Chapter 80 - A Battle of Words On Press Release (Unmasking Li Meiling For The First Time)

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

“A woman singing for the Chinese opera in the nineties was the lowest class in the society. When I knew you, you were just singing as a clown. You would fight with the others just for a meal ticket. Your biggest dream was just to have enough to eat and wear.”

“I like to hear you sing and you are such a sweet talker. You always referred to me as your sister, always told me how much your dad loves gambling and how he abuses you. He sold you off in the end. I pitied you and formally took you as my sister.”

“From then on, I’d give you five dollars every week. In the nineties, five dollars was enough for an ordinary person’s monthly expenses. You ask yourself, have you ever worried about food and clothes, have you ever been bullied after I took you in?”

“I improved your material life then you beat around the bush and told me many men harassed you and wanted to take advantage of you. Without hesitation, I immediately told another good friend of mine to propel you to the main role. You have your skill and you are willing to work hard. You then gained fame within a year’s time.”

“Later on, you liked to come over to my place. You would tell me in admiration that you have never seen such a beautiful house. Hence, I introduced you to my husband.”

“I’d never suspected you and my husband. Sometimes, you had to attend a social party till late at night and you couldn’t find a ride. You were afraid to go home on your own. I even sent my husband to take you home. Before I knew it, he took you home for twenty years.”

“For twenty-two years we’ve called each other ‘sister’. When you were pregnant with Yaoyao, no one was sure of the paternity. I had just given birth to Qingqing and I was in my confinement period. You couldn’t expose your pregnancy as you were a celebrity. For ten months, I let my husband take care of you. You gave birth to Yaoyao and I treated her as my own while Qingqing treated Yaoyao as her sister too. But, how did you treat us?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Li Meiling, God is watching your every movement. Every time I think of the filthy things that you’ve done to me these past twenty years... Then you sent your daughter to threaten me! I feel extremely stupid. I’ve lived in vain for the past forty years. We played the Farmer and the Viper!”

Yue Wanqing shed tears as she got worked up. Recalling the past: she hated Ning Zhenguo’s heartlessness, she hated Li Meiling’s betrayal, but she hated her stupidity the most.

She didn’t know how she could be that stupid. You make the bed that you lie in. She hated herself so much. How could she let herself live in such a miserable life?

She was tortured by illness for the past three years and she had always wanted to kill herself. If it wasn’t for Qingqing, she wouldn’t have wanted to live.

The reporters at the scene were silent. Everyone pitied Yue Wanqing.

Her best friend got involved with her husband and it was hidden from her for twenty years. She took the mistress’s daughter as her own. Then, in the end, the mistress cast her aside and took her place. If even one of those things had happened to any woman, they’d be heartbroken.

Ning Qing stared at Li Meiling as her mom spoke.

There was no guilt in Li Meiling eyes. After all these years, when Li Meiling heard all of this, she only bore a look of jealousy.

She wondered why she should live such a miserable life while the others could marry into a rich and influential family. They were all women after all.

She wouldn’t live off of charity for her entire life. She wanted to be someone of high status.

“Sister.” Although everyone at the scene was leaning towards Yue Wanqing, Li Meiling said with tears welled up in her eyes, “Sister, I’ve always remembered how well you treated me. I was poor since youth and I accepted your help and charity. I can’t refute...”

“Heh, what do you want to refute?” Ning Qing cut her off with a smile. “Aunt Li, there are so many reporters on the scene. We will give you time to refute. Enlighten me. Twenty years ago, did you not accept my mom’s money? Or did my mom not spend money to help you gain fame? Or you’re trying to say you didn’t have anything to do with my dad?”

If Li Meiling wanted to crack jokes and play a fool in front of Ning Qing, she’d better bring her A-game.

Li Meiling was at a disadvantage. She originally wanted to take advantage of the common abhorrence of the rich, but she never thought that Ning Qing would be so outspoken and counter her like this.

“Aunt Li, as you couldn’t refute, then explain why my mom treated you so well but you refused to allow me entry into the Ning family house after you became Mrs. Ning? When you were poor, my mom gave you five dollars every week but when my mom needed money for a liver transplant, you didn’t even want to give us anything?”

The reporters started talking amongst themselves. The way they looked at Li Meiling soured by the second.

Li Meiling was calm as she looked towards Yue Wanqing. “Sister, do you remember why Zhenguo insisted on a divorce?”

