Several of the nephews, nieces, and maternal nephews were all afraid of Zhao Beichen. Now this was great, he was actually being pointed at and scolded by a little toddler, who called him a big bad guy and even demanded that he give her mother back. It was far too amusing.
Zhao Beichen and Zhao Yinian stared at each other, wide-eyed, for a while. In the end, Zhao Beichen was the one who compromised. He picked up a biscuit and handed it to Niannian, saying: “Eat this so you’ll grow taller.”
Niannian said: “No, I want Mommy~”
As for what had happened with Zhao Beichen, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Third Sister, and the others had only heard about it. No one had truly dared to gossip with the Old Master and Li Huifang about Old Fourth’s affairs.
Naturally, the children knew nothing at all. They only thought that this Xiao Naibao was really fun.
Soon, everyone from the various households returned from work. Third Sister did not live at her parents’ home. Third Sister’s husband’s family was from out of town, and her child normally attended school in the compound. After school, the child would eat, do homework, and play at the maternal grandfather’s house, then the adults would pick the child up and take the child home after getting off work.
All at once, the place became extraordinarily lively. Eldest Sister-in-law secretly asked her husband: “Old Fourth really has a wife and child in the countryside?”
Eldest Brother said: “Don’t meddle in other people’s business.”
Eldest Sister-in-law pursed her lips. “What do you mean, don’t meddle in other people’s business? The child has already been brought home and we still can’t ask? Why haven’t we seen the child’s mother?”
Eldest Brother said: “If the Old Master and Mother want to tell us, we’ll listen. If they don’t, then don’t ask.”
During dinner, Li Huifang held Niannian and fed her. Since the parents and Zhao Beichen did not say what was going on, no one else asked.
After dinner, the children played in the courtyard, the auntie busied herself in the kitchen, and only when the adults gathered together was the matter concerning Niannian formally made public.
Everyone looked toward Zhao Beichen.
“Old Fourth, you really don’t intend to let Younger Sister-in-law enter the family?” Eldest Brother looked at Zhao Beichen and asked.
Zhao Beichen said: “The child stays. Give her a sum of money, then divorce. That’s what she herself wants too.”
Of course, the brothers and sisters knew that Old Fourth had gotten married in the countryside back then, but as for why Zhao Beichen had married that village girl shortly before he was about to leave the countryside, only Zhao Dongshan and Li Huifang knew the reason.
Even now, they did not know the specific reason.
Third Sister and her husband took their child home. Eldest Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law also began calling the children to wash up and go to bed.
Niannian was also tired. She yawned repeatedly and began crying and fussing because she was sleepy. She was usually very well-behaved, but in this unfamiliar place without her mother, she was naturally going to make a fuss.
The entire family was thrown into a fluster. Li Huifang told Zhao Xingchen to open Niannian’s luggage bag and take out the newly purchased baby bottle to prepare some milk powder.
Zhao Xingchen took out two sets of children’s clothes. One set was covered in patches upon patches and was even more tattered than the clothes worn by beggars on the street. The other set was a brightly colored floral-print shirt.
The entire family was so shocked by that set of clothes covered in patches upon patches that no one spoke for a long time.
Niannian cried as she said: “Don’t touch my clothes… I want Mommy~”
Zhao Beichen lifted the child’s tattered set of clothes, and his throat felt as though someone had seized it, making it difficult for him to breathe.
Those clothes had been altered from Zhao Beichen’s old clothes, and the patches sewn all over them came in every imaginable color. Yang Liu had deliberately picked this particular set out of a pile of ragged clothes for the child to wear.
Zhao Beichen had witnessed the poverty and wickedness of Yang Family Village. Before Yang Liu drugged him, his impression of Yang Liu had actually been quite good. She was the prettiest girl in the entire village. She did not like to talk and kept her head lowered all day long. The Educated Youths often talked about her, saying that such a wretched place had actually managed to produce such a fresh and beautiful girl. What a pity.
So when her family forced her to marry a fool in his thirties and she asked him for help, Zhao Beichen had helped her without a second thought and had come up with ideas and plans for her. Yet the moment he turned around, she drugged his enamel mug of tea.
