Chapter 58 Anna is Tianying A'nu, and also you...
Chu Ci frowned and turned to look over.
The lights were off in her house, and her grandmother's thin figure stood motionless in the darkness.
"..."
Looking at his grandmother with her head down, Chu Ci didn't say anything.
But Bai Ma, who was beside her, wouldn't let it go, her shrill voice getting louder and louder.
"What, you're afraid to speak? Afraid that people will find out your true colors?"
"I was wondering why I hadn't seen you for so many years. Turns out you've been hiding in Kwun Tong District!"
"Chu Hongdan, you've been hiding for so many years, you never thought I would find you!"
"I never imagined you could be so shameless. After all these years, you're still alive!"
"Hello!"
Seeing that she was going too far, Chu Ci grabbed her by the back of her collar.
"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll throw you out!"
Bai Ma's eyes were bloodshot as she turned to look at her with a cold smile.
"You're so protective of her, do you even know what kind of person she is?"
"Of course I know."
Chu Ci looked at her intently.
“I’ve known her for over twenty years. I know her better than you do.”
"More than twenty years?" Bai Ma looked at her as if she were an idiot. "What's more than twenty years? I've known her for more than twenty years, and she still lied to me!"
Chu Ci: "..."
Seeing that Bai Ma looked like she had suffered a lot of grievances, she frowned slightly.
But with Anna Bai as an example, having raised such a daughter, she didn't think Anna Bai's mother was an easy person to deal with.
“My grandmother took me in and raised me; she was very good to me. As for my past with you, I have no interest in it.”
"If you came here tonight just to say these things, then you've said your piece and you can go home now."
"If you keep making trouble, I won't be polite."
"polite?"
Seeing that she couldn't do anything about Chu Ci, Bai Ma turned her attention to her grandmother, who was silent in the room.
"Chu Hongdan, look at the good granddaughter you've raised! I'm her aunt, and she dares to talk to me like that!"
"Is this your upbringing? Shameless!"
Chu Ci: "..."
Aunt? What aunt?
She turned her head in surprise and looked at her grandmother in the house.
Grandma, who hadn't moved until now, suddenly grabbed a feather duster and rushed over.
Bai Ma was startled by the feather duster in her hand and couldn't help but take two steps back.
But then, as if struck by a sudden thought, she gritted her teeth and took two more steps forward.
"What, you want to hit me? Go ahead and try... Ah!"
Before the words were finished, a whooshing sound came from the air, and Bai Ma screamed in pain.
"Chu Hongdan! You old hag, how dare you hit me!"
"You dare hit me? I'll go tell my dad, and he'll... ah!"
She didn't expect her grandmother to hit her twice in a row, and she covered her arm where she had been hit, trying to dodge.
"Chu Hongdan!"
When Grandma walked into the hallway, Chu Ci noticed that her eyes were already red.
But compared to her earlier panic, Grandma had regained her usual fierce demeanor.
She put one hand on her hip, held a feather duster in the other, and pointed at Bai Ma:
"Chu Tianying, if you've got the guts, go call your father!"
"I'd like to see if that old geezer dares to come and see me!"
"Don't act like I owe you something. If it weren't for me working so hard to raise you and your brother back in our hometown, you two would have starved to death long ago!"
"You still dare to insult my granddaughter? If you say another word, I'll beat you to death, you bastard!"
Chu Ci then realized that Bai Ma's real name was Chu Tianying.
Like them, they all share the surname Chu.
"Raising me? That's clearly you meddling in other people's business! Did my brother and I beg you to interfere?"
Bai Ma seemed to remember something, and covered the spot where she had been hit, her eyes almost overflowing with hatred.
"And back then, when you were in charge of me and my brother, wasn't it all just to get close to my dad?"
"If you hadn't insisted on getting involved with my father, my mother wouldn't have died!"
"I want to hook up with your father?" Grandma sneered at her. "If I wanted to hook up with your father, I would have done it long ago, and your mother wouldn't have a chance."
"You and your brother are nowhere to be found!"
However, Bai Ma seemed to think that her grandmother had let something slip, and her fists clenched so tightly at her sides that they cracked.
"So, you're admitting it now, you were having an affair with my dad!"
"Pah! You're not thinking straight, and your mouth is filthy. You're just spewing nonsense right in front of my house!"
Grandma picked up the feather duster and started whipping Bai Ma again and again.
