Chapter 483 - 471: Speechless

Lin Sui’er was still excitedly talking with Gu’er when the phone in the living room started ringing.

Lin Sui’er ran over to answer it.

"It’s Dad! Dad, I have to tell you..."

Lin Sui’er exclaimed loudly, but before she could finish, a noise came from the master bedroom. It was followed by a faint rustling sound. Gu’er looked over and saw Chen Fengjiao appear at the bedroom doorway.

Chen Fengjiao’s hair was a mess, her eyes were swollen like peaches, and she looked terrible.

Leaning on the doorframe, she spoke up. "Is that your father on the phone? You tell him, I don’t agree to letting her stay! If he wants to raise some brat, he can wait until I’m dead and find some other place to do it! What does he think he’s doing, bringing her into our home? That slut... Huh? Where did she go?"

Chen Fengjiao was in the middle of her furious tirade against Liu Fang when she realized the woman was gone.

Lin Sui’er gaped at her mother in astonishment. ’Is this really my mom?’

Gu’er sat on the sofa, watching Chen Fengjiao without saying a word.

"Where are they? Where are Liu Fang and that daughter of hers?"

Chen Fengjiao was truly baffled. She had been sleeping groggily when, for some reason, she snapped awake at the sound of Sui’er saying Lin Shan was on the phone. Ignoring her dizziness, she had shot up, ready to have it out with Lin Shan over the call, only to find Liu Fang gone.

"What’s your mother shouting about now?"

Lin Shan asked Sui’er over the phone, his voice tinged with resignation.

"Oh, Mom is..."

Sui’er didn’t know how to respond.

"Dad, Brother Li Zhi and Brother Dingzi took them away overnight. I’ve already arranged everything. The Liu family promised us they’d keep an eye on them and not let them leave the house. They’ll take care of Liu Fang and the child. As long as she doesn’t do anything foolish, she’ll be able to get by. We also asked the people over there to look after the Liu family a bit, so don’t worry."

Gu’er took the phone and explained to Lin Shan.

Chen Fengjiao’s eyes widened. ’What does that mean? They sent her away? When? Back to Liu Fang’s family? When did they even contact her family? How come I don’t know anything about this?’

"Gu’er, this whole mess was my fault, but I had to rely on you to clean it up. I won’t say more. This was a lesson for me. I’ll be more careful in the future. As for Liu Fang, we’ve done all we can. We originally wanted to help her, but we never expected this outcome. Now that she’s with her family, as long as she doesn’t cause trouble, she’ll be able to live her life. It all depends on whether she can come to her senses. If she can, she can still have a decent life. If she can’t, then our help was for nothing."

Lin Shan said with a sigh.

"Yes, you’re right, Dad. Just focus on your meeting and don’t worry about things at home. Mom’s fine. Everything’s fine."

Gu’er added a few more words before hanging up.

"So, um, they sent her away? When did that happen?"

Chen Fengjiao sat down on the sofa and asked in a low voice.

"Mom, didn’t you know Brother Li Zhi and Brother Dingzi came earlier? My sister put something in the chicken soup. That Liu Fang drank it and fell asleep, and then they carried her downstairs. They took her straight to her family’s place. With her family watching her, she won’t be able to run off again."

Sui’er explained excitedly to Chen Fengjiao.

"Whose idea was this? How come I didn’t know? Why didn’t anyone tell me? You made me worry for nothing."

Chen Fengjiao mumbled a bit, but mostly, she was just happy that the woman was gone.

"Wait, what did your father say? Didn’t he want her to stay? You sent her away, and he didn’t say anything?"

Chen Fengjiao asked as if she’d just remembered something.

"Mom, of course Dad wasn’t going to let her stay. My sister already worked it out with him. They were going to send her back to her family. They only said that in front of Liu Fang to keep her calm and prevent her from causing trouble."

Lin Sui’er thought her mother was really out of it.

