Han Yichen had hardly spoken Han Ruochen's name when the woman rushed forward and threw herself into the arms of her father. The second she was surrounded by the familiar warmth of her father, Han Ruochen burst into tears. Her sobs were so loud that the workers who were working outside rushed to see what was going on, as Han Ruochen had left the door slightly ajar in her hurry to see her father, they could hear what was going on inside.
Han Yichen was stunned. He had never heard his daughter cry like this, not since his father died. Thus, he was a bit shocked by the sudden turn of events. By the time he snapped out of his daze, Han Ruochen had soaked his shirt with her tears.
"Chen Chen, what happened? Why are you crying? Did someone bully you?" Han Yichen asked his daughter. He was not close to his eldest daughter, who fell in love with a ruffian and married him behind his back. But he was quite close to Han Ruochen, who was not only sensible but also wise. How could his heart not ache when he heard her cry like the world was coming to an end?
"Dad… dad.. Wuuu… they all bully me, dad… they won't let me live... Wuuu," Han Ruochen cried as she continued to hug her father. All the grievances that she had accumulated burst forth. She was locked up in the Yang family by Yang Jianming when she was only twenty. That man faked a marriage with her and then let his brother consummate the marriage on his behalf.
To make sure that she wouldn't wake up, Yang Jianming even drugged her with Han Ziyan's help, and when Han Ruochen woke up, everything was already done. She was also dragged to Elder Brother Yang's room to make it look like she went there on her own.
After that, her reputation was ruined, and Han Ziyan married Yang Jianming in her stead to make up for the 'wrongs' that she had committed. Han Ruochen became a dog in the village, while Han Ziyan became the sensible and kind one who sacrificed her life for her elder sister.
Oh, how Han Ruochen wished to tell everyone that it was what Han Ziyan always wanted, to take what belonged to her.
Han Yichen was simply stunned by Han Ruochen's words; he could only awkwardly pat his daughter on the back and wait for her to calm down. He wondered what had gone wrong for his daughter to cry so desperately.
It took fifteen minutes for Han Ruochen to stop crying. By the time she stopped crying, her face had turned red and her eyes had swollen. As she snapped back to reality, she couldn't believe that she had cried like a child in the arms of her father.
Her face turned red, and she couldn't help but chide herself. She was already past forty, and yet she was crying like a little child who was wronged. Ah, how embarrassing.
Han Yichen watched his daughter's face turn red and thought that she was tired after crying so hard. He handed her a glass of water and then said to her, "What's the matter? Who bullied you, and what did you mean by they won't let you live?"
Han Yichen was already upset when he heard Han Ruochen's cries, but when he heard her words, he became even more upset. Who was daring enough to bully his daughter? Did they not take him, Han Yichen, seriously anymore?
Was it that brat Yang Jianming? He had often told his daughter that Yang Jianming was not good enough. However, it was as if that man had fed some love potion to his daughter. No matter what he said, Han Ruochen wouldn't listen. In the end, he could only agree to their relationship.
Han Ruochen pursed her lips in silence. She had been too engrossed in letting out her emotions that she completely forgot that this was not her past life. Nothing had happened yet; she couldn't bring up something that had never happened, or else others would think that she had gone crazy.
Yang Jianming was, after all, still a gentle scum in the eyes of many.
So, she pursed her lips and dumped all the blame on Mother Han.
"Dad, actually—" Han Ruochen told Han Yichen everything about what Mother Han and Han Ziyan had done. By the time she finished speaking, Han Yichen was so angry that he was trembling. He banged his fist on the table and snapped, "How foolish. How can they ask you to give up your job? This is an opportunity that you fought for yourself, and they want you to hand it over to Han Ziyan just like that?"
Han Yichen was really angry.
Han Ziyan might have lived with him ever since she was a child; he was not as blind as his wife, who would treat his adopted child better than his biological one. Han Ruochen, working at the school, was a matter of pride for him. How could it be the same with Han Ziyan?
Han Yichen might be kind, but he was not foolish, and he also had some traditional beliefs. Even if he treated Han Ziyan well, he would never treat her better than his biological children because he believed that blood was thicker than water.
When Han Ruochen saw how angry her father was, she pursed her lips silently. Though her father was a good father, he, too, had his flaws. Even though he worked hard on the farm, he hardly paid attention to the matters at home. He believed that these matters should be left in the hands of the women of the house.
By the time he realized that something was wrong, her fourth brother was already dead, and all the other siblings were ruined as well. Even their farm was hit hard when the second swine flu started, and with Mother Han stealing all of their family savings, it didn't take long for their family to end up in dire straits and for her father to die a lonely death.