Never believe a man's excuses

Tang Beichen drove to the Tang Family Old Residence.

The Tang Family patriarch had just returned from a walk after his meal.

Seeing his son return, he paused, then immediately began criticizing him. "I heard you took maternity leave as soon as you got back? You're not the one giving birth. What do you need maternity leave for?"

His father's outdated views made Tang Beichen laugh in exasperation. "Xia Jing went through so much giving birth. As her husband, isn't it only natural for me to take leave to look after her and the baby?"

"Besides, I'm just taking time away from the office. It's not like I'm washing my hands of everything."

Tang Zhilin glanced at his younger son. "If you have something to discuss, come to the study."

"This isn't about the company. I'll leave once I've said my piece." Tang Beichen remained where he stood.

"Have you eaten?"

Sensing the tension between father and son, Xie Yazhi walked over to her son and asked with concern, "What would you like? Shall I make you something?"

"Thanks, Mom."

Tang Beichen looked straight at Tang Zhilin. "Dad, I heard you invited Master Xuanqing to Kyoto?"

"Master Xuanqing is in Kyoto?" Xie Yazhi looked at Tang Zhilin in surprise. "When did he arrive?"

Master Xuanqing was a renowned master of the mystic arts. The Tang Family consulted him for weddings and funerals, as well as at the end and beginning of each year to assess the family's fortunes for the coming year. They also invited him to perform divinations whenever the company opened a new subsidiary or chain store.

Every time the master came, the Tang Family gave him a grand reception.

This time, however, there had been no sign of it at all.

"What did he tell you?"

Tang Zhilin remained silent.

Tang Beichen suppressed his anger. "What nonsense did that charlatan spout to make you heartless enough to abandon... throw away my newborn daughter?"

He practically forced those last words through clenched teeth.

But unless he put it that bluntly, he feared the old man would find excuses to absolve himself.

"Throw... throw her away?" Xie Yazhi covered her mouth in disbelief. "H-honey, what have you done?"

Tang Zhilin's expression darkened. "Watch your words and behavior."

"That charlatan tried to destroy my family, and you still expect me to worship him like an ancestor?"

"The only reason I haven't had someone beat him up is that I have a conscience and don't pick on old men."

He had insulted both of them in one stroke.

Tang Zhilin, who had been heartless enough to throw away his own granddaughter, looked thunderous, but could not come up with a rebuttal.

Xie Yazhi was already beside herself with anger. She grabbed his clothes and demanded an explanation.

"Tang Tang was only just born. She doesn't understand anything yet. Why would you hurt her like this? Why would you hurt Beichen and Xiajing?"

"How could you be so cruel!"

When Su Xiajing woke up at noon, Xie Yazhi had intended to take over some soup she had made herself and look after her, but her husband suddenly claimed he was feeling unwell. That afternoon, when she heard Su Xiajing had insisted on leaving the hospital and returned to her own apartment, she had found it strange. Her husband had also come up with all sorts of excuses to stop her from visiting Su Xiajing.

So it had been because he had done something so despicable!

Tang Zhilin frowned and yanked his clothes out of her grip, uttering a few words coolly. "She's a bad omen. She'll bring harm to the Tang Family."

Tang Beichen and Xie Yazhi froze, staring at him in disbelief.

"A bad omen?"

"All because of that utter bullshit?"

"Hah? Do we have an empire to protect, or is Tang Tang going to steal your throne? Why else would you be this scared of a tiny baby?"

"If you trust him so much, why did you put so much effort into raising and training us? Why didn't you have that charlatan find someone with the aura of an emperor to inherit your business?"

"And back then, my sister... If that charlatan had said she was a bad omen, would you have thrown away your own daughter too?"

Tang Zhilin refused to listen to reason. No matter what they said, he remained unmoved.

Tang Beichen felt his anger lodge in his throat, burning him up inside.

"Tang Tang is my daughter. I won't give you another chance to hurt her."

"Fire me or kick me out of the Tang Family. Do whatever you want."

With that, Tang Beichen turned and left.

As soon as he left the Tang Family residence, Tang Beichen called his secretary. "Find me a few reliable bodyguards. Live-in ones who can provide round-the-clock protection."

After nursing Tang Tang, Su Xiajing put her back in her crib and picked up the property deed.

But when she reached for the gold purchase receipt, the little girl clutched it tightly and refused to let go.

"This is my gold! You're not allowed to take it!"

Su Xiajing was speechless.

A black card in her left hand and gold in her right. This child certainly had quite an appetite.

"I'm not trying to take it from you. I just want to put it away for you. You won't sleep comfortably holding it like that," Su Xiajing explained patiently and gently.

Tang Tang tightened her grip.

"Still no!"

"My precious gold and I are one. We can't be separated for even a moment."

"Life is unpredictable. I might be safe for now, but who knows when I'll wake up to find I've been thrown away?"

"..."

Su Xiajing quietly let go.

"All right, all right. Mommy won't take it."

She curled a finger and brushed her daughter's soft, smooth cheek. "If you like it, Tang Tang, you can keep holding it."

What had her daughter been through to make her feel so insecure? Even with the danger gone, she still felt she would be abandoned and betrayed.

Tang Tang beamed at her and giggled in thanks.

"Aww, pretty Mommy is the best! I love pretty Mommy!"

"Yay! Starting today, I'm a rich lady who sleeps hugging her money and wakes up in a pile of it!"

Caught between laughter and tears, Su Xiajing moved the purchase receipt away before it could poke her daughter's eye. "Mommy won't take it away anymore, but holding it like this could easily crumple it."

Tang Tang waved her tiny fists and babbled in protest.

"I don't move around when I sleep! I definitely won't crumple it."

Su Xiajing was speechless.

However mature her mind might be, she still had a baby's body. Could she really stop herself from moving around in her sleep?

"Sister Wang."

Su Xiajing called Mrs. Wang over. "Could you bring me the sewing kit from the storage box in the living room?"

"Of course."

Then she found a piece of baby clothing, took it apart, and made it into a pouch that could hang around a neck. She folded the gold purchase receipt, tucked it inside with the black card, and hung it around Tang Tang's neck.

"Now you won't have to worry about losing them while you sleep."

Su Xiajing carefully tucked the pouch inside her daughter's outer layer of clothing. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Mommy wasn't prepared. Make do with this pouch for now, and I'll buy you a prettier one another day."

Tang Tang hugged the pouch tightly with both little hands.

"This one is already great."

"Baby clothes are gentle on a baby's skin, and the stitching is good too. A thumbs-up for my thoughtful, skillful, pretty Mommy!"

"My money is enough to give me a decent life before I die. But Mommy, the most important thing right now is you."

"You care too much about love and trust that scumbag father of mine too much. That's why, when he betrays you in the future, you won't be able to take the blow and will choose to hurt yourself."

"A man can have a change of heart in the blink of an eye. Instead of pouring all your energy into him and me, you should focus more on yourself."

"And don't believe a man's excuses about it being an accident or how 'you're still the one I love.' Whatever happened along the way, the end result is that he betrayed and hurt you. Never believe him, and never forgive him."

Su Xiajing was speechless.

Yes, I understand.

Her heart aching, Su Xiajing held her daughter's hand.

This child keeps telling me to think more about myself and do my best to live. Why is she always so pessimistic herself, just waiting to die?

Why is she so worried about me?