Chapter 488: Caihua Is Here
Qin Shanshan’s recovery period after her miscarriage had just ended.
With her recovery period over and the New Year celebrations concluded, Qin Shanshan couldn’t take it anymore. On the seventh day of the lunar new year, she dragged Su Dan onto a train.
She had had enough of life in Su Family Village.
And she had had enough of Miao Fenghua.
Qin Shanshan had lost her child and was now infertile, so she despised Su Dan, the one she blamed for it all.
But she couldn’t bring herself to leave Su Dan. As time went on, and spurred by Miao Fenghua’s actions, her hatred gradually shifted onto her mother-in-law.
The miscarriage had nearly killed Qin Shanshan, and she had become terribly thin. But this weight loss gave her a delicate, pitiable air that tugged at one’s heartstrings.
Whenever Qin Shanshan lowered her head, her eyes welling with tears, it was enough to make one’s heart ache for her.
Su Dan had chopped off his own finger to escape the wrath of Mr. Qin and Shanshan’s uncles. He was in agony, but seeing Shanshan looking so pitiful, he couldn’t bring himself to direct his anger at her.
Miao Fenghua, on the other hand, was overweight and always ready to plant her hands on her hips and curse someone out. Her presence was imposing, her voice incredibly loud.
In comparison, Qin Shanshan seemed all the more fragile and delicate.
They were husband and wife, after all. Su Dan was genuinely fond of Qin Shanshan and obsessed with carnal pleasures. Seeing how poorly his mother treated Shanshan, he naturally began to take her side.
He didn’t consider that everything Miao Fenghua did was for his own good. He just found the old hag utterly detestable.
In order to protect Qin Shanshan, Su Dan, while drunk during the New Year, had even struck his own mother.
Miao Fenghua was nearly driven mad with rage. She was heartbroken and devastated, but Su Dan was her own son. She couldn’t bring herself to hate him, so in the end, all that resentment was directed squarely at Qin Shanshan.
This displaced anger made Qin Shanshan despise her more and more.
In the end, come the seventh day of the lunar new year, Qin Shanshan was determined to leave and get away from Miao Fenghua.
To take Su Dan with her and to spite Miao Fenghua even more, Qin Shanshan ignored her still-weak body and the fact that her recovery period had just ended, and lured Su Dan into bed.
Once caught in her tender trap, Su Dan forgot all about his mother. Without a second thought, while Miao Fenghua was out, he scraped together all the money left in the house and boarded a train with Qin Shanshan, heading for the Imperial City to "make it big."
Qin Shanshan packed everything they could carry and hit the road with their most valuable possession: the camera.
Poor Miao Fenghua. Because Su Dan had mentioned wanting some pickled pears, she had eagerly gone to a neighbor who had some to ask for them.
But when she returned, the house looked like it had been robbed.
Her precious son had cleaned out every last cent in the house and run off with that little bitch, Qin Shanshan.
Miao Fenghua was so furious she almost died, and she cursed Qin Shanshan endlessly.
Qin Shanshan couldn’t care less how Miao Fenghua was cursing her. Following a familiar route, she and Su Dan arrived in the Imperial City.
They already had a plan before they came. They would imitate the photographers they had seen before, setting up a stall at parks and tourist spots to take pictures for people.
It was a good plan. Three days after arriving in the Imperial City, they had rented an apartment and found a spot for their stall.
Unfortunately, money wasn’t that easy to make. The competition was fierce, and besides, it was still winter. Spending an entire day outside in the freezing cold was no joke.
Qin Shanshan’s body hadn’t fully recovered. How could she possibly endure the cold?
On the second day of running their stall, Qin Shanshan tagged along with Su Dan, her face ashen as she squatted on the ground waiting for customers.
A customer finally arrived, but it was the very sight Qin Shanshan couldn’t stand to see: a little boy and his mother.
The little boy, about three or four years old, was already speaking clearly. He was very clingy, constantly chanting, "Mama, Mama, Mama."
