Chapter 213: Chapter 199: Be on Guard

While the young brother and sister sat at a table, happily eating their late-night snack, a different scene was unfolding in Feng City. Inside a four-person room in a hospital’s inpatient ward, the patients had already laid down to rest. Father Wu was asleep in the innermost bed, while Mother Wu and Wu Xiaowen sat beside him, talking in low voices.

Wu Xiaowen dabbed the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and said, "I really have to go back tomorrow. My boss approved my extended leave, but that was out of respect for Qingyun. It still doesn’t look good... There are always jealous colleagues who can’t stand seeing me get special treatment."

"How is that special treatment? You’re too naive. You’ve been married into the Tang family for over a decade and have given them children. Look at other women with your status—how many of them are stuck in the countryside? They’re all in Beijing, living in luxury, getting whatever they want. And you? You’re still here, slowly climbing the ladder! This time, your father is gravely ill in the hospital, and Qingyun doesn’t even show his face. He’s the Wu Family’s eldest son-in-law, and your father and I have doted on him like our own son! Is his work really that important? He works so hard, so why can’t he get promoted? It’s obvious this is all Fang Qinglan’s doing! She’s ruthless enough to trample over her own son and daughter-in-law. Even on her deathbed, she has to make our lives miserable!"

Wu Xiaowen lowered her eyes and sniffled. "Hao Hao’s grandmother really is formidable, but there’s no need to be angry, Mom. She doesn’t have long to live, anyway. It’s my fault, too. I didn’t think the situation with Manman through. That damned Liu Fengying tricked me... If only you had been there, Mom! Now that things have come to this, their whole family blames me. Even Qingyun is always shouting at me. We’ve been married for over a decade, and he has no regard for my feelings! I called him this afternoon, and he hung up after just a few words... Mom, I’m so miserable!"

Mother Wu patted her shoulder. "Forget it. Qingyun is probably in a bad mood too, so let’s not blame him. But when you go back, you have to tell him this: Dad’s health is genuinely poor, and he’s been asking about him. Tell him that no matter what, he needs to go and speak to Tang Renqian in person again! He’s their son, after all; if he pleads their case, it should work! Your father and I are old. If he can’t withstand this strain and doesn’t survive this illness, I’m afraid I won’t be able to manage on my own. What will happen to your brothers then? This whole family will be ruined!"

As Mother Wu spoke, she took out a handkerchief to wipe her eyes, her expression full of sorrow.

Wu Xiaowen’s heart ached. "Mom, don’t be so sad. You have to take care of yourself. I’ll have a good talk with Qingyun when I get back. We’ll call Beijing more often. Grandma Hao Hao’s mind is failing; she can’t possibly keep thinking about this all the time."

Mother Wu nodded. "This matter was already settled, but then Fang Qinglan seized on the issue with Manman and blew it all out of proportion. She’s always been petty, the type who has to win an argument even when she’s wrong, let alone now that she’s caught us in a mistake. I wonder which gossip managed to get the news to a dying woman’s ears. Whoever it is, they’re definitely out to get you and your husband. You two need to be careful!"

Wu Xiaowen looked up at her father’s gaunt face on the hospital bed, her own expression filled with resentment. "Who else could it be? It was Manman herself! She’s a daughter of the Tang family, after all. That girl is not to be underestimated. She overheard the conversation between Liu Fengying and her husband long ago and knew the truth, but she deliberately kept quiet. At such a young age, she already knows how to be cunning—instead of looking for her biological father when she came to the city, she went to find adoptive relatives. And her judgment and luck were good, too. She immediately latched onto the Gu family’s nephew, a soldier stationed in Wancheng. That Zheng Shaolian took her to the Gu family’s home for the New Year, and that’s how she met Tang Qingshan, wasn’t it? Mom, you haven’t seen that girl, Manman. She looks just like Qingyun. And Qingyun and Qingshan already look so similar, they could be twins. Qingshan isn’t married and has no children. When he saw a little girl who looked just like him, how could he not be thrilled? He brought her right back to the Tang family! As soon as Mr. Tang asked, she told them the whole story, every last detail!"

Mother Wu’s jaw dropped, her face a mask of disbelief. "Good heavens, Xiao Xiao, your biological daughter is really something else! You have to treat her better, even better than you treat Xuanxuan!"

"Mom! This whole mess is her fault! I’m sick to death of it! She’s not a daughter; she’s a debt collector sent to torment me!"

"Don’t be upset, don’t be upset, take it one step at a time! Xiao Xiao, listen to me. No matter how much you dote on Xuanxuan, no matter how you raise her, she belongs to another family. You must treat your own flesh and blood better and keep her close to you, her real mother! Before, Fang Qinglan and the Tang family didn’t know the truth. Now that everything is out in the open, we can’t be ambiguous about it, understand? Even if Fang Qinglan doesn’t have long to live, there’s still Tang Qingshan, and he likes that girl... You and Qingyun must be on your guard. Don’t let Tang Qingshan adopt Manman as his own daughter!"

Wu Xiaowen blinked. "Mom, Manman is already a daughter of the Tang family. Whether she’s formally under Tang Qingshan’s name or not, doesn’t it all amount to the same thing?"

"Ugh! You silly girl, why can’t you see it? Manman and Hao Hao are your and Qingyun’s children. Tang Qingshan has no heirs, so in the future, everything he has would go to Hao Hao. He considers everything from the perspective of the second branch—your family. But if he adopts Manman and she becomes his daughter, will he still care about your Hao Hao? He’ll keep Manman in the Tang family, find her a husband to marry in, and their children will be his, Tang Qingshan’s, grandchildren. The first branch will be re-established, and they will want to split the family inheritance with the second branch, do you understand? And the first branch is the senior one; the second branch has to obey. Whatever they decide to give you is what you get, and you won’t be able to fight it!"

Wu Xiaowen was unconvinced. "Mom, you make it sound so terrifying. This is a modern society now; those old-fashioned rules don’t apply anymore!"

"You...! ’Ignore your elders’ advice, and you’ll pay the price!’" Mother Wu was so agitated she broke into a fit of coughing.

Wu Xiaowen soothed her mother’s back. "Okay, I’ll remember. Don’t be anxious, Mom! Don’t worry, Manman is very stubborn. She only cares about the old couple who saved her life and took her in. She says she wants to stay in the countryside to be with them. She won’t even go to Wancheng or the provincial city, let alone Beijing. Besides, Tang Qingshan is still in the Northeast. It’s not so easy to just adopt her on a whim, is it? More importantly, he’d have to get our consent first, right?"

Mother Wu considered this and calmed down. "You have a point," she said, then asked, "When is that fake Manman going to be picked up? You called Xiao Feng, what did he say?"

Wu Xiaowen frowned. "Xiao Feng said Yu Min hasn’t been feeling well lately, so he doesn’t have time to take her back himself. He asked me to go get her... But I don’t want to see that child. The thought of it makes me sick."

Mother Wu sighed. "I’ll handle this. I’ll call Xiao Feng and tell him to finish what he started. He’s the one who picked her up, so he should be the one to take her back! You take the train back to G Province tomorrow. Just go through the motions at work. Spend more time in Wancheng. Qingyun and the children are there, and you’re a wife and a mother. You need to take good care of them."

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