TEDWR: Chapter 48

 Glossary

· Zhang Yansheng (张雁声): The female protagonist, the reborn eldest daughter.

· Zhang Shuocheng (张硕成): Zhang Yansheng's seven-year-old half-brother.

· Zhang Huan (张寰): Zhang Yansheng's father.

· Liang Yingying (梁莹莹): Zhang Yansheng's stepmother.

· Zhang Heling (张鹤翎): Zhang Yansheng's nine-year-old half-sister.

· Auntie Wang (王姨): The nanny who cares for Zhang Shuocheng.

---

Chapter 48

Wiping wasn't enough; Zhang Shuocheng also blew his nose hard.

"If you dare throw that on the floor, I'll hit you!" Zhang Yansheng said, her hair standing on end. "Stay there! Don't you dare throw it in my room!"

Auntie Wang quickly went over and took it from him.

Zhang Yansheng gave Zhang Shuocheng a push. "Go wash your face... go to your sister's room."

Zhang Heling came over to pull him along. Sniffling, Zhang Shuocheng went with her. Zhang Yansheng hesitated for a moment, then followed.

Zhang Shuocheng washed his face in Zhang Heling's room. The snot stains on the front of his clothes were also carefully wiped off by his meticulous big sister. When he reappeared before Zhang Yansheng, he was finally less disgusting.

Zhang Yansheng said coldly, "Come here."

Zhang Shuocheng was a bit scared, but then he thought, Zhang Yansheng hadn't been managing him lately. Bolstering his courage, he walked over.

Zhang Yansheng grabbed his little arm and looked at it, her brows knitting tightly. The dark bruise on his arm was very noticeable.

"She hit you on the body?" she asked.

Zhang Shuocheng's mouth quivered...

"Don't cry!" Zhang Yansheng said sternly.

Zhang Shuocheng kept his mouth quivering but held back.

Zhang Yansheng asked, "Where else did she hit you?"

Zhang Shuocheng pulled up his shorts a bit; there were two more bruises on his thigh. His back too. The worst was two fingers, bruised black and blue.

It looked like he had tried to protect himself with his hands while being beaten, but the adult had lost all reason, couldn't stop, and the hanger had struck his fingers directly.

Zhang Heling's heart ached for him, blowing on the spots. "Blow on it and it won't hurt, okay."

If she hadn't said anything, it might have been fine. But as soon as she said it, Zhang Shuocheng started wailing with a "Wah!"

"I don't want her managing me! I want you guys to manage me!" He cried so hard his snot started flowing again.

The sight of that snot made Zhang Yansheng's skin crawl. She hurriedly tore off a tissue and plastered it over his face. Zhang Shuocheng pressed the tissue and blew his nose again.

Zhang Yansheng asked, "You want us to manage you?"

Zhang Shuocheng raised his chin. "Yeah!"

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Before, he thought Zhang Yansheng hitting his bottom made her a big bad guy, and his mom was the good one.

Turns out, when his mom tried to manage his studies, she went crazy, like a madwoman. When she hit people, it was wild and all over the place, super scary.

Even though Zhang Yansheng hit him too, she was very calm when she did it. She even clearly told him why she was hitting him and how many times she would hit him. Sure, it hurt too, but... it wasn't that scary, and it didn't feel dangerous.

Under his own mother's hands, Zhang Shuocheng felt no sense of security. He always felt Liang Yingying might accidentally kill him with the next blow.

Compared like this, the big bad guy Zhang Yansheng was more reassuring.

And as long as he did what Zhang Yansheng said, she wouldn't hit him at all.

Zhang Yansheng snorted coldly and said, "If you want us to manage you, you have to listen to us."

Zhang Heling's eyes lit up. She leaned her face closer. "Right! You have to listen to us!"

Zhang Yansheng pushed her head away. "Well? Have you thought about it?"

Zhang Shuocheng only hesitated briefly before saying, "Then you can't let my mom hit me again!"

"Okay," Zhang Yansheng said. "Our family doesn't hit children wildly like that."

According to Zhang Shuocheng, Liang Yingying had also kicked him once. Luckily, she was wearing slippers at home. If she had been wearing high heels outside, it could have been fatal.

