Free Web NovelChapter 208: Chapter 208: Coercion
This was the first time he had ever yelled at Mrs. Tang like this. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Mrs. Tang’s lips trembled, her chest heaving violently. "You... you... you’re yelling at me. Tangyuan, you’re yelling at me."
Her face was a mask of fury, tears streaming down her old cheeks. "Who am I doing all this for? Isn’t it for you? You believe everything Su Li says, so why won’t you believe your own mother!"
"I saw it with my own two eyes! I saw them coming out of a house together, talking and laughing!"
"She wasn’t going to school, she was cheating on you! Tangyuan, she’s cuckolding you, and you’re still defending her! You’re... you’re going to be the death of me! How am I supposed to face your father and the Tang family ancestors in the afterlife!"
She pounded her chest forcefully, trembling with rage.
With Tang Yuanxiao away from home, the already paranoid Mrs. Tang, who was afraid she couldn’t keep an eye on Su Li, had a thorn of suspicion planted in her heart ever since the incident in Xinghua Village where she’d tried to catch them in the act.
That was why she had interrogated the two security guards the first time she went to the clothing factory in Fengcheng County.
Her heart was already set, her prejudice deeply ingrained. Combined with her nightmares, she saw everything Su Li did through a distorted, colored lens.
Everything was wrong; everything was twisted.
As a mother, how could she not be heartbroken to see her daughter-in-law acting like this?
"Flies don’t bite a seamless egg! I saw it back in Xinghua Village. She’s just dishonest! She’s a vixen!"
"She has you wrapped around her little finger, and she’s still out there looking for other men... But you? You’re still defending her! Tangyuan, you’re trying to kill me with anger!"
"You defended her back in Xinghua Village, and you’re defending her again now! You won’t even go see what she’s done..."
She was sobbing too hard to speak.
Tang Yuanxiao looked at his mother, speechless.
He thought he knew his own mother best—how kind and gentle she was. But the reality...
He had thought that hysterical version of his mother was her limit, but he never imagined it was just the tip of the iceberg.
What was he supposed to do with a mother so stubborn and crazed, who refused to listen to a word anyone said? What *could* he do?
Tang Yuanxiao watched his mother’s ceaselessly moving mouth, listening to her endless stream of insults, until only one sentence remained on his own lips.
"Mom, are you trying to drive me to my death?"
The insults coming from Mrs. Tang’s mouth stopped abruptly. She stared at Tang Yuanxiao, stunned, reaching out a hand in disbelief.
"You... you’re really trying to be the death of me... You’re not my Tangyuan..."
She sat on the floor and began to wail. "How could you say I’m driving you to your death? You’re the one driving *me* to my death! I might as well just die! What’s the point of living anymore..."
She slapped the ground, crying and cursing, drawing everyone’s attention.
Even the police officers trying to work couldn’t continue, but Mrs. Tang was completely oblivious.
She screamed herself hoarse until she finally fainted from rage and exhaustion.
Mrs. Tang was taken back to the family courtyard. After lying in bed for half an hour, she came to.
Tang Yuanxiao sat by her bed and patiently explained what had happened again, telling her she had misunderstood Su Li.
"Mom, this incident has blown up. From now on, you are forbidden from going to see Su Li, and you’re not to be suspicious of this and that. If you keep this up, something terrible will happen. A family can be ruined in the blink of an eye."
Tang Yuanxiao took a deep breath. "You’re not young anymore. Do you really want to end up in prison?"
Mrs. Tang’s lips trembled, but she didn’t say a word.
"You don’t understand the situation. I’ll explain it to you later. Because of you, Su Li has been... Mom, do you have any idea how dangerous today was? That craftsman is the only son in his family for three generations. If we hadn’t been lucky today, our family would be finished by now."
Seeing the defiance still lingering in his mother’s expression and thinking of Su Li’s miserable state at the hospital, Tang Yuanxiao’s eyes turned ice-cold.
"Mom, what if I were the one in his place today? What would you do?"