"I'll teach you to spew filth! I'll teach you to spew filth! If I had known you were this kind of person, I should have let you starve to death in your hometown!"
Bai's mother was beaten so badly that she screamed and was beaten from one end of the stairwell to the other before finally escaping into the elevator.
Her bare arms were covered in red marks from the feather duster, and she still wouldn't let it go.
Pointing at his grandmother, he threatened, "You just wait! If you dare hit me, my brother and my dad will never let you get away with it!"
Grandma didn't hold back and slapped the girl's outstretched finger.
With a scream, Bai Ma squatted down, clutching her fingers, her whole body trembling and curled up into a ball.
Grandma: "Go, go find them!"
"Bring them to me tomorrow, and I'll beat them up one by one when they arrive!"
After saying that, she raised the feather duster in her hand high.
Bai Ma's pupils contracted, and she quickly pressed the button to close the elevator door.
As the elevator doors were about to close, preventing the grandmother from getting in, she shouted angrily:
"Chu Hongdan, don't be so smug! You want my brother and my father to come over, huh? Fine, you just wait!"
Grandma stood in front of the elevator door, holding a feather duster high, her chest heaving.
After a long while, she slowly lowered her raised arm.
As the arm fell, so did the head.
Her thin figure stood in front of the elevator door, looking inexplicably lonely.
Chu Ci didn't speak; Grandma needed some time to adjust herself.
But she didn't expect that her grandmother would take the initiative to tell her about this past event.
"Go home, Aci."
Grandma stepped over the thugs lying haphazardly on the ground and entered the room.
"Don't worry about these thugs, the police will come and deal with them in a bit."
Chu Ci stood there, stunned, while Grandma turned her head.
Meeting her astonished gaze, he picked up the feather duster and snorted coldly.
"I'm not the one who did something wrong, so what can't I say? Come in, it's too late, go to sleep after you've finished talking."
Grandma spoke frankly and openly, but before she spoke, she nervously took a sip of water.
Seeing that her hand holding the cup seemed to be trembling, Chu Ci pursed her lips.
"Grandma, you don't have to say it if you don't want to..."
With a soft "thump," Grandma put the cup back on the table.
"No, I have to say it. There are some things I've kept inside for too many years."
After saying that, she drank the rest of the water in one gulp and wiped her mouth.
"Sit down, let me tell you all about it."
Chu Ci hesitated for a moment, then sat down in front of his grandmother.
Grandma squinted and thought for a moment, "Where should we begin... let's start before Chu Tianying's brother, Chu Tianjian, was born."
She spoke slowly as she thought.
More than forty years ago, Grandma was a young girl.
Back then, everything was chaotic, but even in chaos, people still had to get married and have children.
She and Chu Tianying's father, Old Chu, were from the same village and grew up together, knowing each other inside and out.
Seeing that they had a good relationship, the elders of both families arranged their marriage early on.
Grandma waited for him for five years until he grew up and went out to make a living, turning from a young girl into an old maid.
We were so excited to see him come back, but it turned out he was back with his wife and kids.
Old Chu not only had a son with another woman, but this woman was also pregnant with another child, which shocked the entire village when he returned.
When Grandma's family saw Old Chu like this, they immediately went and made a scene, and the two families never spoke to each other again.
Back then, people cared a lot about a girl's reputation. When Grandma encountered something like this, her life was ruined.
But her family never expected that this wasn't the worst of it.
Not long after Old Chu returned with his wife, she gave birth to another daughter.
However, Lao Chu's relationship with his wife deteriorated, and after a big fight, his wife secretly ran away.
In order to find his wife, Lao Chu had no choice but to leave his children with his parents and go out again.
He probably never imagined that his parents would pass away just six months after he left.
These two old people, for the sake of their grandchildren, actually sought out the unmarried grandmother before they died.
They felt that Grandma would never get married and therefore couldn't raise children, so they begged her to raise the two children.
At this point, Grandma covered her head and chuckled softly.
"Those two old bastards are out of their minds. His son ruined me, and now he actually wants me to raise his child!"
Chu Ci took a sip of water. "Then why did you still keep it?"
Grandma was lost in memories, "Because of Chu Tianying's brother, Chu Tianjian."
"He went to you to beg you?"
"I guess so."
Grandma sighed and continued.
When Grandma's family heard about this, although they didn't make a big scene, they ordered Grandma not to take care of the two children.
In my grandma's brother's words: If you want to raise a child, you can adopt one from your own family. Why raise someone else's child?
