I Became the Mother of His Child

"God!" Song Yuanyao's eyes reddened, and her chest suddenly felt blocked.

Because of the cold weather, Song Yuanyao hadn't managed to give Song Tianxin a bath, and with Xu Xiuxiu in confinement these past few days, she had to help look after Song Chengguang, so she had somewhat neglected Song Tianxin. She never imagined that her neglect would cause the little girl to suffer quite so much. Looking at the thin arms before her, Song Yuanyao felt as if she could barely breathe.

"Did your mom pinch you?" Song Yuanyao asked in disbelief.

"Uh-huh!" Song Tianxin nodded helplessly.

"Come, Niuniu isn't scared, relax! With your aunt here, I definitely won't let your mom hit you." Song Yuanyao took a deep breath, lowered Niuniu's rolled-up sleeve, and then, with heavy steps, led Song Tianxin by the hand toward the direction of the elder sister-in-law's bedroom.

"Sister-in-law, are you in the room?" Song Yuanyao stood outside Wang Qinghua's bedroom door and knocked gently.

Wang Qinghua was lying in the room, nibbling on a big apple that Xu Xiuxiu had bought. Hearing Song Yuanyao's knock on the door, she quickly swallowed the last few bites and then straightened her clothing before coming to open the door: "Yuanyao, what brings you to your sister-in-law so late at night?" Wang Qinghua greeted with a smile, perhaps because of New Year's Eve, her attitude was much better than usual, but her smile tensed visibly at the sight of Song Yuanyao holding her daughter, Song Tianxin.

"I have something to ask my sister-in-law," said Song Yuanyao, her expression very serious.

Wang Qinghua frowned deeply. "What is it?" Instinctively, Wang Qinghua wasn't keen on arguing with Song Yuanyao and asked indifferently. She then scanned Song Tianxin with a sharp look.

As soon as Song Tianxin met Wang Qinghua's gaze, she immediately hid behind Song Yuanyao, feeling guilty.

"Is sister-in-law refusing to let me in to talk?" Song Yuanyao asked defiantly.

Having glanced at Song Tianxin just now, Wang Qinghua had guessed that it was probably the issue with the New Year's money that had come to Song Yuanyao's attention—a sure sign that the little wretch couldn't be trusted. Irritated, Wang Qinghua forced a smile on her face: "Then come in to talk!" Her laugh was awkward, making one feel uncomfortable.

"Sister-in-law, is Chengguang's New Year's money with you?" Song Yuanyao cut straight to the point without intending to beat around the bush with Wang Qinghua.

"No! How could that New Year's money possibly be with me? Don't be ridiculous, sister-in-law." Wang Qinghua responded without any hesitation, wearing an exasperated expression as Song Yuanyao questioned her.

"Sister-in-law, please don't rush to clear yourself," Yuanyao said, "Tianxin told me everything. We both know whether it's with you or not. I wasn't planning on making a big deal out of this, considering how ugly it looks for you to have encouraged Tianxin to steal the lucky money. I could expose you, but I can't fail to consider Tianxin's well-being. She's still young, and I can't bear to let the tarnish of theft grow up with her. Just hand over the lucky money, and I'll return it to Chengguang under the guise of having found it. Once I leave this room today, let's pretend nothing happened."

However, Wang Qinghua was unwilling to just spit out the morsel that had reached her mouth, which was highly unlikely, especially because although it was Song Chengguang's lucky money, the amount was not small! She had scrimped and saved for years with the Song Family, only managing to hoard around a hundred yuan for herself. That kid makes more in lucky money over the New Year than her private savings, how could she willingly spit it out?

"Yuanyao, let's discuss this, shall we?" Wang Qinghua chuckled dryly, then fished out two yuan from her pocket and stuffed them into Yuanyao's hand: "This thing with Tianxin today really isn't very nice, so here, take this two yuan to buy some snacks, and let's just pretend we know nothing, okay?" Qinghua thought she had everything figured out and clearly was trying to trick Yuanyao like a child.

"Sister-in-law," Yuanyao called out, her tone not very calm and carried a hint of a threat.

"Don't think it's too little, Yuanyao! Chengguang's lucky money isn't that much either, just a few yuan. Now, we split it between us, and the matter is closed, all right?" Qinghua said, thinking she had settled the matter, as she did not think Yuanyao would make a big fuss and therefore did not take it seriously.

Yuanyao looked at the two paper bills in her hand and was speechless. Just a few yuan? Given her second sister-in-law's generosity, would she have given Chengguang any less in lucky money? Sister-in-law really was getting more and more confused.

"Sister-in-law, if you don't want trouble during the New Year's, just hurry up and bring out the lucky money!" Yuanyao returned the two yuan to Qinghua's hands.

Qinghua's face immediately darkened, but after a while, she smiled again: "That lucky money, Yuanyao, I found it. Since I found it, it's okay if I don't want to give it back, right?" Qinghua decided to play dumb and intended to stick to her story without breaking down in a fight with Yuanyao. Reluctantly, she pulled out another five yuan from her pocket and stuffed it into Yuanyao's hand: "Let's not make this ugly. That's enough!" she said, patting Yuanyao's hand.

"Sister-in-law." Yuanyao looked at Qinghua with immense disappointment, "Wasn't that money instigated by you for Niuniu to steal from Chengguang's little backpack? How can you have the nerve to claim you found it and shamelessly want to keep it for yourself?" At that moment, Yuanyao gained a new understanding of Wang Qinghua.

"What stealing?" Qinghua angrily retorted Yuanyao's words: "Sister-in-law, don't make your words sound so unpleasant! I already told you that I found the lucky money. Can't you understand human speech?" Insisting on her own version of the story, Qinghua angrily yanked the five yuan back from Yuanyao's hand and stuffed it into her pocket.

This girl sure had a big appetite; even five yuan couldn't shut her up, so she decided not to bother. If she just insisted the money was found, then she would see who could compel her to take out the found money. After making up her mind to stubbornly hold out, Qinghua suddenly felt a surge of confidence.

"Niuniu, be brave and repeat to your mother what you just told your auntie. That lucky money, it was your mother who told you to steal it, wasn't it?" Yuanyao, her eyes reddened with anger, bent over and softly coaxed Tianxin.

"Mommy, she..." Tianxin was about to speak but got cut off before she could finish.

Slap! Wang Qinghua moved swiftly to Tianxin and slapped her on the head: "You little wretch, always taking sides against your own family. If you dare to spout nonsense again, believe it or not, I'll skin you alive." Her vicious threat easily intimidated Tianxin into swallowing the words that had reached her throat, even with Yuanyao's encouragement.

"Whimper..." Tianxin shrank back, teary-eyed, gave Yuanyao a glance, and then began to cry silently.