Her face flushed red, and she abruptly turned her head away, no longer looking in this direction, but her tightly pursed lips and clenched fists betrayed the turmoil in her heart.
"Cousin?" Mingzhao really didn't know she had a cousin.
"Where did you come from?"
It's one thing that Minglang's cousin showed up, but at least because of him, Howard saw him and rescued him. Otherwise, he'd probably still be in jail.
Cousin? There was never such a person in Yuan Mingzhao's memory.
“Your father is my uncle. I am Zhao Xiaoxiao. You should remember me now, right?” After saying that, Zhao Xiaoxiao paused and looked at Mingzhao with a hint of doubt in her eyes. “You can talk now, but you used to be mute.”
He's been like this since he was little. He doesn't speak, he just stares straight at people, like he's possessed by something in a ghost story, it's really creepy.
Li Xiaocao felt unhappy from her tone. What do you mean, "mute"?
"How dare you talk like that? You're not happy now that she's doing better? You say you're her sister, where were you a few years ago?"
The way people around Zhao Xiaoxiao were looking at her was strange.
Zhao Xiaoxiao looked at Mingzhao and saw that she was still unmoved, and wished she could beat her up.
It's all because of this mute guy that he's become a laughingstock. (Huh? It rhymes!)
Although Mingzhao can speak now, she still feels much the same as before. Her enlarged little face still retains the appearance of her childhood, with a light pink scar on her forehead.
Zhao Xiaoxiao's mind was in turmoil.
She married a deputy company commander in the local army and had only recently moved here with the troops. She was thinking about how to gain a foothold in the circle of officers' wives.
Unexpectedly, I ran into my cousin here, the one my family had long abandoned, the one they thought was probably dead. Judging from her clothes, she seems to be doing alright living in this military family compound?
A thought, like a venomous snake, slithered into Zhao Xiaoxiao's mind and became increasingly clear.
She managed to marry someone through her own calculations. The old lady in the family thought she was of marriageable age and was determined to marry a widower who could afford a high price.
She's in the prime of her life, how could she marry an old widower who beat his wife to death?!
So he took advantage of He Fang's visit home to his family and managed to get the other party to take liberties with him, which is how he managed to change his fate.
But what about Mingzhao? This mute girl has been protected by her parents since she was a child. She doesn't need to be obsequious and respectful to the old lady in the family, nor does she need to be a servant at home, not daring to leave even a grain of rice.
Zhao Xiaoxiao was the only one who got beaten up, while Mingzhao always had her parents' support.
Fortunately, the eldest uncle and aunt had passed away, and the old man, considering that the child was of the Zhao family lineage, felt there was no one else to take over. The old woman, however, felt that since the child had taken the Ming family name, he couldn't be considered of the Zhao family lineage. She was absolutely unwilling to accept it.
Zhao Xiaoxiao was also unhappy and strongly supported the old lady's idea. Her mother even told her not to talk nonsense.
She was very unhappy. She was a financial burden, and so was Mingzhao. Why did she get to live so well? Why was it that even though they were both girls, the old lady greeted Mingzhao with a smile when she came back…
Who says children don't feel jealousy? The younger the child, the more they can feel the embarrassment of not being favored. Even her playmates would ask her with a hint of sympathy, "Does her grandma prefer Mingzhao, who came back from the city?"
The adults would occasionally laugh and pity her, saying, "Xiaoxiao gets beaten every day if she stays at home..."
"Who said the old lady favors boys over girls? Isn't she being quite good to that mute girl?"
These words pierced Zhao Xiaoxiao's heart like needles.
It wasn't until her uncle and aunt died that the old lady's harsh words made Zhao Xiaoxiao realize that neither her own granddaughter nor grandson was as important as money.
Her uncle and aunt had money for her, so Mingzhao was a treasure, even more precious than Zhao Yaozu. After her uncle and aunt died and took all the money and compensation, Mingzhao was left as nothing but unwanted weeds.
Whether it was heartbreak or relief, Zhao Xiaoxiao had to admit that she was happy to see the mute boy become an unwanted good-for-nothing.
But why? How could she be adopted by a couple who worked for the government? How come that mute guy has such a good life?
I wonder what her patriarchal, stingy, and mean-spirited old lady would think if she knew Mingzhao was still alive, and might even have married a military officer…
After getting off the bus, Zhao Xiaoxiao looked at Mingzhao's figure carrying a basket on her back, a cold smile appearing on her face. She turned around and walked quickly towards the post office at the entrance.
Mingzhao was dragged by Li Xiaocao to her house for dinner.
Upon reaching the gate, they discovered a figure lurking suspiciously, peering through the gate into the courtyard.
"Aunt Gou?" Li Xiaocao exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here...?"
Gou Yurong was holding a bowl containing several pieces of yellow and green mixed flour steamed buns.
He looked at Mingzhao with a hint of unease and guilt.
Mingzhao didn't know what the other party wanted to do, so she remained silent and waited.
"It's like this, when Commander Huo left, he saw me and asked me to bring food for his wife these next few days. This is the food I brought today..."
Looking at the few steamed buns in the bowl she was holding, Li Xiaocao felt a surge of inexplicable anger rising within her.
"Aunt Gou? You said this is the food you brought for Mingzhao?"
What kind of food is this? Although everyone is having a hard time these days, these shriveled steamed buns look like they've been sitting out for days. They're almost hard. How can anyone eat this?
You have to soak the pig feed in warm water first?
There wasn't even any ordering of food; she didn't believe that Commander Huo had someone bring Mingzhao this kind of meal!
According to Wang Aiguo, Commander Huo left on a mission yesterday morning. A whole day has passed, and it's almost dinnertime now, and they've only just brought out two rock-hard steamed buns. Are they bringing someone else's food?
"Commander Huo asked me to bring this. I've already given it to you, take it or leave it. What kind of person are you? Do you think you're some capitalist's daughter? You want to enjoy good food? You're lucky you even have anything to eat."
Gou Yurong was initially somewhat guilty, but upon hearing Li Xiaocao's questioning, she immediately raised her voice.
What is Li Xiaocao anyway? Just some lackey bossed around by her old friend. She can't even lay an egg in her belly. Forget about eggs, even chickens poop, but she doesn't produce a single dropping.
How dare such a piece of trash yell at me? What gives her the nerve?
Indeed, after Gou Yurong took Huo Hua's money, she originally intended to bring food to Mingzhao. However, because of Mingzhao, her close friend Wang Xiufen left.
She had taken the money, but she still felt somewhat uncomfortable about having to deliver food to Mingzhao.
I didn't bring food to Mingzhao yesterday.
That evening, while she was pondering this, her daughter-in-law said, "Look, I haven't brought food to Mingzhao yet. She even had a fight with someone during the day. Should I go and bring it to her?"
The daughter-in-law only mentioned it briefly when she brought the money back early this morning, but she remembered it.
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