Chapter 248 (Third Update) Losing the right to use his surname broke him...

Because of the participation of Madam Fu's works in the exhibition, the Fu family had an extra activity planned for this Spring Festival: visiting the exhibition.

During the past six months in Shenzhen, Fu's mother and Li Hong have spent more time together, and the two often do activities together.

This time, when the whole family went to the exhibition, she didn't even think twice before telling her daughter-in-law, "When the two families have dinner together on the second day of the Lunar New Year, ask your aunt and uncle if they're going."

“Okay.” Tang Mingli was thinking the same thing.

The two families had agreed while they were in Shenzhen to have dinner at Guangcheng Hotel on the second day of the Lunar New Year this year, so they wouldn't have to make a special trip to visit each other.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, when the two families had dinner together, they did indeed agree to go to the calligraphy and painting exhibition together on the fifth day.

Little did they know that on such a joyous and celebratory day, on their way to the exhibition, the Tang family would encounter someone they never wanted to see again.

"It's a ghost."

Tang Mingmei saw Li Dazhu walking towards her from afar and couldn't help but utter those words.

Although she wasn't afraid of him, she really didn't want any complications arising from such a scoundrel, so she wanted to take her family and avoid him.

However, it was too late; Li Dazhu had also discovered them.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Dazhu ran quickly towards them.

Saying he was fast wouldn't be accurate; his body was too obese, and even if he exerted all his strength, he could only walk a tiny bit faster than usual.

Tang Mingmei believed that if they turned around and ran away at this moment, they would definitely be able to shake him off.

But that would make them seem afraid of him, so she wouldn't do that.

When Tang Jianguo and his wife saw Li Dazhu, their faces also darkened.

Li Hong spat and said disdainfully, "What bad luck to run into this unlucky thing during the New Year."

Li Dazhu knew very well how much the Tang family disliked him, but he pretended to know nothing and greeted them warmly.

"Akami, it's been a long time."

Then he looked at Tang Xin, who had already reached the shoulder of an adult, and knew in his heart that this must be his good-for-nothing daughter who had failed to be born as a son.

Even though he was clearly disgusted, he still pretended to be a father who missed his child very much.

"This must be Li Xin. I didn't expect her to have grown so much."

As she spoke, she reached out to touch him, but Tang Xin dodged her.

Disgust and contempt are not hidden from others.

Tang Xin's dislike for her father wasn't simply due to her grandmother's constant complaints about how bad he was and how unloved she was at birth. As she grew older and more mature, she increasingly understood what a terrible and irresponsible father he was. Moreover, she had her aunt's husband, such an excellent father, as a contrast.

Li Dazhu was immediately enraged by his biological daughter's attitude.

But he knew he had no right to be angry, so he held back and even made up an excuse.

"Hehe, why does the child become more and more shy as they grow up? When they were little, they loved it when I held them the most."

Upon hearing this, Tang Mingmei couldn't help but curse: "They're getting more and more shameless as they get older. They disliked the fact that the child was a girl from the moment she was born, and didn't even bother to look at her. They even dared to say that they would hold her themselves."

Li Dazhu's face immediately turned red.

It wasn't that I was embarrassed and angry after being exposed; it was pure anger.

No wonder the child isn't close to her; it's what she taught him.

He knew that if he lived with his ex-wife after the divorce, he would have wasted his life raising this daughter, and she would never be filial to him in the future.

But he was so conflicted.

He could tell that Tang Mingmei was doing well now. He knew it was impossible to repair his relationship with Tang Mingmei through his daughter, but he wanted to try to mend their father-daughter bond through blood ties.

As long as the child has their father in their heart, good days will come sooner or later.

Tang Mingmei is already this old, and she will probably only have this one child in her life.

No, she will definitely only have this one child in her life, since she had her fallopian tubes removed.

No matter how much money you earn now, it'll all be for your children in the future, right?

If a child truly loves their father, how could they possibly see him having a hard time?

Thinking of this, Li Dazhu's anger subsided considerably.

Since losing his job after having a second child, he has failed at everything he tries. These repeated setbacks have made him realize that this is his life, and he can't turn things around on his own.

Fortunately, he still has children. If he can just endure another ten or eight years, when his children grow up and can earn money, his good days will come.

But today, seeing Tang Mingmei and his eldest daughter, he suddenly realized that he didn't need to wait ten or eight years. As long as he could repair his relationship with his eldest daughter, his life would immediately improve.

Blood is thicker than water. Even if he never raised the child for a single day, it doesn't change the fact that he is the child's father.

The more Li Dazhu thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed, and the more confident he became.

"Mingmei, your temper hasn't changed in ten years. You're already this age, and you're still so unreasonable. How could you slander me like that in front of the children?"

"I'm slandering you?"

Tang Mingmei was furious, but before she could vent her anger, her daughter pulled her back.

"Mom, don't be angry. It's not worth getting angry with someone like this during the New Year."

Tang Xin was gentle and kind when comforting her mother, but her face immediately turned stern when she looked at Li Dazhu.

“You used to despise me because I was your daughter, and you treated me and my mother with utter contempt. Later, when my mother got sick and had her fallopian tubes removed, you treated her even less like a human being. After the divorce, my mother raised me alone, and you never gave her a single penny of child support. Now you're pretending to be so affectionate.”

Li Dazhu couldn't believe that such a young child could say such cruel things.

But then I thought about it again. The child's maternal grandmother and mother were both shrewish people. Growing up around them, it's not surprising that he turned out this way.

But he didn't expect that even harsher words were yet to come.

"Also, I'm no longer called Li Xin, my name is Tang Xin."

Regardless of whether they like the daughter or not, men have an innate possessiveness when it comes to the right to give their child's surname.

