Chapter 100 - 91: Taking Mo Xiaofeng Home

Chapter 100: Chapter 91: Taking Mo Xiaofeng Home

Perhaps hearing the children’s clamor outside, the courtyard gate clanged open. Grandma held onto the doorframe and called out, "Xiao Man, Xiao Man, hurry up and come inside!"

Mo Xiaofeng, who had been wailing loudly, also heard the gate open. She immediately stopped crying, stood up, and picked up the large basket of clothes at her feet. Fumbling her way toward the gate, she cried out with a choked voice:

"Grandma! Grandma, you have to let me in! My mom said Mo Xiaoman is the one who did this to me. She either has to come home with me, or she has to support me for the rest of my life! I’m going to live here now. Whatever Mo Xiaoman eats, I’ll eat! Wherever she lives, I’ll live!"

Grandma’s face was grim. She ignored Xiao Feng, instead urging insistently, "Xiao Man, hurry inside! Grandma’s closing the gate! Every family deals with their own children. Grandpa and I can’t be responsible for someone else’s!"

Mo Xiaofeng cried out, "Grandma, I’m not ’someone else’! I’m your own granddaughter! I’ll be good from now on and listen to you. I’ll keep you company..."

Second Granny Qiu walked over with her young grandson on her back. She called for Qiu Xiaohu to come home for lunch and then to fetch water for his chores. Glancing back at Xiao Feng’s miserable state, she couldn’t bear the sight. She sighed and muttered, "That Liu Fengying... what a terrible thing she’s done. Look how she’s ruined this child, and now she just wants to dump her on the old couple. That woman is truly rotten to the core!"

Jiang Xuehua and a few others also followed Second Granny Qiu and Qiu Xiaohu home.

Mo Xiaofeng fumbled her way to the gate, but Xiao Man grabbed her arm. Xiao Man handed her schoolbag to Grandma and said, "Grandma, close the gate for now. I’ll take Xiao Feng home!"

Grandma grew frantic. "Child, don’t be a fool, you can’t go! Mo Guoqiang and Liu Fengying would love to eat you alive... Just let Xiao Feng sit by the gate. Who cares what anyone says? When your grandpa gets back, he can take her home!"

Xiao Man said, "Grandma, have you forgotten? I practice Tai Chi Boxing every day. I’m much stronger now, and more agile. Mo Xiaoqiang can’t beat me. As for the two adults in their family, as long as I don’t let them get close, I’ll be able to escape!"

"That Tai Chi Boxing of yours..."

"Grandma, I just saw Grandpa over there. He’s watching some people work on the fishpond. I can just call out to him on my way and have him come with me!"

Grandma asked suspiciously, "You really saw your grandpa?"

"I really did, Grandma. Don’t worry, it’s fine!" Xiao Man wasn’t lying. She really had seen Grandpa by the fishpond from a distance. But she had no intention of calling him. She was going to take Xiao Feng home by herself.

Grandma couldn’t dissuade Xiao Man, so she could only instruct her again and again, "You absolutely must get your grandpa to go with you, or I won’t be able to rest easy. Do you hear me?"

"Alright, I know, Grandma!"

"Oh, child, you haven’t even eaten lunch yet!"

"I’ll be right back! Half an hour at most, and I’ll be back!" Xiao Man promised Grandma, pulling the courtyard gate to so that Grandma could slide the bolt.

Ever since she heard Xiao Man say she would take her home, Mo Xiaofeng had gone quiet, standing silently to the side and waiting.

Xiao Man glanced at her and sneered. ’What kind of scheme is she plotting? As if I don’t know.’

Just as Mo Xiaofeng herself had blurted out, Liu Fengying had sent her over and dumped her at the gate with two goals in mind. The first was to force Grandpa and Grandma to agree to let Xiao Man return to their house and take care of Xiao Feng. The second was that Grandpa and Grandma would take Xiao Feng in, and from then on, she would live and eat in this house at the Youth Corps Courtyard, becoming their responsibility.

Of course, there were other implications. Since both Xiao Man and Xiao Feng, who would be living with Grandpa and Grandma, were from Mo Guoqiang’s side of the family, this courtyard house would eventually go to Mo Guoqiang, leaving nothing for Mo Laoer.

With Mo Xiaofeng living here, Mo Guoqiang and Liu Fengying would have a reason to visit the courtyard often, get close to Mo Xiaoman, and gradually lure her back into their fold. After that, it would be all too easy to do whatever they wanted with her.

