, please forgive me."
Lin Huaiqing's face was dark and grim, his voice icy cold. "If I can't find my child, I'll make sure you rot in prison." With that, he turned and prepared to walk out.
He was the head of the public security bureau. To think someone would dare steal a child right under his own nose — it was a sheer humiliation.
"Wait," Xiao Mandong called out to Lin Huaiqing. "There was an auntie who gave birth on the same day we did. Her daughter had a baby girl, and they checked out in a hurry late last night. She's highly suspicious. You might want to start by looking into that auntie."
Lin Huaiqing nodded. "Thank you."
Before long, the police took the midwife and Zhao Xiuxiu back to the station for questioning.
For now, the baby was under the hospital's care. The Lin family couldn't let Lin Wenhui see the child, afraid she might lose control of her emotions and do something reckless.
The loud wailing from earlier had drawn a crowd of onlookers, including the Wang family. Wang Yuanyuan spotted Xiao Mandong in her white lab coat at a glance and immediately ran back to the ward to fetch Old Lady Wang.
She was utterly annoyed. That morning, Wang Fugui had called the village and told her to come to the hospital immediately. Only after she arrived did she find out she was supposed to take care of her little aunt. Though farm work was tiring, at least she earned work points for it. Looking after her little aunt earned her nothing. If the old uncle-in-law had still been around, she would have been willing to serve him, but this new little uncle-in-law was especially stingy.
On top of that, her little aunt was incredibly demanding, constantly grumbling and whining, either asking for leg rubs or foot massages. She had her own daughter, didn't she? Why should she have to be the one to wait on her?
When Old Lady Wang saw so many hospital leaders around, she seized the opportunity. Tapping along on her bound feet, she hurried over. "Mandong, we didn't bring enough money and ration tickets when we came. Your mother needs nutrition now, but without money or tickets, we can't buy anything. You can't just abandon your own mother. Your younger brother is still in the intensive care unit, and that costs two yuan a day. Right now, you're at work and Yuanyuan is here fulfilling your filial duty. When your mother is discharged, you must properly thank Yuanyuan. You don't need to pay her much — five yuan a day will do."
Old Lady Wang was betting that in front of so many leaders, Xiao Mandong wouldn't dare ignore her own mother. Otherwise, her reputation would be completely ruined.
She had originally planned to go make a scene at Xiao Mandong's department today, but running into her here was even better. She had to make this wretched girl understand: if she wanted to keep working in peace, she'd better comply. Otherwise, there would be no good outcome for her.
Xiao Mandong was utterly sick of this family. How could they be so shameless? They were just as bad as Lu Jianguo's bunch.
Looking at the gossiping crowd around her, she threw all pretense aside. "Is that really my brother? She had an affair and got pregnant by some other man, and now she expects me to look after her during her confinement? What kind of cheap woman would I be to care for a mother like that?"
Then she turned to the onlookers. "If any of you are kind-hearted, go take her in. Don't come here preaching at me."
"And the one taking care of her in confinement is her own niece, born out of wedlock too. That whole family is trash. Call me unfilial, call me cold-hearted, I don't care — I'm not lifting a finger for them. Also, when we cut ties, it was published in the newspaper. So from now on, stay far away from me. The mere sight of you Wang family faces makes me sick to my stomach."
Xiao Mandong screamed the words out. Seeing the Wang family's shameless faces, she wished she could tear a piece of flesh off them. They'd already sucked her father dry, and now they wanted to come drink her sisters' blood. Truly a bottomless pit of shamelessness.
Wasn't their plan simple? If she didn't cave today, they'd cost her this job. Fine then. Even if she lost her job, she wouldn't let them win. What did she care if she had no job? She had her space, she had plenty of money. What was there to fear?
"Xiao Mandong, that's where you're wrong. She's still your mother, no matter what. How can you be so heartless?"
Zhou Qiaolian could barely suppress the smile tugging at her lips. With such a blatant act of filial impiety, there was no way Xiao Mandong would ever get a permanent position now.
Xiao Mandong turned to look at the gloating Zhou Qiaolian. "With your level of skill, always trying to one-up me — even if I don't stay at this hospital, it won't be you who takes my place. I could recite all the acupuncture points by heart at age three, and you still fumble them half the time. Your hands shake like a sieve when you hold a needle. This hospital could be so desperate for staff it's scraping the walls, and as long as the director isn't blind, a half-baked doctor like you won't get promoted."
Zhou Qiaolian hadn't expected Xiao Mandong to be so vicious, leaving not a shred of face.
Having already cursed out her own mother, Xiao Mandong certainly wasn't going to go easy on Zhou Qiaolian.
The director's mouth twitched. If he gave Zhou Qiaolian a permanent position, he'd be proving himself blind. Xiao Mandong had just slammed that door shut for good.
Xiao Mandong yanked off her white lab coat and threw it right in Zhou Qiaolian's face. Then she looked at Old Lady Wang. "Happy now? Don't even call me for your funerals, you Wang family. Being related to you is the worst luck I've ever had."
With that, Xiao Mandong turned and walked away. Old Lady Wang was left speechless, having been verbally flayed. She'd never expected Xiao Mandong to refuse to give in even at the cost of her job. This wasn't the outcome she had wanted. All she had wanted was to squeeze out some benefits. She hadn't meant to push things this far. All she had to do was hand over a little money — why was Xiao Mandong so stubborn? Mother and daughter after all — why couldn't she just let bygones be bygones? Seeing the resolve in Xiao Mandong's eyes, Old Lady Wang began to worry that her daughter might end up hating her. It had been her idea to sever ties with the Xiao family. After all, Xiao Zhenyu was her own grandson. Only by cutting ties would it minimize the impact on him.
It was also her who had refused to give Xiao Manxue any money. She figured that once Xiao Manxue was destitute and desperate, they could marry her off to someone easily and have complete control over her.
Even coming here this time had been her idea. That job had been bought while the marriage was still intact. So if the job were sold, the money certainly belonged to Wang Meixia.
Wang Meixia, lying in her hospital bed, heard the shouting outside and silently let the tears roll down her cheeks.
Zheng Chao was still sneering. "The Xiao family's upbringing amounts to nothing. One would think a prominent household would raise cultured, refined daughters, but look at that crazy woman — completely without class."
Wang Meixia's anger suddenly flared up. Ever since giving birth, he had nagged at least fifty times about the two-yuan-a-day infant observation room. Just now, he had even brought up how they could get Xiao Mandong to give up her hospital training slot so his daughter could try for it.
He also mentioned that his nephew back in his hometown had lost his wife and could be a match for Xiao Mandong. His nephew was around his own age — a blatant scheme to trap Xiao Mandong.
He then said that when she got back, she should take back the three thousand yuan that the Xiao family had left for Xiao Zhenyu, so he could buy a job for his son first.
She had never realized before that this man could be so calculating. When she lived with Xiao Jingping, she never had to worry about money, and even when they got divorced, he had made sure everything was arranged properly for her.
