“You didn’t come home all night! Were you fooling around again? How could you do this to me?! I tolerated you gambling away all our money! But I never expected you to cheat on me and keep a mistress outside! I’ve had enough of this, I want a divorce!”
“Fine, divorce then! Why don’t you take a look at yourself first? You look like an old hag, and you still blame me for cheating? If you dressed yourself up a little prettier, would I have gone looking for women outside?! Hurry up and get lost!”
“Why should I leave? You cheated, so you should leave with nothing! The house is mine, you take your daughter and get out!”
“This is my house! The one who should get lost is you! Take Niannian, that money-losing burden, and get out!”
“She’s your biological daughter!”
“Bullshit! I know what I look like. She doesn’t look anything like me. Who knows which wild man you messed around with outside and got her from!”
“Don’t talk nonsense! She is your biological daughter! Anyway, after the divorce, I’m not taking her!”
“If you’re heartless enough not to want her, then I’ll dump her in the countryside and let the old man raise her. There’s no way I’m keeping her!”
Then, it seemed that Mommy really had cruelly abandoned her.
Not long after, Mommy carried her luggage and left.
The noisy arguing outside drifted through the crack of the door into little Niannian’s ears.
Even though Daddy and Mommy argued every single day, little Niannian still had never gotten used to it.
Fearfully, she clung to the door and peeked outside timidly. She watched Mommy walk farther and farther away, and finally, she could not hold herself back anymore. Her little legs hurried after her.
“Mommy! Mommy! Don’t abandon Niannian! Niannian will behave, Niannian will listen! Mommy! Don’t go, wuuu…”
She knew what divorce meant.
Divorce meant that either Daddy or Mommy did not want her anymore.
And now, it seemed both Daddy and Mommy did not want her anymore.
Her friend, the little dog Wangcai, did not have a daddy or mommy either, so he could only wander the streets. He was pitiful.
Niannian did not want to wander the streets.
Chen Hui expressionlessly pried apart Niannian’s tiny hands that were tightly hugging her leg. She kicked Niannian backward with her leg, sending her rolling away, and coldly said, “I’m not your mother! Stop clinging to me! And stop bothering me!”
Niannian rolled twice on the ground from the kick. She struggled to steady herself, only to see that Chen Hui had already walked far away.
Large tears rolled down Niannian’s face, but her tiny legs refused to obey her. She could not get back up anymore.
All she could do was cry out hoarsely, “Mommy… don’t abandon Niannian… Niannian will behave… Niannian can help Mommy cook… help Mommy wash dishes… This whole week I was really good, I even swept the floor and washed the dishes for Mommy…”
Her crying and shouting could not call back Chen Hui, who had already gone far away.
Niannian could no longer see her figure at all.
She rubbed her eyes hard, trying to see which direction Mommy had gone, but no matter how much she wiped, more and more tears came out. She could not see Mommy anymore.
Mommy had really left.
Inside Niannian’s tiny little mind, only Chen Hui’s final words remained—
“I’m not your mother!”
After a while, Daddy walked over. With an irritated expression, he picked her up and coldly said, “Cry, cry, cry! All you know how to do is cry! Hurry up and pack your things, I’m taking you to your grandpa’s place!”
The moment Niannian heard the word “Grandpa,” her tiny body trembled. Fearfully, she hugged onto Zhang Kang’s hand, her eyes full of terror.
“Daddy… don’t send me to Grandpa’s place… Grandpa hits Niannian… it hurts so much, so much… my shoulders hurt, my tummy hurts too, Daddy…”
Zhang Kang did not have the patience to listen to her.
“Cut the crap! I don’t have time to take care of you! I’m not even your dad! Your mom doesn’t even want you, you little bastard, and she still wants to dump you on me… Who knows where your mom stole you from after fooling around outside… If it weren’t for the fact that you look pretty good, maybe when you grow up you could bring in some bride price money… Tsk! Hurry up and pack!”
After saying that, he tossed Niannian back into the storage room.
This was Niannian’s room. Their home was small, with only one bedroom and one living room. This storage room was a tiny space separated from the balcony. It was filled with miscellaneous junk, and it was also her room.
Niannian wanted to crawl out and continue begging Daddy, but then she heard him talking on the phone to someone—
“Hello? Darling? Don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll go to the Civil Affairs Bureau with Chen Hui and get divorced… The child? She’s not my child at all! Chen Hui cheated… little bastard… Don’t worry… We’ll have our own baby… Of course I’ll love my own child! I’ll definitely send her to the countryside!”
Daddy’s words deeply stabbed into Niannian’s heart.
Niannian sat on the floor, staring at Daddy’s figure. Her eyes had cried until there were no tears left.
She did not want to go to the countryside. She did not want that grandpa who always beat her!
Niannian could not understand it.
What exactly had she done wrong?
Why did Daddy and Mommy both not want Niannian anymore?
Niannian sniffled, then suddenly remembered what Daddy had just said—
“Who knows where your mom stole you from after fooling around outside…”
“The child? She’s not my child at all! Chen Hui cheated…”
Niannian froze for a moment, then suddenly understood what Daddy meant.
Mommy stole someone… Who had Mommy stolen?
Niannian?
So I was actually a Baby Mommy stole?!
I’m not Daddy and Mommy’s real Baby?!
Then she remembered what Mommy had just said—
“I’m not your mother!”
At last, Niannian’s tiny little head finally understood.
So Mommy was a thief. This mommy was a fake mommy, and she had stolen a fake Baby.
At last, everything in Niannian’s tiny heart connected together.
No wonder…
So this was a fake mommy! That was why she did not like Niannian.
Real mommies all loved their own Babies!
Because the song she loved the most, “Only Mommy Is Good in This World,” said: “A child with a mother is like a treasure!”
Niannian immediately stood up and clenched her little fists tightly.
“I’m going to find my real Mommy!”
Niannian was truly terrified of being sent to the countryside. That grandpa was really, really fierce. Whenever Daddy and Mommy were not looking, he would viciously kick her little tummy.
When she cried and said her tummy hurt, Daddy only said that maybe she had eaten something bad.
When she said Grandpa had kicked her, Daddy pretended not to hear.
Seeing that Fake Daddy was really going to send her away to the countryside, Niannian became even more determined to find her real mommy!
While Zhang Kang was busy talking to his “darling” on the phone, Niannian quietly slipped out the door.
Afraid that Fake Daddy would discover her, the moment she left the house, she immediately ran with her tiny legs.
She did not know how long she had run.
She only knew that she had run for a very, very long time.
She had run from morning until noon. Her little feet were sore, her tummy was hungry, and her head felt a little dizzy.
She passed through the shabby old district, crossed several huge roads, and arrived at a place filled with balloons and stuffed animal toys.
Niannian’s mouth was terribly thirsty, and her little feet hurt so much that she could barely keep walking anymore.
She saw many bottles of mineral water placed ahead of her, and subconsciously slowed her steps.
A lot of older brothers and older sisters nearby were handing out water.
“It’s a little hot, give every staff member a bottle of water first. If there’s not enough, just grab more yourselves!”
“The photography team is in position! The follow-shot crew is almost at the destination!”
“There are five family groups in total. The other four groups have already set off. The ordinary family group said they’ll bring their child to the meeting point themselves…”
“Hm? Why is there a child here? Is she from the ordinary family group? Did they arrive this quickly? Why is her face so dirty? We can’t even tell clearly anymore. Switch cameras! Hurry and switch cameras!”
When Niannian saw them handing out mineral water, she originally wanted to see if they were also giving some to Little friends.
But suddenly, many black machines turned toward her and started “filming” her.
Niannian instantly froze in place, too scared to move at all!