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Hiding inside the room, Wen Qing cautiously emerged when she realized the situation outside was escalating. Her face, swollen and bruised like a pig’s head, bore marks of earlier conflict.
“Father, please don’t be angry with Mother. She didn’t mean for this to happen. It’s just that Grandma and Uncle Yuming are struggling so much.”
“They’re still Mother’s family. Even if they made mistakes in the past, we can’t just abandon them completely!”
“Father, you’re the best father—so kind and understanding. Please forgive Mother this time!”
“Qingqing, things aren’t as simple as you think. Even if we wanted to help… This isn’t just a matter of a hundred or two hundred yuan—it’s 1,200 yuan! That’s enough for your uncle to marry ten wives!”
Wen Nuan stood off to the side, the corners of her lips curling into a faint smile as she watched Tan Xiulian and her daughter put on their little performance. If this had been an ordinary matter, perhaps Wen Changming would have forgiven them like he always had.
But with such a large sum involved, there was no way Wen Changming could remain indifferent. Even though he was now a team leader, his monthly salary was only 46.8 yuan.
1,200 yuan—it was equivalent to almost three years of his wages. How could he not be furious?
Wen Nuan knew well that Wen Changming was a notorious penny-pincher. When it came to hoarding money, he could rival the most miserly miser.
“Tan Xiulian, I don’t care what you have to do—go to your family and get that money back. Otherwise, don’t bother coming home!”
“Changming! How can you be so heartless? My mother is your mother too, and my brother is your brother! We’re all one family!”
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten what happened back then, Tan Xiulian. Don’t push your luck.
I trusted you and handed you the bankbook for safekeeping, and this is how you repay that trust?”
“From now on, take out all the bankbooks in this house—along with any cash and vouchers. You’ll only keep enough money for groceries each day. Not a penny more!”
“Father, how can you treat mother like this? She’s the one who loves you the most! Can’t you consider that and be a little more forgiving?”
Wen Qing, being Wen Changming’s most beloved daughter, was someone he couldn’t bring himself to scold, no matter how angry he was.
“Qingqing, stay out of this. Your father knows what he’s doing. Go back to your room and rest.”
Seeing that she couldn’t persuade Wen Changming, Wen Qing decided to shift the focus elsewhere, aiming to redirect her father’s anger onto Wen Nuan.
“Father, I feel a bit dizzy. Maybe I hit my head when my sister… struck me earlier,” Wen Qing said softly, her voice tinged with grievance.
“You hit your head? Let me take a look. Is it serious? Should we go to the hospital?”
“There’s no need. I’ll probably feel better after some rest. But, Father, my sister still hasn’t returned my protective talisman. Without it, I feel so uneasy.”
Sure enough, Wen Qing’s ploy worked. Wen Changming, now distracted, turned his attention away from demanding money from Tan Xiulian and redirected it toward Wen Nuan.
“Wen Nuan, give the talisman back to Qingqing! Don’t you know her health isn’t good? How could you take her things? Where’s your sense of being an elder sister? Shouldn’t you look out for your younger sibling?”
“Heh, ‘look out for my sister’? What kind of sister is she? Your illegitimate daughter, perhaps?” Wen Nuan’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.
“Watch your mouth! Once Qingqing entered the Wen family, she became just as much my daughter as you are!” Wen Changming’s tone hardened.
“Then why doesn’t she get the same treatment I do? For every little chore in this house, when has she ever lifted a single finger? She eats better than me, lives better than me, wears better clothes than me. Who’s the real daughter here? If stepdaughters get this kind of treatment, then maybe I don’t want to be the biological one anymore!”
“Big Sister, please don’t be angry,” Wen Qing interjected gently, her voice laced with feigned innocence. “Father only takes pity on me because of my poor health. We’re all family—how could you speak to Father like that?”
Wen Qing pretended to mediate, but in truth, she was only fanning the flames. Sure enough, within seconds, Wen Changming’s temper flared even higher.
“Just listen to Qingqing and then listen to yourself! You’re already grown, yet you’re so stubborn and argumentative. If you were as sensible and obedient as Qingqing, do you think I would treat you poorly?”
Wen Nuan tilted her head, glancing at Wen Qing and then back at Wen Changming, her expression laced with mockery.
“You two really are a perfect pair—just as fake and hypocritical as each other. The sheer sanctimony you exude is enough to make anyone sick. Do you even believe the nonsense you’re spouting?”
Her lips curled into a sneer. “You put on these little performances every day. Do you genuinely think that repeating a lie makes it the truth? ‘Family’? ‘Obedient and sensible’? Today’s quite the eye-opener.”
“Wen Nuan, are you trying to rebel?” Wen Changming bellowed.
“Heh, rebel? What do you mean by that? Are you some kind of emperor, then? I’m just standing up for myself and demanding justice. Is that so outrageous?”
“I don’t want to waste my breath on you anymore,” Wen Nuan said coldly, her gaze fixed on Wen Qing. “Wen Qing, don’t think I don’t see through your little act, trying to shift Father’s attention.”
