Chapter 207: The Two Mothers Fight
"Jiaojiao... Doesn’t that sound like your mom?" Su Shuochi asked, his mouth full of food.
Gu Jiaojiao found the sight of his puffed-out cheeks amusing and said,
"I heard my mom’s voice too. What’s the rush? Swallow your food before you talk."
Su Shuochi swallowed the food in his mouth. "Hearing your mom’s voice so suddenly gave me a fright. I thought maybe you hadn’t heard it!"
Just as Gu Jiaojiao was about to say something else, she heard her mother shout again, sounding exceptionally furious.
"Sheng Yueyue, you ungrateful wretch, get out here!" Mrs. Gu roared again, standing at the Sheng Family’s front gate with her hands on her hips.
A crowd of onlookers had gathered at the Sheng Family’s gate. Fuming, Mrs. Sheng came out, rolling up her sleeves.
This was how it all started. Mrs. Gu had nearly recovered and was planning to move out. Before leaving, she went to the Dong Family home to visit her father.
Her stepmother, Ren Xiaofang, knew she had gone a bit too far before and understood that her stepdaughter wouldn’t be staying with them.
Especially since her stepdaughter had brought many gifts on her visit, Ren Xiaofang was exceptionally hospitable to Mrs. Gu.
The Dong Family’s patriarch was also, for a change, chatting calmly with his eldest daughter in the living room.
It wasn’t mealtime, so none of the younger members of the Dong Family were home. It was just the three adults in the living room.
They weren’t speaking very loudly. As they chatted, they heard Sheng Yueyue’s crying. Ren Xiaofang scurried up to the second-floor hallway to see.
After a few steps, she came back and pulled Mrs. Gu along with her. In reality, she was only two years older than Mrs. Gu.
Mrs. Gu had also heard Sheng Yueyue crying, so she let her stepmother lead her upstairs without much resistance.
Standing on the second-floor hallway, they saw Mrs. Sheng helping Sheng Yueyue home, her face as swollen as a pig’s head.
Sheng Yueyue was whimpering, "Mom, don’t be angry. I was just playing a joke on Gu Jiaojiao. Didn’t she get first place in the city anyway?"
"Yueyue, did you write Gu Jiaojiao’s name on the exam paper on purpose?" Mrs. Sheng asked calmly, suppressing her boiling rage.
Sheng Yueyue wanted to play the part of a good girl, but she was filled with resentment, so she pouted and said nothing.
Seeing her daughter’s silent, downcast head, Mrs. Sheng knew she had done it intentionally. It was something she never would have dreamed of.
"Yueyue, do you realize? If no one had stepped in to help Gu Jiaojiao, her college entrance exam scores would have been nullified!"
This malicious act from her daughter left Mrs. Sheng both furious and disappointed. How could her own daughter do something so heinous?
Even if it hadn’t been her adopted daughter, Gu Jiaojiao, but some other classmate, Mrs. Sheng would still have wanted to reprimand her biological daughter.
She had raised Gu Jiaojiao since she was little, doting on her, even spoiling her more than her own son.
Later, when her biological daughter was found and brought back, she was in rags.
Her small face was tanned dark by the sun, and she looked like someone who had just come out of a coal mine.
Mrs. Sheng’s heart had churned with sorrow, and she wished she could give all the best things in their home to her biological daughter.
She only wanted to make up for the hardships her daughter had endured. Who knew that her adopted daughter, Gu Jiaojiao, would become unhappy?
She threw tantrums at home every day. The once-demure Gu Jiaojiao’s personality had become truly unpleasant.
It wasn’t just being feisty and difficult; she had become downright sly and willful, infuriating Mrs. Sheng to no end.
Her husband and eldest son had both subtly reminded her that it was her own daughter who was deliberately tormenting Jiaojiao.
In truth, Mrs. Sheng wasn’t a fool. She knew her biological daughter was intentionally provoking her adopted one, but so what?
