Chapter 9: Chapter 8: It’s Either Her or Me
Lu Jiaguang was very perceptive. He asked, “Jiaxin, you just said that the trafficker could accurately call out my uncle’s name and mine? How did she know that?”
Lu Jiaxin shook her head and said, “I only mentioned that our old home is in Feng County, then that old woman asked me if my dad was Lu Hongjun from the Forty-Nine City Department Store? She also said that Uncle Lu Tiejun has been a village secretary for over twenty years and that people from all around know he likes to throw his weight around.”
“What’s the name of the other party? Where are they from?”
Lu Jiaxin shook her head and said, “She didn’t mention her own name, she just cried to me that her daughter-in-law was cruel and her son couldn’t stand her. She also warned me that not many stepmothers are good, so I should be more cautious. Since she seemed so familiar with my family, I didn’t suspect anything.”
After listening, Lu Jiaguang felt that there was more to the matter, “What are the names of her son and daughter-in-law? Where do they work?”
Lu Jiaxin said, “I don’t know, she didn’t say.”
“She didn’t mention in which city her son works?”
Lu Jiaxin still shook her head, “No, she didn’t say anything.”
In fact, that old woman’s son worked in Jin City, but she indeed didn’t mention which factory or his name. She kept this information to herself for another plan she had in mind.
The more Lu Jiaguang heard, the more he felt that the old woman had come prepared. But what could Jiaxin, a young girl, have done to wrong someone for them to go to such lengths to harm her? He had been suspecting that this whole incident was a trap set by Ding Jing, and now he was certain of it.
Ding Jing knew that Lu Jiaguang was suspecting her. Though she couldn’t prove her innocence, she was quick to react, raising her hand to swear an oath, “If Jiaxin’s kidnapping has anything to do with me, may I die with my intestines perforated and my stomach rotten, and may Siyi live in poverty and loneliness until her death.”
Lu Hongjun held her hand and said, “Xiao Jing, I believe you have nothing to do with this.”
Lu Jiaguang didn’t speak. He didn’t believe in oaths, only evidence. If he found evidence, he would send her to prison.
Lu Jiajie felt disgusted and turned away, asking Lu Jiaxin, “After you escaped, why didn’t you call me or big brother? These past days, we’ve been almost driven mad with worry.”
Lu Jiaxin explained, “I had amnesia, I didn’t even know my own name, so I couldn’t call you.”
Lu Jiaguang was in agony. If Third Aunt could know about this from beyond, she would be heartbroken.
Lu Jiajie asked, “How did you get by during this past month then?”
Lu Jiaxin said, “I was unconscious for three days before waking up, and since I had no money for the hospital, I could only endure. The shanty was full of mosquitoes, and I couldn’t even sleep well…”
Lu Jiajie was shocked, “A shanty? How did you end up living in a shanty?”
Lu Jiaxin explained, “Xue Mao’s parents died of illness three years ago, and his brother and sister-in-law greedily took over all the family property, claiming he was adopted, and kicked him out of the village. He wandered to the Ancient Capital, starving at times and full at others, sleeping in underpasses when he had nowhere else to go. It was only when he encountered an old friend of his father’s that he got that shanty. During those days, he spent all the money he made from odd jobs on me and went hungry himself.”
The reality was that her days in the Ancient Capital weren’t as miserable as she had described. The old woman wasn’t a professional trafficker, and when she saw there was no life left in Jiaxin, she only took her watch, leaving the Jade Pendant she wore behind. That Jade Pendant was made of Mutton-fat Jade, and after waking up, Jiaxin had Xue Mao exchange it for Eighty Yuan.
With the money, she went straight to the hospital for a check-up and got medicine, then rented a place and took more than a week to recover. Once she felt better, she joined Xue Mao in setting up a stall to sell snacks. The reason she recounted such a woeful tale was to make the Lu brothers loathe Ding Jing and her daughter even more.
Lu Jiaguang was very grateful to Xue Mao. Saving a person was easy, but taking care of someone who had lost their memory was difficult, not to mention that his own future was uncertain. He said sincerely, “Young man, thank you for saving our Jiaxin. Just name your demands, and as long as we can, we will fulfill them.”
Lu Jiaxin said, “Big Brother, I will repay this life-saving grace myself.”
Lu Jiaguang felt that she had become mature and responsible after this experience, but he didn’t agree with her, “You are a student; what you need to do now is to focus on your studies. We’ll handle Xue Mao’s matters with your father.”
It was then that Lu Hongjun spoke up, “Yes, Xinxin, school starts in a little over a week, get prepared these next couple of days.”
Lu Jiaxin purposely said, “Repeat a year, then give me some tainted food before the exam, so I suffer from stomach pains during it, wasting yet another year’s effort.”
Lu Jiaguang stood up abruptly, “Jiaxin, what are you talking about? You had stomach pains during the exam?”
Between sobs, Ding Jing said, “Lu Jiaxin, I know you’ve never liked me, but that doesn’t mean you can fabricate stories and slander me.”
Having said that, she, with tears covering her face, grabbed Lu Hongjun’s arm, “Old Lu, not only did you eat that breakfast, Siyi and I ate it too. If there was really something wrong with it, we all would have gotten diarrhea, not just her by herself.”
Lu Jiaxin looked at her, crying so pitifully, indeed it would make anyone feel sympathy.
Lu Hongjun comforted her in his arms, “I believe you. Jiaxin, we all ate the same thing that day; your stomach pain must have been an accident.”
Lu Jiaxin spoke mercilessly, “They say once you get a stepmother, you get a stepfather, and now it seems the old saying wasn’t wrong. Big Brother, I dare not live under the same roof with this pair of viperous mother and daughter. I was lucky this time, but next time, I might not be so fortunate.”
Ding Jing pushed Lu Hongjun away and, wiping her tears, pretended to be strong, “Old Lu, if this family cannot accommodate Siyi and me, then we’ll just leave.”
Lu Hongjun immediately grabbed her arm, “You are my wife, Siyi is my daughter, this is your home. Where else would you go?”
Lu Jiaxin watched Lu Hongjun with a cold expression, “Dad, if she stays, I leave; if I stay, she goes. It’s your choice.”
Lu Hongjun felt his daughter was being very unreasonable and his tone got heavier, “Jiaxin, what nonsense are you talking about? We are a family, and a family should stay together.”
Lu Jiaxin exploded with profanity, “Bullshit family. Zhao Siyi seduced my fiancé, this evil woman drugged me before my exams so I wouldn’t get into university, and she could very well have orchestrated the human trafficking incident. Lu Hongjun, either they leave today, or I will.”
Lu Jiaguang also felt that he couldn’t let his sister live with this mother and daughter any longer; otherwise, she might truly lose her life one day. However, before he took a stand, he wanted to see Lu Hongjun’s choice.
Lu Jiajie, who lived with his mother-in-law, had no say and stayed quiet.
Lu Hongjun naturally didn’t want to choose; one was his wife and the other his own daughter. It was impossible for either to move out.
Lu Jiaguang saw his hesitation and understood everything. He was faced with the choice of a new wife and stepdaughter over his own blood. He was disappointed and heartbroken, and he couldn’t understand why the astute and decisive Third Uncle had become . Perhaps he was truly blinded by lust.
Seeing this, Lu Jiaxin didn’t want to waste any more words and called Xue Mao to go back to the room to get their stuff.