Shen Jingyan scooped up Mianmian and headed straight for the hospital.
She rushed into the hospital in a flurry, looking around everywhere to see where that shameless woman had gone.
"Mommy, over there, over there."
She spotted a young nurse holding some paperwork.
"Your spouse's head injury requires hospitalization for observation. You need to go pay the fees right away—we're about to transfer him to the inpatient ward."
"Okay, okay, I'll go do it right now."
Liu Xiaoshuang lowered her head and instructed Su Yueyue, "You stay here with Daddy. I'll go pay the fees."
Su Yueyue stood on her tiptoes off to the side.
Holding Song Changming's hand on the hospital bed, she was worried sick.
"Changming, I'm going to pay the fees…"
Liu Xiaoshuang smiled and turned around.
She froze on the spot.
Shen Jingyan met her gaze with a faint, ambiguous smile, and the smile on Liu Xiaoshuang's lips stiffened in place.
She stammered, "Jingyan, sister…"
Shen Jingyan walked over step by step, her face ice-cold.
At that moment, Song Changming—his head now bandaged—also turned around.
A flicker of nervousness crossed his eyes.
"Jingyan, why are you here?"
Shen Jingyan smiled, looking at the person across from her.
Her voice was clear and loud.
"I'd like to ask—you say you're his wife, so then who am I?"
Instantly, the air froze.
Even the young nurse across from them was stunned.
With a look of complete bewilderment, she glanced back and forth between their faces.
"Comrade, you—you're saying this female comrade is not this injured man's wife?"
Shen Jingyan didn't answer, but instead looked at Liu Xiaoshuang across from her.
"Sister-in-law Liu, you say you're his wife—then who am I?"
Mianmian, trailing behind, pursed her lips in grievance.
She pointed at Su Yueyue, who was hiding behind Song Changming.
And burst into loud tears with a "Waaah!"
"I don't want Daddy, I don't want Daddy! You don't like me and Mommy—you like the bad auntie and bad Yueyue!"
Instantly, the atmosphere at the emergency room entrance exploded.
Everyone turned their heads curiously to look.
"What's going on?"
"Looks like this man is committing adultery?"
"Really? Then why hasn't he been arrested?"
"Don't know—the guy looks decent enough, and his wife isn't bad-looking at all. How could he do something like this?"
Song Changming's face flushed red.
"Jingyan, you—you've got it wrong. Sister-in-law Liu just brought me to the hospital."
Shen Jingyan gazed at Song Changming across from her.
She didn't bring out all those filthy, sordid things in public. Song Changming was still Mianmian's father.
She couldn't disregard Mianmian.
"Is that so?"
"What a coincidence—I didn't even know your head was injured, but Sister-in-law Liu did?"
Song Changming was rendered speechless.
"Jingyan, it's not what you think…"
"Then what is it? Changming, you tell me—yesterday Su Yueyue called you Daddy, and I could let that go as a child not knowing any better. But what about her?"
"Just now the nurse said she was your wife—why didn't she deny it?"
Shen Jingyan's eyes were full of tears, and she looked ready to collapse, drawing sympathy from everyone around.
"That's right, comrade—if you don't give an explanation, then it's adultery, and that's against the law."
"I—I'm not a mistress. My husband was a martyr. Comrade Song was just looking out for us, mother and daughter, on a regular basis. When the nurse said that just now, I was thinking about notifying Comrade Song's wife as soon as possible—I wasn't thinking about much else."
Liu Xiaoshuang already looked like a delicate little white flower, and this on-the-verge-of-tears look made her seem pitiful beyond measure.
When the crowd heard she was a martyr's widow, their expressions softened somewhat.
"Even so, you can't let people misunderstand."
"That's right, you female comrade, your conduct is really not rigorous."
"I-I understand now, Sister Jingyan, it was my oversight. P-please don't hold it against me."
Song Changming watched his beloved woman and child being so wronged and accommodating, and his heart ached terribly.
Shen Jingyan was not letting this go.
"Jingyan, I didn't think this through, but there's really nothing between me and Sister Liu."
"Comrade, since they've both explained, just forgive them this once."
At that moment, a childish voice rang out from the crowd.
"Daddy, didn't you tell Mommy you were going to the countryside on a business trip for several days? Why are you living with Yueyue's mommy?"
Everyone was stunned.
They looked at the fair, chubby little child beside Shen Jingyan.
They caught on, and the way they looked at Song Changming and Liu Xiaoshuang was now filled with disdain.
"Bah, adulterous pair!"
"And here I thought they were decent people—deceiving his own wife and committing adultery with a widow."
"That woman's no good either. Thought she was a decent person, but she's a complete disgrace to her status as a martyr's family member!"
Liu Xiaoshuang swayed on her feet. "N-no, no, that's not what you think, I didn't—"
"Enough!"
"Jingyan, what are you letting a child spout nonsense for!"
Shen Jingyan's eyes were full of hurt.
She looked at Song Changming, and all that remained was disappointment and heartache.
Her hollow gaze also made Song Changming pause.
"Changming, is it really Mianmian talking nonsense?"
Just then, a scream suddenly rose from the crowd.
"Heavens! That woman slammed into the wall!"
Liu Xiaoshuang cried out tragically.
"I haven't done what you're accusing me of—why are you forcing me! Sister Jingyan, you don't believe me, so I'll prove my innocence with death."
A "thud."
Blood instantly streamed down Liu Xiaoshuang's forehead.
"I really didn't do it."
"Mommy, Mommy!"
"Daddy, why did you have to die? They just bully Mommy and Yueyue. Daddy, why did you have to die?"
Su Yueyue's wild crying mixed with the chaos of doctors rushing over.
The people who had been speaking just moments ago all fell silent.
She had proven her innocence with death.
And the child's pitiful crying.
A widow and orphan—how pitiful.
Instantly, the way everyone looked at Shen Jingyan was tinged with blame.
Song Changming watched as Liu Xiaoshuang was carried away by the doctors, and his fury erupted completely.
"Smack"—a slap landed across Shen Jingyan's face.
His face was full of grief and indignation.
"Jingyan, do you realize you could get someone killed!"
Shen Jingyan's ears rang with a buzzing chaos.
Light flashed before her eyes.
She looked at Song Changming before her, in disbelief, her eyes rolling with hatred.
Song Changming was startled.
"Jingyan, I married you despite your background back then because I liked you. At that time I thought you were a gentle, kind, good comrade! I never imagined you were actually like this—how did you become such an unreasonable person!"
"No wonder Mianmian was raised by you into this—full of nothing but… bad habits!"
"Hmph, I can't be bothered to say more to you!"
With that, Song Changming turned and left.
The taste of blood was thick in Shen Jingyan's mouth, but her mind was clearer than ever.
Background?
Yes, background.
She had been too impulsive.
If she and Song Changming divorced, she would definitely want Mianmian.
But if Song Changming so much as reported her—
Then Mianmian would no longer belong to her.
Even if Liu Xiaoshuang and Song Changming were committing adultery, she hadn't caught any solid evidence.
That meant they could always deny it.
To catch a thief, you need the stolen goods; to catch adulterers, you need them in the act.
She dug her nails hard into her palm.
The money and the house—she would get them back.
And her child—she would protect it, no matter what.