After leaving the police station, Xiao Mandong went straight to the state-run restaurant. She bought a portion of braised pork, a pan-fried meat patty, stir-fried pork intestines, and ten steamed buns. The quality of rice in this era was truly poor—full of impurities, even bits of sand—so she decided to steam the rice at home instead. She packed the dishes into lunch boxes and carried everything home to eat with her younger sister.
She paid a dime and climbed onto an oxcart heading back to the village. Only then did she notice three people she detested sitting across from her. Xiao Mandong felt it was simply bad luck.
"Xiao Mandong, I heard your mother gave you a half-brother from a different father. So, does he look like you?" It was Chen Yulan speaking, with Fan Wenhai and Hu Guizhen sitting nearby.
Seeing the three of them getting along so peacefully, Xiao Mandong found it rather remarkable.
Chen Yulan sniffed the air hard—it was the smell of braised pork. She soon realized the aroma was coming from Xiao Mandong's bamboo basket.
Chen Yulan felt that Heaven was truly unfair. Both of their mothers had remarried, so why should Xiao Mandong live so well while she herself suffered inhuman treatment? Thinking this way, her words turned sour: "Educated Youth Xiao really is lucky. According to Wang Yuanyuan, you were raised in luxury since childhood—maids, a Western-style house, a car. When you married, you got out unscathed, and the money from selling your job stayed in your own hands. What good fortune. But I also heard that your mother and your father—oh, sorry, your stepfather—came to the village to see you, and you wouldn't even let them inside. That's not right of you. They are your elders, after all. And now you have a blood-related little brother. You can't just ignore them, can you? Shouldn't you bring your mother back for her postpartum confinement?"
The aunties nearby chimed in one after another: "Yes, after all, she's family. That's your own mother. After giving birth, she can't just go back right away. She can't do her confinement in a rental house, can she? Are you holding a grudge against your mother for finding you a stepfather? That would be wrong of you. When it rains, it pours, and when a widow remarries, children have no right to interfere."
"That's right. Your mother is still young, and it's not easy for a woman to live alone. Finding a man gives her someone to rely on."
"The aunties are right. This way, your stepfather can also take good care of you two sisters." Chen Yulan's words carried hidden meaning, a smile on her face.
She had stirred up the topic, and hearing everyone join in lecturing Xiao Mandong, Chen Yulan felt immense satisfaction.
When she first heard that Xiao Mandong's mother had also found them a stepfather, a surge of glee swelled inside her. She desperately hoped that Xiao Mandong and her sister would suffer what she had suffered. Why should she alone have tasted that pain? Let everyone else taste it too.
She was six when her father died. At eight, a neighbor aunt introduced one of her relatives to Chen Yulan's mother. At first, that man was very good to the mother and daughter. But later, when her mother gave the stepfather a daughter—not a son—he changed like a different person. He drank heavily and beat them often. As they grew older, the beatings grew harsher. Once, her mother was beaten and taken to the hospital. She was home alone when her stepfather came back drunk...
From that night on, it was her nightmare. Until she secretly went to the countryside. Now, seeing Xiao Mandong and her sister, jealousy grew in her heart like wild grass. She wanted everyone to taste the injustice she had suffered.
Chen Yulan's jealousy, resentment, and desire for revenge were practically written all over her face.
"Chen Yulan, did you hear what the aunties just said? A stepfather is still a father. And you were raised by yours since childhood—that bond isn't something ordinary people can compare to. Your stepfather must treat you well, right? He must be quite fond of you, otherwise you wouldn't speak with such insight. I heard that in the past six months, your stepfather has written you letters and sent you money more than once. I even heard he's planning to buy you a job and bring you back to the city. Such a good stepfather is truly rare. You shouldn't be ungrateful. You should write home often, to ease your parents' longing. And I heard that the money your stepfather sent you—you never spend it. Why is that?"
"Your marriage—have you told your family about it? You should. They could give you a dowry. And when you have children one day, if life here gets hard, you can send the child back to the city to be raised. I'm sure your stepfather, who raised you all this way, would be more than willing to look after your kids. He would surely treat them as his own."
Xiao Mandong emphasized the words "as his own" heavily. Everyone in the village knew about Chen Yulan's dirty secrets anyway. The day she fell out with Hu Guizhen, Hu Guizhen had spread it all around. Chen Yulan had been foolish—when she first arrived, she had poured out every detail of her life to Hu Guizhen just to win her sympathy.
At first, hearing about Chen Yulan's ordeal, Xiao Mandong had felt sorry for her. She had never deliberately targeted her. After all, a mother like that and a family like that weren't something Chen Yulan had chosen. An unhappy childhood takes a lifetime to heal. But she never expected Chen Yulan's heart to be so twisted. Was her pain caused by others? What did it have to do with anyone here?
The people on the oxcart looked at Fan Wenhai with probing eyes. They had heard rumors about Chen Yulan before, but they thought it was just gossip. Now they realized it was true.
Chen Yulan hadn't expected Xiao Mandong to know about her family matters. Her face flushed bright red.
That was her scar. How could Xiao Mandong so casually expose it? She was already so pitiful—shouldn't people sympathize with her instead? These capitalist types had no compassion at all. She held back her tears with great effort.
Fan Wenhai's face was also extremely sour. He had planned to divorce Chen Yulan sooner or later, but having people know now that he had married a woman like her—where would his dignity go?
Xiao Mandong felt that Chen Yulan had brought all of this on herself. She wasn't stupid, and she wouldn't stand by while others mocked her without fighting back.
As soon as she got off the oxcart, Xiao Mandong was stopped by someone—it was the family surnamed Cui, whose house Wang Meixia and the others were renting.
"Xiao Mandong! Your mother fell off the kang in my house and went into premature labor. Such bad luck! How are you going to compensate me? This kang was freshly built, and there's blood on the floor. How am I supposed to live in this house now?"
She really hadn't expected this. The pregnant woman's belly didn't look big—she thought it was only five or six months along. She figured renting out the room for just half a month wouldn't be a problem—the baby wasn't due yet. But in the middle of the night, the woman fell off the kang and blood appeared immediately. It was truly bad luck. Her son had just gotten engaged, and now this happened. The girl's family came this morning saying either the bride price went up or the engagement was off. She had wanted to make a bit of money, but now she was losing money instead. Her husband and mother-in-law were both at home cursing her. What was she supposed to do?
