"Have you been mistreating Mianmian all these years because you suspected she was my illegitimate daughter?" With things brought into the open, Shen Jianhua finally understood why his wife had treated Mianmian that way over the years.
"Can you blame me for that?" Zhou Lanfang didn’t feel she was in the wrong at all. "If you had made it clear earlier that she wasn’t your illegitimate daughter, why would we have raised her? We wouldn’t have had to go through all this trouble. We should have just focused on raising Siyu, groomed her to be successful, and then enjoyed our later years without worries."
Brother and sister-in-law had so many children, and they had no objection to giving Mianmian to her. It was always better to raise a child with known blood relations than a wild brat whose parents were unknown.
"What do you know?" There were certain things Shen Jianhua couldn’t say outright about his wife’s family. Why hadn’t he suggested taking in Siyu from the beginning? It wasn’t because he hadn’t thought about it, but because if he raised his brother and sister-in-law’s child and they led the child to success, then they revealed the truth, wouldn’t he have wasted many years raising someone else’s child just to see them grow closer to their biological parents?
Raising Mianmian was different; as long as no one said anything, she would never know she was adopted, and no one would come to claim her.
However, nobody expected things to turn out this way. He and Mianmian had not developed any affection, yet he had formed a father-daughter bond with Siyu.
"I don’t know anything, then you tell me what to do now?" The wild brat was not her husband’s child, so Zhou Lanfang felt no moral pressure. "That damned girl is too disobedient. We might as well get the money from her and marry her off directly. Later on, we can demand a hefty bride price as repayment for all these years of raising her. Whatever happens to her afterward is her fate, and it’s none of our business."
Having been cruel to Shen Mianmian had become a habit, and over the years Zhou Lanfang hadn’t developed any maternal affection, so she felt not an ounce of guilt.
All she wanted now was to make use of Shen Mianmian to make a hefty profit. That damned girl was pretty and would surely fetch a good bride price.
"That’s the only option." Shen Jianhua nodded. He didn’t want it to come to this, but Mianmian had become too wild and disobedient. Once she got into college, she would care even less about them.
They had raised her all these years, only to end up raising an adversary.
The couple sat at the school gate for the entire day, discussing what kind of in-laws would be suitable for Shen Mianmian, finally agreeing that they needed to find a mother-in-law who was tough enough to keep her in check.
During her class, Shen Mianmian sneezed twice. Lu Siyuan, seeing this, curled his lip and said, "It must be your parents at the school gate cursing you."
What else could those two be doing sitting at the school gate all day if not cursing Shen Mianmian?
Shen Mianmian rubbed her nose. "After school, don’t worry about me, just run and call the police."
"I got it, nag." Lu Siyuan really wanted to take care of Zhou Lanfang, but Shen Mianmian wouldn’t allow it. He felt unsatisfied; with such parents, it was only right to sever ties and end all contact with them, especially since they weren’t even biologically related.
Lu Siyuan had been looking forward to the end of the school day since the start of class, thinking about calling the police to take care of Shen Jianhua and his wife.
Finally, it came time for school to let out in the evening, and Lu Siyuan, with his backpack slung over his shoulder, ran out of the school gate. Shen Mianmian lingered, slowly leaving the school, but as soon as she reached the gate, Shen Jianhua and Zhou Lanfang encircled her.
"You disobedient girl, are you going to keep hiding? I’d like to see where you can hide now." Zhou Lanfang lunged forward, aiming to grab Shen Mianmian’s ear, but she dodged nimbly.