Chapter 19

Wang Mengmei couldn’t calm down.

A wave of anger surged through her head.

Right now, all she wanted to do was hit Jian Li.

What about not hitting children, what about respect, what about communication? She couldn’t remember any of that anymore.

When the feather duster came down, Jian Li still had a little hope in her heart, thinking she could delay things until her dad or sister came back.

But before she could delay things successfully, her mom had already started hitting her.

Jian Li: !!!

Mom, do you have any martial ethics?

Weren’t we supposed to talk first before hitting?

Jian Li wasn’t a little kid anymore, so after a few hits, she started running.

“Mom, Mom, listen to me!”

Wang Mengmei was furious: “No, I won’t listen!”

This summer, Jian Li had the honor of receiving her first beating in her life.

After receiving seven or eight hits, Jian Li’s eyes were filled with tears from the pain.

Luckily, at that moment, Qian Ping came back.

Seeing the situation in the room, she was shocked and quickly tried to stop it.

“Aunt, let’s talk properly, don’t hit her anymore!”

“Ping Ping, get out of the way! If I don’t hit her, she’s going to heaven! Hiding things from the family and making her own decisions, lying to everyone!”

Jian Li felt wronged: “If I told the truth, would you have persuaded my aunt?”

She hadn’t spoken, but when she did, Wang Mengmei got even angrier: “Look at her, does she have any intention of changing? Which family’s child acts like this! Doesn’t tell the adults anything, if I don’t manage her, she’ll make a big mess in the future!”

Jian Li felt wronged!

How could her mom always elevate every small issue to her character!

This time, she had clearly done a good deed!

Qian Ping took the feather duster from Wang Mengmei’s hand: “Aunt, you really misunderstood Jian Li!”

From the words Wang Mengmei said while hitting Jian Li, Qian Ping realized that Jian Li was being punished because of her.

Her voice trembled with the long-held grievance: “Aunt, don’t hit her anymore. It’s all my fault. Mom wants me to go to the U.S., but I don’t want to go. Jian Li lied to help me.”

Wang Mengmei still couldn’t calm her anger: “But she shouldn’t have lied to the adults…”

A child who lies without blushing, what will become of her in the future, she didn’t dare think about it.

Qian Ping’s tears fell uncontrollably, shocking Wang Mengmei.

Jian Li was already curled up beside them, but when she saw Qian Ping limping over to hand her sister a handkerchief, her heart softened.

With a nasal voice, Qian Ping said: “Aunt, you don’t know how stubborn my mom is. She insists that I go to the U.S. When I said I didn’t want to go, she said I had no ambition, like my dad…”

“She doesn’t know how much pain I’m in.”

Wang Mengmei felt a pang of sympathy. She knew her older sister’s temperament.

“Pingping, Aunt didn’t say anything about you. You can stay here, even if your mom comes, she won’t force you to go to the U.S.”

Qian Ping lowered her head, tears falling in large drops onto her pants, making water circles.

“Aunt, I really have no choice. I have nowhere else to go… Don’t tell anyone, that woman, she’s not a good person!”

“She invited me to her house, and then asked if I had a boyfriend, if I’d been with anyone… I said no, but then she kept me there, not letting me leave.”

“Later, she said she was going to buy groceries and told me to stay for dinner, and her husband came up and hugged me…”

Wang Mengmei’s scalp tingled: “That bastard dares to do that!”

Qian Ping cried uncontrollably: “I pushed him away and ran, and then she came over laughing, saying her husband was drunk. I couldn’t tell my mom, and I couldn’t say I didn’t want to go.”

Wang Mengmei hugged her niece tightly, feeling heartbroken: “Why didn’t you tell me? Even though your mom is stubborn, she wouldn’t let anyone bully you!”

“Aunt, I’m afraid if I tell her, she’ll still make me go,” Qian Ping said in despair. “She’s ashamed of me, doesn’t want me around her.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Wang Mengmei said seriously. “Your mom wouldn’t do that. Pingping, if you don’t want to go back, you don’t have to. You can stay here for a few years, it’s fine. But remember, your mom isn’t that kind of person. She’s uneducated and stubborn, but she’s not heartless.”

Qian Ping cried without saying anything. Wang Mengmei sighed, feeling helpless. She could see the growing wall between her older sister and Qian Ping, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

After crying for a while, Qian Ping went to bed early that night.

Jian Li, after being hit, obediently stayed quiet.

Jian Feng worked the night shift, and by the time he came home, it was already midnight.

Wang Mengmei was waiting for him and told him about the incident with their daughter.

Jian Feng thought he could still hide it, but his wife had acted so quickly, not only did she know, but she had also already beaten the child.

He didn’t bother changing clothes and hurried to check how badly Jian Li had been hurt.

“You were too hasty. Jian Li didn’t do anything wrong. Her aunt is like that—don’t talk about the child, even you or I couldn’t change her mind. The child did a good deed and still got beaten, she must feel so wronged.”

Wang Mengmei was already feeling bad tonight.

It was the first time she hit the child, and after doing it, she regretted it.

Especially after hearing about what happened from Qian Ping, she felt she had acted too hastily, not asking the full story before hitting her. She might have already hurt her daughter’s feelings.

She sighed, feeling that she and her sister were so far apart, but was she really any better?

The more she thought about it, the worse she felt. When Jian Feng came back, he also criticized her.

