Chapter 572: Meeting Yun Xirou (II)
Yun Xirou, who was comforted by the praise and eager to feel validated, swallowed her doubts and squeezed Meng Yunhan’s hands back. “Thank you, Auntie Meng. At least someone can see that I am the real victim here.” She sobbed softly and added, “At the school, everyone kept blaming me, saying that I was the one who made a mistake. If it were not for the fact that I am a strong-hearted woman, then there was a good chance that I would have jumped off the roof.”
“Don’t say such a thing,” Meng Yunhan hushed Yun Xirou at once. “Don’t say such a thing. You are such a good girl; how can you even think about dying over something so simple? Don’t be so pessimistic. I will deal with this mess for you.”
Though she did not know whether Han Ruochen was going to listen to her or not, at that very moment, she only wanted to comfort Yun Xirou. So even if it meant making grand promises, Meng Yunhan was willing to do it.
“Thank you, Auntie Meng.” Yun Xirou did not know how Meng Yunhan was going to do it, but as long as she could help her, Yun Xirou was willing to accept it.
“Oh, there is no need to thank me.” Meng Yunhan waved her hand and then handed twenty yuan to Yun Xirou. This money was something that she had saved for Han Ziyan, but when she thought about how Yun Xirou needed this money more to cheer herself up, she suppressed the pang in her heart, and she said to her, “Here you go; take this money and eat something good. Don’t think too much about anything else and leave everything to me. Those kids are from my village, and I know their mother; I will talk to her.”
She did not have the face to tell Yun Xirou that she was Han Jianyou and Han Ruochen’s mother. After all, who told the two of them to do such a thing?
Yun Xirou was surprised when she saw Meng Yunhan handing twenty yuan to her. But she was not going to refuse; she took the money at once and said to Meng Yunhan, “Then thank you, Aunt Meng.”
Once she left, the smile on Meng Yunhan’s lips dropped. “Those damned brats!”
**
Meng Yunhan returned to the Han family in a hurry and kicked open the wooden gate of the courtyard with a slam. She stormed inside the house, her face flushed red with unbridled rage and anxiety. After her meeting with Yun Xirou under the banyan tree, the thought of Yun Xirou’s permanent record—and the terrifying prospect of Yun Xinye finding out the truth—had driven her into a state of blind desperation.
Yun Xirou did not know the truth that Han Jianyou and Han Ruochen were her children, but Yun Xinye did! If he found out that the child who ruined Yun Xirou’s future was her son, then there was a good chance that he would be upset with her. How could she live if Yun Xinye turned away from her?
“Han Ruochen! Get out here right now!” Meng Yunhan shrieked, her harsh voice echoing off the walls.
From the side room, Han Xuehan stepped out holding a basket of dried seaweed. Seeing her mother’s frantic look and hostility-filled demeanour, Han Xuehan’s brow furrowed in deep concern. “Mom, what are you screaming about? Dad is inside resting—”
“Shut up! This has nothing to do with you!” Meng Yunhan slapped her on the face. “Who do you think you are? How can you even interrupt me, your mother!?” She then marched straight to Han Ruochen’s room, where she was taking a look at the old ledger of the docks.
Han Ruochen did not even lift her head when the door of her room slammed open. She calmly set her pen down and raised her head to look at Meng Yunhan with an icy, unbothered stillness. “What is it?” She asked with a tilt of her head.
“You are going back to the school right this instant!” Meng Yunhan demanded, her trembling finger pointing directly at Han Ruochen’s nose. “You will find Teacher Xu and then retract your malicious accusations against Yun Xirou and tell him that it was all a misunderstanding. You will make sure that the demerit is completely erased from her permanent record.”
Han Ruochen let out a low, cold laugh, her gaze cutting through Meng Yunhan’s hysterical facade. “Retract the accusations? Have her demerit be removed? Mom, do you even know the situation? Yun Xirou lied, conspired with other students and attempted to frame Jianyou for cheating out of pure, ugly spite. She earned every single mark on that report card.”
“She is just a child! How can you be so vicious?” Meng Yunhan screamed, her voice cracking. “Her family has spent years planning for her future! If that demerit stays on her record, then do you even know what will happen to her? Her future will be ruined. Do you have no conscience at all!?”
Han Ruochen stood up slowly, her overwhelming, cold presence instantly casting a long shadow over her mother.
“My conscience?” Han Ruochen’s voice was as smooth as polished ice, and yet every word hit like a physical strike. “Jianyou worked hard until midnight every single day to score second place. Do you even know how many nights he stayed awake just to get good marks? Where was her conscience when she was trying to strip off his success away and brand him as a cheater? And where is your conscience?”
“I do not know how you came to find out about this matter, but before questioning me…did you even think about Jianyou? He is your flesh and blood. There was not a single word of concern over his situation and yet you have the time to run around frantically trying to save the very girl who tried to ruin his reputation as well as his hard work. Mom, just how much you hate us?”