Chapter 226: Chapter 218: The Bloody Incident Sparked by Spring Rolls
Looking at Tian Lili, who bore a striking resemblance to Xu Jingwen, Tian Sisi let out a deep sigh. Is life even worth living if you can’t even peacefully enjoy a few spring rolls?
She took several deep breaths to calm the agitation inside her heart and said with a smile, "I’m eating spring rolls. Does Sister Lili want to have some?"
After saying that, Tian Sisi handed over her plate to Tian Lili, reluctantly eyeing the spring rolls left on it—damn it, she’d only had one!
In reality, Tian Lili was nothing more than a little girl spoiled by adults. Tian Aiguo was somewhat chauvinistic, adhering to the principle that he’d handle the boys while Xu Qianwen was in charge of the girls’ upbringing. As a result, Tian Lili ended up being raised improperly by Xu Qianwen.
From a young age, Xu Qianwen would instill in Tian Lili’s ears: "You are the genuine granddaughter of the Tian Family. That Tian Zhaodi is just an orphan girl picked up from nowhere, unworthy even of washing your feet."
Yet reality dealt Tian Lili a hard blow. Grandpa and Granny showed more fondness for that foot-washing maid than for her. The entire household pampered Tian Zhaodi to the point she was treated like a Princess, wearing finer clothes and eating better than her!
Greatly upset, Tian Lili couldn’t make sense of it and sought Xu Qianwen for answers, to which Xu Jingwen responded, "That little orphan girl has stolen things that should belong to our Lili. Your grandparents have lost their minds!"
From then on, Tian Lili began to despise Tian Sisi, picking on her at every opportunity, and feeling uneasy until she confiscated whatever nice things Tian Sisi had. That’s why, whenever Tian Lili returned home for the New Year, Tian Sisi’s wardrobe would inevitably be short a few pieces.
The original protagonist was gullible and could be easily swayed by a few sweet words from Xu Qianwen, who would willingly hand over the items that Tian Lili fancied. Although the current Tian Sisi was no pushover, she also didn’t want to argue with Tian Lili over a few pieces of clothing and upset Old Man Granny Zhao. As long as it wasn’t too excessive, she generally didn’t make a fuss with Tian Lili, which fueled Tian Lili’s mistaken belief that Tian Sisi was afraid of her, leading to even more frequent quarrels.
When Tian Lili saw that Tian Sisi handed over the spring rolls, her expression improved a lot. Humph, at least you know your place! She reached out to take the plate, grabbed a spring roll, and began to eat with relish.
"Ouch, Ah Nan, you’re giving the leftovers to Lili; what do you mean by that? Are you treating our Lili like a beggar?"
Xu Qianwen’s shrill voice suddenly cut through the air. She was carrying a basket, having just returned from cleaning pig intestines at Crying Girl River, with a face full of displeasure. Seeing her daughter accepting food from Tian Sisi’s hands—the little orphan—ignited the anger she’d been suppressing since morning.
Speaking of Xu Qianwen, she was a woman with a very narrow mind, always feeling superior because she was a girl from Shanghai, and that everyone should yield to her. When she was single, it was for the sake of her parent’s reputation that people accommodated her, and after marrying Tian Ai Guo, for his reputation. Gradually, they spoiled her until she lost all sense of proportion.
Despite being a primary school teacher and an exemplar to others, her pettiness was finer than a needle’s point, and her quality wasn’t particularly high either.
Coming back for the New Year this time, Granny Zhao had the intention of suppressing Xu Qianwen. Starting from early morning, she had Xu Qianwen do a thorough cleaning. After struggling through the cleaning chore, Granny Zhao took out a set of stinky pig intestines and had Xu Qianwen wash them clean at the riverbank. Xu Qianwen wanted to resist, but no one was on her side. Her husband had never stood by her, and the sense of superiority she once had from her father was utterly nonexistent in the face of Tian Aiguo, whose official position was now higher than her father’s!
So, Xu Qianwen could only suppress her anger and head to the river to wash the intestines. The more she washed, the more aggrieved she felt; the more she washed, the more infuriated she became, especially seeing her own precious daughter having to ask that orphan girl for food. Her simmering anger erupted uncontrollably.
Enraged, Xu Qianwen stormed up to Tian Lili, grabbed the plate in her hand, and smashed it to the ground. With a "smash," the porcelain plate shattered into a flower shape on the ground while the spring rolls tumbled out everywhere.
"Have you never eaten spring rolls before? Why do you need to beg her for food? Have you no spine at all?"
After scolding Tian Lili, Xu Qianwen turned and pointed at Tian Sisi, berating:
"Tian Zhaodi, what do you mean? Huh? Don’t think you can bully our Lili just because Daddy and Mama favor you. Pah! You’re just an orphaned girl abandoned by her parents; what do you have to be proud of? A few spring rolls, so what? Do you think our Lili is envious of your spring rolls?"
Tian Lili, having been frightened silly by her mother, stood there dumbfounded, while Tian Sisi truly hadn’t expected that a mere few spring rolls would provoke such a furious outburst from Xu Qianwen, going so far as to bring up the taboo of the Tian Family.
"Third Aunt, you’ve misunderstood. Sister Lili wasn’t home when I was sharing out the spring rolls, so she didn’t get any. I know I’m not the Tian Family’s birth daughter; you don’t need to point it out specially, nor do you need to call me an orphan girl. Grandpa and Granny never called me that!"
Tian Sisi was also getting angry. She had been putting up with it for these past two days, not wanting to cause trouble and upset the Old Man and Granny Zhao, but this was inadvertently encouraging Xu Qianwen’s arrogance. She was constantly being sarcastic and looking for trouble, and now she was getting up in her face. If Tian Sisi could still tolerate this, she wouldn’t be worthy of being human.
"Oh my, if you’re not an orphan girl, what are you? In my eyes, you’re just trouble; if you were a good child, why would your parents have abandoned you?" Xu Qianwen was taken aback, not expecting Tian Sisi to talk back, fueling the fire in her heart.
Speaking of Xu Qianwen’s character, it was indeed very poor. No matter how angry she was, it was highly inappropriate for an elder to talk to a junior like this under any circumstance.
Before Tian Sisi could respond, He Xuewen, who was standing at the door, had already turned an iron blue. He came over to give New Year’s gifts, thinking to dine with the Tian Family for some time, so he went to town and bought some fish, meat, and other dishes as gifts. Unexpectedly, he heard Xu Qianwen verbally abusing his precious daughter. How could he bear it?
"Sister-in-law Aiguo, you’re a bit over the line with what you’ve said. Ah Nan is a child, and even if she’s a bit thoughtless, Sister-in-law Aiguo, you shouldn’t speak to her like that. Besides, how is Ah Nan an orphan girl? I am her support; if anyone dares to bully Ah Nan, I, He Xuewen, will never allow it."
He Xuewen stepped forward to protect Tian Sisi behind him, speaking to Xu Qianwen word by word, his face without a trace of a smile. His greatest pain in this lifetime was the separation from his wife and daughter. Over these three years, Tian Sisi’s comforting presence had calmed him down a lot, but now Xu Qianwen had torn open his wounds again.
"Daddy!" Tian Sisi looked at the figure standing in front of her, not particularly strong, and felt a surge of emotion. She hadn’t felt wronged before, but now the tears began to flow uncontrollably.