Chapter 154: Eavesdropping

Chapter 154: Chapter 154: Eavesdropping

"Whether you can do it or not, you have to. This isn’t just for the children, it’s for you too." Mrs. Tao pulled her hand away, her expression grim.

"For me?" Tao Jianren looked confused.

"The Lin family said that if you’re not willing to marry into their family, you’ll go to jail along with him." Mrs. Tao’s face twisted with conflict as she looked at Tao Jianren, and she sighed again. "Do you think your brother and I want to see you marry into the Lin family? To be honest, we look down on them. But what choice do we have? Your parents-in-law hate you so much. They said if you refuse to marry into the family, they’ll charge you with hooliganism and send you to prison."

"Hooliganism? Mom, you’re not just saying this to trick me, are you? Just to get those jobs for Jun Hao and Chunhua?" Tao Jianren suddenly frowned, growing more and more furious the more she thought about it. "I know you say you dote on me the most, but in your heart, you still favor Jun Hao. I’m not even a man, how could I be charged with hooliganism?"

"You wretched girl, are you trying to kill me with anger? I’m doing all of this for your own good, and this is what you think of me?" Mrs. Tao was so furious she slapped Tao Jianren, her face a mask of resentment. "You secretly had two children with that man from the Lin family, so how can that not be considered hooliganism? If you don’t believe me, just try it! That’s a crime they only prosecute if someone reports it. It’s not just the Lin family who has the right to charge you. Let me tell you, the Zhang family—that is, the former wife of that Lin man—she has the right to charge you too. So in the future, you’d better be a little nicer to her children, or at least get along with them. Otherwise, it’ll be a real mess if her side of the family decides to report you."

"Ah..."

Tao Jianren’s jaw dropped. After a long moment, she said, "Mom, what if I just run away?"

"If you run, what about your two children? Don’t even think about me raising them for you. I still depend on your brother to support me, and he has two kids of his own! How could he possibly help raise yours too? Besides, if you run away, won’t the Lin family take their anger out on our family and your two children?" Mrs. Tao grew anxious. ’My son was right,’ she thought, ’this daughter of mine is ruthless. If she really runs away, our whole family won’t be able to survive.’ She began to silently regret not trying to persuade her with a softer approach.

"You wouldn’t have to raise those two kids. Aren’t they the Lin family’s children? You can just send them directly to the Lin family." Tao Jianren didn’t notice her mother’s strange reaction and began to plead, tugging at her arm. "Mom, please help me. Just give me some money for now. Once I’m gone and things have cooled down in a few years, I’ll definitely come back and take good care of you."

"No."

Mrs. Tao’s rejection was stern and absolute. Seeing Tao Jianren’s shocked expression, she quickly softened her tone. "You silly girl. If they report you, how could you possibly escape from right under the police’s noses? Even if you got lucky and managed to get away for a while, you’d become a wanted fugitive. Do you remember that man from our village who caused his sister-in-law’s death? He ran away too, very, very far. But what happened? It wasn’t even two months before the police tracked him down from a thousand miles away and dragged him back."

"...Then what do I do?" Tao Jianren’s face was ashen. "This won’t work, and that won’t work. Am I supposed to just accept my fate?"

"What else can you do but accept it?"

"It’s all because of those two. If they hadn’t fought, if they hadn’t gotten hurt, everything would have been fine... It’s all their fault." Tao Jianren’s face twisted into a terrifying expression, so frightening that even Mrs. Tao took a step back in shock.

Outside the door, Lin Jiayi and Lin Jia Bao, who had seen their mother’s expression clearly through the crack in the door, also took an involuntary step back in fear. Luckily, the siblings managed to cover their mouths in time to stifle a gasp. They looked at each other, and with a shared understanding, they quietly backed away. They didn’t stop until they were far from the door, then they fled from their grandmother’s house as if escaping, only stopping when they found a quiet, deserted spot.

The weather was still hot, but Lin Jiayi felt waves of cold wash over her. She hugged herself, trembling, and looked pitifully at her younger brother. "Jia Bao, what Chen Zhuang said was true. Dad’s in jail, and Grandpa and Grandma really don’t want us anymore. Even Mom... she thinks it’s our fault and wants to abandon us. What are we going to do now?"

"Sis, you still have me. I’m a man, I won’t abandon you," Lin Jia Bao said, suppressing his own panic as he held onto Lin Jiayi.

"WAAH... Jia Bao, me too! I won’t abandon you either!" Hearing her brother’s words, Lin Jiayi immediately threw her arms around him and burst into tears. Crying, she mumbled incoherently, "There are only the two of us left. From now on, neither of us will ever leave the other, okay?"

"Okay," Lin Jia Bao finally gave in to his own tears and began to sob.

The siblings cried for a long while. Seeing the sky gradually darken and hearing their stomachs rumbling, they realized they had nowhere else to go. They finally got up, wiped their tears, and headed back to their grandmother’s house.

When they walked in, the siblings saw that everyone at their grandmother’s house was already at the dinner table. It looked like they had been eating for a while, as only leftovers remained. Their entrance didn’t draw a single glance; their grandmother, uncle, and aunt, who usually doted on them, acted as if they weren’t even there. Only Tao Jianren flicked a sideways glance at them.

A sour feeling welled up in their hearts again. This feeling of being completely ignored was utterly foreign to them. Never before had they experienced anything like this when visiting their grandmother’s house.

"Where have you two been running wild to only come back now? You’re not hungry, are you? If not, then don’t bother eating." Tao Jianren, holding her rice bowl, saw her children’s red, swollen eyes but didn’t ask about them. Her voice was laced with faint disgust and thick impatience.

"What are you saying? Don’t take your anger out on the children." Mrs. Tao finally seemed to notice the siblings. She put down her bowl and said to them with a pleasant expression, "The food is in the kitchen. Go get some for yourselves. We just sat down a little while ago." The two children watched as their grandmother, after saying this, immediately picked her bowl back up and resumed eating, completely ignoring them. As for the others, they seemed to be picking up food from the dishes even faster. Left with no choice, the siblings could only helplessly put down their schoolbags and go to the kitchen themselves.

"They’re so snobby." In the kitchen, Lin Jiayi had to stand on a chair to climb up to the stove and scoop out two bowls of rice. Tears of grievance rolled down her cheeks as she spoke to her brother.

"Don’t say that. Who knows what they’ll do if they hear you," Lin Jia Bao said to his sister, suddenly seeming to have matured as his expression turned serious. "Some things are best if we just keep them to ourselves."

"Okay." Lin Jiayi wiped her tears and nodded.

"What happened to you two? Did someone bully you? Look, your eyes are swollen from crying." At the dinner table, Tao Jianren glanced at the siblings again. After all, they were her children; she couldn’t completely ignore them. She couldn’t help but ask.