Chapter 226: Chapter 210: No Room

"Oh, my big and little darlings are finally back! You must be exhausted! Are you hungry? Hurry inside, lunch has been ready for a while. Grandma made you something delicious!"

Grandma Tang’s smile was loving, her eyes filled with nothing but her grandson and granddaughter. She didn’t even notice the car parked at the gate.

Tang Qingshan also pretended not to see it, acting as if he didn’t even know Wu Xiaowen. His cool gaze vanished, replaced by a different expression as he squeezed to the front to act cute with his mother. "Mom, I’m a darling too, right? Look at my great contribution today, I carried so much good stuff back from the mountain!"

Grandma Tang laughed and gave her son a light smack. "Alright, alright. Mom made lotus leaf chicken today. I’ll see if I can negotiate a chicken leg for you from Manman and Hao Hao later!"

Everyone laughed. Grandpa glanced at Tang Qingyun and led the way through the courtyard gate. Hao Hao hesitated for a moment before following his uncle and sister inside. ’What else can I do?’ he thought. ’Shout for Mom and let Grandma find out Tang Yaxuan is in the car too? Grandma was sick for so long and my sister just barely managed to cure her. I can’t bear to upset her again! Anyway, I can’t control this. I’ll just leave it all to Dad!’

Wu Xiaowen wished the car, with Tang Yaxuan inside, would just disappear. But that was obviously impossible. The driver, seeing his superior, couldn’t possibly not greet him, could he? He had already gotten out of the car, taken a couple of steps forward, and called out with a smile, "Secretary Tang!"

Tang Qingyun pulled his glare away from Wu Xiaowen and lowered his eyes. He didn’t even know how to describe what he was feeling at that moment.

Grandma Tang saw Wu Xiaowen and glanced at the car, but she showed no sign of anger. Instead, she smiled politely at the driver and said, "You’re Qingyun’s colleague? I’m his mother. It’s so hot out. Come inside and have some tea!"

An invitation from the secretary’s mother was something the driver couldn’t very well refuse. After a few polite words, he graciously accepted and followed Grandma Tang into the courtyard.

Only Tang Qingyun and Wu Xiaowen were left outside the gate. Tang Yaxuan, unable to sit still in the car any longer, opened the door, got out, walked up to Tang Qingyun, and called out "Dad" in a delicate, timid voice.

Tang Qingyun was speechless.

Today had been so pleasant. He’d gone into the mountains with everyone, gathering medicinal herbs and picking tea leaves. They’d even been lucky enough to find a few patches of wild chanterelles and had caught a wild rabbit. When they got home, his son and daughter were still in high spirits, full of laughter and joy. Wu Xiaowen’s arrival had ruined it all.

In truth, it was right for Wu Xiaowen to come and wait on the old lady. But bringing Tang Yaxuan with her—was she trying to stir up trouble? Tang Qingyun was seething with anger. With a heavy log still pressing down on his shoulder, for a fleeting moment, he really didn’t want to deal with Wu Xiaowen at all.

"Xiao Wen, with you acting like this, it would have been better if you hadn’t come at all! Manman has already moved on. She doesn’t want us anymore, you know that? But Mom... how are you going to explain yourself to her?"

Seeing the look on Tang Qingyun’s face, Wu Xiaowen felt both wronged and angry. "And isn’t this all your fault? You can be mad at me, but you could have at least explained things clearly! I had no idea Grandma Hao Hao... I mean, Mom, was so much better! And Xuanxuan—I was just giving her a ride back to school. Is that not allowed either?"

Tang Qingyun shifted the log to his other shoulder and caught his breath. "I’m tired and thirsty, and I don’t know what to do right now... Manman and Hao Hao are going to school tomorrow. Mom and my brother are going with them to the county town to have a look around, and they’ll return to Beijing the day after. If you have something to say to Mom, then go ahead and say it... Xuanxuan, you wait. The driver will take you back after he has a drink of water."

Tang Qingyun carried the log into the courtyard. Wu Xiaowen was about to follow when she felt a tug on the corner of her clothes. She turned to see Tang Yaxuan with tears in her eyes, her little face flushed red from the sun. Seeing her pitiful state, Wu Xiaowen’s heart ached. "The sun is brutal," she said. "You’ll get a fever if you keep standing out here! Come on in. Wait in the shade under the eaves, just don’t say anything."