She turned sharply toward Wen Changming and Tan Xiulian. “The 1,200 yuan that was in my mother’s account—return it to me right now. If not, I’ll take this to the Revolutionary Committee and report you.”
Her tone was icy, filled with menace. “If I, the legitimate daughter, come forward to testify, do you think the Revolutionary Committee would believe me? Imagine the headlines: ‘Team Leader Wen brings his mistress home, driving his wife to her death,’ and let’s not forget Wen Qing, the so-called illegitimate daughter. News like this would cause a massive uproar, wouldn’t it?”
“You’re lying! I’m not an illegitimate daughter!” Wen Qing shouted, her voice trembling with fury. “It was Father who met my mom first! It was your shameless mother who forced her way in between them—”
“Slap! Slap!”
Before Wen Qing could finish, Wen Nuan stepped forward and landed two resounding slaps across her face, cutting her off mid-sentence. Wen Qing staggered, holding her cheek in shock, tears welling in her eyes.
Those two slaps were delivered with full force, leaving Wen Qing’s face even more swollen, resembling a pig’s head.
“Wen Nuan!” Wen Changming hurriedly pulled Wen Qing closer, anxiously inspecting her face to see if it was damaged. Thankfully, it was just red and swollen, nothing worse.
“Father… she hit me… you have to get revenge for me!” Wen Qing sobbed, blood at the corner of her mouth. She whimpered pitifully, clutching her face, feeling as if her teeth might fall out.
But Wen Nuan showed no trace of fear. The facade was already torn; there was no point pretending any longer.
“Heh,” Wen Nuan sneered. “Go ahead, have your father try. But remember, you were the one who first spewed insults about my mother. Don’t blame me for teaching you a lesson.”
“But seriously, there’s something I don’t quite get,” Wen Nuan said with mock curiosity. “I’ve never seen Wen Changming show much affection for your mother, so how come he treats you, his precious daughter, like a treasure? Could it be that there’s something shady going on here? A little girl seducing her own father—isn’t that just like a reincarnated vixen? Shameless!”
“Wen Nuan, watch your mouth!” Wen Changming roared. “You’re out of control! Who gave you permission to hit people? Do you even regard me as your father anymore?”
“The day you brought a mistress into our home and drove my mother to her death, the day you indulged Wen Qing and Tan Xiulian in bullying me—you lost the right to call yourself my father. Now you think you can use your title to suppress me? Do you think you deserve it?”
“You… you rebellious daughter!” Wen Changming bellowed, his face contorted with fury.
Looking at Wen Changming’s raised right hand, Wen Nuan felt no trace of fear.
“Go ahead, hit me! If you dare lay a hand on me today, I’ll expose every dirty little secret about your precious family of three. Barefooted folks like me don’t fear those in shoes. I’ve got nothing to lose, so I might as well drag the emperor down from his throne. The real question is—do you dare?”
“You… good, very good! I truly underestimated you before. Speak up then, what do you want? Since you’re so determined to stir up trouble, I might as well play along!”
The old Wen Nuan might have felt fear at those words, terrified of being abandoned by her father. But the Wen Nuan standing here now? She was ready to cast aside this worthless father of hers.
“See, if you had said that earlier, we could’ve saved so much breath. Let me cut to the chase—I’m well aware the subdistrict office recently came by with a notice.”
“Wen Qing doesn’t have a job, so she’ll have to go to the countryside, right? Let me guess—you’ve already secretly submitted my name instead of hers, haven’t you?”
A flicker of guilt flashed in Wen Changming’s eyes. He had deliberately kept this matter under wraps, waiting for the right moment to bring it up.
But he hadn’t expected this troublesome girl to find out ahead of time. Where on earth did she get her information?
“You’re the elder sister. Naturally, it’s your responsibility to go to the countryside. I just hadn’t gotten around to informing you yet!”
“Heh, do you think I believe that?”
Wen Nuan’s face was full of mockery.
“I don’t care what kind of scheme you’re plotting. Since you’ve chosen to be heartless, don’t blame me for being ungrateful!
You may have raised me, but over the years, I’ve toiled like an ox and a horse, serving your little family of three. That should count as repaying the debt of raising me.
Now that you’ve deliberately set me up to be sent to the countryside, I want half of the Wen family’s assets as compensation. And don’t even think of including the dowry my mother left me in that calculation.”
Once a person was registered to be sent to the countryside, it couldn’t be undone unless they died or became disabled. In other words, her fate of being sent away was as good as sealed.
“Half of the family assets? Are you crazy, or am I? You’re just a daughter! Besides, your old man is still alive. It’s not your place to make such decisions!”
“So you’re saying you refuse? Fine, then let’s change the terms—I want to sever our father-daughter relationship.
From now on, there will be no ties between the Wen family and me. I’ll only take what my mother left me. If you still don’t agree, then we can go all out and see who comes out on top.
As long as it doesn’t kill me, I’ll make sure you all regret it. Do you think life in a reform-through-labor farm will be enjoyable?”