Even if you kill the child after it's born, it still has to take your surname.

So when he heard his daughter say that her surname was Tang, Li Dazhu stopped pretending.

To be precise, he was so angry that he lost his temper and couldn't keep up the act anymore. His eyes were wide open, like saucers, as he glared at Tang Mingmei and angrily questioned, "Who gave you permission to change the child's surname? What gives you the right to change the child's surname to yours?"

"Why can't my child take my surname?"

"No, children only take their father's surname. There has never been a child taking their mother's surname throughout history."

Li Dazhu practically roared; the child changing to the mother's surname had truly broken his guard.

Tang Mingmei thought to herself that it was ridiculous.

He doesn't care about his living daughter, but he cares about her surname.

That's ridiculous.

Tang Mingmei refuted Li Dazhu with facts: "Who said that no child has ever taken their mother's surname throughout history? Let me tell you, Qu Yuan, whom Chinese people commemorate every year, took his mother's surname."

This was told to her by her daughter.

Last year during the Dragon Boat Festival, the teacher explained the origin of the festival to the students in the class, and gave a detailed introduction to the great poet Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan's surname was mentioned in the introduction.

In ancient times, the surname was given by the mother, and the clan name by the father. Therefore, Qu Yuan took his mother's surname, Mi, and his father's clan name, Qu.

"You're talking nonsense." Li Dazhu didn't believe him. Or rather, he didn't care.

Tang Mingmei sneered, "That's right, you stupid pig only know how to eat zongzi, you don't even know who Qu Yuan is, so how would you know these things?"

The idiot Li Dazhu was probably so angry that he was no longer concerned about Tang Mingmei scolding him, but was shouting that he had to change his daughter's surname back.

Tang Mingmei angrily retorted, "Change, change, change my foot!"

"It has to be changed, otherwise I...I...I..."

Li Dazhu said "I" several times, but he didn't know how to threaten him.

What can we do if we don't change him?

Tang Mingmei snorted coldly, "What can you do if I don't change?"

"I...I'll come and cause you trouble every day."

Tang Mingmei frowned, telling him not to be so shameless.

Li Dazhu, in a fit of desperation, declared: "I may be shameless, but what can you do about it?"

Li Hong and Tang Jianguo were furious.

Tang Jianguo, in particular, is also a man, and he also has his own selfish desires regarding the right to surname.

His granddaughter has his surname, so how could he let Li Dazhu take her back?

Tang Jianguo flew into a rage.

She really jumped up and slapped Li Dazhu.

*Smack*

The sound of the slaps was deafening.

Tang Jianguo shouted as he hit him, "What can we do to you? What can we do to you? What do you say we can do?"

Logically speaking, Li Dazhu is younger, taller, and stronger, so it's impossible for him to be afraid of Tang Jianguo.

As the saying goes, the wicked fear the ruthless, and the ruthless fear the fearless.

Tang Jianguo was willing to risk his life for his surname, looking like he was ready to fight to the death, which really scared Li Dazhu.

In the end, Li Dazhu fled in disarray.

Li Hong looked at her brave husband and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Honey, I've lived with you for half my life, and I never imagined you could be so brave."

It was clearly a compliment, but Tang Jianguo blushed and whispered, "Don't say things like that in front of children."

Li Hong wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and smiled, "I'm praising you, why are you shy?"

Tang Jianguo was speechless.

Is this a compliment? It's an open declaration that he's been a coward his whole life.

Not wanting to continue the conversation, he quickly changed the subject.

"We need to hurry, Mingli and the others must already be looking at the exhibition."

"Oh, right, right, right." Li Hong stopped crying and hurried on her way.

-

In the end, they arrived a full hour late, and the Fu family had already made their rounds.

Upon seeing their arrival, Tang Mingli asked with concern, "Did something happen on the way?"

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been this late.

Tang Mingmei sighed and told him about her encounter with Li Dazhu on the road.

Upon hearing that it was Li Dazhu who had delayed them, Madam Fu knew that the Tang family must have been affected, so she comforted them, "It's alright, just think of it as encountering a vicious dog on the way."

Li Hong loved this analogy and burst out laughing, "How unlucky we are to run into this person in such a big city like Guangcheng."

Mrs. Fu nodded, "That's right."

Tang Mingmei frowned whenever this person was mentioned.

Although meeting Li Dazhu was somewhat unlucky, it wasn't entirely without its advantages.

If she hadn't met Li Dazhu, how would she have known that her daughter knew everything and stood firmly on her mother's side?

Thinking about all this, she felt that meeting Li Dazhu wasn't so bad after all.

Not wanting to waste time talking about this person, Tang Mingmei quickly said, "Let's go see the exhibition and let the children appreciate the calligraphy of the masters."

Everyone nodded.

Aside from Madam Fu, only Fu Ci and Tang Mingli were likely able to appreciate the calligraphy and paintings on display.

People who didn't understand naturally asked the two of them.

The saying "Outsiders watch the spectacle, insiders see the details" is so true.

With Fu Ci and Tang Mingli's explanation, those who didn't understand at first were able to grasp it to some extent.

However, more important than understanding it is watching it together as a family.

The good mood made everyone temporarily forget the unpleasantness brought by Li Dazhu.

Until half of the exhibition had been viewed.

Upon seeing that person in the crowd, both Madam Fu and her mother frowned.

Fu's mother added, "Today might not be an auspicious day."

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Author's note: [Let me see] Today is the KPL annual finals, I want to watch the match.

I don't know when the competition will end. If I don't finish writing by midnight, I'll postpone it to 1 AM or later. Anyway, I'll definitely finish writing and update before going to sleep. Don't stay up too late, see you when you wake up.