Wang Baozhu entered Li Zhifang’s house dressed to the nines.
It was the ti when school let out at noon.
Li Jingyan and Li Jingyu were both studying in the county; they ca back once a week and usually didn’t return ho during the weekdays.
Li Jinghan was attending primary school in the village and had to co back ho for als every day.
Before Li Zhifang went to the fishpond to catch fish, he had cooked so food for Li Jinghan, who just needed to heat it up when he got back.
After school, Li Jinghan hurried ho. He needed to eat earlier so he could free up ti to solve more problems, as he planned to improve his studies and aim to get into a high school in the Provincial City when it was ti for middle school entrance exams.
A couple of days ago, during his visit to Li Baolai’s place, he heard from Zhang Fengfeng that Anning had taken Liu Yuzhen to the Provincial City. Missing Anning terribly, he thought that if he also went to the Provincial City, he would surely still live with Anning and Liu Yuzhen.
These days, Li Jinghan didn’t want to waste a single minute of study ti and was desperately working hard.
However, when he hurried ho today, he saw a woman standing in the courtyard. The woman was wearing a light red floral dress, her long hair curled into big waves, and her face delicately made up, looking exceptionally beautiful.
Yet, seeing this woman, Li Jinghan didn’t show any pleasant expression.
"What are you doing here?"
Li Jinghan asked angrily.
Wang Baozhu also saw Li Jinghan.
With a particularly nice smile, she tried to be as gentle as possible and said to Li Jinghan in an affectionate tone, "Jinghan is back. Your dad is at the fishpond today. How about Mom takes you out to eat?"
Wang Baozhu felt that she was already treating Li Jinghan well enough.
But Li Jinghan saw calculation in her eyes, as if he himself were a good for sale, and when Wang Baozhu appraised him, she was evaluating how much money this good could fetch and what benefits it could bring her.
Li Jinghan particularly disliked such a gaze.
He brushed off the hand that Wang Baozhu extended to pull him and shouted loudly, "You are not my mother; stay away from . You’re a fox spirit; it’s all your fault, all because of you. If not for you, my mother wouldn’t have left. You forced my mother to leave; you’re not a good person. Get lost, get out, and never set foot in my house again."
At this ti, it was lunchti, and the families living near Li Zhifang’s house were all around.
Aunt Lin, who lived next door, hurried over when she heard the commotion.
She was worried that Li Jinghan would encounter trouble being ho alone.
As soon as Aunt Lin entered, she saw Li Jinghan furiously shouting at Wang Baozhu.
Wang Baozhu’s face turned particularly ugly with anger.
Her eyes filled with rage, yet she restrained her anger wanting to reason with Li Jinghan, "Jinghan, I am your mother. I am your biological mother, and you are my biological son. That Geng Anning is not your mother; she has deceived you. She doesn’t truly care about you. You must not be fooled any longer. In this world, only a biological mother will truly be good to you. Do you understand?"
Li Jinghan certainly wasn’t naïve or easily tricked into believing soone’s words like a kid who hadn’t experienced much of the world.
Over the years, Anning had taught them, siblings, a lot of things. Whether it was work in the fields or business matters, Anning would discuss them. During the holidays, she would also take them to the City and the Provincial City to see and learn, telling them about the complexity of human relationships.
Especially to Li Jinghan, Anning had told many historical stories, which he particularly enjoyed.
He was a thoughtful child, his thinking far more mature than that of other children. If an adult treated him as an equal, he could accept that. But Wang Baozhu was clearly coddling him as if he were a little child, which made him feel even worse about her.
"You’re the one talking nonsense. Do you think I’m a fool? Let tell you, my dad might be foolish, but I am not foolish at all. I know who truly cares for . I’ve known since I was little that my mother isn’t biologically related to , but what does that matter? My bond with my mother can’t be broken by just a few words from you."
Aunt Lin was especially comforted by Li Jinghan’s words and felt happiness for Anning.
After all these years of hardship, Anning’s efforts were not in vain, and there were still people who rembered her kindness.
Yet Wang Baozhu felt Li Jinghan shouldn’t act like this.
She was Li Jinghan’s biological mother, and his treatnt of her amounted to being unfilial.
Fuming with anger, she reached out, wanting to grab Li Jinghan and give him a couple of smacks.
"You little brat, how can you not distinguish right from wrong? I was afraid you wouldn’t eat well at ho alone, so I wanted to take you out for a al, and you talk back to like this. Who taught you to act this way against your own mother? Was it Geng Anning? I knew that woman was up to no good."
"Don’t talk about my mom!"
Like a little cannonball, Li Jinghan charged over and knocked Wang Baozhu to the ground.
His face turned red with fury: "Who gave you the audacity to insult my mom? What right do you have to speak ill of her? My mom is a thousand tis, no, ten thousand tis better than you..."
Seeing Wang Baozhu getting up from the ground in anger and about to hit Li Jinghan, Aunt Lin quickly went over to restrain Wang Baozhu: "What are you doing? You want to hit the child?"
Aunt Lin made eye signals to Li Jinghan.
Li Jinghan was clever, he wouldn’t just wait to be hit. He grabbed his backpack and ran off without a trace.
Wang Baozhu was so angry she wanted to curse: "Aunt Lin, let go! I’m beating my own son, what right do you have to interfere? Let go of !"
Aunt Lin only let go of Wang Baozhu after seeing Li Jinghan run away.
She didn’t have a good impression of Wang Baozhu at all, and naturally, her words were not kind.
"Your own son? When you ran away, did you ever think about the child? How old was Jinghan back then? You just abandoned him. Now what face do you have to demand he calls you mother? After Anning ca, she treated these three children no less than her own. She slowly ward their hearts. And look at you, now that the child is grown up and doing well, you co back wanting to reap the rewards. Let tell you, it’s not as easy as you think."
Aunt Lin spat on the ground towards Wang Baozhu, cursing as she walked away.
Li Jinghan ran out of his house and went straight to Zhang Fengfeng.
Coincidentally, Li Zhikang was also there, talking to Zhang Fengfeng about paying back Anning.
Li Jinghan just happened to hear it.
Hearing Li Zhikang say that Anning rembered the children and didn’t want them to suffer, trying to raise money to pay him and Li Zhiping back, Li Jinghan’s heart hurt unbearably, and tears started falling continuously.
"Grandma, Sixth Uncle."
He ran over crying, "Wang Baozhu... she wanted to hit ..."
"What?"
Zhang Fengfeng stood up abruptly upon hearing this: "That wretched woman, she dares to hit you? She dares to hit my dear grandson?"
Li Zhikang also frowned deeply: "Why did she want to hit you?"
Li Jinghan caught his breath, and Zhang Fengfeng quickly went into the house to bring him a cup of mung bean and rock sugar water to drink.
He gulped down a few mouthfuls: "She insulted my mom and said bad things about her. I got so angry, and when I talked back, she tried to hit ."
Li Jinghan felt more and more aggrieved as he spoke, crying miserably, "Grandma, I miss my mom. Why hasn’t she co back to pick up?"
His crying reminded Zhang Fengfeng of Anning, and she started to cry as well.
She hugged Li Jinghan: "Don’t cry, don’t cry. Grandma misses your mom too. She’ll co to pick you up soon, very soon."
Li Zhikang waited for a while, then patted Li Jinghan on the shoulder: "You study well, and when it’s ti to test for middle school, we will transfer our household registration to Provincial City. Then you can go to school in Provincial City and you’ll be able to see your mom."
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