“I didn’t! I didn’t push mom off the stairs!” Yue Wanqing said.

One stone stirs up a thousand waves. The reporters were shocked and the way they looked at Yue Wanqing soured as well.

Ning Qing was stunned. She looked down at her mom. She knew about her grandma’s fall down the stairs but she didn’t know it was her mom who pushed her.

“Sister, there were witnesses and material evidence back then. Two of the maidservants saw that you were fighting with mom and you pushed her off the stairs. A sixty-five year old lady was pushed off the stairs by you and became forever enfeebled. Zhenguo was filial and determined to divorce you because of what happened.”

“Mom hasn’t been in stable condition for the past few years and she would be agitated if she saw you and Qingqing. We couldn’t let Qingqing in. Zhenguo forbids me to contact the two of you. All these years, I’ve been serving Mom at home without taking a step away. I didn’t have a chance to help you.”

Ning Qing smirked in disdain. Lies, these were lies!

Mom and grandma had a good relationship, just like mother and daughter. Mom would never push grandma off the stairs.

Without her knowing, her mom was greatly wronged.

No one told her.

“Aunt Ning, may I ask if you really pushed Old Mrs. Ning off the stairs? She’s a sixty-five year old lady. What is the reason behind such cruelty?” A reporter asked.

“I...” Yue Wanqing shook her head and wanted to explain.

Ning Qing took one step forward and placed herself in front of her mother. She said to the reporter calmly, “My mom would never push my grandma off the stairs. We will file a police report. If there were to be anyone here who said it was my mom who pushed my grandma, I’d definitely invite you to the court. Please take responsibility for your words and actions.”

Ning Qing’s speech issued a warning and the reporter quickly retrieved their mic and stopped asking about it.

Li Meiling was pissed off. She originally thought that she could condemn Yue Wanqing’s morality before the public. However, Ning Qing didn’t panic but held fast. She wasn’t an easy target.

Ning Qing slowly turned around and looked at Li Meiling. She smiled. “Aunt Li, you talked about the reason why my parents divorced, you talked about Grandma rolling down the stairs. Stop beating around the bush. Why not talk about how you married my dad instead?”

“Qingqing, back then, your grandma rolled down the stairs; a sixty-five-year old lady suddenly lost her ability to take care of herself and she hit and bit everyone like a crazy person. Your grandma needed someone to take care of her. Your dad was upset and he wouldn’t even enter the office. He had been drinking his sorrow away while the Ning family was in shambles. It was in need of female leadership.”

Li Meiling made it sound logical and reasonable. The reporter nodded. “Teacher Li, sending charcoal in snowy weather is the toughest. True feelings are revealed in times of crisis. You’re so generous.”

Li Meiling revealed a humble smile. “I’m only...”

“Humph,” Ning Qing cut her off.

Li Meiling suddenly looked upset.

Ning Qing slowly walked before the reporter who complimented Li Meiling. With a sharp gaze and a voice loud and clear, she asked, “What do you mean by sending charcoal in snowy weather? My mother sent her charcoal in snowy weather for twenty years. In the end, my mom was chased out of the house. Who should she be sending charcoal to in snowy weather?”

“Their sisterhood had gone on for twenty-two years, yet she believed in the maidservant’s one-sided statement instead of my Mom. Why couldn’t she send charcoal to my mom in snowy weather, but she could send it to my mother’s man? There were cracks in the relationship between my mom and her man. Why didn’t she help to mediate and instead immediately marry him? Grandma needed someone to take care of her. Did Ning Family has no maid at home? My dad drank his sorrows away, did it also mean that he misbehaved?”

“She took advantage of her best friend’s divorce to quickly step foot in the other’s marriage. Was she after my dad’s heart or his money? At what point in those twenty years did she set her eyes on him? Had she been waiting for this opportunity? Nodding in approval for such a shameful action; I think you’ve lost your mind!”

“Yeah!” Xiao Zhou’s quickly clapped at Ning Qing’s speech, “The persistence of this lie is due to the people of the same low level being willing to believe it.”

The reporter’s face grew pale then blushed in embarrassment. He was extremely embarrassed by Ning Qing’s rebuke.

The other reporters understood and quickly asked, “Teacher Li, it seems that you did have mixed motives back then. May I ask, when did you start your relationship with Ning Zhenguo?”

“Teacher Li, please return to the main focus of the press release. Is Miss Ning Yao Ning Zhengguo’s daughter?”...

