The Abandoned Daughter's Second Chance

Mo Guoqiang rubbed his nose. He glanced up and down the white concrete road behind him and whispered, "So, you’re going to ruin Xiao Man..."

"It was Xuanxuan who reminded me. That child is just like me. No matter how panicked she gets, she never loses her head. She can always come up with a good idea!"

Liu Fengying’s sorrowful expression vanished, replaced by a proud and smug smile. "She knew her parents doted on her, so she burst into tears and fainted right in front of them. That woman immediately dropped everything else, crying and shouting, ’Sweetheart, Mommy doesn’t want anyone else! Mommy only wants you!’ And as for her father, he’s all fired up with his new position and has been too busy to get away. It’ll be a month or two before he can find any free time. Xuanxuan said she can handle her ’fake mom’ and make sure she never comes down to the countryside. She told me to use this time to make Xiao Man ugly, because her ’fake mom’ can’t stand anything ugly! Once she sees an ugly Xiao Man, she’ll definitely reject her for good!"

"But... her father, would he abandon his daughter too?" Mo Guoqiang tried to put himself in the man’s shoes. He felt he probably couldn’t do it. ’How could you not acknowledge your own daughter when you know she’s right there?’

"Hah, what do you know? They’re a family of officials. They discuss everything and come to an agreement, especially on big matters. They have to get everyone’s approval before doing anything. They don’t just bicker and hurt each other’s feelings. Xuanxuan said her parents married for love. You know what that means, right? Just like us! When her dad pampers her mom, he caters to her every whim! If her mom doesn’t want Xiao Man, her dad will definitely listen to her!"

Mo Guoqiang fell silent. When it came to daily life, he always listened to Liu Fengying anyway.

"What if the mom doesn’t mind that Xiao Man is ugly? She’s still her own flesh and blood, after all, right?" Mo Guoqiang said, his heart aching as he thought of Xiao Feng lying in her hospital bed.

"Don’t we have Xuanxuan? Do you think the daughter I gave birth to is a brainless fool like Xiao Man?" Liu Fengying pursed her lips. "Xuanxuan is just like me—cheerful, always smiling and singing since she was little, smart, clever, and sensible. She’s that woman’s pride and joy! Xuanxuan says the woman comes from a rich family, a pampered young lady. Her family is some scholarly and distinguished line, and her parents are both educated people who studied abroad. They even have connections overseas. That’s why they suffered a bit in the early years. Luckily, she married the right man, Xuanxuan’s father. His parents are high-ranking officials in Beijing! Xuanxuan’s dad only got transferred down here to the provinces to protect his wife! I heard Xuanxuan’s Grandma wasn’t too pleased with Xuanxuan’s mom, but she couldn’t win against her son, so she had someone snatch away the baby boy Xuanxuan’s mom had just given birth to! After losing her son, Xuanxuan’s mom was terrified her husband would leave her too, so she clung to Xuanxuan like a madwoman. Xuanxuan was only three or four at the time, but she already knew how to comfort that woman. She’d sweetly call out ’Daddy, Daddy,’ and follow him everywhere. Seeing how well-behaved and adorable his daughter was, how could her dad bear to leave? That’s why, even now, that woman can’t live without Xuanxuan. She dotes on her to the bone! Xuanxuan said she can guarantee that woman will choose her over Xiao Man! But to prevent any accidents, in case her dad gets the idea to bring Xiao Man back to the city, we still have to disfigure her. Xuanxuan doesn’t want another daughter in that family! If Xiao Man gets a chance to go back, Xuanxuan’s status will definitely drop! There’s one more thing: that fiancé. The elders of both families arranged it before they were even born. Xiao Man is the real daughter of that family. If she goes back, she’ll be the one to marry him. What will our Xuanxuan do then? Xuanxuan said she saw him when she was seven and has had her heart set on him ever since. She’s determined to marry him, no matter what!"

"But... but are there no other men in the world?" Mo Guoqiang didn’t understand.

