The Abandoned Daughter's Second Chance

Liu Fengying’s expression soured. Mo Guoqiang squeezed through the crowd just then and rushed to smooth things over with Secretary Mo.

But Granny Mo had no intention of letting Liu Fengying off the hook so easily. She cleared her throat and continued to shout:

"Listen up, everyone! There’s something else I want to ask Liu Fengying. You’ve had six children, so why are you so cruel to Xiao Man and Xiao Man alone? Why do you hate her so much? I remember you gave birth to your first child out of town and only came back afterward. Though I may be blind, I’ve heard that Xiao Man looks nothing like you or your husband. Could it be... that Xiao Man isn’t your biological daughter, Liu Fengying? Is that why you hate her?"

The moment she said this, the courtyard fell silent. But then, just as quickly, it erupted like a pot of boiling water. The gossipy women were especially animated, all voicing their agreement with Granny Mo’s speculation.

A woman about Liu Fengying’s age clapped her hands, her expression thrilled. "I remember this! I remember! Xiao Man’s mom... I mean, Liu Fengying and I married into this village the same year. We even got pregnant around the same time and worked on the same production team. Lots of people used to joke about the two of us with our big bellies. When I was doing my month of confinement, Liu Fengying still hadn’t given birth. But the moment I was out, she’d had a daughter too! Her Xiao Man was beautiful even as a little girl—fair-skinned and so much cuter than my Little Zhen. Everyone said, ’See, a baby delivered by doctors in a big city hospital is just different!’ But looking at it now, what if there was a mix-up? She must have brought home someone else’s child, right?"

Another woman nodded seriously. "Look at Liu Fengying. Her figure is decent, I guess, but her skin is so rough you can barely look at her face. And she has those narrow, squinty eyes! Now look at Xiao Man. She has double eyelids! Her skin might be sun-darkened and ruddy, but it’s delicate and smooth. The more you look at her, the prettier she is. She looks nothing like Liu Fengying!"

"That’s right! And their personalities are completely different. Liu Fengying is a hot-tempered shrew who’ll fly off the handle at the slightest thing, while Xiao Man is so well-behaved and gentle..."

"So that’s why Liu Fengying’s been abusing Xiao Man all these years—beating her, cursing her, making her do all sorts of chores, and working her like a grown-up since she was ten. It’s all because Xiao Man isn’t her real daughter? Heavens, what a sin!"

"If Xiao Man isn’t her own flesh and blood, then what happened to the baby she was actually carrying?"

"I heard she took a fall while she was pregnant and got sent to the hospital. The baby must have been a stillborn! So she stole someone else’s child to bring home!"

"Oh my god!"

"That’s terrifying! Thank goodness we don’t go to city hospitals to have our babies!"

Condemned by the crowd, Liu Fengying had been trying to shrink into the background and make herself invisible, hoping Mo Guoqiang would clean up the mess for her. But who could have guessed that Granny Mo’s shouting would spark such theories from everyone? Her face turned green with rage. Finally, unable to take it anymore, she leaped out, wailing and screaming.

"You rotten-mouthed, black-hearted hags! You’re the ones who steal babies! You’re the ones who have stillbirths! Mo Xiaoman is the daughter I gave birth to! I, Liu Fengying, carried her for ten months! She is my own flesh and blood! So what if she doesn’t look like me? Can’t she take after her father? What family doesn’t discipline their children? In what house does the eldest not have to work hard and look after their younger siblings? You’re all just jealous! Jealous that I have a daughter as capable as Xiao Man! If you dare to keep spouting this nonsense and trying to sow discord, I’ll—I’ll fight you!"

A woman in her thirties is in her prime. Crying, she ran to grab a bamboo pole and swung it at the crowd with all her might. Her desperate, frenzied look, combined with her expression of utter grief and indignation, almost created the illusion that the crowd’s words had been nothing but slanderous rumors that had deeply wounded her.

With so many men present, and with village women who were hardly weak or easily bullied after years of hard labor, there was no way they would let Liu Fengying actually hurt someone. In the end, the bamboo pole never landed. With a great deal of effort, the crowd managed to snatch the pole away. After a chaotic flurry of pushing, shoving, and arguing, they finally forced Liu Fengying and Mo Guoqiang out of the courtyard gate.

Back in the courtyard, Secretary Mo warned the villagers, "Unless you have concrete proof, don’t go around spreading baseless rumors. It affects Xiao Man, after all. No child wants to feel like a rootless wanderer with a mysterious past!"

