Chapter 133: 133. Abandoned by the whole world!

“Liu Fang, you are a monster! How could you do this to us?”

“My family can barely survive, and you still want to stomp on us while we’re down!”

Watching helplessly, Liu Fang had her men lock the main gate, sealing off everything familiar. Zhang Meili collapsed to the ground, sobbing and banging her head against the packed earth.

“Hmph, this is letting you off easy. The only reason I haven’t had you two killed is that Boss Lin Fan hasn’t decided to completely destroy you yet.” Liu Fang tossed the keys in her hand as she approached, a cold smile plastered on her face. “But this is better anyway. Letting you two live on in misery and solitude is far more satisfying than just killing you outright!”

“You… you want to keep torturing us, to keep laughing at our misery?” Su Mengqing, who had also been thrown to the ground, lifted her head, the veins on her neck bulging with rage.

“That’s right. I just want to watch you two live like a pair of wretched stray dogs.” Liu Fang squatted down and patted Su Mengqing’s twitching cheek. “Don’t even think about breaking the lock or climbing through a window. Out of respect for Boss Lin Fan, I won’t lay a hand on you.”

She turned her head, her gaze landing on the trembling Zhang Meili. “But as for her… I wouldn’t mind finding a few old beggars to come ’fertilize the soil’ a bit. Hahaha!”

With a harsh, shrill laugh, Liu Fang and her entourage strode away, leaving Su Mengqing and her mother lying on the ground, weeping in silent despair and rage.

Nearby, neighbors peeked out from their doorways, craning their necks and whispering among themselves.

“Are the debt collectors after them again?”

“I bet so. Su Gang must have caused more trouble!”

“A leopard can’t change its spots. The family is in this state, and he’s still gambling?”

Yet not a single one of them came over to ask what was wrong. Instead, their faces were filled with hatred and disgust.

“Aunt Xu, please, help my mom and me!” Zhang Meili cried, hiding her face, too ashamed to look up.

Burning with shame, Su Mengqing wished she could find a hole to crawl into. Just then, she saw the exhausted-looking Aunt Xu walking down the alley. Scrambling to her feet, Su Mengqing looked at her with pleading eyes.

“…Su Mengqing, how else can I help you?” Aunt Xu gave a bitter smile, a flicker of pity in her eyes before she shook her head resolutely. “Do you have any idea that because of your little scene today, our entire team was almost fired by the corporation? I pleaded with you; I was practically on my knees begging. But you’re just so stubborn. You refused to listen, completely disregarding how it would affect the rest of us… Aigh.”

After a long sigh, Aunt Xu turned and walked away without looking back. Her husband, Xu Shengli, pulled her inside their home.

“Everyone, don’t get involved with them!” Xu Shengli shouted to the other neighbors. “You heard my wife! Getting mixed up with scum like that is just asking for a lifetime of bad luck!” He spat a thick glob of phlegm onto the ground before slamming his door shut.

Face flushed with humiliation, Su Mengqing stood frozen before the Xus’ door. She turned to an old man a few steps away and begged, “Grandpa Gong, could you take us in for just one night? I… I promise I’ll take my mom and leave first thing in the morning!”

The man called Grandpa Gong just shook his head and sighed, slowly turning to leave. “Mengqing, my grandson has his college entrance exams soon. Ever since you moved back, your mother has been screaming and shouting day and night. Sometimes she even shrieks in the middle of the night, and my grandson can’t sleep… You won’t listen to reason. It’s better if you just leave.”

“No, please don’t abandon us! I’m begging you! I’ll kowtow to you, isn’t that enough?!” Su Mengqing broke down completely and dropped to her knees. She began knocking her forehead against the hard ground, turning to face each of the neighboring houses. “It’s almost dark; my mom and I can’t sleep on the street! Please, for old times’ sake, just take us in for one night!”

She cried out, but the people watching remained unmoved, their expressions only growing more resentful.

“So now you come crawling to us? When your family was rich, didn’t you look down on all us poor neighbors?”

“Hmph. Fate is a funny thing. The Su Family got rich but showed no kindness. You had your great rise and your great fall—I say you got what you deserved!”

“Begging is useless. When you moved into that luxury villa, you were too cheap to even invite us to a housewarming party. What ’old times’ are you even talking about?”

“My son couldn’t find a job after graduation. I wanted to ask your mom for help, just to arrange a simple internship, but your family wouldn’t even let him in the door!”

The crowd’s indignant voices rose one after another, their faces contorted with hatred.

CLANG! CLANG!

One by one, they returned to their homes, slamming and bolting their doors shut.

“Mom, what do I do? What do I do…?” Su Mengqing knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face as she hung her head in shame.

Despair and loneliness enveloped her. Unnoticed, the sky had darkened. Lights flickered on in the houses around her, but the old Su residence remained shrouded in darkness. Su Mengqing continued to kneel in the shadows, the tear tracks on her face long since dried by the wind, leaving her skin stiff.

“Mengqing… I’m hungry. I want something good to eat… I want a cola…” Zhang Meili’s hoarse voice came from a few feet away. She had cried herself into a stupor and was only now groggily coming to.

“Mom, drink some tap water first. I’ll go get you something to eat.” Su Mengqing rubbed her numb, swollen knees and staggered over to her mother. She cupped some water from the tap at the corner of the house and held it to her mother’s lips.

“I don’t want it! I want lobster! I want to drink champagne and red wine!”

SLAP!

Growing more lucid, Zhang Meili suddenly raised her hand and struck Su Mengqing hard across the face. “Go find Lin Fan! Go beg him to take us in, to get revenge for us!”

“Mom, have you still not accepted reality? Wake up! If you want to go, crawl there yourself! I am never going to Lin Fan again!”

SPLASH!

Stunned for a moment, Su Mengqing’s own anger flared. She flung the water from her palm into Zhang Meili’s face.

“You… you useless thing! You unfilial wretch! You’re just like your father, that old bastard! The both of you are heartless and cruel!” Zhang Meili pointed a trembling finger at her daughter, screaming hysterically.

“Fine! Then live by yourself! I’m done caring for you!” Su Mengqing shot to her feet, her eyes filled with profound pain. Gritting her teeth, she prepared to turn and walk away, to finally abandon her ungrateful mother.

“You… you’re abandoning me too? Su Mengqing, look into your heart! How dare you do this?” Zhang Meili was shocked. Her eyes immediately filled with panic, and her tone softened. “Mengqing, don’t go, please don’t go… If you leave, what will your mother do? I’ll starve to death right here!”

Hearing this, Su Mengqing froze. With her back still to her mother, she closed her eyes tightly as hot, silent tears streamed down her cheeks.

“It’s painful, isn’t it? Being relentlessly bound by a mother like this… how could you ever hope to have a future?”

A moment later, a familiar, ice-cold voice emerged from the darkness of the alley. Then, a tall figure with deep blue hair emerged, her indifferent face wearing a sneer of undisguised mockery.

“M-Miss Iguchi Tama?” Su Mengqing’s eyes flew open in shock. She never imagined that the woman who had fled the convention center would appear here.

“Don’t be nervous. I’ve come to help you.” Iguchi Tama’s complexion was pale. She moved as silently as a black cat, approaching the two of them.

Seeing the look of astonishment on Zhang Meili’s face as she was about to speak—

SWISH!

Iguchi Tama flicked her sleeve, and a gray, shadowy wisp shot toward Zhang Meili. The woman froze, her mouth agape, rendered immobile. Only her terrified, bewildered eyes could dart back and forth.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep