“As for the scrapes on her body, just make sure she’s careful. She should avoid getting them wet for the next few days.”
After giving his instructions, the doctor left, leaving only the uncle and niece in the room.
Xu Shuning lowered her head, not daring to look at her uncle. She knew his expression couldn’t be very pleasant.
Wen Mingyuan stared at Xu Shuning for a long while, his expression heavy. Finally, he let out a helpless sigh.
“Where did all that stubbornness you show us go? How did you let the Xu family bully you like this? They were hitting you, and you didn’t even know how to fight back?”
Xu Shuning raised her head and looked at Wen Mingyuan pitifully.
“Uncle, I was wrong. Don’t scold me anymore.”
“I didn’t expect Xu Siyao to be that vicious either.”
“She was terrifying. She tackled me to the ground in an instant, climbed on top of me, and started hitting me. I couldn’t fight back at all.”
“Look, Uncle. Can’t you still see Xu Siyao’s handprints on my face and arms?”
As she spoke, she leaned her face closer to Wen Mingyuan and rolled up her sleeve for him to see.
Wen Mingyuan glanced at her face and arm.
There were bruises on her arm, and faint marks were still visible on her face. They were clearly caused by Xu Siyao.
He was both furious and heartbroken.
He silently decided that Xu Siyao would pay for this.
How could Wen Mingyuan not know what his niece was up to?
She was obviously trying to make him feel sorry for her.
But he absolutely refused to let her see that she’d succeeded.
He turned his head slightly and deliberately snorted.
“You deserve it.”
Xu Shuning knew perfectly well that her uncle was tough on the outside but soft-hearted underneath.
She shifted closer and reached out to tug gently at his sleeve.
Wen Mingyuan moved slightly away.
But the moment he did, Xu Shuning let out a pained little hiss from the bed.
Wen Mingyuan immediately turned back, concern filling his eyes.
“What happened? Where does it hurt? Tell Uncle.”
Xu Shuning broke into a mischievous smile.
“Uncle, I’m fine.”
Wen Mingyuan immediately realized he’d been tricked.
He sat back down in his chair and tapped her lightly on the forehead.
“You… I really don’t know what to do with you.”
Wen Mingyuan had always loved this niece of his more than anyone. He had spent countless hours worrying about her.
After Xu Shuning had gotten upset and moved back to the Xu family home, he would visit whenever he had the time. Whenever he asked her to come home and she refused, he would give her money instead.
Of course, most of that money had ended up in Xu Hongtao’s hands.
They probably never imagined that Xu Hongtao would actually scheme against his own biological daughter like that.
Thinking about what happened to his uncle in the original story, Xu Shuning felt a pang in her heart.
He had been one of the finest doctors at Nancheng Military Hospital, yet he couldn’t save his own parents and couldn’t even protect himself.
The years he spent enduring harsh conditions in the northwest ruined his health. Just when he was finally about to return to Nancheng, he drowned while trying to rescue a child who had fallen into the water.
Now that she was here, she absolutely would not let that tragedy happen again.
She had taken over the original owner’s body, so the original owner’s family was now her family.
She would protect every one of them.
In her previous life, Xu Shuning’s parents had divorced when she was young and each started new families. Apart from sending her a fixed amount of living expenses every month, they had basically stopped caring about her.
She had been raised by her maternal grandparents.
When they passed away one after another during her university years, she lost the only family she had left and never experienced much familial affection afterward.
That was why she cherished everything she had now so deeply.
Xu Shuning gently tugged at her uncle’s sleeve and shook it, acting like a spoiled child.
For a moment, Wen Mingyuan was stunned.
He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d seen Xu Shuning like this.
This was what she should have been like.
He reached out and gently rubbed the top of her head.
Xu Shuning sweetly said, “You’re the best, Uncle.”
“By the way, Uncle, did you come here alone?”
No one else had appeared for such a long time. Normally, that shouldn’t have been the case.
