Chapter 156: Child, You’ve Suffered
Chapter 156
Madam Xu wanted to rush forward and tell the child that she was her birth mother, but feared she might frighten her.
As the elder sister, she needed to speak up for her younger sister at this moment. She looked towards where her family was standing and asked, "Has something happened?"
Shi's Grandmother waved her hand, "Come in first. Uncle Xu and Aunt Xu have something to tell you."
Huang Jie was laughing internally. Her dear daughter was quite the actress. She had clearly been notified earlier and even sent back an "OK" emoji, proving she had seen the message, yet she was acting as if she knew nothing.
Madam Xu tried to explain in a gentle tone that wouldn't frighten her daughter. She told her that when she gave birth, Hong Yan had switched her baby with her own.
Song Ying asked in an incredulous tone, "So, I'm not my mother's biological daughter, and you are my birth parents?"
Old Mrs. Xu nodded, "Yes, child."
Shi Li chuckled lightly, playing an unpleasant role in this situation. "Are you sure you haven't made a mistake? It wouldn't be fun to make a big fuss about bringing someone home as your child, only to say you were mistaken after a while. Not only would you be wasting your own time, but you'd also be toying with someone else's emotions."
The Xu family members all maintained a good attitude, "We've already done DNA testing. Song Ying is indeed our child."
Shi Li, who despised Hong Yan, began to speak ill of her relentlessly. "Oh, I see. I was wondering what kind of birth mother would constantly call her daughter a 'cheap slut' and a 'money pit'. If she was stolen, it makes sense. If it's not your own flesh and blood, you wouldn't feel bad about cursing at her."
Madam Xu and all the Xu family members had assumed that Hong Yan had switched the two children because she wanted her own daughter to have a better life, and that the child probably hadn't suffered too much.
Even Younger Aunt Xu hadn't imagined that Hong Yan could be so cruel to her adopted daughter.
Even when cursing at an enemy, one shouldn't use such vicious language, let alone towards an adopted daughter who had lived with them for many years.
If Hong Yan had been abusing Song Ying like this after joining the Shi Family, one can only imagine what kind of life Song Ying had before that.
Hong Yan had thought she could keep this secret for a lifetime, but it was exposed in such a short time.
When she had been cursing at Song Ying before, she didn't feel guilty. Now, faced with Song Ying's birth parents and being accused of abusing Song Ying, she began to feel afraid.
Madam Xu's tears suddenly fell. She felt like tearing Hong Yan apart with her bare hands.
"Slap!" That was Younger Aunt Xu taking action.
Hearing the crisp sound of the slap, Shi Li felt a bit satisfied.
But if Younger Aunt Xu could hit her a couple more times, Shi Li would feel even better.
Younger Aunt Xu wasn't just tough at home; she was even more formidable when confronting outsiders.
The insults she hurled at Hong Yan were far more offensive than the abusive words Hong Yan had used against Song Ying.
Uncle-in-law Xu was already used to it. After all, his wife was doing the righteous thing.
He pretended not to see.
Younger Aunt Xu pinned Hong Yan to the ground and beat her. Normally, when an outsider comes to beat someone from the Shi Family on their own turf, the family members should fight back.
However, what Hong Yan had done was so shameless that everyone, being reasonable people, absolutely wouldn't help the wrong side just because of family ties.
Moreover, Hong Yan was very unpopular in the Shi Family. No one liked her, so there was no one to intervene at this moment.
Even Youngest Uncle Shi, who loved Hong Yan deeply, didn't stop it. She had done wrong in this matter, and it was only right for Song Ying's family to hit her a couple of times to vent their anger.
Youngest Uncle Shi had lived with Hong Yan for a few years and knew how she treated Song Ying.
He often couldn't bear to see Hong Yan treat the child that way and would sometimes stop her from scolding the child.
But after all, Hong Yan and Song Ying were supposed to be mother and daughter, and as a foster father with no blood relation, he didn't feel it was his place to say much.
Put yourself in their shoes: if your own child had been maliciously switched and that person frequently abused your child, even the child's uncles and aunts wouldn't be able to resist hitting the perpetrator.
This was the evil Hong Yan had done, and she should suffer the consequences herself.
Of course, Hong Yan wouldn't allow someone to walk all over her. She wanted to fight back and resist. Both Hong Yan and Younger Aunt Xu were women unaccustomed to physical labor.
Hong Yan had some experience in street fights from her younger years, and her skills in brawling were superior to Younger Aunt Xu's. Seeing that his wife was about to lose the upper hand, Uncle-in-law Xu had to step in to help.
As for the saying that not hitting women is a virtue, sorry, but child traffickers don't count as people: they deserve to be beaten to death.
Youngest Uncle Shi was, after all, a good man who loved his wife. Seeing Uncle-in-law Xu join in, he felt a twinge of reluctance in his heart.
Out of sight, out of mind: so Youngest Uncle Shi turned his back.
Hong Yan certainly couldn't take on the couple by herself. She looked towards her own man, only to see Youngest Uncle Shi turning his back.
What a useless coward!
Now Hong Yan stopped cursing at Younger Aunt Xu and started berating her useless husband instead.
Youngest Uncle Shi had turned his back, but while his eyes couldn't see, his ears could still hear Hong Yan's curses.
Youngest Uncle Shi sighed, "You've done such a despicable thing, separating flesh and blood. If you had at least taken good care of Song Ying, it might have been forgivable. But your attitude towards Song Ying: I'm ashamed to even mention it. You deserve to be hit a couple of times by them. You should accept it."
Hong Yan was being beaten by Younger Aunt Xu, who was sitting on top of her, pulling her hair and slapping her face. Her whole body was aching from the beating.
Yet her bedmate was proposing that she deserved to be beaten. This infuriated Hong Yan. She thought that if this had never been discovered, she wouldn't have to suffer this punishment, and her own daughter could have been a young lady for life. What did he mean by saying she should accept it? It was all because of her bad luck.
Younger Aunt Xu's stamina was average. After hitting Hong Yan so many times, she was still waiting for someone to tell her to stop, but she was running out of energy.
Shi Li naturally noticed that Younger Aunt Xu's movements were slowing down, guessing that she might be out of strength. She decided to add some fuel to the fire.
Shi Li sighed deeply, "Song Ying's grades were actually very good, but Ms. Hong wanted her to transfer to a vocational school. She kept saying her child's grades weren't good. You all know that problem students in vocational schools often like to bully well-behaved students. Song Ying is such a gentle and soft-spoken girl, she would surely end up being bullied by those troublemakers there."
"Ms. Hong always said Song Ying's grades weren't good, that she was only fit for vocational school. I thought her grades must be terrible. But after she came to our class, she maintained a position in the top few ranks in every monthly exam. She even ranked first in our class once."
Alright, seeing Younger Aunt Xu's slapping motions becoming vigorous again, Shi Li was satisfied. It seemed that this additional information had been quite effective.
Old Mrs. Xu and Madam Xu felt increasingly heartbroken as they listened. This child must have suffered a great deal over the years.
At the same time, their gaze towards Hong Yan grew more venomous. What a black-hearted, rotten woman.
Old Mrs. Xu wiped the tears from her face with a handkerchief, "Child, you've suffered so much all these years. It's all our fault for not finding you sooner."