No matter how much Zhang Yansheng disliked Zhang Shuocheng, he was still just a little kid, tiny, with some baby fat. When he wasn't being a brat, he could even give the illusion of being "cute."

In short, Zhang Yansheng was fine with Zhang Shuocheng getting his bottom spanked. She was not fine with him being wildly, irrationally beaten like this.

When Zhang Huan returned in the evening, Zhang Yansheng took Zhang Shuocheng to complain.

Tears in his eyes, Zhang Shuocheng showed Zhang Huan the bruises on his body.

Zhang Huan was so angry he was almost speechless. After a long moment, he finally managed, "Where is she? Where is she?"

Zhang Shuocheng immediately said, "She's upstairs!"

Zhang Huan went upstairs.

Zhang Yansheng didn't follow. She also grabbed Zhang Shuocheng, who was itching to go up. They stayed downstairs.

A good half hour or so passed before Zhang Huan came back down. His breathing wasn't steady yet, and he was snorting through his nostrils, clearly having just lost his temper.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

"I told her, if she dares hit the child like that again..."

Zhang Huan's original words to Liang Yingying were that if she dared hit the child like that again, she could get out. But he couldn't say that in front of the children. He swallowed the rest and just said, "Anyway, our family can't hit children wildly like that. If we must hit, it has to be like how your sister does it. Right? Your sister hits you so well, doesn't she? Isn't that right?"

The last part was directed at Zhang Shuocheng.

Surprisingly, Zhang Shuocheng nodded in agreement. "Yeah!"

Did these two even know what they were saying?

Zhang Yansheng rubbed her temples.

"Just no wild hitting," she said, crossing her arms. "My mom used to tell me that hitting children wildly is the worst; it can easily lead to accidents."

Zhang Huan sighed wistfully. "Your mom was right..."

In her past life, no matter how much Zhang Yansheng disliked Zhang Shuocheng, she never hit him, influenced by her own mother. But Zhang Yansheng didn't want to bring up her own mother too much regarding Zhang Shuocheng's issues. She had just remembered it and said it offhand. Hearing Zhang Huan say this now made her feel displeased.

"I'm going upstairs," she said, then turned and left.

"Hey, hey, Yanyan!" Zhang Huan followed her. "About Shuoshuo's studies, as his sister, you still have to put in some effort."

Zhang Yansheng snorted.

Zhang Huan smiled apologetically. "I told his mother not to interfere blindly from now on. So, look, if you, as his sister, also don't manage him, then he'll have no one, right?"

As they spoke, they had reached the stairway.

Zhang Yansheng almost blurted out, "Is his father dead?", but managed to hold it back. She went upstairs without another word.

Zhang Huan chuckled. Watching Zhang Yansheng quickly ascend the stairs, he suddenly remembered and hurriedly grabbed the stair railing, calling up after her, "I'll increase your allowance! Okay!"

In Zhang Huan's view, anything solvable with money was a good thing.

For some reason, hearing Zhang Huan offer her money made Zhang Yansheng feel stifled.

Not long after returning to her room, she received a transfer. The additional allowance had already arrived. Zhang Huan was truly as good as his word when it came to money, never going back on it.

Zhang Yansheng glanced at it and tossed her phone aside.

After Liang Yingying gave up on tutoring, the Zhang household suddenly became peaceful and warm again.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Terrified of falling back into Liang Yingying's hands, Zhang Shuocheng managed to remember to do his homework first thing every morning. Zhang Heling explained the parts he didn't understand to him, showing infinitely more patience than Liang Yingying and actually making him understand.

For the last half of summer vacation, Zhang Shuocheng basically didn't get hit much. Of course, he didn't get off completely scot-free either. When the little monkey acted up, he would still sometimes forget himself.

But if he saw his eldest sister, or if someone used his eldest sister's name to scare him, he would always flinch a little. Whatever he wanted to do, he would hesitate, considering the consequences.

The aunties found this hilarious and often used Zhang Yansheng to scare him. Zhang Shuocheng, unwilling yet not daring to act boldly, could only fume and relent.

Summer vacation flew by.

Before the new high school year started, freshmen reported to school earlier than other grades. Zhang Yansheng took the placement exam for No. 1 High.

No. 1 High had one top-tier class, two advanced preparatory classes, four regular classes, and one... class specifically for the underperforming students with connections. It was jokingly called the "Young Masters' Class" by the school's top students.

