Jing Yanhui, who was just kicked out of the hospital, weakly returned to her apartment, carrying an old canvas bag. She took out her key to unlock the door, but annoyingly, the key didn't go in. She was sure she didn't mix up the keys.
That's when she realized there was only one possibility: the lock had been changed.
She heard someone talking on the phone from inside her apartment, so she knocked on the door. After a while, a delicately dressed middle-aged woman opened the door. The instant she saw Jing, she disdainfully said, “Weren't you in the hospital? What are you doing back home?”
The middle-aged woman was Jing Yanhui’s mother, Liu Chunhua.
"I came back to get money to pay my medical expenses," said Jing Yanhui, her words hindered by her illness. When she was hospitalized, she paid a sum of money. But when she woke up, she found everything, including her bank card, was gone. The nurse said that Liu Chunhua had taken it.
Liu Chunhua, when she heard these words, scoffed, “Paying medical bills? You're a doctor yourself! It's a waste to give money to the hospital!"
Ignoring her mother, Jing Yanhui walked to the cabinet where her card was stored. When she found it empty, her face drastically changed. She asked, "Who took my bank card?"
Liu Chunhua did not meet Jing's eyes, but regained her composure seeing her ill daughter: "I gave the card to Qiu Hong. Since you're going to die soon anyway, spare some resources."
Jing Yanhui was filled with rage. She looked at Liu Chunhua and said, “Since the time you took my bag from the hospital, you never visited me. You always favored Qiu Hong, but this money was my lifesaver!"
“What sort of lifesaver?" said Liu Chunhua coldly. "The doctor told me, your cancer cannot be cured, even with copious money. Qiu Hong is about to marry Liu Siyuan and they need money for their house. I have already withdrawn all the money from the card for her."
Jing Yanhui felt a bucket of cold water poured over her after hearing her mother's words. Her mother had always shown preference to her siblings, giving them the best of everything.
Jing Yanhui had always been reminded that as an older sister, it was her responsibility to take care of her younger siblings. She bore all this to keep the peace at home, but now she felt her heart bleeding hearing these words from her own mother.
But given her illness, she had no energy to argue with Liu Chunhua. So, she opened the safe, took out the real estate ownership documents.
Seeing this, Liu Chunhua was immediately infuriated: "What are you doing with the property deeds?"
“I’ll sell the house to pay my medical bills," replied Jing Yanhui coldly.
Liu Chunhua immediately swore loudly, "You're so ruthless, actually planning to sell the house! Where will I live if you sell the house?"
Jing Yanhui ignored her, grabbed the property deed and prepared to leave, but Liu Chunhua stopped her and said, "You can leave if you want, but leave the property deed here!"
Jing Yanhui could no longer hold back and said, "I bought this house with my own money, and I have the right to deal with it! When other people's daughters are ill, the whole family will contribute money to save her, but you gave all my money to Qiu Hong, and now even prevent me from selling my house. Are you really my mother?”
She had wanted to ask this question for a long time. Why do other mothers treat their daughters gently and kindly, while on her end, Liu Chunhua just ruthlessly squeezed her worth.
Years ago, she would hand over her entire salary. When she sensed something was wrong, she no longer wanted to give money to Liu Chunhua. Since then, Liu Chunhua never treated her well. After she bought this apartment, Liu Chunhua moved in under the pretext of looking after her.
Now, she even treated her like this!
After a short silence, looking at Jing Yanhui, Liu Chunhua admitted reluctantly, "Anyway, at this point, I won't hide from you any longer. Yes, I'm indeed not your biological mother. After five years of marriage to your father, we had no children, so we adopted you from outside.”
"We originally intended to bring you up as our own daughter. But after we adopted you, I gave birth to three more children. As you were an orphan, when you came to our family, we raised you and of course, you should pay us back!"
Jing Yanhui's face turned pale instantly. Over the years, she had doubts, but all her family said that she was Liu Chunhua's biological child. She didn't feel it appropriate to bring it up, but she never expected that she was adopted!
Liu Chunhua looked at her and said, "If we hadn't adopted you and taken care of you back then, you would have starved to death. We've let you live for thirty more years, you should be grateful! Leave the property deed and just go die somewhere else. Save us the funeral expenses. That's also a cost. We're still short on the down payment for Qiu Hong's new house!"
Driven to trembling frustration, Jing Yanhui took the deed and left. Once everything was out in the open, Liu Chunhua was even more fearless, trying to snatch the property deed.
Poor Jing Yanhui, who was seriously ill, could not compete with Liu Chunhua. She lost her balance, hit the corner of a cabinet, and collapsed dizzily onto the floor.
After snatching the property deed, Liu Chunhua frowned at the sight of Jing Yanhui lying on the floor, "Don't you dare die here. If you do, this house would be difficult to sell!"
After saying this, she dragged Jing Yanhui out, threw her in the elevator, pressed for the basement floor, and then dumped her in the underground parking lot, leaving without a backward glance.
Jing Yanhui sat there dazedly, reflecting on her life, she realized it was a tragic life tale.
From a young age, she was oppressed by Liu Chunhua and forced to do all sorts of farm work. She was taught to take care of her siblings and respect her parents. Originally, her academic performance was excellent. However, at the age of seventeen, in an attempt to catch a wild chicken, she was somehow pushed off a cliff and rescued by the village fool.
In the conservative rural culture of the eighties, Liu Chunhua, upon receiving a dowry of a thousand RMB from the fool, sought to marry her off to him. Thankfully, her grandmother couldn't bear it, and after giving Liu Chunhua a thorough scolding, she called off the engagement. Yet from that point on, she was the object of incessant gossip and judgment. That summer break, she was shipped off by Liu Chunhua to work in a factory in the south.
At the tender age of seventeen, she strived to change her circumstances. Besides her daily shifts at the factory, she found time to study, eventually passing the self-taught courses for a college degree and a bachelor's degree in medicine. She was taken as an apprentice by a renowned traditional Chinese doctor, which brought some improvement to her life. She got a decent boyfriend, only to have him snatched away by her younger sister, Jing Qiuhong.
Her life had been interfered with far too much. Liu Chunhua’s family of four clung to her like maggots in a carcass, driving her to severe depression and breast cancer. Now, Liu Chunhua had abandoned her here, waiting for death.
Resentment welled up within her. If only she had known sooner that she was not Liu Chunhua's biological child, she would have inevitably found a way to shake off the shackles they had imposed on her!
If she could do it all over again, she'd ensure she would not fall into depression and contract breast cancer. She would find a good man to have a happy and healthy love affair with, and make Liu Chunhua and her parasitic family pay a heavy price!