My Taoist nun girlfriend is from the Republic of China era, 1942.

Chapter 176 Tang Wen's Struggle

Lu Yang turned one year old, and Chen Xiaomiao was already starting her second year of college.

Because Lu Yang stopped breastfeeding, Chen Xiaomiao felt relatively more relaxed.

After class, I could occasionally have a meal with a few classmates, and I no longer had to watch what I ate, making me more and more like a "proper" college student.

On the eve of the National Day holiday, the four of them had their usual meal together at a small restaurant outside the school.

The restaurant is newly opened, specializing in Jianghu cuisine. It is decorated in an antique style, and there are calligraphy and paintings on the walls that read "Eat meat in big bites and drink wine in big bowls".

"Xiao Miao, has your Yangyang learned to walk yet? My nephew is a year and a half old and he still can't walk. It's driving my brother crazy."

Li Tong picked up a piece of spicy blood curd and gasped for breath because of the spiciness.

She and Zhang Yufei already knew about Chen Xiaomiao's "special situation" and kept urging Chen Xiaomiao to bring her son to school so they could hold him.

“He left after the morning meeting and is now running around the house. Even my dog ​​can’t catch him.”

When talking about her son, Chen Xiaomiao's eyes and brows lit up with a smile.

"Any plans for National Day?" Zhang Yufei took a sip of her chilled plum juice and suggested, "Li Tong and I are planning a trip to Chengdu... Xiao Miao, Xiao Wen, want to come along?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Wen shook her head, wiped her mouth, and said, "You guys go ahead. I still have to do my part-time job. I've already passed all the interviews."

"Another part-time job?"

Li Tong exclaimed dramatically, "Tang Wen, you're a money-making machine, born to be a workaholic!"

Tang Wen shrugged dismissively: "What can I do? I'm poor."

Chen Xiaomiao, standing to the side, answered even more decisively: "I can't go either, I have to stay home and take care of the kids."

"Taking care of the baby again."

Zhang Yufei rested her chin on her hand and asked curiously, "Xiao Miao, we've always wanted to know, what's it really like to be a mother? Is it like in TV dramas, where you're exhausted every day and have no life of your own?"

Li Tong chimed in, "Yes, yes, tell us quickly so we can be mentally prepared."

Chen Xiaomiao thought about it carefully.

She hadn't watched the TV series Zhang Yufei mentioned, and couldn't think of any profound words.

What flashed through my mind was the scene of me as a child, following my master to cultivate vegetable gardens on the back mountain of the Taoist temple.

"Well..."

She came up with a simple analogy: "It's similar to farming."

If you get a piece of land and plant a seed, you don't know whether it will grow into a radish or a ginseng.

I water it and weed it every day, hoping it will get better.

Sometimes it wilts and you're so worried you can't sleep; other times it sprouts a new bud and you're happy for most of the day.

Raising a child is like tending to your own little plot of land—a mix of worries and joys.

The dinner table fell silent instantly.

Li Tong and Zhang Yufei looked at each other, both bewildered.

They've never farmed before and have no idea how hard it is.

Only Tang Wen lowered her head, chewing her food, her expression thoughtful.

After the meal, Chen Xiaomiao continued to act as a free driver as usual.

After dropping Li Tong and Zhang Yufei off at the high-speed rail station, they drove back to the school.

"Xiaowen." Chen Xiaomiao gripped the steering wheel, looking straight ahead, and suddenly spoke up: "You always work during your holidays, you must have saved up quite a bit of money, right?"

Tang Wen smiled sheepishly: "It's alright, I scraped together almost ten thousand."

"Ten thousand! You're amazing!" Chen Xiaomiao exclaimed in surprise. "What are you going to do with all that money? Buy a new phone? Or some nice clothes?"

After entering university, Chen Xiaomiao gained some understanding of the consumption habits of college students and knew that most of them could not save money.

Sunlight streamed through the car window, casting dappled shadows on Tang Wen's face.

She paused for a moment, then said softly, "Didn't I tell you before that I want to take the postgraduate entrance exam?"

Our school doesn't have any advantages; only by getting into a better school can we have a future.

This money is my fund for preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam... If I pass, it will also be my tuition for postgraduate studies.

My family isn't well-off; we can't afford to send me to school for too long.

After saying that, she let out a long breath and smiled.

"Of course, it's too early to talk about these things now. We're only sophomores, and the future is still uncertain!"

