Chapter 489: Backlog
This year, Tang Yuanxiao didn’t have to go to selections, so he was able to properly celebrate the New Year. With his school on break, he picked up Mrs. Tang from the nursing home before the holiday and brought her home to the family compound to celebrate.
Tang Yuanxiao and Mrs. Tang had a proper reunion for the New Year. Having finally gotten out of the nursing home, and knowing her son still owed a lot of money for their housing, Mrs. Tang didn’t dare cause any trouble. Instead, she behaved herself and they had a peaceful holiday.
Tang Yuanxiao breathed a huge sigh of relief. ’My previous decision was definitely the right one,’ he thought.
After the New Year holiday, Tang Yuanxiao had to get back to work, so he sent Mrs. Tang back to the nursing home without even waiting for the Lantern Festival.
As the Lantern Festival approached, Mrs. Tang insisted on buying Tang Yuanxiao a new pair of shoes for his birthday.
Tang Yuanxiao had no choice but to find some free time and take his mother out for a bit.
On their way back, they ran right into Qin Shanshan.
Both Mrs. Tang and Tang Yuanxiao were completely unprepared to see Qin Shanshan.
Mrs. Tang reacted as if she were facing a mortal enemy, her face a mask of hatred and anxiety.
"Qin Shanshan! What are you doing here? After stealing so much money from our family, you still have the nerve to show your face!"
The mention of four thousand yuan made Qin Shanshan so furious she nearly coughed up blood.
Seeing his mother looked ready to lunge forward and tear Qin Shanshan to shreds, Tang Yuanxiao quickly stopped her.
"Mom, stop it! Don’t start another scene. Hurry up and go inside."
But how could Mrs. Tang possibly stop cursing at the sight of Qin Shanshan? She looked like she wanted to eat the woman alive.
"Tangyuan, get out of my way! How can I not curse her? This wretched woman! Ptui! I’ll curse her until she drops dead."
Mrs. Tang shoved Tang Yuanxiao aside, absolutely livid.
Tang Yuanxiao’s patience wore thin. "Mom, that’s enough!"
He snapped in a low voice, and Mrs. Tang flinched, finally falling silent.
Tang Yuanxiao turned to Qin Shanshan. "Did you need something?"
Before Qin Shanshan could answer, a set of footsteps approached from behind.
Mrs. Tang and Tang Yuanxiao both looked toward the newcomer, apparently recognizing them. Qin Shanshan turned around as well.
The newcomer was none other than Lin Huanzhu.
Lin Huanzhu looked between them. "Tang Yuanxiao. Auntie."
She greeted them, then glanced curiously at Qin Shanshan. ’Is this Tang Yuanxiao’s girlfriend or something?’ she wondered.
"You’re back." Tang Yuanxiao managed a weak smile in greeting.
The moment Mrs. Tang saw Lin Huanzhu, she flinched and froze.
Qin Shanshan scowled at Lin Huanzhu, her brow furrowed. ’This woman... who is she?’
’She has such an odd, androgynous look, but Tang Yuanxiao’s attitude toward her is friendly. Could she be his new girlfriend?’
Qin Shanshan took in Lin Huanzhu’s unconventional appearance. Despite her odd style, she carried herself with an extraordinary air, not at all like an ordinary person. At this thought, waves of anger surged through Qin Shanshan.
’I’m so miserable, what right does Tang Yuanxiao have to find a new girlfriend?!’
Qin Shanshan snorted coldly. "Tang Yuanxiao, a word in private."
Alarm bells immediately went off in Mrs. Tang’s head. "Don’t you dare! Are you trying to hurt Tangyuan again? Qin Shanshan, let me tell you..."
Lin Huanzhu had been about to walk past them and leave, but she stopped and glanced at the ugly expression on Tang Yuanxiao’s face.
"Need a hand?"
Tang Yuanxiao looked at Lin Huanzhu and nodded. "Could you please wheel my mom inside for me?"
Lin Huanzhu agreed readily. "Sure."
With that, she took hold of the wheelchair. "Auntie, let’s head back inside."
As Lin Huanzhu took control of the wheelchair, the stream of curses died on Mrs. Tang’s lips. She flinched, looking as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn’t dare speak to Lin Huanzhu and allowed herself to be wheeled inside.
To Qin Shanshan, what was clearly a display of fear from Mrs. Tang looked like simple obedience.
