The Mistress's Daughter

  Tang Wan ate the bright red apple, but still felt hungry, patted her flat belly and thought it would be great to have a figure without a belly. She thought about how in her past life she had developed depression due to stress from living, and used binge eating to reduce her pain, resulting in her weight reaching nearly 200 pounds, so fat that she didn't even dare look at herself in the mirror, making her feel even more inferior.

  It was a nightmare-like day, fortunately it's over now. She is still Tang Yao who weighs less than 90 pounds.

  Although she was very satisfied with her current figure, Tang Yao still didn't want to starve herself, but she had no money, and even if she wanted to buy food, she couldn't afford it! Just as she was about to go to sleep to suppress her hunger, the door opened again, and a woman surrounded by pearls and jade walked in.

  The woman who walked in was Lin Qiujie, Tang Yao's mother. She saw Tang Yao sitting on the bed and was very happy. She put down the thermos she was carrying on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed, stroking Tang Yao's hair as she carefully examined her complexion, nodding in satisfaction.

  Handing her the thermos, he said gently: "You're really making me worried, this kid. You don't usually make friends, and when you finally do, you end up chatting with them until you crash into a car! If that's how it is, I'd rather you go back to being your old introverted self. At least then I wouldn't be so worried. What would I say to your dad if something happened to you?"

  Tang Yao looked at her mother, who still had a rich charm, and felt a sourness in her eyes. She quickly lowered her head to drink the soup, which was indeed chicken soup. It had been nearly fifteen years since she last drank her mother's cooking. It seemed that after they entered the Ji family, her mother never cooked again. The taste of memory was so good! Tang Yao drank big mouthfuls, and tears fell into the chicken soup in large drops.

  Lin Qiujie saw her daughter crying, and she also became gloomy. She took out a silk handkerchief to wipe away her daughter's tears and said apologetically: "A'ao, are you blaming Mommy for not being by your side? Sorry, Mommy had no choice either. Today, there were things on Uncle Jie's side that couldn't be avoided."

  Ji Qiujie called Ji Shengyang, the Ji family he was in, not to mention being the first wealthy family in Binhaishi, but also one of the top families in China.

  Ji Shengyang became famous because of his family, but what made him even more famous was his romantic escapades. To put it in a way, when someone points to Ji Shengyang behind his back and introduces him to another person, they would say "Look, that's the young master of the Ji family, that Ji family!" The other person would ask for confirmation, "You mean the one who is always surrounded by scandals?" Ji Shengyang was indeed a ladies' man, and Lin Qiujie was just one of his many mistresses, as well as the one he spent the most time with.

  Tang Wan heard her mother mention Ji Shengyang, and suddenly thought that soon her mother would be marrying into the Ji family. Was she now trying hard to show herself off for this reason? Thinking of how her mother had not been doing well after marrying into the Ji family, and how it had also affected her own life, her heart felt a pang of gloom.

  Lin Qiujie saw Tang Yao's unhappy expression and said softly: "A Yao, don't blame Mom, Mom can't help it either."

  "Mom, I'm not blaming you. Dad has been gone for so many years now, and I've grown up too. You should have your own life as well."

  Tang Wan said these words sincerely, she not only didn't blame her mother but also felt sorry for her. If it wasn't for her, her mother might not have become someone else's mistress for so long and might have married a good man earlier, living an ordinary yet comfortable life.

  Tang Wan's father, Tang Zhong, passed away when she was only half a year old. Her mother, Lin Qiuju, had a very hard time raising her on her own, and she was often ill, which cost a lot of money. Lin Qiuju was just a logistics staff member at a factory, and her monthly salary barely covered food and clothing expenses. Tang Wan's frequent hospital visits almost exhausted all the relatives she could borrow from, to the point where people were afraid to let her in their doors. Lin Qiuju then asked for an advance on her salary from the factory, but it wasn't something that could be done repeatedly. Later, someone suggested to Lin Qiuju that since she was pretty, she should become a saleswoman and earn commissions by bringing back big orders, which would be more than her salary. Lin Qiuju had no choice but to do so, and as a result, on her first outing with the factory director to entertain clients over drinks, she met Ji Shengyang.

  Ji Shengyang's family was wealthy, renowned throughout Linhai City, and his romantic exploits were equally famous. He had taken a liking to Lin Qiujie's gentle and delicate appearance, so he paid attention. With money, nothing is unattainable; he knew about the difficulties in Lin Qiujie's household. Using wealth and sweet talk, he quickly won her over.

