“Ring, ring, ring…”
The phone rang for a while before Lu Hongjun picked up, and hearing Ding Jing’s crying on the other end, he grew alarmed at once. “Wife, wife, what’s wrong?”
Ding Jing said through sobs, “Siyi, Siyi’s been beaten. She’s at the hospital right now.”
Lu Hongjun shot to his feet, demanding sharply, “Who did it? Tell me, I’ll make sure they regret it.”
“Jiaxin did it.”
Lu Hongjun froze, then after a long moment said, “Jiaxin did it? Are you sure there’s no mistake?”
Ding Jing’s expression paused, then she cried even harder. “Siyi told me herself, how could there be a mistake? Old Lu, Siyi’s covered in bruises all over. If you can’t get justice for her, I’m calling the police.”
Right now people in the housing complex were already saying he favored his new wife and stepdaughter over his own daughter, whom he’d driven out of the house. But as long as he got Jiaxin properly settled, that kind of talk would eventually fade away. If Ding Jing reported this to the police and had Jiaxin arrested, though, there’d be no washing that stain off ever again.
Lu Hongjun said, “Don’t panic, I’m heading to the hospital right now.”
At the hospital, the doctor said that although Zhao Siyi had many bruises, none of them were serious, she’d recover in about half a month with bed rest.
Zhao Siyi lay in bed, and the moment she saw Lu Hongjun, burst into tears. “Dad, I went to see Lu Jiaxin today to explain what happened that day. I never imagined she’d go crazy like that, chasing me with a stick. Dad, my whole body hurts. Dad, am I going to die?”
Although his daughter’s temper had grown fiery these past two years, often arguing with him, she’d never resorted to violence. Thinking of what Lu Jiaxin had said, Lu Hongjun didn’t offer any comfort, instead demanding, “What exactly is going on between you and Fan Yinuo?”
Zhao Siyi’s expression paused, then she lowered her head and said, “The first time I met Brother Yinuo, I fell for him instantly, but knowing he was Jiaxin’s fiancé, I never dared entertain any inappropriate thoughts. But I never imagined Brother Yinuo liked me too, and he even confessed his feelings, I, I couldn’t refuse. We’d originally planned to come clean to her after the exam, but somehow she found out before that.”
She’d originally intended to deny everything, but since Ding Jing had told her Liao Xiangmei had already admitted to it in front of everyone, she had no choice but to change her approach.
Lu Hongjun said, his face expressionless, “You deliberately let her find out about this, all so Jiaxin couldn’t get into university, didn’t you?”
Ding Jing wouldn’t stand for that, demanding, “Old Lu, what do you mean by that? You know exactly what kind of person Siyi is, she’s always treated Jiaxin like her own sister. It’s Jiaxin who’s always been prejudiced against her and pushed her away.”
In the past, whenever Lu Jiaxin clashed with this mother and daughter, Lu Hongjun would scold his daughter and smooth things over, minimizing what should have mattered. But now his daughter had changed drastically and slipped out of his control, if he kept treating her the same way, not only would his daughter grow further estranged from him, but his two nephews would grow resentful of him too.
Looking at the pitiful-seeming Zhao Siyi, Lu Hongjun said coldly, “I really don’t know what kind of person she is anymore.”
Zhao Siyi’s whole body stiffened.
Ding Jing was startled too, old Lu had never taken this tone with his daughter before. “Old Lu, what do you mean by that?”
Lu Hongjun shot back, “She said she went to explain what happened that day to Jiaxin, but if she’s already dating Fan Yinuo, what exactly was there left to explain?”
With that, his expression softened as he looked at Zhao Siyi. “What you call an explanation was, to Jiaxin, provocation. Siyi, you’ve always been such a considerate, sensible child. Jiaxin’s been through a great ordeal recently and might be a bit fixated on this, I hope you can forgive her, and let this matter go this time.”
Zhao Siyi nearly coughed up blood from fury.
