Fortunately, Tian Wei is a bright girl. She has never had to worry about him much since she was a child, and she was admitted to the best high school in the area. Considering their family's situation, the school also agreed to waive Tian Wei's tuition fees.
The mother and daughter were naturally happy and discussed that once she received her salary, she would take her daughter to the city to buy some clothes. After all, since her husband was laid off, the mother and daughter had never been to the city, and their clothes were still the same old styles from three years ago.
Teenagers grow quickly during puberty, and many of their clothes were noticeably too short. Fortunately, they usually wear school uniforms, so it wasn't noticeable.
Halfway through their conversation, the man returned, reeking of alcohol and carrying a bottle. The mother and daughter fell silent and quietly went to the kitchen to bring up the cooked food.
"I'll go to Old Lin's house later to pay back the money for the drinks." The man said this with a straight face. He then tapped the table and kicked the chair next to him, startling Tian Wei.
"Where's my glass? Go get my wine glass!"
Tian Wei pursed her lips, went into the kitchen without saying a word, and came out with a wine glass in her hand.
The family sat at the dining table, the atmosphere terribly somber. The man drank glass after glass, and the mother and daughter had lost their initial ease and comfort.
After what seemed like a long period of mental preparation, Tian Chan let out a breath, put down her chopsticks, and looked at the man.
"What are you looking at!" the man said irritably, slamming his wine glass onto the table.
“Weiwei got into the best high school in our area. The tuition and other living expenses will cost money. Could you please drink less and stop gambling?” Tian Chan’s voice was soft, even tinged with a humble plea.
Despite this, something still seemed to provoke the man, causing him to smash the bowl on the ground and throw a tantrum.
“What’s the point of going to school! Don’t you know what’s going on at home? You still want to go to school! What’s the use of a girl studying so much? You should just go to work in a factory! If you don’t have money, what’s the point of going to school? Old Liu’s daughter next door has been working in a factory for a long time. Unlike you, who are so lucky that you can finish junior high school! Look at how much money she gives to her family every month. What’s the use of raising you? All you do is take money from your family.”
The man's eyes were cloudy, and he pointed his finger at Tian Wei's nose, launching into a tirade of abuse.
“I think that kid from the Li family is pretty good. You two should date. When you’re old enough, get married. His dad came to me a few days ago to arrange a marriage. He’ll give you a dowry of 100,000 yuan if you marry him. Go to school? What a load of crap. What can you learn besides taking money from your family? Besides, who knows if you’ll be able to earn 100,000 yuan in the future?”
"Dad! I'm only fifteen!" Tian Wei exclaimed in disbelief, unable to believe what she was hearing from the man's mouth.
"Shiwu was already a mother of two before!" the man said matter-of-factly.
"And you, so what if you can make some money? Who knows if you and that factory manager have something going on? What if I end up with a green hat and I don't even know it? Who knows if I, Tian Hao, am raising someone else's child?"
The man spat, his face, flushed with alcohol, now contorted in a grotesque grimace. The mother and daughter froze, completely taken aback by his words. Tian Chan abruptly stood up, tears streaming down her face.
"I'm not clean? I have a clear conscience! And you, have you forgotten what you've done? Have you forgotten that you and that woman had an affair at the factory, causing me to miscarry and lose the baby? Who am I working so hard for? Isn't it all for this family! The alcohol you drank, the debts you incurred, weren't all paid off with my salary!"
Tian Chan's long-suppressed grievances finally erupted, while Tian Wei, sitting in her original seat, was completely stunned upon receiving the news, unsure of what to do or say to stop this farce.
"You! I'm a man, what man doesn't make mistakes? I've already apologized to you, what more do you want? You're a woman, unchaste and immoral. In the old days, you would have been drowned in a pig cage!"
The man stood up, and the bottle was accidentally knocked over and shattered, spilling the remaining wine.
"Tian Hao! Ever since you were laid off, have you been blind to how I've treated you, or do you have no heart? I can tolerate your male chauvinism, and I can understand that you're in a bad mood because you were laid off, but how could you say such things to me? How could you let Weiwei get married just for money? When she was born, who doted on her every day, saying they would give her the best of everything? How could you! How could you say such things!"
Tian Chan clutched her chest, looking as if she might collapse at any moment. Tian Wei quickly got up to support her, calling out to her with a worried expression.
The neighbors were already used to it, but after hearing the gossip, they still came out and gathered in twos and threes in the corner to listen to the commotion, but no one came out to stop them.
"Mom, please stop talking." Tian Wei pleaded, crying. In her heart, her father had long since become a demon, no longer the father who would buy her a candied hawthorn on his way home from get off work to cheer her up.
"Dad, I won't marry you. Consider the 100,000 yuan as a debt I owe you, and I will definitely pay you back in the future. I won't marry you."
Old Liu's son is a hoodlum. She always avoids him when she runs into him after school. That hoodlum always tries to grope her or say vulgar things. She doesn't want to marry someone like that.
She studied hard so that one day she could leave this place, take her mother away from this cold village, and see a wider world.
She absolutely did not want to spend her whole life locked up here; she didn't want to!
"Weiwei, don't worry, Mom will sell everything she owns to make sure you go to school. If you want to get married, go get married yourself!"
As she finished speaking, Tian Chan glared fiercely at Tian Hao, her eyes filled with disgust, devoid of any of the love and guilt she once felt.
The constant beatings, endless demands, and verbal abuse over the years had long since caused her to lose hope in this man.
If the man hadn't obtained the marriage certificate, if she hadn't been unable to afford a lawyer, and if it weren't for her daughter, she would have divorced him long ago.
"You bitch! How dare you talk back to me? And you! What kind of school did you study? Is studying such a way to talk to your father like that! Yelling at your father like that, all your education has gone to waste, you're full of shit, what a load of crap you got into school!"
As Tian Hao spoke, he pulled out his belt and swung it at Tian Wei.
Tian Chan hugged Tian Wei tightly, and the two of them endured a beating. No matter how much Tian Wei cried or begged, Tian Hao showed no mercy.
In the end, it was the elderly lady from next door who couldn't stand it anymore and came in to stop the domestic violence.
After that, Tian Chan still did not choose to divorce. Instead, she borrowed money from her husband's family to send Tian Wei to a boarding high school in the city, where she could only come back during winter and summer vacations.
These days only gradually improved after she graduated from high school and started earning money during winter and summer vacations.
She worked hard to earn money, sending a third of her salary home each time, using a little for living expenses, and saving the rest, hoping to bring her mother out as soon as possible.
Unexpectedly, just when everything was getting better, a phone call completely disrupted all her plans.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