Chen Xiaomiao stopped the car at the school gate, turned to look at Tang Wen, and felt that there seemed to be inexhaustible strength hidden in that thin and small body.

After dropping Tang Wen off, Chen Xiaomiao returned home.

As soon as the door opened, the idiot rushed over, wagging his tail and behaving so enthusiastically that he could knock you over.

Lu Yang was sitting on the carpet with a set of colorful letter blocks in front of him.

The nanny, Sister Zhang, was standing to the side, holding cards in her hand, patiently teaching him.

"Yangyang, this is an 'A', the 'A' in Apple..."

Lu Yang looked up and saw Chen Xiaomiao enter. His eyes lit up, and he stretched out his little hand, calling out in a childish voice, "Mommy...hug..."

Chen Xiaomiao walked over and hugged her fragrant little dumpling.

"My dear child, do you miss your mother?"

Lu Yang hugged his mother's neck, making satisfied "mmm" sounds.

"came back?"

Lu Yuan came out of the study, holding a glass of water in his hand.

"Ah."

Chen Xiaomiao, holding her son, plopped down on the sofa: "Sister Zhang, you go eat first, I'm here to see him."

After the nanny entered the kitchen, Lu Yuan sat down next to Chen Xiaomiao and reached out to tease his son.

"It's rare that you have a National Day holiday, how about the three of us go somewhere for a trip?"

"Forget it, honey."

Chen Xiaomiao shook her head and refused: "Everywhere is crowded and it's too crowded... Besides, Yangyang is still so young and can't take any more stress. It's better for him to stay at home."

"Okay, it's up to you."

Lu Yuan smiled and didn't insist.

In fact, the problems Chen Xiaomiao mentioned are not problems for her family now.

Simply put, money can solve everything.

However, since the mother didn't want to go out, there was no need for me to persuade her further.

……

Time slipped away leisurely, and before we knew it, it was the last day of the long holiday.

The afternoon sun was shining brightly. Chen Xiaomiao had just finished feeding Lu Yang and put him on the carpet to play by himself when her phone started buzzing.

It's an unknown number.

She casually swiped to answer the call, pressed the speakerphone button, and used her free hand to tidy up the baby bottles on the coffee table.

"Hello, who are you looking for?" A serious male voice came from the other end of the phone, with a businesslike tone: "Hello, is this Ms. Chen Xiaomiao?"

"It's me, what's wrong?"

"This is the Chengxi Police Station. We'd like to verify with you whether you know a woman named Tang Wen?"

"Tang Wen?"

Chen Xiaomiao's heart skipped a beat.

"I know her, she's my classmate! Officer, what happened to her?"

"She is suspected of intentional assault and is currently in custody. She filled in your information in the emergency contact section. If it is convenient for you, please come over."

Intentional assault?

Chen Xiaomiao's mind was buzzing, and she was momentarily unable to react.

How could Tang Wen, with her gentle temperament, intentionally hurt someone?
The call had ended, and all that could be heard from the receiver was the busy tone.

Lu Yuan, who had been standing next to him, put down his tablet and spoke first.

"How about I go with you?"

"Oh……"

Chen Xiaomiao had no experience in handling this kind of thing, so she nodded obediently.

"Should I have Zhou Qin come over, or should you contact Song Jia regarding the lawyer?"

"I...I'll look for Song Jia."

Chen Xiaomiao was completely flustered and subconsciously chose someone she was more familiar with.

Lu Yuan nodded and turned to go to the bedroom to change his clothes.

Chen Xiaomiao took a few deep breaths before she could finally calm herself down and dialed Song Jia's number.

……

Chengxi Police Station.

Police officers hurried back and forth, and a few people with different expressions sat scattered on the rows of chairs in the reception hall.

Chen Xiaomiao paced back and forth at the door, arms crossed, looking restless.

Lu Yuan stood quietly beside her, calmly observing the surrounding environment.

A short while later, Song Jia's used Volkswagen came to a steady stop in front of the police station, and she stepped out of the car in a whirlwind of formal attire.

After a brief conversation with Chen Xiaomiao, Song Jia went straight to the duty desk and began negotiating with the police officers.

Her voice wasn't loud, but her enunciation was clear and logical, occasionally throwing out legal terms that Chen Xiaomiao couldn't understand.

A few minutes later, a young police officer led her inside, while Lu Yuan and Chen Xiaomiao were stopped outside.