Li Huifang was so angry that she shouted at Zhao Beichen: “Stop staring at those ragged clothes. We can’t just let the child keep crying like this. You need to come up with an idea. What are we going to do? If there’s really no other way, should we send her back to her mother?”
Zhao Beichen dropped the clothes and picked up the child. “Bring me a warm towel.”
After wiping the child’s face with the warm towel, Zhao Beichen looked at Niannian and said: “Stop crying. How about Daddy takes you to find Mommy?”
Niannian said: “I don’t want you. You’re a big bad guy. I want Mommy~”
Zhao Xingchen filled a kraft paper bag with some food and said: “Brother, how about I go with you?” She did not believe the things Song Zhenzhen had told her. She wanted to go see what that country sister-in-law looked like. A woman who could give birth to such a beautiful child certainly could not be bad-looking.
Song Zhenzhen had told Zhao Xingchen today that the country woman had drugged her brother back then and had even falsely accused him of forcing himself on her, leaving her brother with no choice but to marry her.
Li Huifang said coldly: “Xingchen, what are you joining in the commotion for?”
She understood this son of hers better than anyone. She had to push him, otherwise this matter would continue dragging on endlessly. That would only make them a laughingstock and instead give those who were jealous of the Zhao Family an opportunity.
Zhao Beichen walked a few steps while holding the child, then suddenly turned around and came back. He shoved the child into Zhao Xingchen’s arms and said: “I’ll go find her mother.”
Niannian immediately began crying her heart out again.
Li Huifang could not quite suppress the corners of her lips from lifting. She took Niannian and coaxed her, saying: “All right, all right, don’t cry. Your mommy will be back in a little while.”
After Yang Liu finished taking a bath, she flipped through newspapers. Over the past few days, she had collected many newspapers and magazines, and whenever she went out, she paid attention to the storefronts along the streets.
She was not worried about starving to death, nor did she intend to take the college entrance examination route all over again. In her previous life, she had already been a top student. Having graduated from a prestigious university, she knew five languages and had also carved out a place for herself in the foreign trade industry. She had already endured all the hardships she needed to endure.
The economy was opening up now, and things would only get better and better. Opportunities were everywhere in the big cities. There were now many foreigners traveling in Capital, so she planned to take the initiative and seek out opportunities herself.
At the sound of knocking, Yang Liu opened the door, and immediately felt that things were not looking good.
A few hours earlier, Zhao Dongshan had sent someone to deliver three thousand yuan, a key, and the address of a house, telling her to live there for the time being.
Yang Liu blocked the doorway. “Can we go get divorced right now?”
Zhao Beichen glanced at Yang Liu’s wet hair. With a dark expression, he said: “The child is crying and making a terrible fuss. No one can calm her down. Come over and soothe her.”
Yang Liu folded her arms across her chest. “I’m afraid that won’t work. You all need to learn how to soothe the child. You can’t expect me to come help you calm her down every time she cries and makes a fuss, can you?”
Zhao Beichen looked somewhat incredulous, and the way he stared at Yang Liu was very strange.
Zhao Beichen felt that Yang Liu had changed far too much. He even felt that this woman was not Yang Liu at all. The look in her eyes was unfamiliar, and her bearing was forceful and assertive. She seemed genuinely ambitious and determined, as though she truly did not care about the Zhao Family. And there was something else… It felt as though that child was not her biological daughter at all.
Yang Liu’s scalp tingled under his stare. The man sneered coldly: “Is this how you’ve been a mother all these years? You’re the one who insisted on giving birth to the child. Now you say you won’t take care of her and that’s it? Take your luggage and come with me right now, otherwise…”
Yang Liu said: “Otherwise what?”
Zhao Beichen sneered. “Yang Liu, I’ve already given you both opportunities and a way out. If you still don’t know what’s good for you, don’t blame me for being ruthless. If you refuse to take care of the child today, then don’t ever think about seeing the child again.”
Yang Liu thought to herself, It wasn’t as though I gave birth to her. If I never see her again, then so be it. But no matter what, she could not say those words aloud.