’And why would she be so obedient? Obviously, because this woman must be her future daughter-in-law.’
’Mrs. Tang used to listen to me just like that!’
Seeing her suspicion confirmed, Qin Shanshan’s eyes slowly reddened. An overwhelming feeling of betrayal and hatred washed over her.
"Tang Yuanxiao, you’re really something else! Finding a new woman this quickly."
Tang Yuanxiao took a deep breath.
"Qin Caihua, stay out of my sight from now on. Don’t try to stir up any more trouble, or else don’t blame me for getting nasty!"
Seeing Tang Yuanxiao’s icy expression, Qin Shanshan trembled with rage.
"Fine. Just fine. Tang Yuanxiao, you’re truly heartless!"
Because of him, she had lost what was most precious to a woman, been forced to marry Su Dan, and now...
Qin Shanshan’s eyes grew red. "Tang Yuanxiao, you see the state I’m in, and you don’t even have a single word of concern? Do you have any idea what a horrible man Su Dan is?"
"That drunkard beats me whenever he drinks! He kicked me until I lost my five-month-old baby! You see me like this, and you still don’t have a single word of concern! How can you be so cruel? Who do you think is to blame for all of this?!"
Tang Yuanxiao’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t even considered that she might have been pregnant.
Hearing her say she’d lost a five-month-old pregnancy, he realized something was very wrong. A wave of unease washed over him, but...
"What does that have to do with me?"
’What does it have to do with me?’ he thought. Everything that happened to Qin Shanshan was her own doing. It was just karma.
When Qin Shanshan heard Tang Yuanxiao’s casual, dismissive question, "What does that have to do with me?", her face went deathly pale with disbelief.
Then, a furious blush crept up her pale cheeks.
It was the color of pure rage.
"Fine. Tang Yuanxiao, you win. You’re good, you’re cruel. You just wait!"
Treated so coldly by Tang Yuanxiao and having seen Lin Huanzhu, Qin Shanshan was a mess of emotions—hatred, anger, heartache, and despair. She gritted her teeth.
"Tang Yuanxiao... Tang Yuanxiao..."
The man she had loved for so long, the man for whom she would have given anything, was still just as ruthless and cold to her now.
When it rains, it pours. Not long after Qin Shanshan left, a miserable sleet began to fall from the sky.
By the time Qin Shanshan got home, she was frozen purple and on the verge of a total breakdown.
Her body and soul had been battered, but the ordeal was far from over.
What awaited her at home was not a warm bed and a caring word, but the overwhelming stench of alcohol from a dead-drunk Su Dan.
Su Dan had been waiting for Qin Shanshan. And waiting, and waiting. He drank as he waited, so by the time she returned, he was completely wasted.
Su Dan, who always seemed to gain monstrous strength when he drank, slapped her across the face the moment he saw her, without a single word.
The blow sent Qin Shanshan sprawling to the floor, and for a long moment, she couldn’t get back up.
And that was only the beginning of a long night.
Su Dan’s fists and kicks rained down on her body.
Qin Shanshan cried and screamed, her body soaked and freezing, but she couldn’t escape Su Dan’s demonic grip.
The door was only two arm’s lengths away, but she could never seem to reach it...
That night, Qin Shanshan found herself in hell once more.
The next morning, Qin Shanshan awoke in a cold sweat, her entire body aching.
Her body was a canvas of black and blue bruises, peppered with bloody scratches. Her scalp throbbed with a searing pain.
Beside her, Su Dan was fast asleep, snoring loudly.
The sight of Su Dan made Qin Shanshan flinch reflexively, her eyes filling with a mixture of hatred and terror.
While Su Dan was still asleep, she shakily got dressed and fled out the door.
Once outside, she paused for a moment, then went back inside to grab her camera.
With the camera slung over her back, Qin Shanshan walked with a vacant, ghostly stare until she finally reached the park where she ran her stall.
She began to set up her stall, but no one approached her.
Qin Shanshan had a black eye and a bleeding cut on her lip. On top of her disheveled appearance, she radiated such an aura of gloom and hatred that anyone who saw her kept a wide berth.
By now, Qin Shanshan’s negative energy had built up to such a point that even the most oblivious person would not want to get near her.
Qin Shanshan herself didn’t know how long she sat there, frozen in place.
Not until she heard a familiar voice.
It was the voice of Su Li.