Free Web NovelChapter 242: Chapter 242: Irony
Su Li rushed over, her mind at war with itself the entire way.
One voice said: ’It’s impossible. Little Tang Mo will be fine. No harm will come to him.’
’In her past life, after Little Tang Mo was lost, Mrs. Tang had been so frantic, so desperate. What about that profound affection?’
’It was Mrs. Tang’s deep love for Little Tang Mo that had indirectly led to Su Li’s own half-lifetime of pain. Her stomach cancer, her early death... all of it stemmed from Mrs. Tang’s love for Little Tang Mo.’
’Such deep affection couldn’t possibly be erased just because he wasn’t her biological grandson.’
But another voice was also telling Su Li: ’It’s possible!’
Su Li had already witnessed Mrs. Tang’s madness. She was capable of anything.
An image uncontrollably surfaced in Su Li’s mind: the crazed face of Mrs. Tang from her past life, when she had locked Su Li in a cowshed, denied her food and water, and shoved things like charcoal dust, chili peppers, and cow dung into her mouth...
Every time she recalled it, the memory was torture.
Su Li’s face turned pale. She took a deep breath, desperately suppressing her fury, and shook her head violently to cast the terrifying memory away.
She tried to convince herself that Mrs. Tang could never go that far.
’She and Little Tang Mo are different!’
’No matter what, Little Tang Mo was the grandson Mrs. Tang had raised!’
Caught in this internal battle, Su Li endured the car ride as if every second were an eternity, just trying to make it through until she could get out.
The moment she was out of the car, Su Li broke into a run toward the family courtyard.
She didn’t have time to speak to the women who saw her and called out greetings, sprinting all the way to the Tang family’s front door.
The door was shut tight. From the outside, everything looked normal, and there were no strange noises.
Panting, Su Li stared for two seconds before swallowing hard, stepping up, and trying the door.
It was closed, but not locked. A firm push was enough to open it.
Su Li hesitated for a moment before stepping inside. Just as she was about to call out for Little Tang Mo, she suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the secondary bedroom.
Su Li froze, then hurried to the bedroom door.
The door wasn’t fully closed, leaving a crack through which the strange sound was coming.
Without a second thought, Su Li pushed the door open.
When she pushed the door open and saw the scene inside, Su Li’s pupils contracted violently.
"What are you doing? Let go!"
She saw Mrs. Tang, her face contorted with madness, trying to smother Little Tang Mo with a pillow.
Little Tang Mo’s muffled whimpers came from under the pillow. His small hands clawed at Mrs. Tang’s, his little feet kicking wildly.
Seeing this, Su Li felt a rage so intense it was as if her eyes would split open.
In that moment, she wanted to kill Mrs. Tang!
"Get the hell away from him!"
Su Li screamed and charged forward, shoving Mrs. Tang away.
She put all her strength into the push, sending Mrs. Tang tumbling to the floor.
"Little Mo!" Su Li snatched the pillow away, revealing Little Tang Mo’s face, which had turned a deep purplish-red.
Something dark and sooty stained the area around his mouth, mixed with blood. He gasped for air, his expression dazed, looking as if he might die at any second.
"Little Mo, wake up, wake up..."
Su Li picked him up and patted his face. "Little Mo, Little Mo..."
Little Tang Mo finally opened his eyes, but his gaze was vacant. They fluttered open for a moment, his mouth moved, silently forming the word "Mama," and then he passed out completely.
"Little Mo! Little Mo!" Trembling, Su Li held a hand under his nose. Feeling the warmth of his breath, she let out a sigh of relief and collapsed to the floor.
Her trembling hand finally came to rest on Little Tang Mo’s slender neck, where she found a ring of purple bruises.
She didn’t need to look twice; she knew they were from being choked.
Su Li’s eyes were bloodshot. Her gaze shifted from the bruises on his neck to his hands and feet.
Little Tang Mo’s hands and feet had always been fair and soft, but now they were completely different.
In just the one month she hadn’t seen him, he had become shockingly thin, like a stick. Not only were they filthy, but they were also covered in bruises.
Su Li stared in disbelief at the shrunken form of Little Tang Mo before her, her eyes finally landing on his filthy, blackened mouth.
