Chapter 433: Fawning

Upon hearing that her father wanted her to accompany him to meet his first love, Xiao Churan refused almost without hesitation: "I'm not going!"

Xiao Changkun spread his hands: "Then don't stop Ye Chen from going with me. In any case, one of you two must come with me."

"You..." Xiao Churan was incensed and questioned him: "Dad, can't you tell in your heart what's more important—having a meal with an old classmate, or finding Mom?"

Xiao Changkun blurted out: "I can tell, of course having a meal with an old classmate is more important!"

"You..."

Although Xiao Churan was always good-tempered, she was truly about to explode with anger at this moment.

Xiao Changkun, however, said with an indifferent expression: "Churan, you have to understand one thing: this world doesn't revolve around your mother. There are four people in this family; your mother and I each have our own needs. You can revolve around your mother, but you cannot force me or Ye Chen to revolve around her. Don't we have our own lives? Don't we have our own needs?"

Having said this, Xiao Changkun continued with some agitation: "Does it mean that if your mother isn't found in a day, I can't do anything else for that day and must only go out to look for her? If she is never found for the rest of her life, does that mean I don't have to do anything else and should just spend the rest of my life looking for her until I die? If that's the case, I'd rather just run away from home. Why go through all this trouble?"

Xiao Churan was rendered speechless.

Although she knew her father was using twisted logic, she had to admit that there was some truth in his words.

Her father had been suppressed by her mother for so many years; now that her mother had suddenly disappeared, it should be a form of relief and an even greater release for him.

In utter helplessness, she could only compromise: "I don't object to you attending a class reunion, but after you're done, you must help me look for Mom's whereabouts!"

"Fine, fine, fine." Xiao Changkun agreed repeatedly, smiling as he said: "Don't worry, I will definitely give it my all when the time comes."

Just then, Ye Chen came out with the fried eggs and bacon. Seeing Xiao Changkun's attire, he said in surprise: "Whoa, Dad, you look quite dashing today."

Xiao Changkun chuckled and said happily: "How about it? Is it presentable?"

Ye Chen nodded and smiled: "It's more than presentable."

Xiao Churan, standing to the side, rubbed her temples and said to Ye Chen: "You accompany Dad to meet his old classmate at noon. After you finish eating, hurry and go to places like mahjong parlors to look around and ask if anyone has seen Mom."

Ye Chen agreed immediately: "Alright, Wife. I'll go with Dad after we finish eating."

……

Meanwhile, breakfast had begun at the detention center.

Ma Lan had slept in the restroom all night yesterday, shivering all over. She was so hungry she was about to faint, and she was hoping to eat some breakfast to replenish herself; otherwise, she feared she would truly starve to fainting.

The two people collecting the food soon brought back a plastic crate. Everyone went over to get their food, but Ma Lan didn't dare to take any directly. Instead, she walked up to Zhang Guifen and asked pitifully: "Sister Zhang, can you let me have a bite to eat? I haven't eaten for a day and a night..."

Zhang Guifen frowned while drinking porridge and eating a steamed bun, asking her: "What does you eating or not eating have to do with me? Did I say you couldn't eat?"

Ma Lan said with a bitter face: "I'm afraid that if I eat, you'll hit me again..."

Zhang Guifen sneered: "As long as you know. If you want to eat, just eat. You'll be better able to take a beating once you're full."

Ma Lan knew this was a threat. As long as she ate, or even just reached out to take the food, she would likely get a beating.

So she cried and begged: "Sister Zhang, you've already hit me, scolded me, and punished me yesterday. I beg you to show mercy and spare me..."

Zhang Guifen raised her eyebrows and questioned: "I can spare you, but who can bring my deceased mother back to life? Do you know how miserable she was when she couldn't breathe and was suffocated to death on her hospital bed because she drank pesticide?"

Ma Lan said, snot and tears running down her face: "Sister Zhang... I know you are a filial daughter, but I never harmed your mother..."

Zhang Guifen cursed angrily: "Still talking nonsense with me? I'm telling you, my mother was killed by an unfilial daughter-in-law like you, so I feel disgusted when I see people like you! You should be thankful that this isn't ancient society, or I would have chopped you up to uphold justice for heaven!"

Old Mrs. Xiao, standing to the side, hummed triumphantly: "Guifen, you are absolutely right! A woman like this should have been put in a pig cage in ancient times! That kind of bamboo cage—lock her inside, tie a few big stones to it, and throw it into the river to drown her directly!"

Ma Lan was too scared to make a sound, nor did she dare to eat. She could only stand in front of Zhang Guifen with her head bowed, like a child who had made a mistake.

Zhang Guifen finished her last bit of porridge, used the last piece of steamed bun to circle the bowl to soak up the remaining rice residue, and ate it in one bite.

Afterwards, she said, still unsatisfied: "Oh my, I don't think I'm full."

At this moment, a female inmate pointed at the plastic crate and said: "Sister Fen, isn't there one portion left in there? Why don't you eat that one too!"

Zhang Guifen deliberately looked at Ma Lan with a smile and asked playfully: "Oh my, Ma Lan, I'm going to eat your breakfast portion, you don't have any objections, do you?"

"No objections, no objections!" How could Ma Lan dare to say a single word of dissent? She could only nod like a garlic-pounding machine.

Zhang Guifen laughed: "As long as you have no objections. I have a large appetite because I exercise a lot. Beating you yesterday consumed a lot of energy, so I really do need to replenish myself today."

As she spoke, she walked to the plastic crate, took out the lunchbox inside, opened it, and began eating the bun in one hand and drinking the porridge from the box with the other.

Because she deliberately wanted to torture Ma Lan, she slurped the porridge very loudly, making Ma Lan's legs go weak from hunger and her stomach cramp even more.

Zhang Guifen ate all the buns in large mouthfuls, then drank the porridge until only about a third was left. Immediately after, she deliberately shook her hand and dropped the lunchbox on the ground, spilling the porridge everywhere.

Zhang Guifen exclaimed "Oh my" and said with annoyance: "Why did it spill? What a waste..."

As she spoke, she waved her hand at Ma Lan and said: "Go to the restroom, get a mop, and mop this spot clean."

Ma Lan had never cherished food in her life, and had never even finished a bowl of rice cleanly, but now, looking at the puddle of rice porridge on the floor, she actually felt a pang of heartache.

Seeing her eyes fixed on the porridge on the floor, Zhang Guifen smiled and said: "Ma Lan, if you're hungry, you can also kneel on the floor and lick this porridge up."

Upon hearing this, Ma Lan felt so aggrieved she wanted to die.

Kneeling on the floor to lick porridge? The floor was so dirty! Countless people had stepped on it, and the mop used in the restroom was already pitch black. How could she bear to lick the spilled porridge off the floor?

Even if she starved to death, she couldn't lick it!

Thinking of this, she hurriedly said: "I'll just mop it clean."

Zhang Guifen sneered: "Suit yourself, but you'll lick it sooner or later. If you don't believe me, let's wait and see!"