Volume One, Chapter 15: A Humbling Blow

In the original owner’s memory, ever since the arrival of the stepmother, her interactions with Dong Ercheng had become minimal, often going half a month without exchanging a single word. On one hand, she harbored deep resentment—her mother had passed away less than a year ago, yet Dong Ercheng had remarried so soon. On the other hand, Lin Xuehua constantly instilled in her the idea that a grown daughter should avoid her father. Whatever happened, she had to report first to Lin Xuehua, and any requests had to be relayed through her. Passed back and forth, the original owner’s intentions became distorted; in Dong Ercheng’s eyes, she turned into a greedy, rebellious girl. Moreover, Dong Ercheng was frequently away on business trips, making him absent from home. Every time she wanted to find him, he was nowhere to be found, and gradually, she lost the desire to speak with him. Their relationship froze, neither willing to make the first move.

And now, he was actually telling her he was willing to treat her illness—what a joke! If only these words had been said to the original owner in the past life.

“Exactly! Third daughter, you must take good care of yourself. Look at your younger brother—he hasn’t eaten properly for two days, worrying about you. He’s such a little guy, yet so concerned for you! He even insisted on riding with the ambulance.”

Aunt Lin Xi said this as she aimlessly passed the chubby child, whom Dong Ercheng had just tiredly carried, over to her. She, already annoyed with holding him, took the opportunity to slip the child into Dong Qianqian’s arms.

Dong Ercheng didn’t think much of it. Even he, a grown man, found the child heavy; he wondered if his seriously ill daughter would find it burdensome. He merely watched this scene of sibling affection with relief, wiping away nonexistent tears from the corner of his eyes.

He casually began lecturing, “Qianqian, you’d better thank your Aunt Lin. If she hadn’t brought you here, with conditions back home, who knows what might have happened?”

Unaware of the full situation, Dong Ercheng’s perspective was simple: his eldest daughter had suddenly fallen ill, and the only kind person from the hometown, Lin Xi, had brought her and her younger brother to the city for treatment.

“Thank her? Yes, I should thank her!” Dong Qianqian gently placed Dong Jianbei, who was sound asleep, beside a pillow. Her movements were incredibly gentle, fearing to wake him—he looked far cuter asleep than awake. Yet her sharp gaze fixed firmly on the flustered Aunt Lin, she slowly articulated each word.

“I should thank Aunt Lin for lighting the way to the big kitchen yesterday. Other than that, I don’t think there’s much else to thank her for. After all, I came to the hospital myself because I felt unwell. Only little Bei needs to thank Aunt Lin, but I believe he’d be more sincere if he thanked her himself!”

“What big kitchen? Qianqian, what are you talking about? You’re all mixed up. How could you come to the hospital by yourself? What has the school been teaching you? You don’t even know how to express gratitude!” Dong Ercheng was utterly confused by her few short sentences.

Having not blinked for a long time, Qianqian’s eyes were already reddening. She assumed a submissive posture, lowering her head slightly and murmuring softly, “I did thank her! Should I also thank her for hitting me? For hiding in the room and not coming out to help when my eldest aunt was beating me? If so, then yes, I should thank her.”

“Hitting? Zhao Chunfang hit you? She must be out of her mind to dare hit you!” Dong Jianbei, still half-awake from a dream about his sister, was suddenly jolted awake by a thunderous shout beside his ear. His face still bore the smile from his dream, but the sudden roar stunned him into silence for a long moment.

Following his sister’s scent and seeing her familiar face, he nestled into Dong Qianqian’s embrace, trembling with his back to Dong Ercheng, repeatedly calling “Sister! Sister!” as if the man behind him were a deadly demon.

Dong Qianqian was clearly unaccustomed to such piglet-like clinging. Fortunately, her long hair, a black waterfall cascading down, concealed most of her discomfort. With her right hand, she perfunctorily stroked Dong Jianbei’s head as a form of comfort, though her thoughts were elsewhere—she was merely going through the motions, yearning to escape this awkward situation as soon as possible.

Seeing his younger son’s fearful attitude and his habit of ignoring him during their meetings, Dong Ercheng felt a pang of discouragement. He slowed his tone and pressed Dong Qianqian for answers.

“Why did your eldest aunt hit you?” Though he had experienced Zhao Chunfang’s harshness firsthand before marrying, she was not one to lose control without reason.

“Maybe because I was asked to cook for Fourth Uncle and Erya before dawn. She thought I was slow because of my braided hair and slapped me.”

“Cook?!” Dong Ercheng was incredulous. The daughter of a steel mill director being forced to cook for relatives in the countryside? What kind of joke was this? Did those relatives not want any contact?

Suppressing his anger, his expression shifting rapidly, he raised his voice, “Are you sure you came to the hospital by yourself?”

“Of course! As soon as I started cooking, I felt unwell. Eldest aunt even waved a knife at me. I was too scared to make a fuss, so I came here by myself.”

Her voice was filled with sorrow and resentment. Her eyes brimmed with tears, shimmering and ready to fall at any moment. Her gaze was calm, yet carried a stubborn strength.

Dong Ercheng felt an eerie resemblance to Zhao Yunlei, who had passed away, as if her eyes were silently questioning him, “Why didn’t you take care of her daughter?”

Looking into those glassy eyes, for a moment, Dong Yunlei’s and Dong Qianqian’s eyes seemed to merge in his mind, unsettling him. When his gaze dropped, he saw Qianqian’s appearance—like a child wronged by the heavens—accusing her father word by word of her suffering.