The mother doted on her child with such affection and tenderness that her love was almost tangible.
As Qin Shanshan watched Su Dan take their picture, the gloom, hatred, and iciness in her eyes were impossible to conceal.
"Mama... Mama... It’s always ’Mama.’ Mama, my ass!"
"’Sweetie, sweetie,’ sweetie my ass. ’Smile, smile.’ Why don’t you just smile until you drop dead."
Qin Shanshan stared daggers at the mother and son, cursing under her breath.
She could no longer be a mother, so she had come to despise the very word itself.
Whenever she saw a child, especially a little boy, she was reminded of the fully formed fetus she had miscarried.
’My baby... my baby is gone. Why should these other children get to grow up without a care in the world?’
The mother was sensitive enough to feel Qin Shanshan’s intensely hateful stare.
A chill ran down her spine. She found Qin Shanshan terrifying, and in her fear, she decided against the photo, grabbed her child, and left.
Su Dan had wasted his breath talking up the sale, only for Qin Shanshan to ruin it. He was furious.
"We finally got a customer! Why did you have to be so scary?"
Qin Shanshan was already in a dark mood. Thinking of that child, she looked at Su Dan with a gaze filled with nothing but hatred and murderous intent.
"You dare say I got in the way? Fine! If I’m such a hindrance, you can do this all by yourself!"
Qin Shanshan was already freezing. She spat out the words, spun around, and walked off, leaving Su Dan stamping his feet in fury.
"Qin Shanshan, don’t go! If you leave, I’m leaving too! It’s so cold..."
Su Dan pleaded for a while, but Qin Shanshan never looked back. He stomped his foot in anger but ultimately forced himself to stay put.
He thought she was just throwing a tantrum and would be back soon. But two hours passed, during which he even made two sales, and Qin Shanshan still hadn’t returned.
Only then did Su Dan realize Qin Shanshan had truly left. Furious, he gave up on the day and headed home as well.
Home was the small, expensive place they were temporarily renting. At least it was warm.
Su Dan thought Qin Shanshan would be there, but to his surprise, the apartment was empty.
Seeing the empty apartment, Su Dan’s expression grew impossibly dark.
"That bitch! Where the hell did she run off to now!"
Remembering their past and her previous actions, Su Dan couldn’t help but suspect she had gone to find some other man.
Or, to be more blunt, she had probably gone to find Tang Yuanxiao.
The moment he thought about how it was all because of Tang Yuanxiao—how he’d lost his temper and kicked Qin Shanshan, how his son was miscarried, how his own pinky finger got chopped off—rage filled Su Dan’s chest.
He gritted his teeth, seething with anger. He violently hurled the shoes he had just taken off a couple of times, but it still wasn’t enough to quell his rage.
Finally, fuming, Su Dan gritted his teeth and went out to drink.
He had said he would stop drinking, but Qin Shanshan hadn’t kept her promises either!
"If you can go find some other man, why can’t I have a drink!"
"You bitch, just wait ’til you get back and I’ll deal with you! How dare you go looking for another man! I’ll beat you to death!"
Cursing furiously, Su Dan began to drink.
And Qin Shanshan... just as Su Dan suspected, had uncontrollably gone to find Mrs. Tang and Tang Yuanxiao.
The Lantern Festival was approaching. She remembered how she used to eagerly await the festival every year to eat sweet rice balls, which made her think of Tang Yuanxiao, whose birthday fell on that very day. The thought was a reflex, and once it entered her mind, she couldn’t resist going to find him.
The extended Tang family knew that Mrs. Tang was in a sanatorium; since she and her son hadn’t returned for the New Year, the relatives had sent them cured meat.
When Qin Shanshan visited her parents on the second day of the lunar new year, she had managed to get the address of Mrs. Tang’s sanatorium. Not long after storming out of the park, she gave in to the urge and headed there.
Her luck was good. She ran into Mrs. Tang and Tang Yuanxiao right at the entrance.