“I’m just afraid she’s become a habitual liar! You don’t even know what she’s done this summer, do you? I called back, and her uncle said she’s been collecting wild herbs and Chinese medicine in the village to sell in the city!”

“She’s barely that old! And she dares to ride her bicycle to the city every day. Just thinking about it makes it hard for me to sleep! Have you forgotten what happened at our factory two years ago?”

Jian Feng remained silent.

Wang Mengmei sat at the edge of the bed, wiping her tears: “You know, a few years ago, our factory lost a few children. Later, there were fights and some even ended up in jail. Two years ago, that incident led to a public apology. Think about it—a bunch of 17- or 18-year-old kids causing trouble for a young girl, and her parents even tried to commit suicide three times afterwards.”

“I only have Jian Li as my daughter. Whenever I see girls of her age on the street, I can’t help but look twice. I want her to grow up safely, no matter what—more than money, more than anything else, I just want her to be safe.”

The room was dark, and Jian Feng couldn’t see Wang Mengmei’s expression.

He could only comfort her softly, putting his arm around her shoulder.

Wang Mengmei’s emotions gradually calmed down: “This time, I hit her. She’s probably upset with me. Tomorrow, take her to buy something she wants to eat, and make it up to her. I only hit her on her backside, so ask her if it hurts, and take her to the clinic if it does.”

Jian Feng: “Will her aunt be coming to the city tomorrow?”

Wang Mengmei: “Yes.”

Jian Feng: “Then what about Pingping…?”

Wang Mengmei: “Since the child’s already here, I won’t let my sister take her away. You don’t have to worry about this.”

Wang Mengmei didn’t mention Qian Ping’s past struggles. She kept this matter to herself, resolute in her decision to take charge.

First of all, Qian Ping couldn’t be sent back, no matter what Wang Menglan said tomorrow. She wouldn’t let her go.

If Qian Ping wanted to study, she would help her continue; if she wanted to find a job, she would help with that too.

The child was a good one, and she couldn’t just watch her drift away from her big sister.

Wang Mengmei had it all planned out, but the next day, she received news.

Her sister wouldn’t be coming.

On the phone, Wang Menglan calmly said, “Tell Qian Ping, if she still wants to call me her mother, she can come back on her own. The ship to America leaves in five days, and the person I’m sending will leave tomorrow.”

Wang Mengmei couldn’t believe that after her daughter’s runaway, her sister still hadn’t come to her senses.

On the other end of the phone, Wang Menglan added, “If she doesn’t come back, I’ll consider her no longer my daughter. You let her decide.”

Wang Mengmei’s anger flared at her sister: “Is this how you act as a mother?”

“Since childhood, how many times have you actually cared for your child? Now that she’s struggling with the college entrance exam, all you do is scold her. And now you want to send her to America? America is so great, why don’t you go? You don’t know if she’s a person or a ghost, and yet you push your daughter into the fire!”

“Wang Menglan, I’m telling you, if you don’t want this daughter, give her to me. You don’t know how to cherish such a good child. You’ll regret it when you’re old!”

After finishing, Wang Mengmei hung up the phone.

Qian Ping knew what her mother had said and was no longer upset. She just silently worked even harder, making Wang Mengmei feel both heartbroken and proud.

—-

After the beating, Jian Li became the “panda” of the family until school started.

Qian Ping, using the little money she had, bought her the electronic watch she had always wanted.

Jian Feng was even more generous, giving her whatever she asked for, and took her shopping for several outfits.

Though Wang Mengmei didn’t apologize, she made a variety of delicious meals in the kitchen every day.

Jian Li lay on the bed leisurely, eating grapes. Her mother’s slap wasn’t too hard, and it was painless after three days.

She didn’t hold any grudges about her mother’s authoritarian ways.

It was as if she had casually turned the page of a book and moved on.

Wang Mengmei and Jian Feng both breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, it was time for the school registration.

Jian Li wore a new outfit: a white short-sleeve top with a navy blue skirt.

Her summer weight loss results, paired with the new clothes, made her look less overweight.

Jian Li carried her backpack, and her father took her to school.

The cotton factory’s middle school had the homeroom teacher follow the class, and Jian Li was in Class 2 of the second year this year.

After finding her class, the teacher had already arranged the seating. Parents were paying the tuition fees.

Middle school tuition fees were higher, costing 200 yuan for a semester, plus 50 yuan for miscellaneous fees, 30 yuan for uniforms, and 10 yuan for materials. In total, it came to over 300 yuan.

In the past, this amount wasn’t needed.

Since the school had the cotton factory’s name, children of factory employees only needed to pay a small miscellaneous fee of around 100 yuan to attend school.

But as the factory’s situation worsened, the school’s fees had risen sharply.

The 300 yuan now was a large expense. Some parents asked if last year’s uniforms could still be worn and whether they could skip paying for materials.

However, most parents had prepared the money, and Jian Feng quickly paid.

Afterward, he reminded Jian Li to study well before leaving in a hurry.

Jian Li stood in the classroom, but she was in a dilemma.

If it was like before, she would have forgotten where she sat, and now she could barely remember anyone in the class!

She tried hard to recognize familiar faces and found a seat near the back based on her faint memory.

Just as she sat down, Li Lijuan came in with Xia Liu to register.

Jian Li waved happily.

Xia Liu, her best friend.

Xia Liu: …

Someone, please tell her, why is Jian Li sitting in her seat as if it’s completely natural?!

It felt like she was the only one who still remembered their promise to cut ties.