Song Jinhe raised her hand to block two stones flying toward her face, immediately feeling a sharp sting on her arm.
Five-year-old Lu Xiaoran stood in the yard, glaring at her with wide eyes, clutching more stones and taking aim again.
“If anything happens to Ya Ya, I’ll tell Grandma to beat you to death!”
Seeing the hatred in Lu Xiaoran’s eyes, Song Jinhe’s heart instantly turned cold.
She had been too impatient, rushing back to find that item of hers, forgetting there was such an ungrateful child at home.
Her face hardened as she stared at Lu Xiaoran, her gaze utterly indifferent.
Lu Xiaoran looked at her suspiciously, sensing something was off.
Usually, this bad woman would burst into tears with reddened eyes when he said such things. Why was she so calm today?
He tightened his grip on the stones, his eyes darting around before he raised his chin triumphantly as if having figured it out:
“Bad woman, why aren’t you saying anything? Feeling guilty?”
Song Jinhe gazed at him, her tone flat: “Why should I feel guilty?”
“Because I caught you being jealous of Aunt Qingying!”
Lu Xiaoran looked at her with smug disdain, chattering on:
“Aunt Qingying is gentle and beautiful. Not only is she good to Dad, but she often buys me White Rabbit milk candies. You’re just jealous of how well she gets along with us!”
After saying this, he crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Song Jinhe with extreme contempt.
“I’m telling you, if you still want me to call you Mom, stop causing trouble for Aunt Qingying.”
“The more you bother her, the more Dad and I will hate you.”
Hearing these words now, Song Jinhe felt no ripple of emotion in her heart.
After all, in her previous life, Lu Xiaoran had often spoken to her like this.
He disliked that she wasn’t as beautiful and gentle as Liu Qingying, refusing to call her Mom.
He also complained she wasn’t as generous as Liu Qingying, eating the White Rabbit milk candies Liu Qingying gave him while saying he wanted to recognize Liu Qingying as his mother.
Song Jinhe had repeatedly convinced herself that the child was still young, saying these things because Liu Qingying had instigated him.
She naively believed that if she told Lu Xiaoran how Lu Guoheng gave most of his monthly salary to Liu Qingying, he would understand her.
But she was wrong, terribly wrong.
When Lu Xiaoran heard about it back then, not only did he not understand, but he shoved her hard and accused her impatiently:
“You’re old and ugly, and your personality isn’t gentle at all. You can’t compare to Aunt Qingying in any way.”
“It’s only right for Dad to give money to Aunt Qingying!”
Song Jinhe stared at Lu Xiaoran in shock, tears silently falling.
She couldn’t understand why Lu Guoheng had married her but didn’t treat her well, and why even her own child would treat her like this.
She opened her mouth to say something, but Lu Xiaoran looked at her with disgust.
“Looking like this, even I hate you, let alone Dad.”
“In my heart, Aunt Qingying should be my mom!”
Song Jinhe was completely heartbroken by him.
Later, when she fell ill and Lu Xiaoran said that after she died, his dad could be with Aunt Qingying, she wasn’t surprised at all.
By then, her health had deteriorated badly.
Even though her heart was full of hatred and she wanted to do something, she was powerless.
Snapping back to reality, Song Jinhe looked at the little brat who despised her so much, and the rage from her unjust death in her previous life instantly filled her entire chest.
She truly wouldn’t be hurt by the words of this ungrateful child anymore, but the grievances and pain she had endured in her previous life and this one couldn’t just be for nothing, could they?
“Lu Xiaoran, from now on, you don’t need to call me Mom anymore.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaoran was momentarily stunned. Before he could process it, the question “Why?” had already slipped out.
Song Jinhe gave a hollow smile and said, “Because giving birth to you was worse than giving birth to a piece of char siu!”
Quickly grabbing the firewood stick leaning against the wall, Song Jinhe took two steps forward and seized Lu Xiaoran, who was trying to run away.
Lu Xiaoran shrank back in fear at the sight of the firewood stick in her hand, but his mouth was still spewing foul words:
“You wicked woman, what are you doing? Let go of me!”
As he spoke, he struggled violently, trying to break free from Song Jinhe’s grip.
But no matter how hard he struggled, he was just a five-year-old brat. Song Jinhe, an adult accustomed to manual labor, had no trouble holding him firmly.
“Of course, I’m giving you a complete childhood!”
Song Jinhe sneered coldly, and with those words, she brought the firewood stick down hard on Lu Xiaoran’s buttocks.
She had already given up on this ungrateful child, so she struck with extra force.
Since birth, Lu Xiaoran had been pampered and doted on by the entire family and had never been beaten before.
With just one strike from Song Jinhe, Lu Xiaoran began to wail.
“Wicked woman, let me go! Let me go now!”
“How dare you hit me? I’ll tell Grandma to beat you to death!!”
He instinctively threatened Song Jinhe, but upon hearing this, she only struck him harder.
The sound of the stick striking flesh was sharp and solid. As she beat him, Song Jinhe cursed:
“I gave birth to you and raised you, only to end up with an ungrateful wretch like you!”
“If you don’t want to call me Mom, I don’t want you either!”
“I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to give birth to a heartless, unfilial monster like you!”
Ever since marrying into the Lu Family, Song Jinhe had lived a life of swallowing her pride and enduring extreme suppression.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have developed cancer so young in her previous life.
This time, she held back no longer. The firewood stick fell on Lu Xiaoran’s body again and again.
From the initial unfamiliarity, she grew increasingly skilled with each strike.
“It hurts! Stop hitting me, please…”
“Mom, it really hurts. Please stop. I know I was wrong…”
At first, Lu Xiaoran had shouted angrily, but eventually, his protests turned into tearful pleas.
Even when she heard him admit his mistake, Song Jinhe felt no softening in her heart. Only when she grew tired from hitting him did she stop and sit down on a stool to rest.
Admittedly, though she was exhausted from the beating, she felt a sense of relief wash over her after venting her pent-up anger.
Song Jinhe picked up the Enamel Mug on the table, poured water into it, and drank it all in one go.
Lu Xiaoran covered his buttocks with his hands, his eyes red and his face streaked with tears.
He gritted his teeth and wiped away his tears. As he watched Song Jinhe drinking water, his eyes filled with hatred.
“You wicked woman, you hit me! When Grandma comes back, she won’t let you get away with this!”
While being beaten, he had cried and admitted his fault, but now that the beating had stopped, Lu Xiaoran’s defiance returned.
As he spoke, he remembered the stones in his hand, took aim at Song Jinhe’s face, and prepared to hurl them with all his strength.
Despite being only five years old, his eyes were filled with extreme malice.
Song Jinhe had been on guard against him all along. Seeing this, her gaze turned cold, and she struck his arm hard with the firewood stick.
Lu Xiaoran cried out in pain, instinctively loosening his grip. The sharp stones in his hand all fell to the ground.
Clutching his red and swollen arm, he wept uncontrollably, tears and mucus streaming down his face before he finally crouched on the ground, sobbing as if his heart would break.
Song Jinhe rose to her feet with disdain, unwilling to spare him another glance.
“Such a wicked heart at such a young age—you deserve every bit of that beating!”
“Cry all you want here by yourself!”
With those words, Song Jinhe strode into the house without looking back.
The moment she entered, the wailing in the courtyard grew even louder, as if deliberately performed for her benefit.
Song Jinhe paid it no mind. After locking the door, she began rummaging through cabinets and chests in search of something.