If Ning Yao was, there was no explanation required. Li Meiling was the third person in their marriage.

Ning Yao saw that Ning Qing had seized control of the entire press release and she was bottling up her anger. However, the question made Ning Yao’s eyes beam. Humph, Ning Qing, you’re too naive!

“Sister...” Li Meiling’s tears were flowing down her cheeks. She became upset and choked on her words. “Do you remember what happened at Yan Nan Road twenty years ago?”

Yan Nan Road?

It was Ning Qing’s first time hearing of it.

She noticed that her mom’s body stiffened. She looked down and her mother’s face grew pale. The way she looked at Li Meiling was filled with guilt.

Ning Qing’s heart dropped. It seemed that Lu Shaoming was right. Her mom did have a secret.

“Teacher Li, what happened at Yan Nan Road twenty years ago? Can you please make it clear?”

Li Meiling shivered all over, “Twenty years ago, there was this night... My sister and I were walking down Yan Nan Road. Then, a bunch of gangsters suddenly appeared and they wanted to rape us. Back then, I wanted to let my sister run away so I grabbed the ring leader and promised that I’d... I’d serve them properly. They promised to let my sister go but I...”

“Wow...” It stirred a great commotion.

This was absurd. Unbelievable.

Li Meiling would save my mom at the risk of her own? If the sun rises up from the West!

“Aunt Ning, is what Teacher Li said true? Twenty years ago, did she really sacrifice herself to save you?” The reporter asked.

Yue Wanqing’s tears were flowing down her cheeks too. “What she said was true... There were five to six men that night. They were holding knives in their hands; they wanted to sexually assault me. Later on, Li Meiling held them back... I did not even have the strength to truss up a chicken. I couldn’t save Meiling so I ran. I ran as I shouted for help. But, but I got lost on the way...”

“I am sorry to Meiling. I owed her for the rest of my life... Actually, when I thought about it later, I realized that I was too weak. If I were brave enough, I’d have stayed back and taken it alongside Meiling...”

Ning Qing heard and creased her eyebrows. She didn’t believe it, but she didn’t have any evidence. Hence, she could only listen to what Li Meiling had to say.

Her mom was too kind. She talked about her “weakness” courageously. But what her mom didn’t know that it was a press release and what she said helped Li Meiling.

“Sister, my status was low and degrading back then but I wouldn’t accept the latent rule and work really hard. I did that just to safeguard my innocence. I wasn’t duty-bound but I didn’t turn back in order to save you yet I didn’t complain nor regret. You didn’t owe me. You compensated me with material and assistance after that... But you shouldn’t have suspected our sisterhood.”

Ning Qing then realized Li Meiling’s power. The word “compensation” flipped her mom’s kindness towards her over the years.

Even the complaints that her mom held against her bore little weight as this came to light.

“Sister, I’ve been real to you for the past twenty years, Zhenguo and I were innocent but I was very disappointed when you pushed mom off the stairs. I was moved by Zhenguo as he grew distressed. He was such a great man. Why didn’t you appreciate him? Why did you ruin his home?”

“Sister, I had to raise my daughter alone. Zhenguo didn’t forsake me for it. He didn’t care I was once... He treated Yaoyao like his own. Zhenguo and I were both pitiful people who were hurt deeply. We got together to simply go through the rest of our lives in peace.”

Then, Li Meiling suddenly ran over and knelt before Yue Wanqing. She cried, “Sister, please stop. I’m the mistress, okay? Stop hurting Zhenguo and stop hurting my daughter.”

Ning Qing’s eyes were bloodshot. It turned out to be a really flamboyant and pleasant sounding speech. Li Meiling was so good at standing facts on their head.

Li Meiling gripped her mom’s hand. Ning Qing saw that her mom’s wrist turned red and she lowered her body to grab Li Meiling’s hand, “Aunt Li, this is being recorded. Thinking twice before you speak. Is Ning Yao really those gangster’s daughter?”

Ning Yao suddenly ran over and pushed Ning Qing. She then took Li Meiling in her embrace, “Sister, stop forcing my mom. My mom did enough for your mom. I am my dad’s daughter. I will forever be Ning Zhenguo’s daughter.”

“Yaoyao, I’m so sorry. I made you suffer so much humiliation...” Li Meiling hugged Ning Yao and cried. The whole scene was extremely bitter.