Do Not Speak Ill of My Mother!
Chapter 258 Two people talking

Chapter 258: 258 Two people talking

Delicate hands touched the little girl’s face, bringing a bit of solace to her aching heart.

After Du Mansheng went to the Cute Baby program, Song Xiaoxiao had watched the reality show seriously and knew that Yan Yueqing, like her mother, was a person who strove to do good deeds.

At home, Song Xiaoxiao faced her grandmother’s guilt-ridden affection, her father’s ostentatious bragging, and that woman’s high-profile flamboyance, all of which felt suffocating; but now, facing Aunt Yueqing’s tenderness, the grievances that had long been pent up in her heart suddenly found an outlet.

Song Xiaoxiao mustered up the courage to reveal all the things she had never dared to tell her mother.

"My mother likes doing charity work, often going to other places for several months at a time. As long as it’s not in remote hills or mountainous areas, she would take me with her... She’s too great, so I hope that I can also become a person who works hard and dedicates themselves like that."

"But two years ago, when my mother went to the mountains, my father suddenly took me back to grandma’s house. There was a woman waiting for me; she was beautiful and fashionable, just like the mistress in TV dramas... I was very angry and argued with Dad about why he had a mistress?"

Yan Yueqing didn’t interrupt her, allowing her to voice years of pain and injustice.

Song Xiaoxiao was still a child, speaking without much logic, her beautiful eyes filling with tears, speaking her thoughts as they came.

"Dad said that Chen Xue was my biological mother... At that moment, I felt as if the sky had fallen... Dad persuaded me, grandmother too, and that woman almost knelt down and begged me to acknowledge her... I didn’t want to recognize her and wanted to tell Mom the truth, but Dad threatened me with many words..."

"Aunt Yueqing, I was so scared. I’m not my mother’s daughter! Did Dad even secretly swap her real daughter for me? If I tell Mom, she will surely be extremely angry, so angry that she won’t want to see me ever again in her life!"

"But I feel so conflicted inside. Where is my mother’s real daughter? Is she living a hard life? If I secretly tell Mom, would she reward me for my bravery, and not drive me away? I could accompany Mom to find the lost daughter..."

"But Dad kept telling me many things, and I slowly realized that he didn’t like Mom, and he was always plotting against her. If one day Mom and Dad get divorced, Mom would only hate me for taking her real daughter’s place; she wouldn’t give me a second glance."

"I’ve been going back and forth with these thoughts for two years... Aunt Yueqing, when Mom and Dad got divorced, Mom left all the property to me. I don’t want it... But if I don’t take it, it seems like Dad has some backup plan? I’m really scared of him bullying Mom..."

"If Mom says the word, I am willing to return all the property in my name to her! It’s hers, it’s her real daughter’s, and it certainly shouldn’t be mine. Perhaps to outsiders, I am a coward, enjoying seven years of happiness that didn’t belong to me."

"Aunt Yueqing... I don’t want to be like this! I really, really don’t know what to do? I am mean to Chen Xue, urging Dad not to associate with her, yet—"

The small one was so overwhelmed with emotion that she could no longer speak through her tears.

Yan Yueqing embraced Song Xiaoxiao in her arms: "Good child, Auntie understands, none of this is your fault! You have worked so hard already."

Song Xiaoxiao cried even more bitterly: "I really want to go back to before, when Dad and Mom were so in love... But those days will never come back! Dad is a liar from beginning to end! He lied about his feelings to Mom, and to Chen Xue as well. Does that woman foolishly think Dad truly loves her? That’s not the case at all!

Dad just thinks she is obedient and compliant; he wanted to find a so-called true love reason for betraying Mom! In truth, Dad doesn’t like anyone in his heart; he only loves himself! Mom has been so good to him, but when it comes to interests, his mind works faster than anybody’s. One day, if Chen Xue, I, or even Grandma, get in the way of his interests, who knows if he would turn against us, too?"

Song Xiaoxiao felt this was incredibly unfilial.

Yet deep down, she seemed to have a foreboding feeling that big trouble was going to happen in the future.

She lifted her long lashes moist with tears, her little face a pallid white: "Aunt Yueqing, I dare not tell these things to Mom. She has a quick temper, and I’m afraid she would confront Dad without thinking! But today, seeing Sister Xiaoyu, it seems like... she already knows?"

Yan Yueqing fell silent for a moment before sharing confidingly, "Yes, she already knows."

Song Xiaoxiao’s face suddenly turned very ugly.

She was stunned for a moment, her skin losing its color as if a sponge was soaking up ink, leaving behind a deathly pallor.

The next second, she forced a hasty smile, her eyes filled with the utter despair of abandonment.

"It was... during the blood donation, right?" she murmured, "That time, Sister Xiaoyu was hit and hospitalized, and Aunt Yueqing stopped my mom, saying you had B-type blood and asked you to donate! Later, the nurse said it wasn’t enough and let Mom go in..."

Song Xiaoxiao lifted her lashes, a mix of sorrow and relief interweaving, driving her nearly insane: "I guess it was Aunt Yueqing who knew first, so she stood up after the nurse said close relatives couldn’t donate blood! After that, she had my mom go in for a parental verification test, didn’t she?"

She was too clever.

Yan Yueqing nodded, not planning to hide it from her: "Yes, Xiaoxiao guessed everything correctly."

A tear rolled down her face, tracing the mottled paths of previous ones.

Her burning heart cooled little by little.

She smiled in despair: "I understand now... I no longer have a mother."

The tiny hopes hidden deep in her heart finally shattered completely.

"Sister Xiaoyu could come back, I’m actually... quite happy for her," Song Xiaoxiao said, her eyes empty as she wished her well. "I hope she and Mom..."

The rest of her words, sharp as a knife carving her heart, simply couldn’t be spoken.

Not wanting the child to suffer any further, Yan Yueqing reached out to wipe away her tears: "Xiaoxiao, I wanted to see you alone today to ask you one honest question."

"What?"

"If you had a choice, between Dad and Mom, whom would you choose?"

Song Xiaoxiao was lost and helpless: "At this point, do I still have a choice?"

Tears broke forth once more.

"You do!" Yan Yueqing declared with conviction.

Song Xiaoxiao was stunned.

After pondering for a few seconds, she suddenly burst into earth-shattering sobs: "Aunt Yueqing... I want my mom! I really really want my mom!"

"Even if it means betraying Dad?"

"I don’t want Dad! I only want Mom!"

Yan Yueqing embraced the child: "Xiaoxiao, Auntie understands. Now, I have something very important to tell you. Dry your tears, listen carefully, and then make your decision, okay?"

Song Xiaoxiao didn’t know what Yan Yueqing was about to say, but she felt that this might be a turning point in thawing her relationship with her mother.

She grew solemn.