When she took him to the Meng family, although they were astonished by learning they suddenly got a grandson, they naturally wouldn’t let the child be raised outside and eventually let them come into the house.
In the past, Mother Meng used to be very satisfied with Ji Tongtong. Afterall, she was beautiful, smart and very gentle, but most importantly, she was a dignified young lady of the Ji family.
Although she was a stepdaughter, she was still favored by Father Ji, ah.
And with Ji Chu Zheng’s appearance and behavior as contrast, Ji Tongtong naturally seemed like the best choice.
However, after that incident, Mother Meng’s image of Ji Tongtong completely crumbled apart. How could two women …… Like a fish bone stuck in her throat, Mother Meng’s couldn’t let go of that incident, and the thought of Ji Tongtong having done something like that felt like a stone blocking her heart.
It wasn’t just a matter of having done such a thing. Afterall, every mother would wish to find the best partner for her son, let alone when the son in question belonged to a rich and prestigious family like theirs.
Mother Meng still had some reserves and ambiguously hinted to do a paternity test between Meng Ran and the baby.
Unexpectedly, the results of the test were positive and the baby was indeed Meng Ran’s biological child.
This kind of thing wasn’t really a glorious matter, so the Meng family didn’t make publicly announce the existence of Meng Ran’s child. Yet, their social circle somehow still ended up learning about it.
In their circle, early engagements weren’t unusual as they had mainly political and economic purposes. However, no one gave birth to children that early.
For the first time ever, Mother Meng faced the crowd mockery and ridicule, and this heavily influenced her relationship towards Ji Tongtong as she now seemed like a loathsome thorn in her side.
From the moment Ji Tongtong and her mother moved in their house, there was not a day when Mother Meng wasn’t angry.
“In-law, what’s the matter?” (TN: Stepmom Ji calls Mother Meng ‘Qingjia Mu’ or ‘In-law mother’. Parents of a married couple address each other as such. It would have been awkward to write mother-in-law in this context so I just kept it In-law.)
When Mother Meng saw Stepmother Ji holding the baby, she got even more disgusted with the pair of mother and daughter and directly ignored her before going upstairs.
“Mom, did mother-in-law come back?”
“Yes.” Stepmother Ji nudged her chin upstairs, “I don’t know what made her so angry, she didn’t even bother giving me face.”
“Mom, why don’t I find you an apartment to settle down?” Ji Tongtong suggested.
“Why should I live outside? Who’s going to take care of the baby? That mother-in-law of yours doesn’t seem to like him very much and all she does is get angry all day long. This child wasn’t easy to get, you have to carefully pay attention to it.”
Ji Tongtong thought for a moment and realized that she made a point, so she didn’t mention having her mom move out of the Meng house again.
When Meng Ran came back from school, Ji Tongtong told him that she wanted to go back to school and attend university. Meng Ran didn’t think much and directly agreed, however, he didn’t expect Mother Meng to strictly oppose it. She said that since Ji Tongtong had already given birth, she should just quietly stay home and take care of her baby.
Meng Ran couldn’t convince his mother and finally had to coax Ji Tongtong to stay home and care for their child.
However, when the child was merely one week old, he suddenly suffered from a high fever and was urgently sent to the hospital where the doctors announced that he was in critical condition.
Because Ji Tongtong was too young and unexperienced when she gave birth to the child, the baby wasn’t born very healthy.
As a result, after the high fever, the baby finally couldn’t hold on anymore and died.
After the child’s death, Ji Tongtong and her mother still stayed in the Meng house, however, their treatment was clearly getting worse by the day.
Meng Ran is caught in the middle of the strife between his mother and his girlfriend. He couldn’t take either side and repeatedly spent a lot of energy in pacifying the both of them. Not being able to focus on his studies naturally caused his grades to gradually drop lower and lower.
“Ji Tongtong, I already said I don’t like red beans, why did you get me that dish?”
Mother Meng angrily pushed back the bowl towards Ji Tongtong.
Feeling aggrieved, Ji Tongtong retorted: “Mother-in-law, you never said …….”
“You can’t even take care of a child, so what exactly are you good for? Don’t think that I don’t know you’re doing everything you can to seduce my son in order to stay here. Let me tell, Ji Tongtong, you and my son don’t even have a marriage certificate ……”
Ji Tongtong resentfully gripped the hem of her dress and her lowered eyelids to hide the hatred in her eyes.
Seeing her quietness, Mother Meng only got more and more stimulated and continued spouting abuse at her.
Meng Ran heard the noise and quickly came down from upstairs. He frowned at the situation and asked: “Mom, what are you doing?”
“Brother Meng Ran.” Ji Tongtong looked at him with misty eyes and a heartbroken expression, “It’s my fault, I didn’t remember that mother-in-law didn’t like eating red beans.”
Meng Ran saw Ji Tongtong’s reddened eyes and his heart couldn’t help softening, “Mom, since when do you not like eating red beans? Don’t bully Tongtong.”
Mother Meng: “……”
Mother Meng felt so angry by her own son’s admonishing that she completely lost the appetite to have breakfast. She could only glare at Ji Tongtong throughout the meal while breathing heavily.