Volume One, Chapter Fourteen: Because I Am the Mother & You Just Can’t Learn It

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Luo Xuan spat a mouthful of water onto the ground. She covered her mouth and coughed incessantly.

Meanwhile, Wei Yinyin was engulfed by overwhelming rage.

“What’s wrong with you?! What do you mean by saying he loves you?!” she screamed in disbelief.

“Of course he loves me,” Lin Zhaodi said matter-of-factly. “You praised him for so long, but all your compliments were really about me. Without me, he’d have at most ten thousand yuan in his pocket, no different from any old man reeking of cumin and chives on the street—you wouldn’t even glance at him.” At this, Lin Zhaodi finally revealed a trace of sorrow. “Wenbin has three daughters—one disowns him, and the other two,” she gestured toward Luo Xuan and Luo Qi, “how much affection do they have for him? A man who can’t even love his own daughters, how could he possibly love a woman?”

Wei Yinyin’s voice remained firm: “It’s because you’re heartless.”

Lin Zhaodi chuckled mockingly. “Stop thinking about love all the time. If you ever earned a bit of money yourself, you’d know how ruthless people can be.”

Wei Yinyin sneered coldly, “You mean yourself, right?”

Lin Zhaodi crossed her arms and looked at her. “Me ruthless? You should know, I don’t want to give you a single cent. But I despise your parents’ ways, so I was willing to give you a choice.”

Wei Yinyin asked, “Because of Wenbin?”

Lin Zhaodi shook her head.

Looking steadily at the young woman, she said calmly, “Because I’m a mother too.”

Outside, dusk was falling. Lin Guodong returned, his expression unchanged, but behind him, the two elders of the Wei family looked utterly pale, their sleeves soiled with mud and their calves covered in burrs.

Upon seeing Wei Yinyin, the three of them embraced tightly.

Wei Yinyin hurriedly asked, “Dad, Mom, what’s wrong?”

Old Mrs. Wei choked back tears, glanced at Lin Guodong, and pulled Wei Yinyin along. “Let’s go! Let’s go home!”

Through the gap between the two elders, Luo Xuan noticed a flicker of hesitation flash across Wei Yinyin’s face. But soon after, she nodded. “Let’s go back.”

Lin Guodong handed over a red envelope. “Here’s 600 yuan for your travel expenses. Let’s go—I’ll drive you to the train station.”

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Old Mr. Wei looked resentful and shot a glance at Lin Guodong but dared not say a word.

At checkout, Luo Xuan quietly asked her uncle, “Is it true that some bank card has 200,000 yuan in it?”

Lin Guodong sneered, “Some bastard nobody knows, trying to take money from our family’s pockets?” Then he pulled out his wallet.

Luo Xuan hurriedly stopped him, “This bill has to be paid by our family. It’s already troublesome enough for you, Uncle.”

Lin Guodong played the part, “We’re all family. What’s a little money? Don’t be so formal with me.”

If it had been before, Luo Xuan wouldn’t have thought much of it. But her eldest sister’s warning still rang in her ears, so she immediately said, “Uncle, family is family, but accounts must be settled separately.”

Lin Guodong looked at Luo Xuan twice. “What, afraid I’ll snatch your inheritance?”

Her elder sister, skilled in social graces, quickly smiled to smooth things over. “Xuan, your uncle treats you well. We are all family.” She shrewdly took the money from Luo Xuan’s hand while coaxing her uncle, “Guodong, let your niece treat us. You’ve done so much—you deserve our thanks.”

After that exchange, both Lin Guodong and Luo Xuan felt gratified.

While her elder sister was checking the bill, Luo Xuan quietly asked, “Uncle, what did you do to the Wei family?”

Lin Guodong hadn’t taken them to the bank at all. Instead, he drove the two elderly people over rough village roads for most of the day. When they got out, vomiting wildly, he used the excuse of finding a hospital and left them stranded in a desolate wilderness with no village or shop nearby to shelter them.

The village still had some idle teenage boys who were happy to pose as tough guys for a little money. The two elders fled in panic into the mountains.

Without phones, finding them took considerable effort. When Lin Guodong finally brought them back, they were nearly hysterical with fear.

Luo Xuan asked again, “Just sending them off like that—won’t Uncle cause trouble for us?”

Lin Guodong scoffed, “Without your father’s indulgence, your uncle wouldn’t be able to stir up anything. Your dad’s already been cremated, and the will is done. That family is now under my control—no one’s getting a dime!”

Her uncle was shrewd and reliable, so Luo Xuan finally relaxed. After a moment, she couldn’t help but ask, “What about Wei Yinyin? Will she be sent off to marry again?”

Lin Guodong was indifferent. “How would I know?”

Luo Xuan hesitated to speak.

Lin Guodong asked curiously, “You feel sorry for her? Are you crazy? Your father was a scoundrel. When Wei Yinyin was living the high life with your dad, what kind of life was your mother living? I’m lucky I didn’t let her take it all. If your mother hadn’t acted decisively, she would have cleaned out your father’s money, and none of you would have gotten a single cent!”

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Luo Xuan’s face flushed red.

Lin Guodong’s expression darkened further. “Have you ever considered your mother’s hardships? Have you ever sympathized with her? You don’t think about your mother, yet you worry about Wei Yinyin and your dead father? Are you so rich that you have an excess of kindness? You really don’t understand the business at home or the treachery of human nature!”

Luo Xuan felt guilty. “I will learn.”

Lin Guodong cut her off decisively. “You’re too soft-hearted. You won’t learn.”

After settling the bill, they stepped into the yard. Lin Guodong sat in the driver’s seat.

The rear door opened, and Luo Xuan watched as Wei Yinyin’s silhouette was swallowed by three other shadows: two elders and a boy. Perhaps also the pale shadow of a dead man.

Though she had been scolded by Lin Guodong and steeled herself, seeing Wei Yinyin sliding toward her fate made Luo Xuan feel a bit heavy-hearted.

Suddenly, she heard a voice: “Hey!”

But she hadn’t opened her mouth.

Following the voice, Luo Xuan turned and saw her younger sister Luo Qi brushing past her, calling out to Wei Yinyin’s retreating back, “Hey!”

The voices of sisters were so alike.

Luo Xuan quickly grabbed her younger sister. “What are you doing?!”

Luo Qi called out once more to Wei Yinyin’s back, “Hey!”

Wei Yinyin glanced back expressionlessly and got into the car.

The door closed, and the car slowly vanished at the end of the road.