"When did they say that? How come I didn’t know?"

Chen Fengjiao was still confused.

"Didn’t you hear my sister ask Dad if he remembered your family’s home? Dad knew what she meant right away, so he went along with her plan."

Lin Sui’er really had to hand it to her mom.

Chen Fengjiao was stunned. She had been there at the time, but she hadn’t understood any of it. She thought...

Lin Sui’er shook her head. ’Mom is so lucky she ended up with Dad. If it had been any other man, I’m afraid...’

"Then why didn’t you tell me? You let me cry for so long for nothing! I haven’t even eaten. I’m such a mess I can’t even show my face in public. If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have gotten like this."

Chen Fengjiao grumbled.

"You’re a terrible actress. If we told you, you wouldn’t have been able to cry anymore. That Liu Fang isn’t stupid. If she had noticed something was off, who knows what she might have tried to pull."

Lin Sui’er muttered.

"Honestly, child. You shouldn’t talk about your mother like that." But Chen Fengjiao knew her daughter was telling the truth.

"Gu’er, your mother didn’t know. Don’t be angry with me. I said some things I shouldn’t have." Chen Fengjiao realized her mistake and apologized to Gu’er.

"It’s okay, Mom. We’re family."

Gu’er smiled at her. She couldn’t bring herself to be angry with Chen Fengjiao.

"My sister told you she had a plan and wouldn’t let Liu Fang stay. Next time something happens, you should trust her. And don’t say things like you don’t have daughters like us. If we hear that too often, it’ll break our hearts."

Lin Sui’er said, speaking up for Gu’er.

"Yes, yes, I know."

Chen Fengjiao nodded meekly. She had just been furious at the time; she hadn’t really meant it.

"I’m hungry. Is there any chicken soup left? Get me two bowls."

Now that the woman was gone, Chen Fengjiao’s mood suddenly improved, and she felt her hunger return.

"I’ll go get it."

Sui’er stood up to ladle out the soup.

Chen Fengjiao took the chicken soup, had two sips, and had just let out a comfortable sigh when her expression suddenly changed. The bowl in her hands slipped and fell to the floor.

"What’s wrong?"

Sui’er and Gu’er asked with urgent concern.

"Th-this chicken soup has been drugged."

Chen Fengjiao pointed at the spilled soup, her face turning pale.

Gu’er leaned against the sofa, speechless.

"Oh my god, Mom, would I give you the drugged soup? It’s not like you’re my wicked stepmother. We all drank it. My sister only put the drug in *her* bowl, not in the whole pot. If we hadn’t been drinking it too, she would have gotten suspicious! And now you’ve smashed a perfectly good bowl of soup."

Lin Sui’er’s cheeks puffed out in frustration. She really didn’t know what to say.

"I wasn’t thinking straight. I thought it was drugged, and my hand slipped. I couldn’t hold on to it. Can you get your mother another bowl?"

Chen Fengjiao said with an apologetic smile.

"There’s no more. That was the last bowl, and you broke it. There’s nothing left to drink. There are still a few pieces of chicken, though. I can get those for you."

Sui’er got up with a sigh and went to get the chicken.

Gu’er looked at the floor—at the shattered bowl and the soup spilled everywhere. It was a greasy, ugly mess. Without a word, she got up and went to the bathroom to get a dustpan and a mop.

"I-I’ll do it."

Chen Fengjiao said, a little embarrassed. She had just been startled and hadn’t been thinking. It wasn’t on purpose.

"It’s fine. You haven’t eaten in several meals, so you don’t have the energy. I can do it."

Gu’er sidestepped Chen Fengjiao’s hand. She didn’t blame her; Chen Fengjiao’s personality was just like that. ’She just doesn’t trust me,’ she thought. ’If she did, things probably wouldn’t have turned out like this, would they?’

As Gu’er pondered this, she cleaned up the living room.

————

Thank you to amei2 for the monthly ticket, and thank you all for your support.