Transmigrated as a vicious stepmother, I raised a child who became a heartthrob.

Jiang Zhuhua glanced at his phone screen to make sure there were no annotations. The original owner usually gave names to important people in his contacts.

"Who are you?"

Jiang Zhuhua swore that he had just said those words calmly, but the other person seemed to have been stepped on.

"You brat, how dare you talk to me like that? Anyone who knows me would think I'm your mother, or even your ancestor."

The voice opposite him was harsh and stern, clearly carrying a reprimand. Jiang Zhuhua put down his chopsticks and went to the balcony.

"I haven't gone out fooling around. It's not convenient for me to go back for the time being."

Although the other person's tone was fierce, Jiang Zhuhua couldn't tell whether the other person was concerned or just angry and emotionally unstable.

"Your father and I have heard about your divorce. And about your adopted son. Has he given you any compensation? After all, you helped take care of his son."

Jiang Zhuhua held the phone to his ear, but upon hearing those words, he couldn't help but pull it away slightly and glance at the phone number again. Ultimately, he still couldn't quite believe it.

"They gave us a little, but what happened?"

When it came to money, Jiang Zhuhua was extra cautious. He didn't specify how much money he would give.

"It's nothing. You're divorced now, come home and live here. That way people won't say you have no family home after the divorce. There's still a room for you in this house."

The person on the other end sounded a bit crazy. They seemed very angry at first, but after hearing that there was some money, they seemed to calm down immediately, and their tone even became somewhat condescending, as if they were giving alms.

Jiang Zhuhua smiled slightly, suddenly finding this person quite interesting.

Are you sure it's her biological mother and not her stepmother?

Jiang Zhuhua didn't quite understand the family's relationship, but the greedy look on their faces was unmistakable.

“Mom, I used that money to buy a house. He didn’t give me much. It’s not easy to live at home after the divorce, especially since I have a child.”

Jiang Zhuhua spoke calmly and unhurriedly. He held the phone in one hand and tended to the flowers on the balcony with the other. It was a pot of roses, just bought home today. The buds were blooming beautifully.

"What's wrong with staying at home? Come back. You can rent out your house, or sell it. There will always be a place for you at home. With a child... a child can survive on food. Or you can just leave him with his father. Do you think his own father wouldn't abandon him?"

"My child and I need to settle down and make a living. Mom, I'll talk about going back later. I just got divorced and I'm very busy right now. I also need to look for a job."

Jiang Zhuhua felt awkward saying "Mom" to herself. She had never called anyone "Mom" since she grew up, and she rarely did when she was little.

With a tremor in his hand, he snapped the flower bud that was about to open.

"Besides, I still have some mortgage payments to make after buying the house. Mom, could you give me some money first so I can pay off the mortgage? It's not much, just 200,000 yuan short."

When the original owner married into the Pei family, she brought a considerable amount of money with her. Jiang Zhuhua had a rough idea of ​​the family's assets. Two hundred thousand wasn't a lot.

"Why did you buy a house? You didn't even discuss it with us. Now you can't even pay the mortgage, you might as well sell it."

The person on the other end of the phone started rambling on and on, without mentioning money at all.

"Aren't you still looking for a job? Go ahead and do what you need to do. I'll transfer you a thousand yuan for emergencies. Mom doesn't have much money on her either."

After finishing her sentence, the person on the other end of the phone hung up immediately. Jiang Zhuhua chuckled; her pretense was hardly convincing.

Why do you stop talking about going home when you mention money?

Jiang Zhuhua put his phone in his pocket. Pei Hui sat on the stool and ate his meal obediently. The stool was a bit high, so he dangled his legs and sat there quietly.

He didn't ask what was going on, but the curiosity in his eyes was almost impossible to hide. Since Jiang Zhuhua didn't say anything, Pei Hui didn't ask either, simply acting like a well-behaved child.

Jiang Zhuhua sat across from him eating, but after he finished his meal, the promised 1,000 yuan never arrived, as if he had forgotten about it.

Now that he's unemployed, Jiang Zhuhua no longer has to work as hard as he did in his previous life. Nor does he have to lie in a hospital bed, waiting for death every day.

It's rare for me to relax, so I lay on the sofa, covered myself with a blanket, randomly flipped through TV channels, and watched aimlessly.

"Let's see what kind of fruit you'd like and order a fruit platter."

Jiang Zhuhua wanted to eat some fruit, but didn't want to move at all. So he tossed his phone to Pei Hui and asked him to keep an eye on it.

The phone felt heavy in his hand and was still warm. Pei Hui glanced at Jiang Zhuhua, who was lying on the sofa, completely unaware of what was happening there, and curiously fiddled with it.

He'd never played it before, and he didn't recognize many of the characters on it.

With just a light touch, the surface slides back and forth along with your fingertip.

Although he was tempted, he managed to restrain himself. Looking at the picture, he had a vague feeling that it was a product.

He didn't know many characters, and he was too embarrassed to ask, so he just fumbled around aimlessly. Until he touched something where the coins underneath moved slightly. He recognized the character "元" (yuan).

"Mother."

Pei Hui examined it carefully and agreed that it should be so. He then handed the phone back.

Jiang Zhuhua snapped out of his reverie, glanced at his phone, and saw that the child had ordered a fruit basket. Not a pre-cut fruit platter.

I looked up and saw the child's expression, which seemed to want praise, but I still went through the payment process and confirmed the address was here.

I casually patted his head as a compliment.

The neckline of the plush pajamas, pulled all the way up, was slightly open. Jiang Zhuhua suddenly sat up and ripped the pajamas open.

His face immediately darkened.

Originally, it was just about being hungry or punished, but unexpectedly, there were other, more serious injuries. Pei Hong cared about his reputation, not openly, but secretly.

When the clothes were pulled back, the pale, thin body was covered with cigarette burns, long, thin purple marks, some even turning black. There were also various pinch marks.

Pei Hong should disdain using pinching. In the original story, this unfavored child was also bullied by disgruntled servants.

Pei Hui shivered from the cold wind, remembering how ugly he looked with all his injuries. He hurriedly pulled his pajamas together and tried to zip them up.

"Come with me to the hospital."

These wounds may heal slowly with time. But they will become scars, remaining on the body. Jiang Zhuhua knows how painful it is to be hit with bamboo sticks, and he also knows how difficult it is to remove the scars left on the body.

If it can be treated while the child is young, then treat it as soon as possible and get better quickly, instead of letting it drag on.

Jiang Zhuhua quickly changed his clothes, and without saying a word, picked up the child and drove straight to the hospital.