Her own daughter had suffered so much out there; she was just feeling unbalanced inside.
Her adopted daughter had enjoyed over seventeen years of good fortune in their Sheng Family. Wasn’t it right for her to suffer a little injustice?
As long as her own daughter was happy, she was willing to turn a blind eye and favor her.
But Mrs. Sheng had never imagined that the precious daughter she cherished in the palm of her hand would bring her so much pain.
’Spoiling a daughter is a terrible idea. The ancients were right!’
The more she thought about it, the angrier Mrs. Sheng became, and she trembled with rage. For the first time, she furiously rebuked her daughter, "Yueyue, how could you do such a thing!"
"Don’t you know the college entrance exam is a person’s entire hope? Are you really not afraid of going to jail?"
Sheng Yueyue dropped the fake tears and snorted dismissively. "It’s not like anything happened to me, right?"
"How can you be so dense! You’re banned from taking the college entrance exam for three years, and you say nothing happened to you?"
"I knew long ago that if I were caught, I’d be banned from the exam for three years. That’s why I deliberately wrote Gu Jiaojiao’s name, hoping she wouldn’t be able to get into college."
Sheng Yueyue’s tone was casual as if she had done something utterly insignificant.
Seeing her daughter so stubbornly unrepentant, Mrs. Sheng grew even angrier. "How could you do this? How could you possibly do this..."
"Why are you yelling at me? Are you heartbroken for your precious adopted daughter? It’s not like anything happened to her, is it?"
Unable to contain her fury, Mrs. Sheng raised her hand and slapped Sheng Yueyue across the face. SLAP!
The crisp, loud sound of the slap was exceptionally jarring in the quiet room.
Sheng Yueyue clutched her reddened left cheek, her eyes instantly misting over as she put on a pitiful expression.
"Mom, I’m your real daughter! How could you do this to me? I already said I was wrong, and you still hit me."
Seeing her daughter crying her heart out, Mrs. Sheng was torn between heartache and anger. Tears streamed down her own face, and she didn’t know what to say.
She didn’t want to enable her daughter’s mistakes any longer. After a long, conflicted moment, she held her daughter and continued to lecture her.
"If you truly know you were wrong, then don’t ever do such wicked things again. People will talk behind your back."
"SOB SOB SOB..." Sheng Yueyue was a mess of tears, covering her face as her shoulders shook uncontrollably.
’This isn’t the time to have a falling out,’ she thought resentfully. ’If I alienate Mom and Dad, then Song Zijin won’t marry me.’
’Without the Sheng Family and Song Zijin’s support, I won’t be able to deal with anyone. I just have to endure this for now.’
’One day, this so-called biological mother of mine will be on her knees, begging me for mercy.’
So, Sheng Yueyue said through her sobs, "Mom, how could you hit me? I know I was wrong. I’ll never do it again..."
"Yueyue, do you really know you were wrong?" Mrs. Sheng asked cautiously, seeking confirmation.
A vicious glint flashed in Sheng Yueyue’s eyes as she said through gritted teeth, "I know I was wrong. I’ll never do it again."
Mrs. Sheng felt a sense of relief and comfort. She lovingly tried to wipe the tears from her daughter’s eyes.
With her own vision blurred by tears, Mrs. Sheng fumbled around her daughter’s eyes but found no moisture. ’Could it be that she’s cried herself dry!’
Mrs. Sheng could only wipe the tears from her own eyes. She helped her daughter to the sofa and looked at her face, which was as swollen as a pig’s head.
Her heart aching, Mrs. Sheng was just about to find some ice to put on her daughter’s face when she heard Mrs. Gu’s furious shouts from outside.
Utterly enraged, Mrs. Sheng rolled up her sleeves and rushed out, ready to fight the shouting Mrs. Gu.
And so, everyone heard a furious roar: "Dong Yuehua, what right do you have to come to my doorstep and act so arrogantly?"