  Lin Qiujie soon became pregnant with Ji Shengyang's child and gave birth to a girl named Chuchu. Lin Qiujie was the kind of woman who, once she had children, would be tied down by them. Moreover, she couldn't live without Ji Shengyang, even if she could marry someone else, she wouldn't be able to endure a life that wasn't luxurious and comfortable. She had grown accustomed to enjoying herself and didn't want to go back to living a hard life. Therefore, even though Ji Shengyang had a wife, she could only be his mistress, and she accepted this fate.

  For so many years, Lin Qiujie had been subjected to a lot of grievances for being someone's mistress. She was as gentle and soft as water, no matter how others ridiculed her, she endured it all, only silently shedding tears. This made Tang Yao feel very guilty, because her grandparents, uncles, aunts, and other relatives all said that she was the one who had dragged her mother down, saying that if it weren't for her, her mother wouldn't have to be someone's mistress and could marry a good man and live a comfortable life. They also said that even if the legitimate wife of the man died, Lin Qiujie still couldn't become the legitimate wife because of Tang Yao being a burden.

  But no matter what anyone says, Lin Qiujie did not abandon Tang Yao, and even when the Ji family agreed to let her in, she made a request to bring Tang Yao with her. From this point on, Lin Qiujie had done all she could. Tang Yao was grateful to her, so afterwards, no matter what Lin Qiujie asked her to do, Tang Yao would do it, even if it meant thoroughly ruining her own life.

  Lin Qiujie listened to Tang Yao's words, feeling that her daughter was very different today. If it were usual, she would never say such things. She was so timid and always afraid of losing herself, carefully watching her own eyes flashing with a pleading light. But today, she actually blessed her, and the tone and gaze were so sincere. Such a daughter made her feel relieved and yet felt strange, but this was indeed her own daughter. Had she been hit by a car?

  Tang Wan finished a whole bucket of chicken soup in one breath, but her movements were extremely elegant. Lin Qiujie was secretly amazed, she had always thought that this daughter was too petty and narrow-minded, but unexpectedly changed so much. She even felt that Tang Wan's posture while drinking chicken soup on the hospital bed was as elegant as sitting in a French restaurant eating a big meal. Was it because of being hit once that not only did her speech become more straightforward, but also her demeanor became more refined? Or had she been busy these days and didn't notice her daughter changing so much? Thinking about this made her feel somewhat guilty.

  "A'jiao, you've really grown up! Mom suddenly feels incompetent, still thinking you're that timid little girl who lowers her head when she sees mom. But today, it seems like you've become a young lady! Looking at you, if you dress up nicely, you're not inferior to Chuchu at all! When I have time, I'll accompany you to buy some clothes and get a haircut, and we can also change those glasses of yours, okay? Don't refuse mom's money again, mom's money is your money too!"

  Tang Wan listened to her mother's words and shook her head, insisting: "Mom, I'll go buy it myself. The pocket money you gave me hasn't been spent yet!"

  Lin Qiujie felt helpless. Since her younger daughter told her that all the money she spent was her father's, this elder daughter never asked for money from her again. Every time Lin Qiujie gave her money, there were still a lot of leftover pocket money from last time. In the end, Lin Qiujie could only give her a fixed amount every month, and if she couldn't spend it all, she would let her save it. From then on, Lin Qiujie didn't have to buy clothes for her anymore. The clothes she bought were all cheap street stall goods, with conservative styles, dull colors, and poor quality. They could be worn for a long time, although not to the extent of being patched up again after three years, but they would become old after three years. It was heart-wrenching for Lin Qiujie to see this. Even when she bought clothes for her, she gave them all to Chuchu. She really had no choice.

  Tang Wan saw through her mother's thoughts and said, "Mom, I'll buy some nice clothes." Then she thought about how to change her image a bit. She remembered that her foundation was still good, so it would be easy to change her image.

  Lin Qiujie looked at her daughter with a skeptical gaze, but didn't say anything. In her heart, she thought that since she was taking her to meet the Ji family, she might as well buy her two more sets of clothes. After all, once Chuchu had worn them, she wouldn't want them anymore, and Lin Qiujie would just have to accept them.

  The mother and daughter were each lost in their own thoughts when they were suddenly brought back to reality by the sound of a few light knocks on the door, and then they saw someone walking in from outside.

  That was a handsome young man, holding a large handful of fresh white lilies, looking like nearly a hundred flowers, he smiled slightly behind, his bright night-colored eyes gazing at Tang Yao.

  Guess who this handsome guy is?