However, she could not take it lying down. Her marriage was going well, yet he initiated a divorce all of a sudden. She had to get to the bottom of the truth!
The assets that Fan Shixin had acquired before the wedding were not included in the matrimonial assets.
Nonetheless, Yang Qianxue managed to gain quite a hefty sum from Fan Shixin.
After all, he was the one who initiated the divorce.
Hence, he had to do his best to make it up to her.
He hoped that the divorce proceedings could be settled as soon as possible.
Fan Shixin did not look Mu Wansheng up again since he was busy with handling the administrative matters.
He had merely instructed his subordinates to keep an eye on her just in case she left the village.
To his relief, she did not.
The divorce and household register applications were completed half a month later.
It was the 19th of February.
The weather was fair, and the sun was shining brightly.
The air was as fresh as dew.
Fan Shixin groomed himself neatly and proceeded to look for Mu Wansheng after breakfast.
Having come prepared, he parked his car outside Tang Yucheng’s doorstep openly.
He was dressed formally in a classic ensemble, consisting of a black suit and a white buttoned shirt.
Fan Shixin had always been in good shape, and almost every piece of clothing would look good on him. It seemed all of his life experiences were reflected on his face.
He entered the house to see that Mu Wansheng was doing the laundry while Fan Mianmian was playing with a ball in the yard. On the other hand, Tang Yucheng was sitting in his wheelchair and sweeping the floor with a broom.
Tang Yucheng tensed up the moment he saw Fan Shixin.
However, he pretended not to know who he was and asked, “Who are you looking for?”
“Why bother pretending that you don’t know me when we both know that you do?” said Fan Shixin, causing Mu Wansheng to freeze in shock.
She turned around to look at Fan Shixin. “What… are you doing here?” she asked with trembling hands.
In fact, she wanted to ask, “Why are you here again?”
He was well aware of what she was thinking.
“I’m here to pick you and Mianmian up,” Fan Shixin said in a deep, low voice. He could see Mu Wansheng even though she could not see him.
Tang Yucheng raised his voice and questioned, “What do you mean? They’re my wife and daughter, who are you to bring them away with you?”
“Your wife and your daughter? I’ve already reapplied for a household register for the supposedly-deceased Mu Wansheng and registered her and Mianmian’s names under my address. The identity of ‘Happy’ will now be invalid. I know you were the one who saved her, and she’s very grateful to you as well. She didn’t look for me because she’s worried that I would despise her. However, I must bring them home with me no matter what. By the way, Wansheng, I’ve already gotten a divorce.”
The average and mediocre villager, Tang Yucheng, was greatly agitated by his words. What he dreaded the most had finally happened. “I won’t let you take them away. Forget about it!” he hollered.
Fan Shixin said composedly, “I’ll repay you for the kindness that you had shown them both in a different way. I know that some intangible things cannot be made up for. However, I would rather hurt you than hurt myself by watching my woman and daughter live with another man. I hope you won’t act rashly while I still have the patience to talk things over with you calmly.”
“There’s no room for bargaining. I won’t let you take them away,” Tang Yucheng said while dumping the broom onto the ground and pulling Fan Mianmian into his embrace.
“She’s no longer your wife now. If you don’t believe me, you may go check on her household register and on the validity of your marriage certificate. Besides, I’ve already gotten a DNA test carried out. Mianmian is my biological daughter. You’re in no place to object.”
Tang Yucheng was boiling with rage after hearing how haughty and insistent he was.
“You still have to seek Happy’s and Mianmian’s opinion before you can take them away.”
“Wansheng’s judgment is impaired right now. I don’t need her opinion. Mianmian is still young and insensible, I don’t need her approval either. I’m their legal guardian. Hence, I can take charge.”
Mu Wansheng was at a loss for words. She had always thought him to be a mature and stable man. However, she had never seen such a stubborn side to him before.
“Leave. Mianmian and I are not going to go back with you. Don’t make me repeat myself again,” Mu Wansheng interjected.
“Do you want me to take extreme measures, then? Is that what you want?” Fan Shixin questioned.
“Fan Shixin, I’ve already told you that Mianmian and I want to stay here. We’re not leaving! I’m an adult, I ought to take responsibility for my actions. Who are you to decide how I should live?”
Mu Wansheng was afraid that Tang Yucheng would take his own life out of exasperation. She clearly remembered him telling her a few days ago that he would lose his purpose in life if she and Fan Mianmian were to leave him.
If Tang Yucheng had continued lashing out at her and became ill-tempered, she definitely wouldn’t have stayed with him any longer. However, Tang Yucheng had changed for the better ever since he was discharged. Hence, she had no reason…
“Why don’t I have the right to intervene? You’re my woman and Mianmian is my daughter. Is he supposed to be the one in charge instead of me? Mu Wansheng, you can trample on your own pride, but don’t drag Mianmian down with you. Who was the one who felt the most devastated after your mishap? Was it this man, your savior? Was I the first person you thought of the moment you realized that you were still alive? If I was, why didn’t you look for me? Why didn’t you let him inform me? You were only sparing a thought for yourself. Perhaps you may say that you’re sparing a thought for me, but I don’t need you to. You’d rather marry such a man than let me know that you’re still alive. If I hadn’t found out by accident, you would have kept it from me forever! Can you hold your head high in front of our daughter?”
His eyes were teary and bloodshot. Every single word of his struck a sour note within Mu Wansheng.
“Take Mianmian away with you, then. You don’t have to care about me.”
Staring at her in astonishment, Tang Yucheng said, “No, you can’t let him have Mianmian.”
Fan Mianmian was frightened as well. She frantically threw her arms around Tang Yucheng’s neck and exclaimed worriedly, “I’m not going anywhere. I don’t want to leave with this bad Uncle. Daddy, chase him away, quick! I’m scared!”
After hearing those harsh words from his own daughter, Fan Shixin lost his rationality.
Mu Wansheng was distraught.
Mu Wansheng knew that it won’t be easy to solve the problem, especially since Fan Shixin was now aware that Mianmian was his daughter.
It was a tricky situation.
She could neither stay nor make Fan Shixin leave.
Her peace was completely disrupted.
It was the exact reason Fan Shixin could take action.
Without hesitation, Fan Shixin picked her up in his arms and carried her outside, completely ignoring her shrieks and screams. He then shoved her into the car.