Grandma thought so too.
But she never imagined that if she didn't take care of the two children, they might actually starve to death.
Old Chu is ungrateful and treacherous. Ever since he returned with his wife and children, his family's reputation has been completely ruined.
The relatives didn't want to get involved with them, and the villagers didn't want to help.
It must have been that the two old folks had given Chu Tianjian some instructions before they died, so when his baby sister was about to starve to death, five-year-old Chu Tianjian knelt down in front of his grandmother's house with his sister in his arms.
"Wait," Chu Ci interrupted his grandmother, "five years old?"
"Does that mean that Old Chu started sleeping with Chu Tianjian's mother as soon as he got outside?"
“Yes,” Grandma sighed, “that’s why the villagers don’t like them.”
Chu Ci: "Chu Tianjian and his sister are kneeling in front of your house, is this all you can do to help them?"
"Um."
Grandma nodded, "First, I can't bear to see the two children starve to death. Second, if we really see the two children starve to death, the villagers will gossip."
The rural environment back then was not like it is now. Now everyone lives their own life, but in the past it was a society based on personal relationships.
If something unexpected happens one day and trouble comes to the family, they will end up like the Chu family, with no one to lend a hand.
Although the Chu family was in the wrong, it was still a matter of two lives. If they didn't save them, those two lives would be attributed to their family.
"In addition, the clan chief also came to persuade us, so my family was able to help Chu Tianjian and his sister."
Originally, Grandma's family was unwilling to help them.
Despite his young age, Chu Tianjian was exceptionally sensible.
He would get up early to help his grandmother's family with whatever he could, and he would also help take care of the children and tutor them with their homework.
Over time, everyone came to like him.
Although his father is a scoundrel, the child is innocent.
Five more years passed, and Chu Tianjian's father, Old Chu, still hadn't returned. Everyone assumed he was dead.
Grandma and Chu Tianjian thought so too.
But one day, Old Chu suddenly returned, and not only did he return, he also made a considerable fortune.
Upon returning home, he learned that his parents had long since died of illness, and that his two children were being raised by his grandmother's family. He wept bitterly.
He knelt before his grandmother's father, weeping bitterly and cursing himself for being a worthless person.
He also gave all the money he earned to his grandmother's family as a reward.
Grandma's family didn't want his money, but they were moved by his sincerity.
Given that Grandma had gone through such a thing and couldn't get married, they brought the two of them together again.
Chu Ci couldn't help but ask, "He did such a thing before, why did your father still marry you off to him, Grandma?"
“It’s different now than before,” Grandma said with a wry smile. “Back then, if a woman didn’t get married and stayed at home, it would upset her sisters-in-law and brothers and sisters-in-law, and affect family harmony.”
In fact, it's the same now as it was then.
"So, my parents had no choice but to marry me off to Lao Chu again. After marrying Lao Chu, I moved to the city with him."
They had a very good time with their two children at the time.
The two children were sensible and easy to manage. Chu Tianjian was also intelligent and showed great talent from the very beginning of his schooling.
Old Chu's business was booming, and he was making more and more money. The little girl Chu Tianying was incredibly smart and adorable.
Grandma usually spends her free time taking care of the children, cooking for them, and taking them to school. She doesn't have any difficult in-laws, so she lives a very comfortable life.
The atmosphere in the house changed drastically when Chu Tianjian's biological mother suddenly returned.
Chu Tianjian, who was originally a close relative, suddenly became estranged from his grandmother. Old Chu, who was good to her, also began to waver. Even Chu Tianying, who was raised by her grandmother, started calling for her biological mother.
“I originally planned to divorce Lao Chu at that time,” Grandma sighed as she recalled the past. “But Lao Chu was unwilling. He said he would not go back to his ex-wife and told me to stay put.”
"But Chu Tianjian was smart from a young age. He knew that his father was unwilling to go back to his biological mother, so he would take his younger sister to his biological mother's place every day and try his best to create time alone for the two of them."
"Chu Tianying was probably influenced by her brother; ever since she met her biological mother, she refused to leave no matter what..."
But looking at Grandma's red eyes, Chu Ci felt that what happened back then must have been more serious than she described, but she just didn't want to talk about it.
"And then what? How come you supported Chu Tianying and the others for another twenty years? Because you still didn't get divorced in the end?"
"Yeah, the divorce didn't go through."
Grandma nodded, poured herself a glass of water, and after returning, she paused for a moment before continuing.
