Is Heaven unfair?

Xia Dajun wanted to cry out these words.

When the staff at the guest house asked him and Fan Yu to leave, Xia Dajun charged through them like a wild bull and ran.

Fan Yu’s face alternated between pale and flushed as she ground her teeth and chased after him.

No matter how much Fan Yu cursed along the way, Xia Dajun remained silent. He was utterly distraught, too preoccupied to wonder why Fan Yu’s usual gentle demeanor had changed. The news of Liu Fen marrying Tang Hongen had struck him too hard!

Xia Xiaolan’s success and refusal to acknowledge him as her father – that was just her being an unfilial wretch.

No matter how successful she was, she still carried half his blood. Xia Dajun had high hopes for his son – if a daughter could do well, wouldn’t his son do even better?

But Liu Fen’s advantageous marriage dealt Xia Dajun a fatal blow.

It was a matter of male pride – how could Xia Dajun possibly come to terms with this?

Xia Dajun charged all the way home.

He nearly collided with Grandmother Xia.

“Dajun, Dajun? What’s wrong?”

Xia Dajun not only ignored Fan Yu but also his own mother, rushing straight into the house. Finding a chair in his way, he smashed it and kicked the door repeatedly with a thunderous noise.

Looking at this scene, had he quarreled with that woman Fan Yu?

Good!

Finally showing some manly spirit – he needed to subdue that woman properly. Grandmother Xia’s schadenfreude was written all over her face, which infuriated Fan Yu even more.

This old hag thought she could laugh at her expense.

Fan Yu was furious and, not wanting to let Grandmother Xia feel smug, she unprecedentedly smiled at her: “Do you know why Dajun is angry? We just saw his former wife at the Municipal Committee Guest House.”

Did they see Liu Fen?

That barren woman was quite shameless, actively proposing divorce – otherwise, how could this little hussy have entered their door?

Grandmother Xia herself found it hard to say whether she despised Liu Fen or Fan Yu more.

Fan Yu could guess about eighty percent of Grandmother Xia’s thoughts and sneered:

“What, hearing that Dajun met Liu Fen gives you other ideas? I see Xia Dajun has other thoughts too. But your mother and son can think all you want – his former wife is now married to the Mayor. Dajun couldn’t handle that shock, that’s why he’s smashing chairs and kicking doors in anger!”

What nonsense!

Fan Yu had dominated the Xia household for so long that she thought she had molded Xia Dajun into a pushover. She hadn’t expected him to dare show anger toward her. Fan Yu wasn’t one to back down – if she didn’t cause chaos in the Xia household, wouldn’t that make her look incapable?

“Ma-married to the Mayor? Nonsense, you’re talking nonsense! The Mayor wouldn’t pick up Dajun’s cast-off…”

Grandmother Xia refused to believe it.

If the former daughter-in-law was doing well, wouldn’t that show that the Xia family had been blind?

“Dajun and I saw it with our own eyes, how could it be fake? Believe it or not… Hey, don’t pull this stunt with me, I’m not your former… Dajun! Xia Dajun! Come quickly, your mother has collapsed!”

Fan Yu started to panic.

After she finished speaking, Grandmother Xia, still muttering “impossible,” collapsed to the ground.

In just moments, her face turned blue and her lips purple, looking terrifying.

Fan Yu screamed, and only then did Xia Dajun run out.

Thirteen-year-old Xia Junbao, who had just returned from school, was supposed to do housework. He tried to avoid the adults’ quarrels whenever possible. Being just a burden, he had to be diligent and keep a low profile, or else he would incur his new Second Aunt’s displeasure.

New Second Aunt was even more formidable than his grandmother. If she insisted on not raising him, Second Uncle Xia Dajun probably wouldn’t dare oppose her.

With his parents in prison and his sister Xia Ziyu still missing, if Second Uncle didn’t raise him, no one would.

The courtyard was in chaos, and Xia Junbao was terrified. With tears on his face, he rushed out:

“Second Uncle, what happened to Grandmother? Quick, let’s take her to the hospital!”

Xia Dajun’s mind was blank, and it took a thirteen-year-old child to tell him what to do. “Right! Hospital, take her to the hospital…”

Xia Dajun carried Grandmother Xia and ran toward the hospital, while Fan Yu stamped her feet in frustration but had to follow.

“Xia Junbao, you stay home and watch your cousin!”

Xia Junbao, who was used to washing diapers, wiped his tears and readily agreed: “Second Aunt, please go quickly.”

Second Uncle was a filial son, and since the New Second Aunt had angered Grandmother to collapse, the couple would surely fight.

He wondered if, after this, Second Uncle would return to how he used to be, kind to everyone in the family, instead of only listening to New Second Aunt.

Xia Junbao lowered his head and muttered:

“I wonder where Big Sister ran off to. If only she could come back and take me away.”

Xia Junbao used to be the precious child of Xia Changzheng and Zhang Cui, spoiled from a young age, even making Xia Ziyu jealous.

A child without parents has no one to love them – he didn’t want to wash diapers covered in excrement either.

Setting aside Xia Junbao’s private thoughts, Xia Dajun and Fan Yu rushed Grandmother Xia to the hospital for emergency treatment. After asking about her medical history and observing the symptoms, the doctor made his diagnosis: “The elderly patient has suffered a second stroke. We can’t say for sure if we can save her! Your children should have been more careful. At her age, with a previous stroke history, you should have been extra cautious not to let her get tired or upset!”

The doctor hurried away.

Xia Dajun held his head and banged it against the wall, crying and shouting.

Fan Yu was terrified.

While she usually cursed Grandmother Xia as an old hag in her heart, those were just thoughts. Who knew that just a few casual words today would trigger a second stroke?

It wouldn’t matter if Grandmother Xia died, but it couldn’t be because she had angered her to death!

Xia Dajun wasn’t paying attention to Fan Yu now, wallowing in self-pity and roaring at heaven’s unfairness, believing himself to be the most pitiful person in the world.

Why could Liu Fen marry the Mayor?

Why did the successful Xia Xiaolan view him as an enemy?

Why did his mother have another stroke… Character determines fate, but Xia Dajun still didn’t understand what he had done wrong for heaven to treat him so poorly!

Fan Yu watched him banging his head, initially frightened but gradually becoming calm.

Xia Dajun was just a coward without balls.

When he saw Mayor Tang, he couldn’t even speak a word, not daring to cause any trouble.

She shouldn’t fear this coward. Just because she had given Xia Dajun a son, even with ten times more courage, Xia Dajun wouldn’t dare do anything to her!

Fan Yu suppressed a slight uneasiness in her heart.

She wasn’t even sure whose child she had given birth to… Never mind, don’t think about it, it must be Xia Dajun’s!

…

While Xia Dajun and Fan Yu were destined for chaos after learning of Liu Fen’s current status, Liu Fen herself hadn’t dwelled on the earlier events for long. She truly didn’t have the energy to think much about it – Tang Hongen had some inexhaustible energy, leaving her too exhausted to even keep her eyes open at night.

Meanwhile, Xia Xiaolan had a good talk with Hu Yongcai.

Hu Yongcai felt quite embarrassed: “Xiaolan, I didn’t have any bad intentions back then. Someone just gave me money to introduce you to rent at Grandmother Yu’s place. I thought you were urgent to find a place in Shangdu, so I let you take a look… Ah, if I had known, I wouldn’t have taken that money. It made me look bad all around!”

Xia Xiaolan smiled, “That’s in the past. If you hadn’t made the introduction, my daughter and I wouldn’t have met Grandmother Yu. Brother Hu, let’s talk about the present – what were that man and woman here for today?”