"Siyu grew up in my house too, and she’s sweet-talking, so naturally my parents like her a bit more," Mianmian had gradually come to terms with these things. Junior high was nearly over, she had money in hand, and whether her parents doted on her or not didn’t matter anymore.
Her future life was in her own hands.
"It’s not because she’s sweet-talking, it’s actually because you..."
Liu Da Niang stopped in mid-sentence, suddenly pausing as she realized she almost blurted out that Mianmian wasn’t Zhou Lanfang’s real daughter, which left her momentarily scared.
Thankfully, she caught herself in time.
That Mianmian was picked up by Shen Jianhua was common knowledge among the village’s older generation, but who would say such offensive things?
In those days, finding a child wasn’t anything strange; everyone was used to it.
Which village didn’t have stories of abandoning daughters in the pursuit of having sons?
Actually, Liu Da Niang had once suspected that Mianmian might be Jianhua’s illegitimate daughter, but as Mianmian grew up, she dismissed the idea.
The father and daughter looked nothing alike, and Jianhua had always been very proper.
"Da Niang, because I’m what?" Mianmian blinked, a look of confusion on her face.
Liu Da Niang laugh awkwardly ’hehe’ twice, "Nothing much, you’re out of school already, I need to hurry back to cook lunch, you should head back too!"
Watching Liu Da Niang’s retreating figure, Mianmian let out a bitter smile; in truth, she knew what Liu Da Niang wanted to say.
An illegitimate child, a label she would never be able to shake off for her whole life.
When Mianmian got home, Zhou Lanfang was cooking in the kitchen, while Shen Jianhua was repairing a window with a hammer.
"Dad," she called out.
"Ah, hey... ow!" Jianhua, startled by her voice, accidentally struck his finger with the hammer, breaking the skin on his thumb and causing bright red blood to flow.
Hearing the commotion, Zhou Lanfang ran out from the kitchen. Upon seeing Jianhua’s injured hand, she started yelling at Mianmian. The most update n0vels are published on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡~𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚~𝙣𝙚𝙩
"You little wretch, who do you want to scare to death?"
"Can’t I even greet my dad when I see him at home?"
Mianmian sneered coldly; she had just called out ’dad’, and that was scary enough to kill someone?
Hearing this, Jianhua glared at his wife, "I was distracted, why blame the child?" It was his own preoccupation, the jump he got from hearing his daughter’s voice – how could he blame her?
But he couldn’t bear to blame his wife too much either. Recently, she had grown so thin that her cheeks were hollow. When he first saw her upon returning, he nearly didn’t recognize her.
"Isn’t it because I’m worried about you?" Zhou Lanfang sounded hurt, "You’ve been toiling for months; you’ve just come back and haven’t even rested, and now you’re hurt again, how could I not be concerned?"
Zhou Lanfang was harsh to Mianmian, but she was completely devoted to her husband.
If it hadn’t been for Jianhua fathering a child out of wedlock, and if they could just register Siyu into their household, how blissfully happy their family of three would have been!
In her younger days, she didn’t dare to make a scene, afraid that if things blew up, Jianhua, in a fit of defiance, would just divorce and live with that vixen.
Now she was also afraid that Jianhua would neglect Siyu.
Plus, Jianhua brought all the money he earned back home and treated her well, so she didn’t fuss.
"Mianmian, don’t bother with your mom. She’s just like that," knowing his wife was just concerned for him, Jianhua couldn’t blame her and instead tried to comfort his daughter.
Although his daughter had darkened a bit recently, she had grown taller and was wearing new clothes, so he assumed his wife must have been treating her well these days.
Even though his wife’s words were still harsh, he guessed she had come to terms with the situation, which brought him some relief.