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Hearing Chen Chen say that he and I share the same suffering,
Xiaomei smiled, but there was a hint of bitterness in her smile: "How can we be considered as sharing the same suffering? You are the son of a wealthy family after all."
Chen Chen shook his head gently, his tone slightly sad. "We both grew up without a mother and had a father who was worse than non-existent. Although I was taken to live with the Chen family, you have Wenjuan's family by your side and can make your own choices freely. I envy you. And your mother is still alive."
Hearing the word "Mom", Xiaomei's mouth twitched slightly.
"Yes, she is still alive. But she colluded with others and almost destroyed me tonight."
Chen Chen was stunned. "You mean...?"
Xiaomei shrugged. "That's what you think. Speaking of you, you haven't called me in such a long time since you left the country. And you haven't told Wenjuan that you're back this time, right?"
Chen Chen lowered his head and remained silent for a long time before he slowly spoke, "I don't know how to explain it to her, and I'm afraid she'll be disappointed in me. Actually... I don't have the right to choose many things, at least not right now."
Although Xiaomei didn't know Chen Chen's predicament, she could feel his deep helplessness.
She raised the teacup in her hand and touched Chen Chen's cup.
"Then I wish us a better new year and hope we can take control of our lives soon."
Chen Chen drank it all in one gulp and responded firmly, "Take control of your own life as soon as possible."
The two smiled at each other, and the burden in their hearts seemed to be lightened a lot.
The New Year's bells rang, accompanied by the sound of firecrackers.
When the noise gradually subsided, only tranquility remained.
Uncle Zhang and his family returned from celebrating the New Year, and Xiaomei dragged her tired body upstairs to rest.
The next morning, I heard a familiar voice coming from the living room.
It turned out that Chen Chen had notified Grandma Qi to come and accompany her.
When Grandma Qi saw her coming down, she immediately stepped forward and took her hand.
With red eyes and a trembling voice, he said:
"It's okay, Xiaomei, grandma is here! How dare their family bully you like this? I must ask them for an explanation!"
Xiaomei was touched, but she was also worried that Grandma Qi might get angry at her age, so she quickly comforted her:
"Grandma, don't be angry, I'm fine."
Not long after, there was a sound at the door, and Hu Min's anxious voice came:
"Xiaomei, Xiaomei, are you in there?"
When Grandma Qi heard this, she flew into a rage, her face livid, and she angrily said, "I haven't even gone to settle accounts with them yet, and they still dare to come to my house!"
Having said that, she walked outside angrily.
Seeing this, Xiaomei hurriedly followed.
Grandma Qi opened the door and glared at Hu Min who was standing at the door.
Hu Min and Qingbao stood outside the door. Seeing Grandma Qi and Xiaomei, a trace of embarrassment and nervousness appeared on her face. She took a deep breath and asked cautiously:
"Xiaomei, are you okay? The police came to our house early this morning and said Xiangdong... was taken away. Your uncle said he couldn't face you, so he asked me to come and apologize to you. Um... your grandmother Li meant that she hopes you can let Xiangdong go home as soon as possible."
She rubbed her sleeves nervously, her eyes full of worry.
Upon hearing this, Grandma Qi immediately burst into a rage, "Whose stepmother are you? And whose biological mother are you?! Your own daughter was almost ruined, and yet you came all this way just to get your worse-than-animal stepson back home!"
Hu Min's face turned pale instantly, and she defended herself with a trembling voice, "Auntie, I...I didn't mean that. Xiangdong did something wrong this time, and his father said he would teach him a lesson. But I...I can't just ignore him."
Xiaomei stopped Grandma Qi from cursing and looked at Hu Min calmly, then asked:
"Mom, I just want to ask you, did you know about what happened last night?"
Hu Min hurriedly defended herself, her voice a little flustered. "I didn't know. I really didn't know he would do this last night. Grandma Qingbao mentioned it to me before, but I refused. I really didn't expect them to do this yesterday."
Xiaomei stared at Hu Min's eyes and continued to ask,
"Mom, you lied to me. I noticed yesterday that you were hesitant to speak. Even if they didn't tell you in advance, you must know them. You had so many opportunities to remind me last night, but you chose not to say it, right?"
Hu Min couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into tears: "No, no. Xiaomei, Mommy really doesn't want to hurt you."
Xiaomei looked at her and tears began to fall from her eyes like beads with broken strings. She clearly already had the answer in her heart, so why did she still feel so uncomfortable?
Seeing his mother and sister crying so miserably, Qingbao also started crying:
"Sister, please bring Big Brother home soon. When Grandma kicked us out, she said that if we don't bring Big Brother home today, she won't let Mom go back."
Xiaomei wiped away her tears, looked deeply at Hu Min and Qingbao, and said in a firm and resolute tone:
"Mom, this is the last time I'll call you mom. Perhaps we're destined to have a shallow bond as mother and daughter. I can promise you to let Li Xiangdong go back today, but I also hope that from today on we won't meet again."
When Hu Min heard this, she burst into tears: "No, no, Xiaomei, you can't do this. It's my fault. Listen to me..."
Xiaomei turned around and closed the door, no longer paying attention to the crying of her mother and brother outside.
It was only after Xu Mengyao returned from her hometown that she learned what had happened to Xiaomei.
She didn't expect Xiaomei's mother and that family to be so cruel.
Facing Xiaomei, she didn't know how to comfort her. Instead, Xiaomei spoke first, smiling easily and saying:
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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