Chapter 160: Chapter 162: The Child Has Been Sent Back

“Mama hit me,” Tang Yuxin dropped her eyes and tried to hold back her voice. She didn’t cry loudly, but just the sight of her tears rolling down her face made anyone who witnessed it easily feel her grievance.

“Your mom hit you?” Lin Yang couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I told her, I told my sister-in-law not to interfere with the Tang family’s affairs. But she wouldn’t listen. That Sang Zhilan abandoned her breastfeeding child, which just proved how irresponsible she was. Now, she wanted to get the child back. Who knows what she’s planning now?”

“Just see,” said Lin Yang with an I-told-you-so look, “which mother could abandon her child who is less than a year old? And which mother would beat her child into such a condition?”

“Auntie…” Tang Yuxin clenched Lin Yang’s hand tightly. Her small hands were covered with blisters. They were scalded. She had only shown her left hand previously, hiding her right hand. Seeing her right hand now was simply, it left Liu Juan speechless.

This was truly a sinful act.

“Auntie, I want to go home. I want my dad…” She spoke while tears continued to roll down her red and swollen face. Even Lin Yang, who was unrelated to the situation, was moved to tears.

The child was too pitiful.

“Let’s go, we’ll return to the village.”

Zhang Hongjun was also upset. He decided to not open his shop for business that day. He and Tang Zhinian had grown up together as close friends. Now that the child was in such a state, his family was not without responsibility.

He also blamed his sister-in-law, Huang Aimei. He wondered how she intended to handle the situation now.

“Alright, I’ll go pack up some things first.”

Zhang Hongjun wasted no time and immediately went back to his house to pack things to take back to the village. There was not much to pack; he took the keys, some money, and together with Lin Yang, they brought Tang Yuxin back to the village.

“Knock knock…” Lin Yang knocked on the door of the Tang family’s home.

The Tang family was living well now. In the past, they only had a dilapidated house to their name. But now, both brothers had two-story houses each. Moreover, Tang Zhijun was a skilled automobile repairer. He had set up a stall in front of their house where he repaired vehicles for a living and made a decent amount of money every day. Tang Zhinian was more than capable of supporting his daughter.

Why should his precious daughter, whom he had cherished ever since she was a little girl, have to suffer physical abuse from others?

“Who is it?” The door opened and Zhang Xiangcao stepped out. Seeing that it was Lin Yang, she quickly welcomed him with a smile.

“It’s sister-in-law. Come in and have a seat in the house.” Zhang Xiangcao and Zhang Hongjun were familiar with each other. They had always been friendly, even though they seldom visited each other. Now that she had married into the Tang family, their visits had become even more frequent, thus, the two families were naturally closer.

Liu Yang wanted to say something but hesitated because she wasn’t good at expressing herself. She figured it would become clear when they saw the child’s face later.

Zhang Hongjun walked in from the rear, carrying a sleeping Tang Yuxin on his back.

At first, Zhang Xiangcao didn’t know who Zhang Hongjun was carrying. However, as soon as she saw the child’s face, she was startled. Wasn’t this her home’s Yuxin?

“Yuxin?” Zhang Xiangcao rushed over immediately. However, when she saw Tang Yuxin’s swollen face, and the various injuries and blisters on her body, she almost blacked out from fear and immediately burst into tears.

“Yangyang, go to the field and call Zhinian and Zhijun back home,” Zhang Hongjun instructed his wife

“Xiangcao, boil some water. I’ve already asked someone to call Uncle Chen Zhong. Let’s not argue about who’s responsible for now. We should take care of the child first.”

“Okay, okay.”

Zhang Xiangcao covered her mouth and quickly ran into the kitchen to boil water.

While Tang Zhinian and his brother were busy in the field, a man rushed over.

“Zhinian, hurry back home. Something has happened to your daughter.”

“What?” Tang Zhinian was confused at first. “What happened?”

“Your daughter.”

The man’s impatience was apparent; he was almost out of breath.

Tang Zhinian flashed a quick grin, exposing his white teeth. “My darling Yuxin? Her mother missed her and took her home to stay. Each time I mention this, I feel gratified. I reckon I did the right thing: Yuxin now has both a father and a mother. At least during Yuxin’s growing years, her parents will always shower her with love.”

“Zhinian, hurry back home,” the man became more anxious. So much that the pressure ulcer in his mouth seemed ready to burst. “Your daughter was brought back by Zhang Hongjun.”

Tang Zhinian was stunned, and immediately discarded his hoe before he sprinted back home. Tang Zhijun had just stepped out of their house when he saw his elder brother running home as if he had seen a ghost. He didn’t understand what was going on and scratched his head in confusion.

“Zhijun, you should return home too,” said the messenger who had intended to leave but lingered upon seeing Tang Zhijun. “Your Yuxin has returned home. Apparently, there’s been an incident.”

“What? Something happened to my Xinxin? What could have happened?”

Without giving another thought to fieldwork or the hoe, Tang Zhijun dashed back home with all his might. By then, their front porch was already crowded with people, all of them whispering among themselves.

Seeing Tang Zhinian and his brother returning, everyone fell silent, but as soon as both men entered the house, whispers started buzzing again, almost as if everyone was privy to some insider information.

Inside, Tang Yuxin was fast asleep, her cheeks an unnaturally bright red.

She had spent the entire night outside in the cold and her body was covered in injuries. There were blisters all over her hands as well.

Chen Zhong had already treated her wounds and bandaged her hands. She was currently applying medication to the other injuries on her body. Half of her face was grotesquely swollen, and the corner of her mouth was split open.

Tang Zhinian never in his wildest dreams thought that his beautiful and healthy daughter would return in such a state. It was almost as if she had no skin left intact.

“Don’t worry, it’s not serious,” Chen Zhong said, placing his calloused hand on Tang Yuxin’s forehead. “She’s not too badly burnt. She’s much better than she was earlier. It’s just superficial injuries. A period of recuperation should heal her.”

His apprentice had never been wronged since she was young. As for good medicine and secret remedies, he hadn’t hesitated to give her the best of what he had. Now, who would dare do this to her? How could they have the heart to be so ruthless to such a young child?

Tang Zhinian walked over, brushing his daughter’s face. As a grown man, he was on the verge of tearing up.

How had his heart turned out like this? When she left, she had plump, rosy cheeks. But now, her face was still plump, but not from flesh, but from swelling. How had it become like this?

Tang Yuxin was still sleeping, her breathing inconsistent, and she seemed deeply uneasy.

“I found Yuxin outside my steamed bun shop. She was like this,” said Lin Yang, her heart burning with anger. “If she hadn’t been sitting right in front of my house, it could have been disastrous. She’s such a small child, it’s dangerous for her to be out on the streets alone. What if she had been kidnapped?”