Chapter 2: My Daughter Is My Last Line

A few neighbors were already watching from the hallway.

Du Mei had shouted so loudly that the woman across the hall had poked her head out. Her eyes fell on Doa Doa’s face, and her expression changed at once.

“Oh my goodness, what happened to the child’s face?”

I didn’t cry or make a scene.

I led Doa Doa outside.

“She was slapped by her uncle at Grandma’s house yesterday.”

The hallway erupted.

“She’s so little. How could anyone hit her that hard?”

“And he’s her own uncle, too. What kind of person does that?”

Du Mei’s face turned liver-red.

“Stop airing our dirty laundry!”

I looked back at her.

“I’m not the one disgracing anyone.”

“You are.”

Chu Yao rushed over as if to slam the door.

I lifted my eyes to him.

“Try touching me.”

His hand froze in midair.

More and more neighbors gathered outside.

Du Mei panicked and lowered her voice.

“All right, all right! Yao, apologize. Now!”

Chu Yao looked at her in disbelief.

“Mom!”

Du Mei gritted her teeth. “Do it!”

Chu Yao’s face flushed, then turned pale.

He looked at Doa Doa and forced out a single word through clenched teeth.

“Sorry.”

Doa Doa hid behind me and said nothing.

I held out my hand.

“And the thirty thousand yuan.”

Chu Yao’s expression shifted.

Du Mei immediately stepped in front of him.

“It’s already been spent!”

I looked at the motorcycle keys in Chu Yao’s hand.

“You haven’t registered the bike yet, have you?”

Chu Yao hurriedly shoved the keys into his pocket.

I smiled.

“Good.”

“Then the bike can cover the debt.”

Of course Chu Yao refused.

He yelled so loudly that his voice echoed through the hallway.

“That’s my bike! What gives you the right to take it?”

I said nothing. I simply laid the medical report, the transfer record, and the purchase receipt on the shoe cabinet, one after another.

The neighbors were still there.

Someone picked up the medical report. Their expression grew even more serious.

“You hurt a child this badly, and you’re still covering for the person who did it?”

Du Mei stamped her foot in a panic.

“This is a family matter! Outsiders should stay out of it!”

The woman across the hall gave a cold laugh.

“Family or not, you don’t get to hit a child.”

Just then, Chu Duc Thuan hurried over.

He looked grim. He was still wearing the jacket he usually wore when he went downstairs for a walk.

“Why are you all blocking the door? Don’t you realize how embarrassing this is?”

I looked at him.

“Dad, you’re just in time. Let’s settle this in front of everyone.”

Chu Duc Thuan glared at me.

“Do you have to disgrace the Chu family in front of everyone?”

“I’m not the one disgracing anyone.”

I pointed at Doa Doa’s face.

“That slap from your son is.”

His eyes wavered when he saw that Doa Doa’s cheek was still swollen.

But a moment later, he lowered his voice and said, “Yao is young. He doesn’t know his own strength. As his sister-in-law, you can’t keep harping on this forever.”

I nodded.

“Fine. I don’t have to pursue it forever.”

Du Mei let out a sigh of relief.

But the very next moment, I said, “Hand over the motorcycle keys. Returning the thirty thousand yuan is only the first step.”

Chu Yao jumped up.

“Keep dreaming!”

I looked at Chu Chi.

I hadn’t noticed when he’d appeared at the top of the stairs.

Maybe he’d been listening for a while.

I asked him, “What do you think?”

Chu Chi’s face had gone pale. His lips moved, but no words came out.

Du Mei immediately shouted up at him.

“Chu Chi, control your wife! She’s trying to steal your brother’s bike!”

Chu Chi looked at me, then at Doa Doa.

Doa Doa didn’t call him “Daddy.”

She cowered behind me, one hand clutching the hem of my skirt.

A flicker of discomfort crossed Chu Chi’s eyes.

“Ha An Thu, don’t make this bigger than it needs to be.”

I smiled.

“That line again.”

I walked up to him.

“Why is everyone in your family always telling me not to make a scene?”

“Your brother hits my child, your mother stands there laughing, your father makes excuses for him, and you send him money.”

“But I’m the one making a scene?”

No one in the hallway spoke.

Chu Chi’s face turned red.

I took the motorcycle keys from Chu Yao’s pocket.

Chu Yao tried to stop me, but Chu Chi grabbed his wrist.

“Enough.”

Chu Yao stared at him in disbelief.

“Brother!”

Chu Chi said quietly, “Just give it to her for now.”

Du Mei cried out, “That’s your brother’s bike!”

Chu Chi closed his eyes.

“Mom. Stop.”

I held the keys and looked at Chu Yao.

“This isn’t being returned to me.”

“It’s being returned to Doa Doa.”

I crouched and placed the keys in her small hand.

“This is the first price your uncle has to pay for hitting you.”

Doa Doa looked down at the keys, still frightened.

I pulled her close.

“Don’t be scared.”

“Mommy’s here.”

Chu Yao glared at me, his eyes full of hatred.

I knew this wasn’t over.

Sure enough, Chu Chi came home that evening with a stack of papers already printed.

He threw them down in front of me.

“Sign these.”

I glanced at the pages.

They said I would voluntarily transfer the house to Chu Chi, and that the Chu family would raise the child.

I looked up at him.

“Who taught you to do this?”

Chu Chi avoided my gaze.

“You don’t need to know. Sign, and we can split up peacefully.”

I looked at the papers and slowly laughed.

“Chu Chi, so you’ve finally stopped pretending.”

My smile made him uneasy.