Mo Xiaoman nestled quietly in Grandma’s arms. Fifth Auntie took the herbal poultice Grandpa had prepared and gently applied it to her ear. Mo Xiaoman remembered Liu Fengying grabbing her ear, her nails digging viciously into the flesh behind it. ’She knew with perfect clarity: Liu Fengying truly wanted to rip her ear off and permanently disfigure her.’

’It was just like in her past life when she’d thrown hot oil on her. The time for that was already here!’

’With Liu Fengying and Mo Guoqiang visiting their biological daughter in the city so often, there was no way that couple wouldn’t notice something was wrong. They would probably show up to investigate soon. And Tang Yaxuan would tell Liu Fengying that she didn’t want to switch back. To protect her precious biological daughter, Liu Fengying had to disfigure Xiao Man!’

’A disfigured Mo Xiaoman would be no match for the perfect Tang Yaxuan. For the sake of the "outstanding" Tang Yaxuan, that vain city couple would cast the disfigured Mo Xiaoman aside like a weed, not giving her a second thought!’

Mo Xiaoman gently rubbed her arm and sighed inwardly. ’Even in this new life, the memory of her biological parents’ cold indifference still sent a chill down her spine.’

The guests had all left. Fifth Auntie led a few of the other women in clearing the tables, putting things away, and washing the courtyard, bowls, and chopsticks. Grandpa, Secretary Mo, and a few other old men from the clan sat in a circle on the grain-sunning ground, rolling tobacco in paper and chatting. Grandma and Xiao Man remained seated under the eaves, speaking in low voices.

"Xiao Man, after what I said tonight, there’s going to be a lot of gossip in the village about where you came from. Do you blame your Grandma for that?"

"Of course not! I know why you did it, Grandma. If everyone thinks I’m not Liu Fengying’s biological daughter, then she won’t have any excuse to get close to me or hurt me anymore! You were doing it for my own good, to protect me!"

Grandma sighed, relieved. "You’re such a smart, good girl. I just don’t want to see you get hurt by Liu Fengying again. That woman is pure evil. She knows how to love her own Mo Xiao Zhi and Mo Xiaofeng, so what gives her the right to abuse someone else’s child? Every baby is carried for ten months inside its mother. If your real mother knew of the hardships you’ve faced, she would cry her eyes out!"

Mo Xiaoman was silent. ’That woman in the city? Cry for me? Impossible.’

"Xiao Man, from now on, no matter what anyone says, don’t you pay them any mind. Your Grandpa and I will make sure you get an education. You just have to study hard and work toward a bright future. If Liu Fengying really did bring you back from the city, then your roots are there. In the future..."

"Grandma, I don’t know what the future holds. All I know is that I’ve suffered so much in the past. I was always hungry and cold, I was beaten every day, and there was no joy in being alive... When I overheard Liu Fengying and Mo Guoqiang and learned I wasn’t their real daughter, I thought I was going to die! But now I have you and Grandpa to love me. I’m your only child, and I’m so happy! I want to be your child forever. No matter what happens, our family will never be separated!"

"Good... good girl!" Granny Mo pulled Xiao Man into a tight hug, wiping her eyes as she said in a choked voice, "Don’t think about the past anymore. Forget it all! Xiao Man is Grandpa and Grandma’s child, our most precious treasure!"

Just as expected, the commotion at the housewarming party filled the village with rumors and wild speculation, all centered on Mo Xiaoman’s parentage. However, Liu Fengying actively worked to dispel the rumors. She made a public spectacle of herself on several occasions, sobbing hysterically and screaming that Xiao Man was, without a doubt, her own biological child. This caused many people’s suspicions to waver, and the village eventually split into two factions. One side believed Mo Xiaoman was a child Liu Fengying had brought back from the city; the other argued that she was probably Liu Fengying’s real daughter, since many children don’t resemble their parents. Each faction stuck to its own theory and left the other alone. In the end, it didn’t matter much. Mo Xiaoman was living a good life, Liu Fengying was no longer her guardian, and it wasn’t a pressing issue that demanded a resolution. It simply became idle gossip for people to pass the time after work, and such speculation had no real impact on anyone’s life.

Mo Xiaoman understood this perfectly well, as did her Grandpa and Grandma. So the family paid the rumors no mind, content to live their lives in peace.