Chapter 64 Incompetent Man

"I didn't give birth to the son they wanted," Madam Lu said, lowering her head. "I gave birth to a daughter... a daughter born mentally retarded, unable to speak, and even with deformed limbs. A daughter they call... a freak."

Xu Chuchu's heart suddenly beat violently.

Not only did he foresee the future of Mrs. Lu and the child, but he also thought of Xiao Yu beside him.

"You're so smart, it shouldn't be hard for you to guess what they'll do to me and my daughter," Mrs. Lu continued. "They can scold me, humiliate me, torture me, whatever they want. I don't care. But they want to throw my daughter into the Tailing River... They want to throw my own daughter away."

"I knelt down and begged them. I told them I would take care of our daughter by myself and wouldn't let them get upset watching me. I would embroider the fabric myself and earn money, and I wouldn't spend a single ounce of silver from the Lu family... After so much pleading and promises, they finally saved our daughter's life."

"Nannan naturally became my biggest concern. With her, my life has hope. I don't care about any more difficulties or humiliations."

"I take care of her every day, teaching her to talk and walk... She's a slow learner. Most children learn to walk by the age of one or two, but she's still only able to crawl on the ground at three, and she can't even utter a single word."

"But you know what... She's not completely emotionless, she has feelings!"

"She laughs when I tell her stories because she's happy. She cries when she wets the bed because she's afraid of causing trouble for me... Her eyes are shining brightly. She's just an ordinary, obedient child! Why can't they see it?"

Xu Chuchu asked hesitantly, "What about your husband? What's his attitude?"

Speaking of this man who was supposed to provide for his wife and children, Mrs. Lu tutted in disdain.

"Him? He was quite patient at first. He would accompany me to coax the child and wanted to teach her to call him daddy."

"Later, he found that the child couldn't be taught no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't talk or walk... He lost his patience."

"He discussed with me that he wanted to have another child with me. Yes, he said it would be best if it was a son, so that he could explain to his mother and his daughter would have a better life."

"But I don't believe it! I said I won't have any more children. I said if you want a son, then go get a concubine and have her give birth, or just divorce me and let my daughter go. Even if I go blind from embroidery, I can still support her!"

"Do you think I'm too stubborn?"

"But can you imagine what it would be like if I really gave birth to a son?... No one would pay attention to Nannan anymore. Everyone would love her brother, and they might even feel sorry for him for having such a silly sister..."

"Nannan is not stupid, she has feelings. If she finds out that there are comparisons and she finds herself being left out, she will be very sad!"

"It's obvious that Lu Junyuan, that brain-dead bastard, hates it most when parents favor one of their two children, so why is he doing the same thing as his mother?"

Mrs. Lu finally couldn't help it and cursed her husband, tears streaming down her face.

Xu Chuchu sighed softly: "What happened to Nannan? No one in the mansion mentioned her anymore."

"No one ever mentioned her in the first place." Madam Lu wiped her tears. "That old man despised Nannan and never acknowledged her as his granddaughter. He also forbade anyone in the mansion to mention Nannan or do anything for her. He treated her as if she didn't exist."

"One afternoon..." she took a deep breath, "I was so tired from embroidery that I went to bed to take a nap and let my daughter play in the room by herself."

"I didn't expect that when I woke up... Nannan was gone! They told me that Nannan had climbed out to play and fell into the pond and drowned!"

Sure enough...Xu Chuchu's heart suddenly sank.

"This is ridiculous, truly ridiculous! She was murdered!" Mrs. Lu said excitedly. "I asked that bastard Lu Junyuan to seek justice for Nannan and to find out who threw her into the pond... But he actually told me that Nannan's death was an accident and there was nothing to investigate!"

"Accident, what an accident!"

"Nannan couldn't even stand up, how could she open a door taller than her! The dormitory is so far away from the pond, how did she crawl all the way there without being discovered? This is not an accident at all!"

"...But no one listened to me. It was like they had agreed to this. They all said I was overthinking it and that no one would harm Nannan."

"I refused to compromise. I went to the government and begged them to find the real culprit for my daughter. The government sent people to investigate, but everyone told them that my daughter had drowned and that I was causing trouble because of my grief... The government didn't care."

"Nannan's death was the last straw that broke the camel's back... I really couldn't bear it anymore. During that time, I quarreled with Lu Junyuan every day. I screamed like crazy, threw everything in the room, and cried all night long..."

"Only after seeing me collapse into this state did Lu Junyuan finally realize he was wrong."

"He started to apologize to me, saying that it was his inability to coordinate the relationship between me and his mother, and his failure to care for his daughter, that led to his daughter's death."

"He said he had no choice. His mother often told him that if she hadn't raised him with all the hardship and difficulty, he would have starved to death on the streets, been eaten by vicious dogs... So now he should obey her in everything, not contradict her at all, and hand over all the money he earned, otherwise he would be unfilial."

"He also told me that he worked too hard and had too many social engagements when he was young, and his health was not good. He said that he would leave all his property to me after his death to make up for the harm he had done to me over the years."

Mrs. Lu paused and sneered sarcastically, "So, after hearing this, do you think he still has some conscience?"

"Maybe?" Xu Chuchu tried to comfort her.

Mrs. Lu shook her head: "No, that's because you don't understand him."

"If he didn't make it up to me when he was alive, why wait until after he died? Huh? Because he's a coward! He's useless!"

"He didn't dare to face his mother, didn't dare to persuade her to treat me well, and only dared to leave a piece of paper after his death, saying that he would leave his wealth to me. Because after he died, he could easily escape from all this!"

"He doesn't have to worry about whether this piece of paper is useful, or how his mother and brother will embarrass me..."

"He didn't even want to. He thought he was making it up to me by writing these words."

"How can there be such an incompetent man in the world!"

Facing Mrs. Lu's emotional breakdown, Xu Chuchu silently poured her a cup of tea.

"Thank you." Mrs. Lu took it and drank it all in one gulp. "You're the first person who's willing to listen to me nagging for so long. I feel much better. So...it's time to tell you what you want to know."