Caught completely off guard, Lu Weiguo was sent flying by the mother-daughter duo. His lower back slammed against the door handle, and the pain was so intense he nearly died on the spot.
“Weiguo!”
“Dad!”
Ignoring the burning pain on their faces, Shen Yurou and Lu Manman quickly steadied themselves and hurried over to Lu Weiguo, anxiously checking him from head to toe.
Their faces were important, of course, but compared to Lu Weiguo’s safety, they were nothing.
Without Lu Weiguo, how could they possibly have the luxurious life they enjoyed now?
They were clearly standing in the Song family’s old residence, yet Song Jinyue seemed like the outsider, completely excluded from the affectionate concern shared by the family of three.
Lu Weiguo clutched his lower back, cold sweat breaking out from the pain.
Looking at his worried wife and daughter, he forced himself to shake his head.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
“Dad, Song Jinyue has gone too far! She didn’t just hit Mom and me—now she doesn’t even respect you! If she dares to hit people today, won’t she dare to kill someone tomorrow?”
Lu Manman immediately complained to Lu Weiguo. The way she gritted her teeth made it seem as though she wanted to tear Song Jinyue apart and swallow her whole.
She had no idea where that little wretch had gotten such incredible strength. In front of Song Jinyue, she hadn’t even been able to fight back.
Since she couldn’t beat Song Jinyue herself, she could only seek reinforcements and get Lu Weiguo to deal with her.
If Song Jinyue knew what she was thinking, she would definitely sneer.
Did she know what a sanda champion was?
Forget one Lu Weiguo—even if there were ten of him, Song Jinyue could take them all down!
“Cough, cough! How did I end up with such a disgraceful daughter? If I don’t teach you a proper lesson today and make you realize your mistake, I’ll have failed the ancestors of the Lu family!”
Lu Weiguo’s chest heaved with rage, and he began coughing violently.
Song Jinyue looked at him mockingly.
“My mother carried me for ten months and gave birth to me. All you did was contribute a sperm cell, so stop giving yourself so much credit. And don’t forget, my surname is Song. What the hell do the ancestors of your Lu family have to do with me?”
“You!”
Lu Weiguo’s face and neck turned bright red, veins bulging across his forehead, yet he couldn’t come up with a single word to refute her.
“Weiguo, stop. Jinyue is right. This is the Song family’s home. We’re all outsiders living under someone else’s roof…”
Shen Yurou bit her lower lip and tugged pitifully at Lu Weiguo’s sleeve.
Her words sounded like an attempt to calm him down, but in reality, she was deliberately adding fuel to the fire.
Lu Weiguo had married into the Song family. What he hated most in his life was being reminded that he was living under someone else’s roof.
He had always been ashamed of being a live-in son-in-law, believing that the status made him inferior to others and unable to hold his head high.
As his longtime lover, there was no way Shen Yurou didn’t know this.
She had deliberately brought it up precisely because she wanted to provoke Lu Weiguo even further.
Sure enough, the moment he heard the words “living under someone else’s roof,” Lu Weiguo’s wounded pride shattered completely.
“Don’t any of you stop me! I’m going to beat this unfilial daughter to death today!”
He roared furiously, shoved Shen Yurou aside, and raised his hand to slap Song Jinyue.
“If you dare touch me even once, Lu Manman can forget about getting that job.”
Song Jinyue stared calmly at her scumbag father, whose face had turned crimson with rage.
She knew exactly what he cared about most right now, so naturally, she struck him where it hurt.
“Stop!”
At the mention of the job, Shen Yurou and Lu Manman shouted at the same time, hurriedly stopping him.
Lu Weiguo, who had already gathered all his strength for the slap, suddenly froze.
His right hand hung awkwardly in midair. He couldn’t bring it down, yet pulling it back would be equally embarrassing.
Seeing that his raised hand hadn’t fallen, Shen Yurou and Lu Manman both breathed huge sighs of relief.
The two women, who had been furious just moments ago, quickly scurried over to Lu Weiguo’s side.
“Weiguo, I know you’re angry, but don’t lose your temper yet. The list of people being sent to the countryside will be announced soon. The most important thing right now is to secure Manman’s job as quickly as possible.”
“That’s right, Dad. I don’t want to go to the countryside and suffer. Hurry up and make Song Jinyue hand over the job.”
The mother and daughter took turns speaking, covering their mouths as they whispered to him.
