Chapter 199 - 187: What an Attitude
Chapter 199: Chapter 187: What an Attitude
After kneading the dough, Xiao Man placed the basin on the stove to keep it warm. She walked out of the kitchen to wash her hands at the stone platform under the pear tree and saw several people standing in the main hall: Tang Qingyun, Wu Xiaowen, and Xiao Feng. Grandma was bustling about, wiping stools and bringing over a brazier, telling Hao Hao to go pour some hot water. Tang Haocheng was quite obedient to Grandma and scurried off to get the kettle, only to be immediately stopped by Wu Xiaowen.
"Hao Hao, don’t touch that! What if you burn yourself?"
Xiao Man really wanted to retort. Shaking the water droplets from her hands, she walked over and said, "Tang Haocheng, our chickens and ducks run all over the place, so it’s filthy. We have lice and bedbugs everywhere. Aren’t you city folks scared? You should just leave. Don’t get your leather shoes dirty or get covered in lice!"
Xiao Feng smiled as he watched Xiao Man. ’So this little girl is Tang Qingyun’s long-lost biological daughter. No wonder I always thought she looked familiar. She really does have the look of his daughter—courageous, principled, and confident. Our first meeting was unusual: she was singing and dancing in the middle of nowhere late at night, she sold grapes in front of the movie theater, she had the guts to pressure me into getting her a hotel room, and when offered a spot in the song and dance troupe, she turned it down flat...’
"Manman, your lice and bedbugs are so well-behaved. We slept in the guest room all night, and they didn’t bite us at all. We might as well let them stay on us," Xiao Feng joked.
Wu Xiaowen had just sat down. When she heard this, she immediately sprang up from the bamboo chair and patted down both of her pant legs.
Tang Qingyun frowned slightly. "Xiao Wen..."
’She’s doing this right in front of Grandma. It’s too much.’
Tang Haocheng brought a cup of water to Wu Xiaowen. "Mom, have some water. The water at Sister’s house is really good. She was just kidding. Grandpa and Grandma’s house is very clean; there are no lice or bedbugs."
"How could there not be? The countryside has mice, and they raise chickens and ducks. An environment like this is bound to have bedbugs!"
As Wu Xiaowen spoke, she reached for the rainbow-colored glass Tang Haocheng was handing her. "Be careful, don’t burn yourself. Who knows if this cup is even clean..."
Xiao Man took a few steps forward, snatched the cup, and in a single motion, turned and tossed the water out the door. "This cup isn’t clean, and the water is poisoned. You can’t drink it."
Wu Xiaowen’s eyes widened. She stared at Xiao Man in shock and anger. "You... what is this attitude?"
"What do you think? And what about *your* attitude?" Xiao Man glared back at her. "Let me make this clear: you are in someone else’s house. Letting you step through this door and offering you water is already showing you respect! What right do you have to look down on this and that? You’re not the Queen Mother from the heavens or Guanyin. No one is obligated to please you or worship you! If you have a problem with it, then don’t just stand there. The door is open. Please, get out!"
Wu Xiaowen: ...
Her mouth hung open, and her chest heaved violently. She was furious and frantic, yet she couldn’t utter a single word. She could only turn her tear-filled eyes to Tang Qingyun, her expression filled with grief and resentment.
Xiao Feng quietly gave Tang Haocheng a look, then followed Grandma out of the main hall.
Tang Haocheng, however, did not leave. He remained standing right where he was.
Tang Qingyun sighed. He helped Wu Xiaowen sit down and patted her shoulder, signaling for her to be patient and endure it. Then he stood up straight and looked at Xiao Man. "Manman, you can’t be so rude. This is the mother who gave birth to you! We’re here today for this investigative meeting, to swap the children back on the spot... You understand, it’s all a bit sudden. She can’t accept it yet. Please try to be understanding, okay?"
