Lian Qiao was a bit confused. “What’s going on?”
Auntie Xiao pulled her inside, peeked out the door, and quickly closed it.
“You leaving like that was no small matter. Your dad’s been drinking and cursing every day, saying if you dare come back, he’ll break your legs!”
Lian Qiao gave a wry smile. “That does sound like something my dad would say.”
“You left, so why come back now?” Auntie Xiao had watched Lian Qiao grow up, knew what she had suffered, and genuinely cared for her.
“I’m getting married. I need to come back for my household registration.”
With Auntie Xiao, Lian Qiao told the truth.
“Really? So soon? What does he do? Are you marrying far away?” Auntie Xiao fired off a string of questions.
“He’s a soldier, stationed at my cousin’s compound.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, truly wonderful.” Auntie Xiao was genuinely happy. As long as she left this family, it meant a better life.
Usually, just seeing Lian Hai and his wife made her sick. Why do good people die young, while these two scoundrels are still around?
Instead, it was Liao Hongyan, Lian Qiao’s birth mother, who was taken.
“Auntie, it’s fine. What era is this now? He’s not some landlord tyrant; he wouldn’t dare break the law.”
Lian Qiao planned to try reasoning first; if that didn’t work, she’d go to the factory leaders or the police.
A person can’t just be trapped by circumstances.
Auntie Xiao still shook her head. “I really don’t trust those two. Your stepmother curses you every day, saying Lian Rou’s troubles are all your fault. Her daughter climbing into someone’s bed—what does that have to do with you!”
Lian Qiao patted Auntie Xiao’s hand. “Auntie, I know exactly what kind of people they are. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine!”
Since she couldn’t just walk into her own home, Lian Qiao decided to stay at Auntie Xiao’s and wait for the couple to return from work.
But the wait lasted until midnight.
Auntie Xiao had offered to let her stay, but with such limited space, Lian Qiao felt it wasn’t right to squeeze in as an outsider. She politely declined, planning to spend the night at a guesthouse instead.
Although Lian Hai sometimes worked mid or night shifts and returned late, Wang Yuzhen worked in the cafeteria and should have been home earlier.
And what about that half-brother Lian Qiang? Why wasn’t he home either?
Just as Lian Qiao was about to leave, she ran into Lian Hai and Wang Yuzhen.
Lian Hai was hiccupping from drink, Wang Yuzhen’s face was slightly flushed, and both were laughing boisterously—clearly, they’d had quite a bit to drink.
Lian Qiao quickly realized it must have been a factory gathering.
Usually, after overtime shifts to meet deadlines, workshop teams would get together for a meal. Cheap draft beer with some braised pork head and peanuts made everyone happy.
Seeing they were drunk, Lian Qiao thought it better to come back tomorrow, but Wang Yuzhen spotted her with sharp eyes.
“Lian Qiao?”
Seeing Lian Qiao about to leave, Lian Hai barked, “You have the nerve to come back?”
Lian Qiao snorted. “It’s my home. Can’t I come back?”
Wang Yuzhen, reeking of alcohol, tugged at Lian Hai to calm him. “Let’s talk inside first. No need to make a scene out here.”
Lian Qiao wanted to get this over with quickly. She’d state her case first; if they refused, she’d take another approach.
She followed the couple inside.
The housing allocated to steel mill workers wasn’t spacious, and Lian Hai wasn’t a skilled technician, so their place was even smaller—less than forty square meters.
When Lian Qiao still lived here, there were five people in the family but only two rooms. Lian Hai and his wife had one, Lian Qiao shared the other with Lian Rou, and Lian Qiang had to sleep on a makeshift bed in the living room.
Lian Hai let out a drunken belch and sat in the chair, waiting for Wang Yuzhen to pour him water.
Lian Qiao took a seat on a wooden stool not far from the doorway and looked up at him.
“Dad, I want the household register.”
Lian Hai slammed his hand on the table, startling Wang Yuzhen.
“You’re so carefree, running off whenever you want and coming back whenever you please! Do you even see me as your father?”
Lian Qiao suddenly felt like laughing.
If being a father was that easy, she wouldn’t want to be a woman—she’d want to be a father too.
The cost of being a father was too low. It only took a few seconds to gain unquestionable authority, the power to decide your children’s fate, without having to abide by any moral bottom line. All you had to do was casually utter four words: “I am your father!”
“Dad, I don’t want to cause trouble for the family either. After what happened, I had no choice but to go out and lay low for a while,” Lian Qiao sighed.
Wang Yuzhen’s alarm bells went off. “What do you need the household register for? A young woman like you running around—don’t tell me you came back pregnant?”
Hearing this, Lian Hai slammed the table again. “You! What kind of trouble have you gotten into this time?”
Lian Qiao blinked. That was exactly the kind of thing a stepmother would say. Wang Yuzhen sure knew how to stir the pot.
“Pregnant? I’ve only been gone a month. I found a partner and need the household register to register for marriage. Once that’s done, I’ll transfer my household registration out.”
Lian Qiao tried to go along with them as much as possible. It was best not to tear things apart. If she could handle this with minimal effort, she’d be far away and free.
Wang Yuzhen sneered. “Oh, so that’s why you absolutely refused to marry Zhao Hongbin. You must’ve already found someone else, leaving Rou Rou to take the fall for you?”
It seemed Lian Hai’s ears were broken. Lian Qiao’s words went in one ear and out the other, but Wang Yuzhen’s words were crystal clear to him.
“You ungrateful wretch! I raised you all these years, and this is how you scheme against your sister? You hooked up with some man long ago and dumped this mess on your sister?! I’m telling you right now—over my dead body!”
Lian Qiao scratched her ear. The same old insults, over and over again—utterly unoriginal.
“Look, if I stay at home, I’m just in your way. Isn’t it better if I leave? Staying on the same household register just upsets you all. Besides, Lian Rou went along with it willingly—it’s not like I tied her to Zhao Hongbin’s bed.”
Lian Hai pointed at her furiously and cursed, “How dare you talk back!”
Lian Qiao shrugged. “I’m just telling the truth. If I don’t marry out, should I just stay in the courtyard and let people laugh at us? Once I’m gone, who’ll even remember Lian Rou’s little scandal?”
She glanced lightly at Wang Yuzhen. “Give me the household register, and we’ll all be happy. What a great outcome.”
Wang Yuzhen clutched her chest in anger, truly regretting not hitting Lian Qiao more when she was young.
She should’ve gone all out and beaten her to death back then, instead of letting her grow up to ruin this family.
“You little slut! So the whole family is disgraced, and you’re just sitting back and laughing, huh? And you think you’ll get the household register to marry in style? Keep dreaming! I’m telling you, as long as I’m alive, you won’t step out of this house!”
She turned to Lian Hai, squeezing out tears. “Lian Hai, look at her! Lian Qiao wants to anger you to death, and then me too!”
Drunk and enraged by her indifferent attitude, Lian Hai stormed over and slapped her across the face.
“How dare you defy me! I’ll beat you to death today!”
Wang Yuzhen held Lian Qiao down, grinding her teeth as she egged him on.
“Yes! Break her legs! Once her legs are broken, let’s see what wild man would still want her! Just like your dead mother!”
Lian Qiao struggled but couldn’t break free, so she grabbed Wang Yuzhen’s hair and yanked downward.
Lian Hai lifted his leg and kicked several times, but each kick was blocked by Wang Yuzhen.
Bang—
The door was kicked open with a loud crash.
The sudden noise startled Lian Hai, making him tremble.