So Tang Yaxuan clung to the corner of Wu Xiaowen’s clothes and walked into the courtyard with her.

Xiao Man, Hao Hao, and Tang Qingshan were by the well, drawing water to wash their hands and faces. Grandma Tang came over, taking a few dry towels from a bamboo pole, and came face-to-face with the mother and daughter.

Wu Xiaowen froze, mortified. ’Today is really not my day,’ she thought. ’No matter what I do, I’m in the wrong.’ She couldn’t worry about it anymore and quickly forced a smile, calling out, "Mom!"

Grandma Tang’s lips twitched into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "Weren’t you calling me ’Grandma Hao Hao’ outside the gate just now? I think that sounds better. Why don’t you stick with that!"

Wu Xiaowen lowered her gaze in embarrassment. "Mom..."

Grandma Tang turned her gaze to Tang Yaxuan. Tang Yaxuan, for her part, was quick-witted, immediately crying out, "Grandma! Xuanxuan missed you so much!"

This time, Grandma Tang let out a real laugh. "You’ve known for a long time that I’m not your real grandmother, yet you still thought of me without saying a word. How difficult that must have been for you! But from now on, if you run into me, and you want to be polite, just call me ’Grandma Tang.’ Or you can just pretend I’m a stranger you didn’t see. You’ve been to my house a few times; you should know what kind of person I am. I can’t even treat Shaolian and Shao Jin with my whole heart, let alone you! Child, you can be unscrupulous, but you can’t be too greedy, understand? If you had told me from the start that your birth parents had found you and that I had another, real granddaughter, I would have still treated you as my granddaughter. The doors of the Tang family would have always been open to you! But not anymore. I can’t forgive you! You deliberately hid the truth, your parents harbored malicious intentions, and my real granddaughter was nearly destroyed by you all. The Tang Family isn’t that merciful. There’s no place for you here anymore!"

Tang Yaxuan dissolved into tears, her body wracked with sobs. "Grandma... Grandma, I didn’t do it on purpose! I didn’t know if they were my real parents... I was afraid to say anything, I was scared you wouldn’t want me anymore..."

Wu Xiaowen hugged her, her heart aching. Sensing Grandma Tang’s icy glare, she added guiltily, "Mom, Xuanxuan, she’s... she’s still young... and her health isn’t good."

Grandma Tang sneered. "Raised by your side, on my money. I don’t know about her health, but she is indeed still young. Born two hours after Manman, right? Wu Xiaowen, since you have the gall to show your face here, give me your mother’s phone number. I’m going to send you back to the Wu Family and have your mother re-educate you. Whenever she’s taught you properly, that’s when you can step foot in my Tang family’s home again!"

The color drained from Wu Xiaowen’s face, then it flushed so red it looked like it might bleed. Her gaze swept over her son and daughter by the well before she stared at Grandma Tang, humiliated and indignant. "How can you speak to me like that? Please, have some respect. I am their mother!"

"Any woman can give birth. You’ve had children, yes, but you’re not qualified to be a mother. You don’t deserve respect!"

Grandma Tang lifted her chin and glanced at Tang Yaxuan. "You even raised this one crooked!"

Faced with a vicious mother-in-law who showed no mercy with her insults, Wu Xiaowen was filled with anger and resentment but lacked the courage to fight back. She was on the verge of breaking down. When she saw Tang Qingyun walking over from the vegetable garden, she finally couldn’t take it anymore. Aggrieved tears poured out like a bursting dam, and the mother and daughter clung to each other, sobbing as if they had been horribly abused.

Grandma Tang, however, acted as if nothing had happened. She walked over to the well to tend to her grandson and granddaughter, telling them a simple wipe-down was enough for now; they could wash their hair and bathe properly after lunch.

Tang Qingyun knew that Wu Xiaowen’s behavior today had thoroughly infuriated his mother. He tactfully chose not to ask Wu Xiaowen to stay, instead escorting the mother and daughter out of the courtyard and having the driver take them away.

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