Chu Family Village, inside a dilapidated woodshed.
Amid Tao Yan's vicious curses one after another, Chu Ling fell into total despair, which was replaced by....
Rage!!! Hatred!!!
For the first time in her life, she lost control of her emotions and shouted out the grievances she had buried for years.
.......
"Why do you treat me like this? Have you ever truly regarded me as your daughter?"
"Ever since I can remember, you've done nothing but beat and scold me. You pushed all the filthy, back-breaking chores in the house onto me."
"You made me work but wouldn't give me food, prettifying it as... afraid I'd get too full and slack off!"
"Heh... the reason I ended up with stomach cancer is precisely because of long-term hunger and malnutrition."
"Yet as a mother, after learning the truth you didn't feel the slightest guilt. You even threatened me to give up treatment and, together with Father, planned to imprison me."
"I used to have nightmares every night, doubting whether my birth had any meaning, even thinking about suicide....."
"I especially envied the other kids in the village; they were cherished by their parents and lived like little princesses."
"But I... was like your punching bag—whenever you were in a bad mood you vented on me, beating me as if I were your enemy!"
"More than once... I doubted I could make it through and wondered if you would beat me to death on the spot?!"
"......."
Chu Ling's eyes were red, her emotions growing more and more agitated, as if seizing this chance to pour out all the grievances in her heart in one breath.
Only, to speak all her grievances would probably take three days and nights and still not finish......
At this moment, the most baffled person was Tao Yan herself.
For the past eighteen years, she had deliberately raised Chu Ling into a timid, submissive good-for-nothing, never allowing her to defy an order.
Under her careful "training," Chu Ling had indeed been like a little lamb—uncomplaining, taking beatings and scoldings as they came.
At a single word from her, the girl would meekly get up and do as told.
But today....
This wretched girl not only dared ignore her, she even dared rebuke her on the spot?!!
"Wretch, shut your mouth!"
Smack!!!
Snapping back to herself, Tao Yan's face darkened at once; she raised her hand and swung a slap across.
It instantly struck the still-weeping Chu Ling, leaving her dazed and reeling.
......
"Rebellion, rebellion—are you trying to revolt, you little wretch? You even dare talk back to me?"
"I'm your mother!!! I tell you what to do, and you shut up and do it! Where do all these useless words come from?"
"Looks like I haven't hit you enough lately! You're itching for it and never learn, huh?! Fine—today I'll give you a harsh lesson, you little brat!"
"......."
As she spoke, Tao Yan wore a cold smile, utterly ignoring Chu Ling's sickly body, and raised her hand to deliver several more hard slaps.
It was her favorite thing to do for over a dozen years.
Just think.....
This was a noble heiress with power and status......
Before such people, she herself was originally nothing!
And now she could casually slap her for fun—could there be anything more thrilling in this world!!!!!
Tao Yan's eyes were full of excitement, the corners of her mouth unconsciously curling into a morbid grin.
Just as her talons were about to strike Chu Ling......
The girl, already heartsick and now rising to resist, suddenly thrust out her hand, gripped Tao Yan's wrist, and stopped her cold.
"You—you... you little wretch! Parents hit you for your own good, and you dare raise a hand to block?"
Tao Yan froze, her face full of disbelief.
She never expected that this little brat, who usually didn't even dare speak loudly to her, would not only fail to bring her face over to be slapped, but even dare reach out and stop her?!!
Facing Tao Yan's furious fluster, Chu Ling only kept a cold face and said nothing.
Seeing Tao Yan raise her other hand to strike, and recalling the abuse and humiliation she had suffered for more than ten years, a spark of anger suddenly flared in Chu Ling's heart.
By instinct she countered with a backhand; a big slap whipped out and landed squarely on Tao Yan's face.
Smack!!!
Because of long-term malnutrition, Chu Ling was skin and bones; coupled with stomach cancer, she was weak and exhausted.
In truth, the force of the blow on Tao Yan's face wasn't great.
But Tao Yan still stared wide-eyed, clutching her cheek and staggering back again and again, completely stunned.
"You, you, you... you actually hit me!!!"
Chu Ling had always been the household punching bag, to be beaten and scolded at will.
But today, by some slip, she had been slapped by this little wretch.
What a humiliation!!!!!
Once she recovered, Tao Yan's face turned instantly icy; she gnashed her teeth and shrieked:
"Beast, have you gone mad!!! I'm your mother!!! You even dare hit your own mother?!"
"You ungrateful little beast who betrays all bonds—raising you is worse than raising a dog!!!"
"You're done for—watch me beat the crap out of you today!!!"
"......."
Furious to the extreme, Tao Yan snatched up a stick of firewood from the floor and viciously moved to lay into Chu Ling.
She didn't know where this little bastard got the nerve to resist today.
But that hardly mattered; in her sickly state the girl posed no threat at all.
Since she had become disobedient, she would beat her until she obeyed—beat her to death and it would serve her right!
When the time came, she'd just bury her on some hillside!!!
"No real mother treats her child like this!"
"You're not actually my mother, are you!"
Chu Ling clearly knew she couldn't win by force.
But she didn't panic; she didn't crouch on the ground with her head in her arms like before to let Tao Yan beat and scold her.
Instead, she shifted the topic with an extremely firm tone.
Sure enough, the instant it touched the deepest secret in her heart, Tao Yan's attention was instantly diverted.
Seeing the certainty in Chu Ling's eyes, a sudden panic rose in her; she failed to hold the stick steady, and with a "thud" it fell to the floor.
What's going on? What does she mean by that?
Could she have learned something.....
Impossible—absolutely impossible!!!
It's been eighteen years; the only ones who know are her and Chu Xiong. She was ninety-five percent certain it was impossible for an outsider—especially this little wretch—to know!!!
She must have guessed it by accident... it must be....
Seeing her "mother's" panicked and guilty expression, Chu Ling's heart gave a thump, and she believed even more in what "Cousin" Lin Xuan's inner voice had said.
At that moment, after some psychological self-comfort, Tao Yan finally forced herself to calm down.
But she no longer felt like laying hands on Chu Ling; instead, she strode quickly toward the door, pointing at Chu Ling and cursing as she went.
.......
"What nonsense are you babbling, you little beast?"
"Mad, mad!!! It's one thing to hit me, and now you even suspect I'm not your mother?!"
"Forget it—I can't control you, you little brat! I'm going to tell your dad right now and have him give you a proper stick-and-rod education!"
"I even worried before that he hit you too hard! Looks like my heart was too soft! An unfilial little beast like you deserves a ruthless beating!!!"
"......."
Soon, Tao Yan left the woodshed, her voice fading away.
Staring at her departing back, a strange light flashed suddenly in Chu Ling's eyes; the mystery of her origins... might be about to be revealed......