“Since you’ve requested it so sincerely, I’d be doing a disservice to your ‘kindness’ if I didn’t hit you.”
Su Nian was never the type to swallow insults and hold her temper. Staring at Chen Yaozu’s disgusting, feigned expression, a mocking smile touched the corners of her lips.
The Chen family had harmed her and deceived her, and now they even dared to hurt her daughter. They really treated her like a pushover they could mold and squash at will!
Not only was she going to hit Chen Yaozu, but she was also going to divorce him! She would make the Chen family spit out everything they had taken from her!
Smack!
The second slap, filled with anger, was even harder than the first.
Chen Yaozu’s face was knocked to the side. When he stiffly turned his head back, he sported two handprints, one on each cheek, his face a mask of disbelief.
“No, seriously! You actually hit me?”
“What do you mean, ‘actually hit you’? What? Don’t tell me you were just lying to me?”
Gazing at the murderous glint in Chen Yaozu’s eyes, Su Nian deliberately blew on her reddened palm. “Tsk, your skin is so thick. It made my hand hurt.”
The angrier Chen Yaozu got, the better. It would be best if he laid a hand on her!
Her class background was poor, so her actions were easily subject to over-interpretation.
If she directly filed for divorce without evidence, not only would the Chen family turn the tables on her, but they would also keep her daughter to control her.
To leave with her daughter, she had to expose Chen Yaozu’s false front, make him the party at fault, and bring the matter before the Women’s Director to demand a divorce!
Su Nian’s gaze darkened as she mentally plotted how to stir up trouble.
Provoking Chen Yaozu into hitting her now was the best and fastest opportunity.
The new society advocated that women could hold up half the sky.
As long as she could brand Chen Yaozu with the labels of preferring sons over daughters and hitting a woman who had just given birth, the Women’s Director would side with her. Even if she couldn’t successfully divorce him, it would lay the groundwork for a future separation.
Unexpectedly, Chen Yaozu was more forbearing than she had imagined.
“Good job hitting me, wife!”
Chen Yaozu touched the handprints on his face. After licking his lips and staring at Su Nian for a full fifteen seconds, he sat down smiling beside her and her daughter. He forcefully took Su Nian’s hand and held it to his heart. “From now on, if I ever make you angry, just slap me like you did today. Hit me hard. If your hand hurts, I’ll rub it for you.”
“But…”
His tone shifted, his eyes turning cold for an instant. “You are never to mention the word ‘separation’ again. In this life, we are bound together, in life and in death.”
The way Chen Yaozu looked at her was a look Su Nian had seen on gaunt, starving wolves.
That’s right. Chen Yaozu had schemed for a year to get his hands on her Su family’s assets. How could he let her go so easily before getting the money?
Su Nian gritted her teeth so hard they audibly ground together. She wished she could kill Chen Yaozu right now, but it wasn’t worth throwing away her own life for such scum.
She forcefully pulled her hand back, turned away with her daughter in her arms, a flash of disgust in her eyes.
“I’m tired. Get out.”
“I know you look down on the Chen family for being poor, look down on me for being incompetent, and feel I’m not good enough for you. But we already have a daughter. For the sake of our adorable daughter, can’t we try to live a good life together?”
Chen Yaozu’s nauseating words came from behind her. “Su Nian, I promise you, although I don’t have money now, I will definitely give you and our daughter a lot of love and work hard for your future.”
This was the height of disgust!
How had she never noticed before what a drama queen Chen Yaozu was?
Su Nian fought back the churning in her stomach, covered her daughter’s ears, and snapped harshly, “I told you to get out! Scram!”
“Alright… You shouldn’t get angry right after giving birth. You rest first. I’ll come back later.”
The door opened and closed, and the faint sound of things being thrown and smashed came from the courtyard.
Su Nian buried her face in her daughter’s embrace, inhaling her milky scent, her eyes stinging with unshed tears.
“I’m sorry, baby. Mommy failed to protect you this time.”
One doesn’t appreciate the sweetness of a honeyed nest until they leave it; only after leaving home does one know the bitterness of the world.
It was only after being sent down to Shilianghe Village that she understood how much effort and love her father had poured into her.