Every minute and second of the wait felt incredibly long.

Chen Xiaomiao unconsciously dug her fingernails into her palm, her mind wandering through all sorts of possibilities.

She simply couldn't understand why Tang Wen would resort to violence.
About twenty minutes later, the door finally opened again.

Song Jia walked ahead, her expression somewhat solemn.

Tang Wen followed behind her, feeling as if all her strength had been drained away. She was dazed and pale.

His eyes were red, clearly from crying.

"Xiao Wen!"

Chen Xiaomiao rushed forward, grabbed her arm, and looked her up and down: "Are you alright? Did they give you any trouble?"

Tang Wen looked up and saw Chen Xiaomiao's anxious face. Her lips trembled, and tears streamed down her face.

"Xiao Miao... I'm sorry... I... I've caused you trouble..."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Chen Xiaomiao felt a pang of sadness and reached out to wipe away her tears. "It's good that you're alright. What happened?"

Song Jia gestured for everyone to leave first: "Let's talk outside. I've already arranged for bail."

The four of them walked out of the police station and got into Lu Yuan's car.

Tang Wen huddled in the corner of the back seat, sobbing uncontrollably.

Chen Xiaomiao sat next to her, at a loss, not knowing what had happened or how to comfort her.

In the end, it was Song Jia who broke the silence.

"Ms. Tang worked part-time at a restaurant during the National Day holiday. Today she was supposed to get paid, but the boss found all sorts of excuses to deduct money. He agreed to pay 1,500 yuan, but in the end he only agreed to pay 500 yuan."

"Five hundred! That's so expensive?"

"Miss Tang refused and argued with the boss. During the argument, the boss used very offensive language, calling her a 'poor wretch' and a 'country bumpkin'."

At this point, Song Jia paused, glanced at Tang Wen who was still trembling, and continued, "Finally, the boss cursed... saying, 'Is your mother dead? How rude!'"

Then Ms. Tang lost control, grabbed a ceramic plate, and smashed it directly on the boss's head.

The boss had a small cut on his scalp, which he was taken to the hospital where he received three stitches.

Then the restaurant staff called the police, and that's how it ended up like this.

Tang Wen finally raised her head, her eyes brimming with tears, her voice hoarse: "I didn't mean to... I really didn't... but at that moment... my mind went completely blank..."

She came from a rural family. When she was eight years old, her mother committed suicide by swallowing pesticide in front of her. Her father raised her by farming.

She tried to change her family's fate through education, but she was often burdened by farm work and had no access to a good educational environment from childhood to adulthood, so her college entrance examination results were not satisfactory.

When she got to university, she worked part-time like crazy to earn money, hoping to take the postgraduate entrance exam and prove herself...

But a single, casual remark from the boss shattered all her strength and pretense.

“I know, I know…” Chen Xiaomiao pulled her into her arms and gently coaxed Tang Wen like she had coaxed Lu Yang: “It’s not your fault, it’s not your fault… that person was just too bad.”

Song Jia handed over a pack of tissues, her tone softening: "Alright, Miss Tang, don't cry anymore. It's not as serious as you think. The other party only suffered minor injuries, which doesn't constitute a criminal offense."

Given the circumstances—the other party verbally abused him first—the matter will most likely end in a settlement through mediation, with the matter being resolved through monetary compensation.

"Pay me money..." Tang Wen froze, and asked softly, "How much...how much do you want in compensation?"

"Medical expenses, lost wages, compensation for emotional distress... it's hard to say. It depends on the extent of the other party's injuries and the lawyer's skill level, but I can estimate..."

Song Jia casually stated the figure: "No more than ten thousand yuan."

But this number was enough to crush Tang Wen.

She had painstakingly saved up money for almost a year, which was her only hope for preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination.

Lu Yuan, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

"You don't need to worry about the money."

His voice was calm and firm: "There won't be any criminal record, so don't worry, just go to school as usual..."

Tang Wen stared blankly at Lu Yuan's retreating figure, unsure of what to say for a moment.

Lu Yuan didn't explain further, but instead said to Song Jia, "Attorney Song, could you please coordinate with Zhou Qin regarding the follow-up matters?"

"Do not worry."

Song Jia gave an "OK" sign.

She understood that now that Lu Yuan had spoken, this extremely trivial matter was almost over.

(End of this chapter)