Liu Fengying slapped him lightly. "This is why you’ll only ever be a country bumpkin and never an official! Look at our Xuanxuan’s judgment, and then look at yours! I’m telling you, even if you live to be a hundred, you’ll never have the foresight our precious eldest daughter has!"

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Mo Guoqiang stood up and bent down to help Liu Fengying. "It’s late, and the dew is settling. It’s getting a little chilly. Let’s hurry back and check on Xiao Feng."

Only then did Liu Fengying remember her injured daughter. Her mood instantly plummeted. She started WHIMPERING again, but her eyes were dry. She had barely drunk a few sips of water all day; no matter how heartbroken she was, she couldn’t cry any real tears.

「The next day」

Liu Fengying saw Mo Guoqiang off from the hospital. She stayed behind to look after Xiao Feng, while Mo Guoqiang had to go home to earn work points and borrow money from relatives. Xiao Feng’s medical bills needed to be paid promptly.

Liu Fengying said to Mo Guoqiang, "I already sent a message to my family when we came to the city. My younger sister should be here in a couple of days. Once she’s here to watch Xiao Feng, I’ll come home too. We can’t delay things with Xiao Man. We have to deal with it quickly, or it’ll ruin Xuanxuan’s plans! For the next two days, as soon as you finish work, go to the Knowledge Youth House. Put on a miserable act for the old man and the old woman—the more pathetic, the better! You see how much money the old man has? We took over two hundred from him, and he could still afford to buy that Knowledge Youth House. That house and yard must have cost at least five or six hundred! And the three hundred borrowed from the brigade office? The old man signed the IOU for it without batting an eye. It proves he’s still hiding money!"

Mo Guoqiang huffed, "The old man has been gathering medicinal herbs for decades. Of course he has some private savings. I wanted them to live with us back then, but you wouldn’t allow it. If only..."

"Enough about ’back then’! Didn’t you see how the old man favors Mo Laoer? He says he’s the youngest and just got married so he has nothing, as if we have anything to our name! When I married into this family, besides that little bit of money, what did they ever give me?"

Mo Guoqiang cleared his throat a couple of times. "It’s not that they gave nothing. The old woman gave you a very generous wedding gift—a big red envelope. You know how much was in it! And your mother received the betrothal money. Then she came to our door several more times, making a fuss about one thing or another. My... the old man gave her money every time, and it wasn’t a small amount either!"

"Pah! A few yuan here and a few yuan there, you call that ’not a small amount’?"

Mo Guoqiang fell silent again. ’I saw it perfectly clearly,’ he thought. ’It was hardly just a few yuan. The money the old man handed over was a thick roll. Rolled up like that with ten-yuan notes, it had to be at least several dozen yuan!’

Back then, he and Liu Fengying had married for love. They were inseparable. But every time Liu Fengying’s mother came, she would threaten to take Liu Fengying back home, claiming their family was too poor and her husband had gotten into trouble, and that they couldn’t survive without their eldest daughter. Liu Fengying would then cry and beg his parents, and each time, they had to give Mrs. Liu a sum of money. This only stopped when Liu Fengying got pregnant and became too lethargic to join her mother in making a scene.

People say no one knows a son better than his father, but after living together for so long, Mo Guoqiang had a pretty good understanding of the old man who raised him. ’If he wasn’t truly out of money, the old man would never have signed an IOU to borrow from the collective!’

Therefore, he didn’t have much hope about going back to the village to ask the old man and old woman for money.

After thinking it over and over, he decided he would go and discuss it with his biological daughter, Xuanxuan.

’Of course, I’ll have to hide it from Liu Fengying first,’ he thought. ’I’ll tell her after it’s done, to keep her from stopping me. If I can’t find the money, she’ll definitely have something to say about it. I’m tired enough these days. I don’t want to listen to her constant nagging.’

’I’ll just give it a try. What if Xuanxuan can find the money? Wouldn’t that solve everyone’s problems?’