Chapter 154: Chapter 144: Where Is My Child?

To make caring for them more convenient, Liu Fengying had thrown two tattered bamboo mats on the floor of the main room, one for Mo Xiaoqiang and one for Mo Xiaofeng. When the adults weren’t home, Mo Xiao Zhi was supposed to watch them with Mo Xiaohua, bringing them water and meals. As for Mo Xiaoneng, he refused to stay home after Mo Xiaoqiang’s accident; he was gone from morning till night.

For some reason, however, Mo Xiaoqiang and Mo Xiaofeng had become bitter enemies. It was the two of them who were constantly tearing at and kicking each other, their shrieks and wails echoing day and night.

Just a moment ago, the four children had been napping. Liu Fengying suddenly pushed the door open, startling Mo Xiaofeng and Mo Xiaohua awake. They sat bolt upright. Mo Xiaofeng rolled her dead-fish eyes and reached out, fumbling as she tried to crawl over. Mo Xiaohua lifted her incomparably filthy little face and cried out for her mother. Of the two still lying on the floor, Mo Xiao Zhi was curled into a ball. Mo Xiaoqiang, meanwhile, was maimed; the bandages on his wounds were still oozing pus and blood... A few bowls from their last meal were strewn haphazardly beside the mats. The room reeked of a thick, fetid stench that was nauseating.

Tang Qingyun bent down to look at Mo Xiao Zhi’s face, then straightened up and quickly retreated outside. He strode to the courtyard gate before he could finally catch his breath. He glared sternly at Liu Fengying, who had followed close behind. "What is going on here? Where is my child?"

Liu Fengying glanced around. Luckily, no one was passing by. She quickly explained, "Well, it’s hard to explain... The boy was being naughty, insisted on going to dynamite fish, and that’s what happened. The family doesn’t have money for a hospital stay... Da Ni’er isn’t home. She went to school!"

"Da Ni’er?"

"Da Ni’er is Xiao Man. That’s what we call her at home."

"Which school is she at? The middle school near here?"

"Huh? She’s at... at..." Liu Fengying was dumbfounded. Her mind raced, and she blurted out, "She’s at our commune’s middle school. She’s a boarding student. She’s been on break these past few days, so she went to her aunt’s house. She loves staying at her aunt’s, so she’s heading back to school directly from there today. She’s taking the mountain path, so it’ll probably take her a while. She won’t get to the school until tonight!"

"She stays at her aunt’s house?" Tang Qingyun’s brows furrowed. He glanced again at the doorway to the room that had made his heart pound and his stomach churn. It was hard to imagine a child living here...

"Why wasn’t that boy taken to a hospital? And that girl, how did she go blind?"

"Well... this... Sigh! It’s all because we’re poor!"

Liu Fengying was just making excuses. She did have some money left. She hadn’t even touched the large sum Xuanxuan had sent back. However, because of what happened with Mo Xiaoqiang, the local ruffians they’d hired had also gotten hurt. Their families came demanding compensation, forcing her to pay up. More than half the money was gone in an instant, and it broke her heart. The explosion had damaged the wall of the Knowledge Youth House, but seeing how badly injured Mo Xiaoqiang was, Grandpa and Grandma didn’t demand they pay for repairs. She and Mo Guoqiang had talked it over and agreed that Mo Xiaoqiang was already crippled. Wasting more money on him wouldn’t fix him. It was better to just let him recover on his own and save the cash. ’It’s so much more reassuring to have money in your pocket!’

Tang Qingyun was silent, his heart filled with utter disgust for Liu Fengying. ’What kind of woman is this? She has children but doesn’t take care of them, letting one end up crippled and another blind. She doesn’t deserve to be a mother at all!’

He thought of the photographs. ’My own child... ruined by her, just like them!’

Tang Qingyun shot Liu Fengying a furious glare, took a few steps forward, then stopped. Without turning back, he said icily, "I will investigate. If I confirm that Mo Xiaoman is my biological daughter, you will no longer have to bear her expenses. Her living allowance will also stop."

Liu Fengying stood stunned for a moment. Once his words sank in, she hurried after him. "Mr. Tang! Mr. Tang! You can’t, you can’t do that..."

Tang Qingyun stopped. "Can’t do what?"

Liu Fengying grit her teeth. "I raised Xiao Man for so many years... The living allowance, the allowance... you have to pay it."

Tang Qingyun said, "In that case, shall I return Xuanxuan to you?"

Liu Fengying’s eyes widened, and she waved her hands in terror. "No, no! That’s not necessary..."

Tang Qingyun let out a breath. "If I gave Xuanxuan to you, you would only ruin her too! Just let her stay with us. In the future, when she’s grown up and made something of herself, if she wants to come back and acknowledge you, that will be her decision. I won’t stand in her way!"

Watching Tang Qingyun disappear around the corner of the house, Liu Fengying collapsed onto the ground, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Tang Qingyun walked to the side of the road and stopped a villager to ask a few questions. After learning the location of the commune middle school, he returned to his car, smoked a cigarette, and started the engine. He drove off, determined to find Mo Xiaoman.

He had been hesitant before, certainly, having considered Wu Xiaowen’s words. But after seeing this environment with his own eyes and understanding Mo Guoqiang and Liu Fengying’s method of "raising" children, Tang Qingyun was horrified and heartbroken.

’An error made years ago due to adult negligence, and a child is forced to bear the consequences—a perfectly healthy child, disfigured! If I let her stay in Liu Fengying’s clutches, living like this, it would just be compounding one mistake with another!’

’Claiming the child likes the countryside? In an environment like this, only an idiot would believe she likes it!’

As for loving the child as her own, Tang Qingyun now refused to believe a word of it. When Liu Fengying had demanded the living allowance, her gaze was one of pure, undisguised greed, practically shining with the glint of money.

’What an incredibly greedy woman!’

Halfway there, a torrential downpour suddenly began. Such heavy rain was rare for October, and the sky immediately darkened.

After repeatedly stopping to ask for directions—even overshooting his turn and having to go back—he finally found the commune middle school.

A large gate and a single large courtyard comprised the entire middle school. The conditions were extremely basic. Tang Qingyun often traveled to the countryside and had seen even more dilapidated schools, so he wasn’t particularly shocked. But because this was the school Mo Xiaoman attended, he took a good, long look around as he got out of his car, opened his umbrella, and walked through the gate.

A student led him directly to the principal’s office, which also served as his dormitory.

When the principal heard a parent was looking for a new student, he had someone take Tang Qingyun to find the homeroom teachers for the first-year classes. There were three new classes this year, each with its own homeroom teacher. It was just a matter of finding the right one.

As luck would have it, the first teacher he spoke to was Mo Shuixia’s homeroom teacher, and Mo Shuixia happened to be there as well. She had just given her teacher some nuts and wild grapes she had gathered herself. She wouldn’t have thought to do it on her own; when Mo Xiaoman was teaching them how to roast and steam nuts, she had overheard Mo Xiaoman, Guan Ailan, and Mo Linghui chattering about giving a little something to this teacher and preparing a small gift for that teacher. She had simply followed their example.

The homeroom teacher, a woman, was happily chatting with Mo Shuixia. When someone came looking for her, she didn’t send Mo Shuixia away but just told her to sit to one side.

When Tang Qingyun said Mo Xiaoman’s name, Mo Shuixia stared at him. After he received a negative answer and the student guide began leading him toward another room, Mo Shuixia followed them out.

"Why are you looking for Mo Xiaoman?" she asked.

Tang Qingyun turned his head to look at Mo Shuixia and smiled gently. "Young lady, do you know Mo Xiaoman?"

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