Especially her grandparents.
Now that they knew something had happened to her, surely they would have come to see her.
Wen Mingyuan seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.
“Your aunt went home to get some food. Your grandparents stayed here with you all night. I was worried about their health, so I made them go home first.”
So that’s what happened.
Xu Shuning knew it.
If her uncle had come, how could her grandparents possibly not come to see her?
They loved her so much.
“What do you think about everything that happened with the Xu family?”
Wen Mingyuan still wasn’t sure how Xu Shuning felt about the matter.
After all, her behavior in the past was still fresh in his mind.
The Xu family had dared to scheme against a member of the Wen family.
There was no way the matter would simply be forgotten.
Regardless of what Xu Shuning thought, they were going to deal with the Xu family.
If Xu Shuning wanted to make a fuss about it, then let her.
But the situation Wen Mingyuan had been worried about didn’t happen at all.
Xu Shuning not only refused to defend the Xu family, she also exaggerated everything they had done to her as she told her uncle about it, tears streaming down her face as she spoke.
“I trusted them so much, but they’ve been plotting against me this whole time.”
“Uncle, do you know that Xu Siyao has her eye on Cui Wenzhou? They wanted me to divorce him, so they found Zhao Yang and tricked me. If I hadn’t accidentally overheard them that day, I’d still be completely in the dark, foolishly believing they were genuinely trying to help me.”
“That whole family is rotten, especially Xu Hongtao. He’s the worst of them all.”
“What kind of father helps other people scheme against his own daughter? How can there be someone like that in this world?”
“Uncle, I want to cut ties with them. And then I’m going to make them pay.”
Xu Shuning hadn’t actually overheard their conversation.
But she had no choice but to say that she had.
She couldn’t exactly tell her uncle that she had transmigrated into this world and had already read the entire story.
After thinking about it, claiming that she’d overheard them was the most reasonable explanation.
When Xu Shuning had called the Wen family earlier, she had told them some of what happened, but not in detail.
She had only said that those people had deceived her and that she wanted to come home, asking them to come pick her up.
Yesterday, Wen Mingyuan had received his father’s message and planned to finish his work before going to the Xu residence to bring his niece home.
But before he could even reach the Xu family home, he heard that his niece had been bullied and hospitalized.
He rushed over immediately.
After seeing Xu Shuning lying in the hospital bed, he had asked around about what had happened at the Xu residence.
Once he learned the truth, he had been so furious that he could barely contain himself.
He had even wanted to grab a knife and storm into the Xu residence to chop them all up.
Now he understood why his niece had been behaving so strangely these past few days.
She had been deceived by that entire family.
His younger sister had never had an easy life after marrying Xu Hongtao. She had died young, and even the only child she’d left behind had never been treated well.
Xu Hongtao was truly a bastard.
Wen Mingyuan looked at his niece with heartache.
Her eyes were red from crying.
She was genuinely hurt this time. Otherwise, she never would have made such a firm decision.
“Our Ningning has been wronged,” Wen Mingyuan said gently. “Don’t be afraid. You still have Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, and Auntie. We’ll all stand up for you.”
“After you fainted yesterday, the police arrived at the Xu residence. Xu Siyao and that man were both arrested. Xu Siyao was involved in an improper relationship with another man, and she also injured you. She’s definitely going to spend some time in custody.”
“If we work on it, maybe we can even get her sent to a labor farm for a few months.”
“This morning, someone from the Xu family came here. They said they wanted to see you, but I threw them out. Don’t think I don’t know what they’re really up to. If they genuinely cared about you, where were they yesterday? They’re only here because of Xu Siyao.”
Xu Shuning silently gave her uncle a thumbs-up.
Well done, Uncle. Beautifully handled.
She knew that, given her grandfather’s position, it would indeed be possible to have Xu Siyao sent to a labor farm.
But that would be far too easy on her.
This score was one Xu Shuning intended to settle herself.