Chapter 54: Don’t Come To My House Anymore
Xu Wei knew that the Bai Family’s business had been going down the slope in the past two years. She also knew that Bai Yao would help out her nephew financially whenever she had money in her hands.
Even though she did not like Bai Yao, she cared a lot about Lu Chuwan. With a frown, she said, “I’ll order a dress for her from Kimorty. I’ll make sure that they will send the dress to school before tomorrow afternoon.”
It was only then that Bai Yao calmed down.
She harrumphed, “Xu Wei, I know you won’t like hearing this, but I still have to say it. Wanwan is our Lu Family’s only granddaughter. How can you favor an outsider over your own niece? You even needed me to remind you of the compet.i.tion! Don’t you think it would cast a shadow over our family’s reputation if other people got wind of our situation?”
Xu Wei replied, her voice sounding a little m.u.f.fled, “Zhizhi is my daughter, so I can’t see why there is a problem with me loving my own daughter?”
“She’s adopted. She isn’t your own biological child. How could you treat an unrelated person as if she’s the most important person to you? You don’t even know if she thinks of you as her mother. She may dump you when her real parents show up in the future. If you don’t adopt this kind of kid young, she will definitely grow up into an ingrate!”
“Don’t you ever talk about Zhizhi like that! There’s only one ingrate here, and that’s you! Since you don’t like Zhizhi so much, I guess there’s nothing else for us to talk about!” Xu Wei picked the phone up from the table and brought it closer to her mouth. Her eyes were turning red around the rims from rage.
“And don’t come to my house anymore! You’re not welcome here. As for the dress, go figure it out yourself! I’m not buying it anymore!”
Then, without waiting for Bai Yao to say anything, she ended the call.
Fu Zhi could sense that her mother was infuriated by looking at her tightening knuckles on her hem. She looked as if she was about to pa.s.s out. After a short bout of contemplation, Fu Zhi patted Xu Wei’s shoulder and comforted her. “There, there.”
Xu Wei snorted angrily a few times.
Fu Zhi handed her a gla.s.s of water and added, “Being angry is not good for your heart. Anger causes an outpouring of stress hormones like adrenaline, which makes your heart pump even faster and your blood pressure rise.
“You’re not young anymore, so you’re very susceptible to sudden cerebral hemorrhage and myocardial infarction. You’ll die early.”
Xu Wei looked at Fu Zhi silently as she thought, ‘Am... Am I really that old?’
Then, Fu Zhi moved on and said matter-of-factly, “You should let her be angry by herself.”
“Oh, now I get what you’re going at,” Xu Wei said as she nodded and began to picture Bai Yao fainting out of anger.
Be that as it may, what Bai Yao had mentioned about Fu Zhi’s biological parents still p.r.i.c.ked her heart.
She did not know much about Fu Zhi’s life before she had been taken into the Lu Family. What she knew was that Fu Zhi’s parents had abandoned her right after her birth.
Xu Wei clutched her hands tightly until her fingers turned white. After taking a deep breath, she asked, “Zhizhi, if... I mean if, one day, your biological daddy comes and tries to take you away from me...”
“Hmm?” Fu Zhi c.o.c.ked her head and thought for a moment. Then, she responded sincerely, “Don’t worry, mom. There’s no way you can beat him.”
Xu Wei, who had been waiting for Fu Zhi to comfort her, was stumped once more.
She looked at her daughter, who was sharing a can of milk candy with her youngest son on the couch, in blank astonishment. There was a warm smile on Fu Zhi’s face, and she seemed not to notice the changes in Xu Wei’s emotions.
Xu Wei could feel tears welling in her eyes when she thought about the things Fu Zhi had said just now. To her, losing to Fu Zhi’s biological father felt even worse than losing an argument to Bai Yao.
****
The English Public Speaking Compet.i.tion was at noon that day.
After she finished her cla.s.ses, Fu Zhi collected her textbook and left the school alone.
There was a bustling snack street outside No.1 High School. She walked all the way down the street and stopped in front of an inconspicuous bubble tea shop.
A lot of people came to this shop, so there was a long line in front of it.
Fu Zhi joined the end of the line. She then fished out her phone and opened her game.
The sun was blinding, and there was nothing outside the shop to shield them from the fierce rays. Just as her game began to load, a commotion was heard from the shop.