"Originally, Lao Chu had agreed to divorce, but before we divorced, Chu Tianjian's biological mother died."
"Without their biological mother, Lao Chu doesn't want a divorce anymore. The two children need someone to take care of them, and Lao Chu is also worried that if he marries another woman, she will abuse the children, so he begged me to take care of them first."
"After a while, the two children seemed to have forgotten about their biological mother and became close to me again."
"Later, the two children grew up. Chu Tianjian took over Old Chu's business and made more and more money. Chu Tianying also reached marriageable age..."
Grandma smiled as she said this.
"Old Chu and I attach great importance to our youngest daughter's marriage. She was raised by us, and I don't want her to jump into a fire pit. Old Chu feels that she lost her biological mother when she was young and wants to make it up to her."
"But none of us expected that she would take a fancy to the Bai family's son who was already married and had children."
Grandma couldn't help but cover her forehead when she thought about what happened back then.
"At that time, everything was getting better, but she actually wanted to follow that old-fashioned approach and become a concubine for the Bai family's son!"
Undoubtedly, this provoked opposition from the entire family.
But no one knows what Chu Tianying said to Lao Chu and Chu Tianjian, but they all agreed in the end.
Only Grandma disagreed, not wanting her to fall into that kind of hellhole.
But she didn't expect that Chu Tianying would immediately accuse her.
"If it weren't for you, my mom wouldn't have died of anger!"
"You are the culprit who killed my mother, and now you won't even let me be happy!"
"Are you holding a grudge against my dad for ruining you? But he didn't stop you from getting married. You were willing to wait, so who can you blame!"
Grandma: "I was stunned at the time and didn't understand why she would say such a thing."
"Thinking back on how Chu Tianjian's attitude towards me changed after he took over the business, I gradually understood."
“Perhaps from the time their biological mother died, the brother and sister placed the blame on me, and all these years they have just been keeping a low profile.”
Chu Ci paused for a moment. Although she had no hope for Old Chu, she still couldn't help but ask:
"What was Old Chu's attitude? Did he just let the two children misunderstand you like this?"
Grandma glanced at her sideways and smiled helplessly: "They are father and son, I am at most a stepmother. Would you go against your child for a man who came into your life later?"
Chu Ci: "..."
Seeing that she didn't speak, Grandma smiled and shook her head, "Anyway, I can't."
So, under pressure from her two children, she divorced Lao Chu.
After that, things became much simpler.
She wanted to go back to her parents' home, but her parents had passed away, and her brother and sister-in-law didn't welcome her.
Since there was no place for her to stay at home, she had to look for places to live everywhere.
Later, a blind old woman took pity on her and took her along to tell fortunes and make money.
After the old woman died, Grandma lived alone, and soon after, she found Chu Ci.
"In short, that's all there is to it."
After Grandma finished speaking, she stood up and stretched. It was already past four in the morning.
She waved her hand at Chu Ci, looking exhausted, "Alright, it's getting late, go to sleep."
Chu Ci watched his grandmother return to her room, and sat in the living room for a while before going back to his bedroom.
The next day, she mustered her spirits and waited all day, but Bai Ma never arrived.
As she was about to close the door and go to sleep that evening, there was a sudden knock on the door.
She practically sprang out of bed instantly.
The soul-summoning bell in the living room suddenly began to ring violently, shaking more violently than ever before, making everyone's ears ring.
Chu Ci stared at the soul-guiding bell, which seemed to have been electrocuted, and looked heavily towards the door.
The knocking at the door continued for a while. When no one answered, after a moment of silence, the person asked:
"Mom, it's me, Tianjian. Are you home? Please open the door."
Chu Ci rolled her eyes.
What an ingrate! How dare you come here!
She picked up the feather duster next to her, intending to chase the person out.
But she stopped in her tracks just as she reached the door.
"Aci, don't open the door."
Grandma came out of the bedroom at some point.
She walked over and took Chu Ci's wrist:
"Don't open the door for them, they... Hey, it's so cold!"
Grandma paused for a moment, then reached out and touched the door.
It felt cold to the touch. Even though it was a warm day, the door felt like it had been in a refrigerator for over ten hours.
"hiss……"
Grandma quickly withdrew her hand and stared wide-eyed.
"What are those bastards doing outside!"
She thought it was someone outside who was behind it, and reached out to push the door open, but Chu Ci quickly pulled her back.