The atmosphere around them grew heavy and oppressive with her emotions.

Dong Ercheng’s fury could no longer be contained. He turned to the only elder from the hometown, Lin Xi.

Lin Xi had sensed something amiss with Ercheng’s attitude as soon as Qianqian spoke. She quietly slipped out of the ward, though filled with rebuttals. But the natural strength gap between men and women made her hesitate. Not every woman was as brave as Zhao Chunfang to confront a man directly.

Watching Lin Xi’s silent retreat, Dong Ercheng’s suppressed anger finally erupted. He quickly caught up to her, dragged her to a secluded corner, and began to question her.

“Judging by your guilty flight, what your daughter said is probably true! She thanked you for lighting the way to the kitchen, but how could a child who’s never even stepped into a kitchen be made to cook? What were you thinking?”

“Since you could light the way, why did you just stand by as Zhao Chunfang hit her and even threatened her with a knife? Let me tell you, your son, Dong Jianxi, has been well fed in my home all these years. Even during the famine years, I never let him go hungry. Not once did I see him help with the oil bottle. But you made my daughter cook! Would you dare eat what she cooked?”

“I once thought you were an honest and kind man, bringing my daughter to the hospital for treatment. I wanted to thank you properly and have you meet Dong Jianxi, but it turns out you’re just a biting dog.”

Dong Ercheng stared at the once honest and straightforward Lin Xi, never expecting such betrayal. Just one time he didn’t return home with them, and they dared treat his daughter so harshly. He was no dead man—how dare they treat his daughter like this! As for Zhao Chunfang, she was lucky; she had never laid a finger on Dong Qianqian. But now, having dared to threaten her with a knife, even if his eldest son came begging, neither of his two sons would ever set foot in the steel mill.

Faced with Dong Ercheng’s relentless confrontation, Lin Xi was baffled.

Wasn’t it agreed between the couple that Dong Qianqian would be sent to the countryside to get used to rural life? What was wrong with that? She wasn’t present when Eldest Aunt hit her, and even if she heard about it, what could she do? She couldn’t stand up to Eldest Aunt.

Regarding this matter, she was powerless. Her only guilt was that the Dong family had lost two daughters; now one had been found, but the other was still missing. She only hoped that Dong Shuanghuan would be sensible and appear quietly like Dong Qianqian so this issue could be forgotten.

With this sense of guilt, the normally clear conscience Lin Xi hesitated before saying, “Second Uncle, don’t be angry. Didn’t you want Third Daughter to go to the northwest countryside? Eldest Aunt only wanted her to gain some experience early on, not really to make her cook.”

What could one do in that big kitchen anyway? There wasn’t even rice. Eldest Aunt had decided to make her bleed. But Lin Xi wouldn’t tell Dong Ercheng their true intention: once the money was in hand, their family would find a way to profit.

She then smiled apologetically, “Look, Dong Qianqian is fine now; there’s not a mark on her face. Maybe Eldest Aunt didn’t really hit her, only scared her. Kids at this age lie the most, you know!”

“Lie? If she were lying, would you be running away? Don’t try to fool me! I’ll ask everyone back home, and someone will tell the truth.”

Seeing she couldn’t fool him, Lin Xi resorted to pleading, reasoning, “Second Uncle, you’re wrong. If Third Daughter was disobedient, it’s not a big deal if Eldest Aunt hit her once. It wasn’t severe. It’s better than her actually going to the countryside and staring blankly at the mud stove, isn’t it?”

Dong Ercheng cut her off sharply, “You’ve been going on about sending her to the countryside since earlier. Who told you I wanted to send her there?”

Indeed, as a steel mill official, he had to follow the policy. So he had long prepared: since 1968, he had treated Dong Jianxi as his own, bringing him to live with them and supporting his schooling. Taking advantage of marrying Lin Xuehua, he had secured city household registration for Dong Jianxi from the hometown.

Though villagers thought he was a kind uncle helping his nephew, boosting his reputation, only he knew the truth: he wasn’t so kind. Everything he did was to keep his own children from being sent to the countryside.

Their family did need someone to go as an educated youth, but that person was predetermined: Dong Jianxi. He had hidden this well; everyone believed Dong Jianxi was his eldest son, and even the hometown folk fancied the idea he’d stay in the city.

Thus, when Lin Xi shamelessly mentioned Dong Qianqian going to the countryside, Dong Ercheng felt a mixture of secret excitement and anger.

But Dong Ercheng was a man who grasped the core issue. Hearing Lin Xi repeatedly emphasize the countryside matter, he was uncertain but already suspected the truth.

This time, Lin Xuehua was pregnant yet specifically did not ask him to accompany them home. She must have said something to mislead the hometown people. It was Lin Xuehua who planned to send Qianqian to the countryside.

He just couldn’t understand why she would do this! Was he not good enough to her? He had even accepted her claim that Dong Shuanghuan was his biological daughter. After three years of marriage, they were about to have a new child and soon be a complete family.

Why, then, at this moment, send Qianqian away? Even if Qianqian’s temperament was difficult and she often contradicted her, as a stepmother, couldn’t she be more tolerant? Hadn’t she done well all along as the virtuous wife and good mother? Was it all just a pretense?

Hearing Dong Ercheng’s rhetorical question, Lin Xi realized the grave mistake—they had misunderstood. In their household, Dong Qianqian was not the one abandoned; it was all the second wife’s unilateral decision.