Blood, coal cinders, and some other unidentifiable substance... Su Li’s breathing grew heavier and heavier.
Her whole body began to shake, her teeth chattering. When she saw the coal cinders on the floor at her feet, she let out a sudden, piercing scream and lunged at Mrs. Tang, who was sitting off to the side.
"I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you, you monster! How could you do this to Little Mo!"
’No charcoal dust, so she used coal cinders instead.’
’Mrs. Tang was doing everything to Little Tang Mo that she had done to Su Li in her past life, only worse.’
’And she was doing it to tiny Little Tang Mo!’
The fury of two lifetimes made Su Li see red, and she lost all reason.
She lunged forward and grabbed Mrs. Tang by the collar. "You monster! How could you do this to Little Mo!"
"Let go of me!" After being shoved by Su Li, Mrs. Tang had been sitting there in a daze, as if unable to process what she’d done. But being grabbed finally snapped her back to her senses, and she began to struggle.
"Monster! You’re a monster!"
Su Li’s vision blurred with tears. "That’s your grandson! How could you... how could you!"
Su Li could never have imagined that Mrs. Tang—the same woman who, in her past life, had cried herself blind and died of grief for Little Tang Mo—could treat him like this.
How ironic!
How ironic!
How ironic!
There was nothing but a blood-red haze in Su Li’s eyes. Rage filled her chest, but she had nowhere to vent it.
"He’s not my grandson! He’s not my grandson!"
Hearing the word "grandson" jolted Mrs. Tang. She grabbed Su Li’s hand and screamed.
Her disheveled hair fell across her contorted face, and her eyes bulged as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.
"He’s not my grandson!"
In just a few days, Mrs. Tang’s hair had turned almost completely white. She looked nearly ten years older than she had a month ago, her face a mask of wrinkles, grief, and madness.
"Monster!" Su Li slapped Mrs. Tang hard across the head and shoved her away with all her might. Mrs. Tang slammed into a nearby desk and didn’t get up for a long moment.
Su Li had used too much force and stumbled back into the wall herself, falling to the ground. Her vision swam with black spots, and she felt dizzy.
"Little Mo, don’t be scared. Mama’s here, Mama’s here..."
Su Li crawled over, step by step, and gathered Little Tang Mo into her arms.
"Little Mo, don’t be scared. I’m taking you to the hospital..." Su Li looked at the frail, seemingly lifeless Little Tang Mo, and her heart felt like it was being sliced to pieces.
Little Tang Mo lay limp in her arms, unresponsive.
"Don’t be scared. Mama’s taking you away. Mama’s taking you away..." Su Li whispered, struggling to her feet with Little Tang Mo in her arms.
As she turned, she saw Aunt Chang standing in the doorway.
"This... this..." Aunt Chang was aghast at the scene inside the room.
Two other women, neighbors who had heard the commotion and come over because something sounded wrong, hurried up behind her.
When they saw the state of the room and then looked at Little Tang Mo in Su Li’s arms, they gasped in horror.
"Don’t you go! Don’t you dare take that little bastard with you!"
Mrs. Tang lunged, grabbing Su Li’s leg and reaching for Little Tang Mo in her arms.
"Bastard, heh..." Su Li gritted her teeth so hard they audibly clicked. "Child abuse, attempted murder... I’m sending you to prison. I’ll make sure you rot there!"
Su Li kicked Mrs. Tang’s hand away, and, clutching Little Tang Mo, bolted out of the Tang family home and sprinted toward the military base’s clinic.
"Su Li, I’ll go with you..."
Aunt Chang called out, chasing after her.
Su Li didn’t hear her, or maybe she just couldn’t care.
"I’m sorry, Little Mo. I should have come sooner. I should have come to get you sooner..."
Tears streamed down Su Li’s face. The regret, fury, and lingering terror nearly drowned her.
She was terrified. How could she not be? freёwebnovel.com
The sight of Little Tang Mo in her arms was like a nightmare recurring.
After being reborn, she had gone through so much to save Little Tang Mo from traffickers, only for him to end up like this at the hands of the grandmother who had raised him.
How ironic.