"No!" Xiao Man said resolutely. "I didn’t call for this meeting, and I didn’t ask you to come. Swapping the children back or not is meaningless to me! If anything, I’m annoyed that you’ve disturbed my peaceful life. Why should I have to be understanding of you? Who’s going to be understanding of me? What are a ’father’ and ’mother’? For other families, those words mean protection and love. They’re sacred. But when they appear in my life, they only bring me fear! I was abused for eleven years. For those eleven years, I considered it to have nothing to do with you. You didn’t know, so I didn’t hate you. But in the two years after that, I suffered all kinds of dangers and harm. Your cold-blooded abandonment created my misery! You’re no different from Mo Guoqiang and Liu Fengying. You all hurt me! When I was six, Mo Guoqiang and Liu Fengying decided I wasn’t their biological child. They went looking for her. They went to Wancheng dozens, even hundreds of times, searching every street and alley. They finally saw Tang Yaxuan outside an elementary school and thought she looked like their real daughter. After that, they followed her closely, never giving up. Even though they couldn’t bring her back, they trampled me into the mud for the sake of their biological daughter’s happiness... And what about you? My so-called biological parents. You saw a few photos, decided I was disfigured and ugly, and abandoned me without a second thought. Did you even consider me your own flesh and blood back then? Do you have any right to call yourselves my parents? You actually have the nerve to stand in front of me. To be honest, I think you’re shameless!"
Tang Haocheng lowered his head.
Wu Xiaowen covered her face with a handkerchief, not making a sound.
Tang Qingyun said with deep pain, "My child, your father knows you’re bitter and resentful. Yes, it’s all Mom and Dad’s fault! I... I won’t say much more. I sincerely apologize to you! Everything has been corrected now, and our family is finally reunited. You can think that your mother and I aren’t qualified, but you can’t sever ties of blood! You are our own flesh and blood. Please, give us a chance. We have a long future ahead of us. For everything you lacked before, Mom and Dad will make it all up to you, doubly so!"
"I don’t accept your apology, and I have no chances to give you! It’s all too late. Our familial bond... was severed in a past life!"
"What’s all this about past lives and future lives? Manman, don’t talk nonsense!"
"I’m not talking nonsense. The world turns in a cycle of reincarnation. People do have past and future lives!" Xiao Man said with conviction.
"You..." Tang Qingyun reached out, wanting to feel Xiao Man’s forehead. "Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
’She’s started talking gibberish.’
Xiao Man dodged his hand and headed for the kitchen. It was long past noon. She was hungry, and Grandpa and Grandma must be too. She needed to hurry up and make the meal.
Tang Haocheng looked up at Xiao Man’s retreating back, his expression serious and his eyes holding an unreadable look.
Wu Xiaowen sobbed for a while. Taking away her handkerchief, she saw that Xiao Man had left. She looked up at Tang Qingyun and said, "Qingyun, this child... she’s too extreme. She can’t even begin to understand our pain. She treats me like an enemy. We’ll have to live together in the future, and if it’s going to be constant fighting like this, I... I really don’t have the confidence..."
"Then what do you propose we do? Do you want to abandon her a second time?"
Tang Qingyun was getting agitated. He pulled out his cigarette case but couldn’t find his lighter, no matter which of his pockets he checked. Finally, he decided to copy Secretary Mo, using a pair of fire tongs to pick up a glowing ember and light his cigarette with it. Wu Xiaowen watched, dumbfounded.
"Qingyun, can’t you have a little more refinement? You need to be mindful of your image. You’re acting just like a farmer!"
"What’s wrong with being a farmer?" Tang Qingyun exhaled a puff of smoke. "I’m not even as good as a farmer. Grandpa and Grandma are farmers, and without them, Manman would have truly been ruined! Look at what they did for her: they left their home with her, cut ties with their adoptive son, and gave her a relatively safe, peaceful, and clean environment. Even though their conditions were poor, they took her to Wancheng by ox cart to broaden her horizons, sold medicinal herbs for money so she could go back to school, and introduced her to a renowned doctor to learn medicine... I couldn’t have done a single one of those things!"