Song Jinyue didn’t even need to hear what they were saying.
The moment Shen Yurou and Lu Manman opened their mouths, she already knew what kind of nonsense they were about to spew.
Lu Weiguo pursed his lips without saying anything.
Seeing this, Lu Manman immediately became anxious. She grabbed his arm, which was still suspended in midair, pulled it down, and shook it forcefully.
“Dad, say something! Can you really bear to watch me get sent to the countryside to suffer?”
“Weiguo, Manman is the daughter I’ve cherished since she was little. I can’t possibly stand by and watch her suffer alone. If you refuse to help our daughter, then I-I’ll go to the countryside with Manman!”
Shen Yurou’s eyes turned red as she pressured Lu Weiguo as well.
“Enough. Stop crying. When did I ever say I wouldn’t help Manman?”
Lu Weiguo was still furious and couldn’t bring himself to lower his pride and speak nicely to Song Jinyue.
But the moment he saw Shen Yurou crying so pitifully, his heart softened.
Still trying to preserve his dignity, he looked at Song Jinyue and said solemnly, “Jinyue, you’ve been pampered since childhood. You’ve always had people waiting on you hand and foot and gotten whatever you wanted. But Manman was born into hardship. For years, she and her mother barely had enough to eat. They wandered from place to place and suffered more than you can imagine.”
“They’ve only had a few years of stability, and now she has to answer the government’s call and go to the countryside. Considering that Manman is your older sister, give way to her. Hand over your job and go to the countryside in her place.”
“You’ve been spoiled all these years anyway. Spending some time in the countryside will be a good opportunity to toughen you up and improve your temperament. Don’t worry. Once the policies loosen, I’ll bring you back. Then our whole family can reunite and live happily together.”
Lu Weiguo said all this without the slightest trace of shame, as though everything he demanded was perfectly reasonable.
Song Jinyue stared at him as if she were looking at an idiot.
“That doesn’t make sense. You hit your waist just now, so how did your brain end up damaged too? Lu Manman is the one who’s supposed to go to the countryside. Why should I give up my job and suffer in her place?”
“Dad, are you confused? I’m your biological daughter. Instead of siding with your own flesh and blood, you’re defending an outsider. Don’t tell me Lu Manman is actually the illegitimate daughter you had with Shen Yurou behind everyone’s backs?”
Song Jinyue deliberately widened her eyes in shock and scrutinized Lu Weiguo suspiciously.
Did he really think she knew nothing?
Shen Yurou was her scumbag father’s old flame. The two of them had already been involved with each other before he met her mother.
Later, her scumbag father met her mother, and thanks to his handsome face, he caught her attention.
Wanting to climb the social ladder, he immediately abandoned his old lover, Shen Yurou, and married into the Song family.
Ten years ago, only one month after her mother died, her scumbag father had impatiently brought Shen Yurou, along with her son and daughter, into the family home.
Someone as obsessed with saving face as Lu Weiguo would never willingly raise another man’s children.
If Song Jinyue’s guess was correct, Lu Manman, who was a year older than her, and Lu Guangzong, who was a year younger, were both Lu Weiguo’s biological children!
Her scumbag father hadn’t merely fooled around before marriage.
He had cheated after getting married too!
Lu Weiguo felt increasingly guilty under Song Jinyue’s scrutinizing gaze. He could only raise his voice to conceal his unease.
“What nonsense are you talking about?! How could Manman possibly be my daughter?”
“If she isn’t, then she isn’t. Why are you getting so worked up?”
Song Jinyue rolled her eyes at him and continued, “Since she isn’t your biological daughter, that means her real father is someone else. Dad, how could you be so cruel as to separate a father and daughter for all these years? How about this? Go contact him now and arrange for the two of them to meet sometime.”
Song Jinyue wore an expression that practically screamed, Look how thoughtful and considerate I am.
The sight nearly made Lu Weiguo, Shen Yurou, and Lu Manman cough up blood.
Lu Weiguo deliberately put on a troubled expression.
“Th-That might be difficult. Manman’s birth was an accident. We don’t know who her biological father is.”
After racking his brain for a long time, that was the pathetic excuse he finally came up with.
Manman was his and Yurou’s daughter. What else was he supposed to say?
He couldn’t exactly curse himself by claiming her real father had died young!
“Oh.”
Song Jinyue nodded before raising an eyebrow.
“So she’s an illegitimate child with an unknown father, then?”