Lucky Golden Dragon in the 80s: My Dad? I Switched Him for a Better One Chapter 1: Abandoned by Her Own Father

"Your mom’s dead, so what are you doing here? Why didn’t you just die with her! I have a family now. I can’t let you ruin my life!"

The frigid wind howled.

Dusk was falling.

Three-year-old Shanshan clutched her thin, cotton-padded jacket, so hungry she was starting to feel faint.

Before her stood a tall man in a crisp, army-green woolen overcoat.

He looked at her not as a daughter, but as if she were so kind of jinx.

Shanshan sniffled, swallowing hard against the lump forming in her throat.

The tip of her nose was red with cold, and tears welled in her eyes, but she bit her lip hard to keep from crying.

’She didn’t understand. Her mother had said her father loved her more than anyone.’

’But could this cold, heartless man before her really be the father they always talked about?’

’Could he really be the sa father who used to carry her around the yard, who made her laugh, who bought her sugar figurines?’

"...Daddy." She shuffled forward tentatively, her little feet, red and raw from the cold, peeking out to touch the frozen ground.

Her little face was purple from the cold, eyes brimming with tears, and her voice was a tiny, soft thing.

"Shanshan only needs a little bit to eat... I’ll be good... Please, don’t abandon ... *sob*... Grandma, Grandpa, and Mama... they... they all starved to death..."

"Don’t co any closer!" Cao Daqiang roared, his face twisted in disgust.

He shot a quick glance over his shoulder, then lowered his voice and snarled, "Listen up! Nobody here knows about your mother! And I’m not taking you inside! Even if you barge in, people will just think you’re so bastard child. They’ll call your mother a howrecker, understand? She was never my lawfully wedded wife! Who the hell does she think she was? And you think you have the right to call ’Daddy’?"

Shanshan’s tears froze in her eyes.

Even at three years old, she knew how ugly words like "bastard child" and "howrecker" were.

She stiffened her little neck and glared up at him, her childish voice sharp with defiance.

"I’m not a bastard child! It’s you! You’re the one who abandoned Mom and to run off with so other woman in the city! You promised you’d co back for us! You said we could move in once you got your own place! You lied! You’re a big fat liar!"

Cao Daqiang’s face went pale with fear.

Terrified that soone might hear the crying, he glanced around nervously, his face alternating between pale and ashen.

He whipped his head around. Seeing Shanshan still sobbing, he flew into a rage and lunged to clamp a hand over her mouth.

"You little brat, you’ve got so nerve!" His hand shot out and seized Shanshan’s twig-like arm, squeezing so hard the pain made it go numb.

"Get out of here! And stay far away!"

He roared viciously, flecks of spittle spraying on Shanshan’s face.

"If you dare shout one more ti, I’ll sell you! I’ll have you thrown in a sack and tossed into an unmarked car, you hear ?"

Shanshan’s head spun and her vision went black before she could even react.

He flung her small body away.

Her small body slamd into the hard-packed earth, tearing a large chunk of cotton stuffing from her ruined jacket.

Shanshan’s cheek scraped against the ground, stinging painfully. It felt like every bone in her body was about to shatter.

With her small, purple hands, she wiped away her tears, slowly pushed herself up, and picked up the half-eaten stead bun from the dirt.

...Cold. Hungry. Hurt.

"*Sob sob...* Damn you, heavens!" Shanshan cried, hiccuping as fat tears plopped onto the ground one after another.

She was the rarest Little Golden Dragon in the Heavenly Realm.

In the Dragon Palace, treasures her parents had found for her were piled high. A single pearl plucked from the Coral Forest could sustain a mortal for several lifetis.

She had drunk things like Immortal Brew Jade Dew as if it were water since birth.

’The esteed Princess Xiao Long... If she hadn’t been tricked into undergoing a mortal trial, how could she have ever ended up in such a wretched state?’

’Now, her grandparents were gone, and her mother had starved to death on the journey... She had walked for so, so long to finally reach this place.’

’Should she give up?’

’But where else could she go...?’

’In this vast world, there wasn’t a single place for her.’

The more the little dragon cub thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. And the more aggrieved she felt, the emptier her stomach beca.

Finally, she plopped down on the ground, wrapped her arms around her knees, and her mouth twisted into a pout before she let out a loud "WAAAAH!"

"*Sob sob...* Bad Daddy doesn’t want Shanshan... Mama’s gone... I have no ho... Shanshan is so hungry... *Waaaaah...*"

She cried until she was gasping for breath, snot and tears saring her face into a ss.

Before long, the heart-wrenching sobs drew the attention of all the neighbors in the family courtyard.

"Oh, my heavens, listen to that child cry! It just breaks your heart!"

"Cao Daqiang, is that your little girl? Why won’t you let her in the house? It’s freezing out here, she’ll catch her death!"

"What kind of father acts like that! Is your heart made of stone? That’s your own flesh and blood! You’re worse than an animal!"

More and more people started chiming in.

Cao Daqiang’s face flushed red and pale. "She’s not my daughter! I, Cao Daqiang, have only one precious daughter, Jiajia! I don’t know where this kid ca from trying to claim kinship! Don’t think a few tears are enough to swindle !"

"Oh, really! Cao Daqiang, you dare say that again? Go on, I dare you to roar that one more ti in front of all of us! Why don’t you take a look in the mirror? Look at your own eyes, your brows, the bridge of your nose, and then look at this little girl! She’s the spitting image of you, and you still have the gall to deny her? What, did a dog eat your conscience?"

A booming voice suddenly erupted as a tall, plump auntie squeezed her way out of the crowd.

This woman was Zhang Yunhua, known throughout the compound as a formidable character.

Hearing this, the other residents craned their necks to get a better look.

The little girl had rosy lips and pearly teeth, with delicate features. Her large, limpid eyes, frad by double eyelids, shimred with unshed tears, and her small mouth was a tender pink.

Though her clothes were filthy and her little face was smudged with gri, it couldn’t conceal the spark of Spiritual Energy about her.

More and more people gathered around.

"Zhang Yunhua, stop making baseless accusations! I said she isn’t mine, are you deaf? You think a passing resemblance ans anything? For all I know, she’s so little demon sent by a distant relative to collect a debt!"

Auntie Pang, Zhang Yunhua, spat on the ground. "Pah!" she sneered, her face full of contempt. "A coward who won’t even claim his own daughter! You’re a disgrace to that uniform! You’re worse than an animal!"

She turned to look at Shanshan on the ground. The child was hiccuping from crying so hard, her face a ss of tears and snot.

Her big, tear-filled eyes darted around timidly.

It was a sight that made your heart ache, that made you want to snatch her up and hold her tight to warm her.

’So people pray to every god and buddha and still can’t have a child.’

’And here’s a perfectly good daughter being shoved away!’

’It’s a sin!’

’Even being struck by lightning would be too light a punishnt for such a heartless man!’

She squatted down, her knees letting out a faint CREAK. She wiped her coarse hand on her trousers before gently stroking Shanshan’s head.

"Little one, don’t cry now, okay? Auntie’s here. No one’s going to bully you. You just tell , is that man your daddy? If you nod, Auntie will stand up for you!"

Shanshan lifted her tear-filled eyes, her little face flushed red. She nodded desperately, sobbing in her small, childish voice, "Yes... it’s him... He’s Shanshan’s daddy... He even held at the entrance to the village and gave candy... But he doesn’t want anymore... He said I’m a burden... *Waaah*... I want my daddy... I want to go ho..."