"Grandma, don't move."
She gestured for her grandmother to look at the soul-guiding bell hanging in the living room.
"Look."
The soul-guiding bell trembled violently in all directions.
If it weren't for the rope, it probably would have grown legs and run away by now.
"this……"
Grandma thought she was seeing things and couldn't help but rub her eyes.
He squinted at the Soul-Guiding Bell for a long time before he could confirm that it was moving.
He asked in confusion, "Is this a bell? Why isn't it making any sound?"
Chu Ci, who was almost deaf from the torture: "..."
She rubbed her ears and shook her head. "Grandma, this bell is no ordinary bell."
"If you are home alone in the future and see this bell moving, please do not go out."
Grandma nodded, not understanding, but when she turned her head, she noticed that Chu Ci was rubbing his ears.
"What's wrong?"
"The ringtone is too loud..."
Chu Ci couldn't help but cover her ears and squat down, feeling as if her entire brain was shaking.
Now that Bai Anna is here, Granny Guo, who has been bothering them, must be outside too.
But last time Granny Guo came with Inspector Shen Zaikun, the soul-summoning bell didn't ring like this.
Seeing Chu Ci's face contorted in a grimace, Grandma stepped onto a stool and removed the soul-guiding bell.
Even after it was taken off, the soul-guiding bell continued to shake, trying several times to escape from her grasp.
"It's really strange, this bell seems to have come to life..."
Holding the strange bell in her arms, Grandma felt a chill run down her spine.
She placed the soul-guiding bell in her room, but Chu Ci seemed to still be able to hear it.
Seeing her granddaughter squatting on the ground, covering her ears in pain, her face looking terrible, she angrily picked up a feather duster.
"Those bastards, nothing good ever comes of running into them!"
Seeing that she was about to leave, Chu Ci quickly grabbed the corner of her grandmother's clothes.
"Don't go out, Grandma. You absolutely mustn't go out until the bell stops ringing!"
Grandma couldn't hear whether the bell rang or not, but she still nodded.
"Don't worry, Grandma will just stand at the door and won't go out."
After saying that, Grandma opened the door aggressively.
As soon as the door opened, Bai Ma outside tried to rush inside.
"Quickly! Come in quickly! Bring the young lady in, be gentle!"
She was the first to jump into the doorway.
She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but as soon as she entered the room, she felt that the ever-present chill had lessened considerably.
My whole body feels warm and comfortable.
Before she could even feel happy, a whooshing sound suddenly came, followed by the familiar pain.
She covered her arm where she had been hit and instinctively dodged to the side, which resulted in her jumping out of the door.
As soon as I stepped outside, that indescribable chill enveloped me once again.
"Chu Hongdan!"
She clutched her arm and screamed.
"Are you crazy?!"
Grandma stood in front of the door, holding a feather duster high in her hand.
"You're the one who's crazy! You've been making a scene for two days now, when will it ever end!"
"What did you say when you severed ties with your family back then? You personally wrote the letter severing ties and published it in the newspaper!"
"Now you want to break into my house again?"
She pointed to the threshold at her feet.
"If you dare take a single step inside today, I'll beat you to death, you shameless bastard!"
Bai's mother was so angry that her eyes turned red, and she tried to pull the hand of the man next to her.
"Brother, look at her! It's been so many years, and she still won't let us in the door!"
The middle-aged man was Chu Tianjian. Compared to his sister's matter-of-fact expression, his expression was much more complicated.
Even when his sister complained, he frowned and scolded her:
"You're here to ask for a favor, so don't act like it's your right!"
"You!" Bai Ma's face turned pale and then green with anger.
Seeing that her brother wasn't helping her, she went to tug at the old man's sleeve behind her.
"Dad, look at her! We took the initiative to make peace, and she's still putting on airs!"
The old man was dressed in a white Zhongshan suit and looked very energetic. Perhaps because he had been doing well in recent years, he looked ten years younger than his grandmother.
You can vaguely tell that he must have been quite good-looking when he was young.
He looked at his grandmother with a mixture of helplessness and guilt, but still managed to offer some words of advice:
“Adan, Anna is Tianying’s daughter, and also your granddaughter…”
His response was a feather duster from his grandmother.
"Pah! You shameless old man, I only have one granddaughter, and she doesn't have the surname Bai!"
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Author's Note: PS: Chen Xinxin being able to hear the sound of the soul-summoning bell is not a bug; it will be explained later.
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