Knowing he responded better to gentleness than force, Ding Jing said, tears streaming, “Old Lu, what happened with Fan Yinuo was indeed wrong of Siyi, but feelings can’t always be controlled. Fan Yinuo doesn’t love Jiaxin, forcing them into a marriage would never make either of them happy.”
Lu Hongjun agreed with this. “A man who keeps eyeing the pot while eating from the bowl isn’t a good match for anyone. Siyi, once you’re out of the hospital, break things off with him.”
Zhao Siyi, utterly infatuated with Fan Yinuo, had no intention of giving him up. “Dad, Brother Yinuo and I truly love each other, I won’t break up with him.”
Lu Hongjun frowned. “Fan Yinuo is the second son in his family, with mediocre ability and questionable character, no real future ahead of him. You’re about to start university, where there will be far better young men than him, with better prospects and better families, why hang yourself on this one crooked branch?”
Zhao Siyi shook her head vigorously. “No, I love Brother Yinuo, and he loves me too. No one can tear us apart.”
Brother Yinuo wasn’t just from a good family and good-looking, he was also gentle, and most importantly, he’d never once looked down on her because of her background. In this lifetime, she was determined to marry no one but him.
Seeing how infatuated she was, Lu Hongjun stopped trying to persuade her. “I won’t interfere in your relationship with Fan Yinuo, but this matter with your beating, you’re not to report it to the police.”
Zhao Siyi looked at Ding Jing, who said nothing, and had no choice but to agree tearfully, feeling wronged.
Having achieved what he came for, Lu Hongjun left.
Zhao Siyi wiped her tears, her face twisted with resentment. “Mom, you always say he adores me. I get beaten this badly by Lu Jiaxin, and he doesn’t even offer a single word of comfort, clearly he doesn’t care about me at all.”
Ding Jing was furious too, and scolded her in a low voice, “I told you Lu Jiaxin’s changed completely and to leave her alone, and you still went and provoked her. What’s so great about that Fan Yinuo that you’d lose your head over him like this?”
She hadn’t lied to the Lu family about this, she’d only found out about Zhao Siyi and Fan Yinuo’s relationship over summer break, with no prior knowledge of it. If she’d known, she’d certainly have stopped it. As Lu Hongjun had said, there were plenty of young men better than Fan Yinuo with better family backgrounds, no need to endure the Fan family’s condescension for his sake.
Zhao Siyi shouted furiously, “Mom, I’m going to report this to the police. Lu Jiaxin beat me like this, I want her in prison.”
Ding Jing exploded at her. “Zhao Siyi, is your head stuffed with tofu dregs? Lu Jiaxin has the Xie family and Lu Jiaguang protecting her, reporting this won’t get her thrown in prison. It’ll only blow this up further and destroy your own reputation.”
Before marrying in, she truly hadn’t known just how skilled old Lu’s previous wife had been at winning people over, she’d even won over both Lu Jiaguang and Lu Jiajie, who now protected that wretched girl like their own little sister.
It was precisely because of the Xie family and the Lu brothers’ protection that she’d tried, when she first married in, to win the girl over. Unfortunately, no matter how much goodwill she showed, it hadn’t worked, so she’d changed tactics instead. Unfortunately, heaven had favored that wretched girl far too much, letting her escape and return even after falling into a trafficker’s hands.
Zhao Siyi burst into tears. “So this beating I took was all for nothing?”
Ding Jing said, “You can’t touch her right now. When the chance comes later, I’ll make sure she pays it all back with interest.”
She said this, but in her heart she knew, now that Lu Jiaxin had moved out and grown so fierce, she’d only become harder to deal with going forward.
Zhao Siyi didn’t want to wait for later, she wanted Lu Jiaxin to pay for this right now.
Ding Jing said, somewhat exasperated at her daughter’s foolishness, “If we do nothing right now and act weak in front of your father, you’ll still get some compensation out of this eventually. But if you report it to the police, not only will you get nothing, you’ll make your father resent you. And then, when it comes to your job and your marriage, he won’t lift a finger to help.”
Zhao Siyi fell silent. With her own father dead, their family had no one to lean on anymore, and life had become bitter as Chinese goldthread. She had no wish to live like that again.