I Became the Mother of His Child

Mrs. Xu's faint did not last long; when Song Yuanhuan helped her lie down on the small bed next to Xu Jingjing's single ward, Mrs. Xu slowly regained consciousness.

"Alas, what sins did I commit in my past life! Ah, it's all my fault, my fault!" Upon waking, Mrs. Xu began to beat her chest fiercely. Pain and regret filled her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe.

She had never imagined that her eldest daughter would allow a stranger to defile her younger daughter. Did she harbor animosity towards Si Ya, thus wanting to ruin her? And they, as parents, were oblivious to such a huge incident involving their younger daughter. Indeed, everything that happened was spurred by both husband and wife. My God! She had destroyed her own daughter.

Mr. Xu, who was always the calmest, was initially just worried why his daughter was injured and hospitalized. But upon hearing what Xu Xiuxiu said and seeing his wife faint from extreme agitation, he sighed, stood guiltily by the window of the ward, and began to shakily light his pipe and smoke fiercely.

"How was Jingjing defiled by that beast!" Mr. Xu asked, trembling hard as he held his pipe. It was clear that despite his composed exterior, the matter of Xu Jingjing had deeply affected him.

"You should ask Xu Fangfang," Xu Xiuxiu shook her head.

Silence returned to the ward, as Mr. Xu anxiously puffed on his pipe.

"Si Ya must blame us, right? That's why she kept it all to herself and didn't even breathe a word to us, her parents! Alas!" After speaking, Mr. Xu took a couple more puffs of his pipe.

Resentment, huh? Xu Xiuxiu couldn't help but furrow her brow in deep thought.

Xu Jingjing had been deceived by her parents into returning from Z City to her hometown. She must have felt estranged from them since then, believing that Xu Fangfang had pushed her into a fire pit and that Mr. and Mrs. Xu must have known about it. Therefore, Xu Jingjing never mentioned it to her parents, even less willing to bring up that tragic and filthy ordeal, suppressing her resentment with no outlet.

After Song Wenshu had defiled Xu Jingjing, he shamelessly came to propose marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Xu, seeing Song Wenshu being polite and reasonable, and with their eldest daughter Xu Fangfang speaking highly of him, asked Xu Jingjing for her consent. She was still overshadowed by Song Wenshu and hadn't recovered. Seeing Mr. and Mrs. Xu ask, the desperate girl agreed to the marriage. She must have felt utterly hopeless!

"Shouldn't she resent you?" Xu Xiuxiu coldly retorted to Mr. Xu.

Xu Jingjing had every right to resent them, to resent everyone. How unjust the world had been to her, how could she not feel resentful? The deception and cruelty of her family had driven a young girl to the brink of despair, leaving her with no opportunity to struggle, flee, or hide.

Xu Xiuxiu's words were indeed cruel. Mr. Xu's hand tightened instinctively around his pipe, and it took him a while before he quietly said, "Yes, she should indeed resent us." Mr. Xu guiltily hung his head. The old man, who had always prided himself on being just and serious, had his eyes slightly moist at this moment.

Mr. Xu's statement was too heavy; no one in the ward responded. As their daughter, Xu Xiuxiu couldn't bring herself to add blame. Her stance had already hurt her parents enough.

"Whimper…" A low sobbing cry came, sounding extraordinarily clear in the ward.

Everyone instinctively looked towards the direction of Xu Jingjing's room, only to see that she had woken up. Her pale, tear-stained face strikingly revealed her pain, her cries striking everyone in the ward hard.

"Si Ya!" Xu Xiuxiu walked to the bedside, her heart aching as she looked at Xu Jingjing.

"Dad, Mom! I loathe you. You've ruined my life, made me so filthy, tricked me into returning from City Z and pushed me into the abyss. It's all your fault... all of it..." Xu Jingjing's hands, veins bulging, clutched the bedsheets so tightly, so hysterically.

"Si Ya! Are you trying to tear your mother's heart out? How could I bear to see you suffer?" Mrs. Xu struggled to get up from the adjacent bed, crying as she moved next to Xu Jingjing's. "Si Ya, it's all my fault. Blame me, don't blame your dad. He never agreed with me bringing you back from City Z. It was me, I was the one who was too soft-hearted and listened to your older sister. It's my fault you suffered!" As she spoke, Mrs. Xu fiercely beat her chest.

This was how rural women expressed their extreme sorrow and self-loathing, a very ominous gesture where an older person hitting their chest symbolizes cursing oneself.

"Mom..." Seeing this, Xu Jingjing cried and shook her head, "Whimper... you don't know how much pain I've been in. Every moment these days, I've been tormented. I even dare not close my eyes to sleep at night because as soon as I do, I start having nightmares, waking up from them over and over again..."

"But no one can pull me out of this abyss. I've been struggling in this black, filthy swamp; the more I struggle, the deeper I sink..." Her screams of struggle eventually faded as if her strength had been drained, and Xu Jingjing lay on the bed like a soulless puppet, her hand that was clutching the sheet slowly loosening. She murmured in a low voice as if expressing someone else's feelings.

"Si Ya..." Mrs. Xu sobbed helplessly, wracked with guilt.

However, Xu Jingjing's tears slowly stopped, and her demeanor showed complete detachment, as if she couldn't feel Mrs. Xu's anguish.

Xu Xiuxiu looked at Xu Jingjing with a heart full of pain, then, disregarding everything, she stepped forward and took Xu Jingjing into her arms. "It's alright now, Si Ya, your third sister is here for you!"

"Third sister..." Xu Jingjing seemed to snap back from her painful memories to reality, sobbing hysterically in Xu Xiuxiu's arms, crying her heart out.

"Cry as much as you need, Si Ya! Cry today, but after this, I won't allow you to shed another tear," Xu Xiuxiu soothed while stroking Xu Jingjing's hair.

"Mhm!" Xu Jingjing nodded through her sobs. "Sis, thank you." She leaned into Xu Xiuxiu's embrace dependently.

"Silly girl, there's nothing to thank me for! That's what an older sister should do. I only regret that I couldn't protect you better," Xu Xiuxiu said, shaking her head, her voice filled with remorse.

"You've already done so much," Xu Jingjing shook her head, her arms tightly embracing Xu Xiuxiu. Xu Xiuxiu had gone to such lengths for her, even personally castrating Song Wenshu, that beast. Though it hurt like hell, she still remembered every word and deed Xu Xiuxiu told her. After Song Wenshu was castrated, she didn't harbor as much resentment anymore. At least she still had her third sister, someone who cherished her.

Seeing Xu Jingjing's emotions stabilize, Xu Xiuxiu comforted her until she finally fell into a deep sleep, relaxing for the first time after being on edge for so long.

Knock, knock, knock...

Shortly after Xu Jingjing fell asleep, someone suddenly knocked on the hospital room door.