If her father knew she had been deceived and bullied, he would probably be angry enough to fly over and poke Chen Yaozu to death with his silver needles!
“Baby, Mommy misses Grandpa…”
Su Nian sighed. “From now on, Mommy will protect and love you, just like Grandpa protected and loved Mommy.”
[Baby loves Mommy too, and will protect Mommy!]
No wonder the old folks always said a daughter was a mother’s little padded jacket.
With such an adorable baby by her side, her heart felt as sweet as if she had eaten honey.
Su Nian’s heart softened at the sound. She leaned down and pecked her daughter’s tofu-soft little cheek.
But the milky voice suddenly became low and dejected.
[But it will take a long time for baby to grow up. If only Grandpa didn’t die, he would protect Mommy and baby.]
[Grandpa and Uncles dote on Mommy the most. The big bad guy only dares to bully Mommy to death because he saw that Grandpa’s family was either dead or scattered!]
[If Grandpa hadn’t died from illness, First Uncle wouldn’t have been plotted against and had an accident, and Second Uncle wouldn’t have acted rashly, made a mistake, and gone to prison.]
Her father and brothers would die!
The sudden news struck Su Nian, and her vision went black.
Her heart felt as if it had been pierced by a thousand steel needles, the pain so intense it made her back arch. Tears instantly rolled from her eyes.
Her father had practiced medicine and saved lives his entire life, yet in the end, he would die from illness…
Su Nian’s eyes filled with red veins, and her lips trembled as she pressed her face against her daughter’s.
That’s right. Her father’s health was already poor. The labor at the Reform-through-labor Farm was arduous and food was scarce. It was to be expected that his body would be depleted over the long term.
But her father and the others had also secretly taken a lot of money with them when they left. How could they not have food to eat or medicine for their illnesses?
Su Nian’s thoughts were a tangled mess of yarn, countless ideas knotted together.
Was her father being monitored, with no opportunity to trade for things?
The reform farm had no telephone and was strictly controlled. It was impossible to send money or medicine by mail.
If she went to find her father with food and medicine, could his fate be changed? Could he survive?
The moment this thought appeared, Su Nian felt as if she had found her backbone and pulled herself together.
She grasped the unremarkable wooden pendant on her chest, immensely grateful that her great-grandmother had left behind this treasure, the Black Jade Coiled Dragon Pillar.
Discovering the pillar had a storage function was an accident.
After she told her father, he found a master woodcarver to carve a peach wood shell to conceal it, instructing her not to tell anyone.
Before the turmoil, her father had received news and secretly converted the family assets into gold bars and money vouchers. The lighter vouchers were sewn into clothing and taken by her father and the others, while the rest was all packed into the Space by her and brought to Shilianghe Village.
It could be said that the majority of the Su family’s assets were in her Space.
She just needed to take out two gold bars and exchange them for food and supplies, which would be enough for her father and brothers to live on for the next few years.
She just didn’t know when her father would die from his illness.
And she didn’t know if she could make it in time…
Su Nian’s complex gaze fell on her daughter’s face. She probed, “Baby, let’s go find Grandpa, okay? Grandpa will carry baby on his shoulders for a horsey ride.”
[Want to find Grandpa! Want to ride the horsey!]
The little girl didn’t know she was being coaxed by her own mother. She opened her agate-black eyes, gurgled and blew milk bubbles, and waved her little meaty fists in excitement.
Her adorable appearance made Su Nian’s heart melt into a puddle. She couldn’t help but cup her daughter’s milky-scented face and kiss it several times. “But we haven’t seen him in two years. I wonder if Grandpa will be sick when we arrive next spring? If Grandpa is sick, he won’t be able to give baby a horsey ride…”
[Next spring~]
The little girl’s milky voice drew out the words as if she were thinking.
After a moment of silence, the excitement on her face faded, and her white, bun-like face scrunched up.
[Grandpa is so pitiful…]
[Baby won’t ride the horsey. Baby will stay with Grandpa while he gets better, and we’ll protect Mommy together!]
Su Nian’s eyelids twitched violently, her heart pounding with panic.
It was very likely her father was already sick!
She couldn’t wait until spring!
She had to divorce Chen Yaozu as soon as possible and go to the farm