When the placement results were announced after everyone returned to school, Zhang Yansheng was placed in the advanced... preparatory class.

It wasn't the best, of course, but compared to her past life, where she was directly stuffed into the Young Masters' Class, it was a world of difference. This whole summer, not traveling anywhere, not wasting time, spending immense effort to make up for junior high knowledge, and desperately doing practice problems... it was all worth it.

Holding the placement result notification in her hand for a long time, Zhang Yansheng finally stuffed it into her backpack, not planning to tell Zhang Huan.

After all, Zhang Huan wouldn't care about this matter anyway.

Unexpectedly, the one who went to "report the good news" was Zhang Heling.

During the summer, Zhang Yansheng studied hard and did practice problems every day. Zhang Heling found it strange and asked about it once, learning that high school would have a placement exam at the start of the term. She kept this matter in mind.

When Zhang Yansheng got her placement results, Zhang Heling remembered to come ask about it.

Learning the result, she turned and ran. Her little legs moved swiftly as she excitedly told Zhang Huan, "Sister got into the preparatory class! Just a tiny bit below the top class! Just a tiny bit!"

Zhang Huan was genuinely surprised.

Zhang Yansheng had been excellent as a child but became mediocre as she grew older. The qualities that once made her parents proud gradually faded.

This time, getting her into No. 1 High was to fulfill his deceased wife's wish. For that, he had spent a sum of money.

It was all worth it!

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

He specifically went upstairs to find Zhang Yansheng, insisting on seeing the placement notification. Once he had it in hand and looked at it, he chuckled happily for a long time.

Zhang Yansheng felt awkward and wanted to snatch the notification back from Zhang Huan. Zhang Huan wouldn't let go. "Let Dad look at it a bit more."

He added, "If your mom knew, she'd be so happy..." As he spoke, his eyes actually reddened.

Zhang Yansheng felt her temper rising again.

"What are you crying for!" she snapped.

"You don't know, my heart hurts..." Zhang Huan covered his eyes, choking up. "When your mom was still here, she had everything planned for you. She wanted you to go to No. 1 High. She graduated from there herself. After she was gone, I thought no matter what, I had to fulfill her wish. Even if I had to spend money, I'd get you in. I never imagined you'd be so determined. If she could see this... how happy she would be..."

Zhang Yansheng particularly wanted to tear that notification to pieces and throw it in Zhang Huan's face!

What a hypocrite, pretending to be so devoted!

But Zhang Huan's grief wasn't fake. That much was palpable.

Zhang Yansheng had only been twenty-one when she died. Compared to her fifteen-year-old self, she was more outspoken and decisive. But expecting her to accept this kind of human complexity was perhaps asking too much.

"That's enough!" she said through gritted teeth. "What would really make my mom happy is if I could be an only child!"

Zhang Huan couldn't cry anymore; he grew awkward. "No, Yanyan, adult matters aren't as simple as you think. Sometimes..." He faltered, wanting to defend himself somehow.

Zhang Yansheng had no desire to listen.

Even if Zhang Huan had a thousand reasons, so what? It wouldn't change what had already happened.

Some things don't consider the process, the cause, or even the difficulties—they only look at the result.

No matter what he said, it was useless. Zhang Yansheng had been reborn, but her life could never return to the way it was before.

Zhang Yansheng didn't want to hear another word. She pushed Zhang Huan out of the room.

Her strength had increased greatly since her rebirth; Zhang Huan couldn't resist. Pushed outside her room, the door slammed shut with a bang and was locked from the inside.

"Yanyan, Yanyan..." Zhang Huan tapped cautiously on the door, still trying to soothe Zhang Yansheng's suddenly explosive mood.

"Go away!" Zhang Yansheng shouted from inside.

Zhang Yansheng used to often treat him like this. Every time she flew into a rage, Zhang Huan would eventually shake his head, sigh, and walk away.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

After all, "walking away" was an easy method to gain peace and quiet.

But today, Zhang Huan still held the placement notification in his hand. Standing outside Zhang Yansheng's closed door, thinking that his daughter was still angry about what he had done years later, distant and no longer close to him, he felt an especially profound sense of loss and melancholy.

(End of Chapter)

← prev next →