Chapter 7

When Tong Zhenzhen woke up in the hospital, she blamed herself for fighting with Tong Xuelu and that she was so fragile that Mother and Father Tong had to worry about her.

Then she insisted on being discharged from the hospital as she felt that it was too wasteful to stay in one. Mother and Father Tong were already feeling guilty toward their real daughter and, seeing how mature she was, started blaming Tong Xuelu for being too immature. When they arrived home, however, they were told that Tong Xuelu had left!Tong Zhenzhen had a look of disbelief on her. “Sister-in-law, did Tong Xuelu really leave?”She felt for sure Tong Xuelu was just being manipulative and wanted those at the Tong’s to feel bad for her!She was evil! And cunning!Chen Yueling gave her a look. “Why would I lie about that? She had been gone for hours!”“How come she left without saying goodbye?”Mother Tong was just thinking how immature she was a minute ago but, now that she found out that she had left, she felt sad immediately. Tong Xuelu might not be their real daughter but she had raised and doted on her for over 10 years. She wasn’t someone that she could just walk away from right away. Tong Zhenzhen was unhappy when she saw the look on Mother Tong. With a guilty look on her, she said, “It was all my fault. I shouldn’t have argued with her. I should just let Xuelu yell at me. That way I wouldn’t have passed out and she wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye either. Mom, don’t be sad. I will go bring her back!”Her words were very loaded.They sounded like she was saying it was her fault but each and every single thing that she had said pointed toward how unreasonable Tong Xuelu was!When Chen Yueling heard that, all the more she felt that her new sister-in-law was no simple woman. She reached out her hand and stopped her. “Zhenzhen, little sister left to free up the space for you. Her effort will be wasted if you go and bring her back now. What if the two of your get into a spiff again after she had returned?”“… …”Tong Zhenzhen was so angry that she always stopped breathing!Whatever did it mean to “free up the space for her”? She had always been the real daughter of the Tong’s family. Tong Xuelu was the one who took her spot!Besides, was she the one who wanted to fight with her? It had always been Tong Xuelu who had been picking fights with her, alright?But she couldn’t say any of those loud. She was so angry!Chen Yueling ignored her and turned toward Father and Mother Tong. “Mom, Dad, little sister said she didn’t want to put you in that situation nor did she want to have conflicts at home day after day. It’s best for her, the outsider, to take off. She also asked us to take good care of you two in the future…”Mother Tong’s eyes reddened when she heard the last part. “That child. How did she become to mature all of a sudden? That was so sad to hear…”“… …”Tong Zhenzhen’s look was stinkier than stinky tofu.Mature her @$$!Anyone could spiel those words out. How did that make her mature?And, what was going on with big sister-in-law? Why was she on Tong Xuelu’s side all of a sudden?This bunch of jerks!***Tong Xuelu had no idea that the trap that she had set for Tong Zhenzhen would start paying off so quickly.She put down the stuff that she had purchased inside their unit, grabbed a handful of candies and two eggs and went over to Aunty Cai’s next door. The little boy was watching ants moving their homes and immediately ran toward Tong Xuelu when he saw her, “Big sister is so pretty!”Tong Xuelu gave him two pieces of candies and asked, “What’s your name?”With the milk candies clutched tightly in his hand, he couldn’t have smiled more, “My name is Zhudan!” (translation: pig’s egg)Zhudan?Tong Xuelu almost choked on her own saliva. “Is your brother’s name Goudan?” (translation: dog’s egg)Zhudan’s mouth turned into O shape as though he was shocked that she would know that. He then nodded repeatedly. “My big brother’s name is Goudan; my second brother is Yangdan; and I am Zhudan!” (translation: sheep)“… …”Alright. Guess they had all eggs handled. Aunty Cai was about to snatch the candies out of Zhudan’s hand as soon as she walked over. “Milk candies are expensive. You should bring them back. They will be wasted on this child!”Tong Xuelu stopped her right away. “Aunty Cai, it’s just some snacks. It is fine. You take such good care of our Mianmian and I am very appreciative of that!”Everybody loves to hear good words. Aunty Cai immediately smiled so much that her eyes disappeared and only her teeth could be seen. “Ah, there is no need to be so polite. We are neighbors. It’s only right that we help each other out!”Remembered her root, had a good conscience, and appreciative of kindness offered by others. What a great child that she was!The more she looked at Tong Xuelu, the more Aunty Cai was fond of her. She held her hand and affectionately invited her to go inside her unit to chat.That was exactly what Tong Xuelu had wanted. In addition to thanking Aunty Cai for helping taking care of Tong Mianmian, more importantly, she wanted to find out more about the Tong’s family’s two factory positions. She had Tong Mianmian played with Zhudan outside the house and went inside with Aunty Cai. According to Aunty Cai, Tong Jiaming had temporarily took over Tong Dajun’s stevedore position at the factory. It was temporary because Tong Jiaming was only 11 years old and not yet of working age. Even if the factory leaned toward helping out the Tong’s family, they would not dare to make him a permanent worker. As for the weaver position vacated by Mother Tong, Tong Jiaming had temporarily lent it out to Zhou Fang. Zhou Fang was the wife of Xu Baigen, a stevedore. She was a villager and had never held a job before. As for the compensation from the government and the factory, the manager was not comfortable handing an amount that big to some children so he said he would pay them when the Tong family from Beihe arrived. Tong Xuelu raised her brows subtly when she finished listening to what Aunty Cai had told her. If she was right, Tong Jiaming stalled the family members in Beihe and quit school to go to work for the purpose of selling the two positions before the family members from Beihe arrived so he could get his hands on the money. He was, undoubtedly, a future prodigy in the business world, being able to figure something like this out at his young age. Unfortunately, he was too young. Having the right ideas was one thing, implementing them the way he had intended was another. Not only would the factory not hand over the compensation t him, nor would they let him make the decision to sell off the positions. That was one of the major reasons that the bosses’ childhood was such a tragic. These were what she needed to have done before those from Beihe arrived at the capital:1. Convert her household register over.2. Get her hands on the compensation.3. Sell or trade the positions at the factory. In addition, those from Beihe would try things once they had arrived. She needed some ways to prevent them from doing so.