Xiao Man didn’t take Mo Xiaofeng’s hand. Instead, she walked over to a nearby bamboo thicket and picked out a long, thin bamboo branch. They each grabbed an end, with Xiao Man leading the way and Xiao Feng following behind, basket in hand, at an unhurried pace.

They had gone less than a few meters when Mo Xiaofeng stopped in her tracks. "The basket’s too heavy. You carry it!"

Xiao Man replied, "If you don’t want it, just toss it aside. I don’t know if anyone will pick it up, but either way, I have no interest in that basket of yours."

Mo Xiaofeng couldn’t bear to actually throw the basket away. It was full of her clothes—three or four brand-new outfits, as well as a new towel, shoes, and socks, all of which Liu Fengying had bought for her during her hospital stay in Wancheng.

A look of hatred spread across her face. She gritted her teeth and said, "Mo Xiaoman, you did this to me! You’ll get what’s coming to you!"

Xiao Man snorted. "Do you even know what retribution is? For all you know, what’s happened to you *is* your retribution."

Mo Xiaofeng’s chest heaved, and she panted like a bellows before bursting out with a curse, "Mo Xiaoman! You bitch!"

Xiao Man gave a cold laugh and tugged lightly on the bamboo branch. "Are curses going to help you? Let’s go! Don’t forget, your mother is at home waiting for your good news. Mo Xiaofeng, if you’re willing to be quiet, I can tell you a story."

"You’re an illiterate fool who can’t even read. Tell a story? My ass!"

"But I’m in school now. Didn’t you know, Xiao Feng? Grandpa enrolled me as soon as the semester started. If you don’t believe me, go ask Mo Xiaosu. Her teacher came to visit her and must have told her—I skipped straight to the fifth grade. I’m in the same class as Mo Shuixia and Guan Ailan! Pretty amazing, huh?"

Mo Xiaofeng’s face went pale. "You’re lying! That’s bullshit!"

"Fine, don’t believe me. The point is, I’m not illiterate anymore. So, want to hear a story? It’s about you, you know."

Mo Xiaofeng pressed her lips together. "What about me? You want to mock me about my eyes? My mom said they can be cured! Once we save up enough money, she’s going to take me to the provincial city, and then to Beijing for treatment!"

Xiao Man didn’t comment on that. She just asked again, "Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"No!"

"Alright. Then I’ll skip the story and just give you the cold, hard truth."

Xiao Man led Mo Xiaofeng around a corner. As the Mo Family Courtyard came into view, she began to speak, her voice clear and slow. "I’m not your parents’ biological daughter. I’m sure you’ve all figured that out by now.

"So why did I end up in your family? It’s because your mother took the wrong baby home from the hospital! And where did her real baby go? She went to my real home!

"To keep you kids from running your mouths, your parents never told you that they’ve already found your real sister. Your biological sister is in Wancheng, and she’s living a wonderful life. My birth parents dote on her like a treasure. They’re state cadres who get a monthly salary. They give your sister the best food and clothes and dress her up to be pretty and clean. She doesn’t have to do any work, only go to school. Her life is amazing, like a young lady in a movie!

"Your parents go to Wancheng all the time. It’s not to visit relatives like they say—it’s to meet with your real sister! Your sister doesn’t want to come back to the countryside, and she especially doesn’t want me going back to the city to switch places with her. Your parents adore her and don’t want her to come back here to suffer, either. But my birth parents wanted to come see me. They might have wanted to take me back. So, what could they do?

"Your parents and your real sister came up with a plan. They would have your parents disfigure me here in the village—blind me or cripple me! Meanwhile, in the city, your sister would cry and faint in front of my parents, pretending to be sick and pitiful to win their sympathy and affection.

"Once your parents sent a photo of me, blind and crippled, to my birth parents, they wouldn’t want me anymore. They would only want your sister! Mo Xiaofeng, do you understand now? Why do you think your mom and dad grabbed me that day? Why did they try to hit me with red-hot fire tongs? This is why! For the sake of your precious sister, they were going to destroy me!

"It’s a shame, really. I got away. But you had the bad luck to be standing there, and you were the one crippled by your own mother! Mo Xiaofeng, the people you should hate for what happened to you are your own mother and your own sister! They came up with this wicked plan, and now your sister gets to stay in the city for good. In the future, your mother will get to live off your sister’s good fortune. But you? You’re ruined!"