Mrs. Tang’s eyes flew open. "Don’t say such things!"
"I’m not. If I were the one who was hurt today, if someone had just kicked and injured me for no reason, what would you do? Wouldn’t you want to..."
"Who would dare! I’d kill them!" Mrs. Tang shot up in bed and grabbed Tang Yuanxiao’s hand.
"Tangyuan, stop talking nonsense! Quick, spit for good luck!"
Tang Yuanxiao looked at his mother’s fiercely protective expression, and a bitter feeling welled up inside him.
"Mom, you see? We’re all mothers. You treasure me, and that craftsman’s mother treasures him just as much."
"If you had really crippled him today, his mother would have come after you with everything she had. That craftsman just got engaged. You would have destroyed two families. Do you think our family could have survived that unscathed?"
Tang Yuanxiao held his mother’s hand. "Mom, from now on, can you please not be so impulsive? Before you do anything, can you please think about me, think about Momo, and think about this family?"
Fear finally dawned in Mrs. Tang’s eyes, and she started to cry softly.
"Tangyuan, I didn’t mean to. I really never thought about how it would affect you and Momo. I’ll be more careful in the future. I promise I won’t be so impulsive..."
Hearing this, Tang Yuanxiao breathed a sigh of relief. "It’s a huge relief to hear you say that."
But before he could even fully exhale, he heard his mother continue.
"From now on, if I’m going to hit someone, I’ll only hit Su Li. I definitely won’t be impulsive and hit anyone else. I can’t cause trouble for you."
Tang Yuanxiao’s face froze completely. His hand, holding his mother’s, went slack and fell away.
It took him a long moment to find his voice. "Mom, after everything I just said, you..."
’So it was all for nothing...’
"Tangyuan, I listened, I really did. I won’t be impulsive anymore, you can rest assured. But why didn’t you drag Su Li back? We can’t have a wife like that. It doesn’t matter how good she is, we can’t keep her."
She grabbed Tang Yuanxiao’s hand again, her tone earnest and pleading.
"Tangyuan, Mom is only doing this for your own good. I’m not kidding. You take that factory she has, then divorce her! Make her leave with nothing!"
She spat viciously. "Let’s see how high and mighty she acts after you dump her and stop paying for her education."
Tang Yuanxiao pried his mother’s fingers off his hand, one by one. He had given up on trying to communicate with her.
What was the use of talking until his lips bled?
’Divorce her, make her leave with nothing, stop paying for her education, take her factory...’
Heh... heh...
Tang Yuanxiao, whose face had softened and whose smile had become less stiff thanks to Little Tang Mo’s influence, had reverted to his old, rigid, coffin-like expression.
He no longer looked at his mother, merely turning his head to the side and speaking calmly.
"Today, you bit Su Li’s hand and beat her black and blue. At the hospital, she was nearly mobbed by that craftsman’s family. She’s been traumatized, both physically and mentally, and needs to recuperate. Once she’s recovered, she still has to go to school. She won’t be coming back here anymore."
He didn’t look at his mother’s incredulous face, hardening his heart as he continued.
"If Little Mo misses her, I’ll take him to the Imperial City to see her. From now on, you don’t need to involve yourself in any of her affairs. Just pretend you don’t have this daughter-in-law."
After he finished speaking, Tang Yuanxiao avoided his mother’s grasping hand and stood up.
"Even though you despise her so much, I still have to tell you what she did for you. Today, because of you, she apologized and compensated that family. We owe her that money. We’ll have to pinch our pennies for the next few months to pay her back."
"The money she has, she earned it herself. It has nothing to do with the Tang family. I never paid for her schooling. The money I sent her before, she never touched a single cent of it. If you want it, I can get it for you tomorrow."
"Tangyuan, do you have any idea what you’re saying?" Mrs. Tang was trembling all over.
"I do. I know exactly what I’m saying. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to the others and have them keep an eye on you. From now on, don’t leave the residential compound. And don’t go to the Imperial City either."
His voice was strained, but firm.
