Becoming a Scum A in an Old-School Melodramatic Novel - Chapter 4

Shen Xian didn’t raise her voice, but everyone gathered at the school gate could hear her clearly,

“First of all, your son was the one in the wrong. The teacher already made him apologize earlier. I was just going to have a quick word with the child and let it go, but then you came over here and started spouting nonsense.

Second, I want to tell you that just yelling at the top of your lungs doesn’t make you right. All it does is make you look like a shrew. 

Third, with a parent like you, I really worry that your kid is going to grow up crooked.

And lastly, this is for all the other kids and parents here, as you can all see, with a parent like Li Jie’s, it’s impossible to raise a good child. Be careful letting your kids play with him — they might get led astray.”

“You — are you looking for a beating?!” the woman shrieked in her sharp voice and raised her hand to hit Shen Xian.

But Shen Xian, who in her last life not only worked hard but also exercised regularly and had trained in self-defense for a long time, immediately caught the woman’s wrist and gripped it hard, causing her pain.

“Everyone saw it. She tried to hit me first. This is self-defense. Can someone please call the police for me?” Shen Xian held onto the woman’s wrists, her voice calm and unhurried.

Lin Qinghan took out her phone and glanced at Shen Xian. In the end, she said, “I’ll do it,” and started to dial.

The woman immediately panicked. “What are you doing?! It’s just a little thing, no need to call the cops! Let go of me already, I’ve got things to do!”

Shen Xian let out a cold chuckle and gave the woman a frosty glance before releasing her wrist with a flick. The woman’s arm ached from the motion, but having just learned she couldn’t get the upper hand, she turned and furiously smacked her son’s head as if venting her anger.

“This is all your fault! Always causing trouble! Look what you’ve done now — your mother got bullied because of you!” She dragged the little boy away as she scolded.

Shen Xian let out a cold snort and turned to check on her own child. Shen Tian was leaning on Lin Qinghan’s shoulder and had stopped crying, though her eyes were still red and puffy.

Shen Xian picked up the cake and juice she’d left to the side and brought them over. “Tian Tian, look what Mommy bought for you — milk cake and mango juice. Take them home to eat, okay?”

Shen Tian blinked her red eyes and looked to Lin Qinghan, as if asking for permission.

Lin Qinghan’s heart softened. Even though Shen Xian was normally no good, if she hadn’t shown up today, her Tian Tian would’ve just been bullied for nothing. “Mm, since it’s for Tian Tian, you can take it.”

Only then did Shen Tian smile. At the same time, Shen Xian noticed the number above Shen Tian’s head had changed from [‘-90′] to [“-50″], and the one above Lin Qinghan’s head had gone from [‘-150′] to [“-130″]. Shen Xian let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Shen Tian obediently sat on the back of Lin Qinghan’s electric scooter. Shen Xian placed the cake and juice in the front basket and reminded them with a smile, “Ride slowly, and be careful not to tip over the cake.”

“Got it.” For once, Lin Qinghan didn’t glare at Shen Xian. Thinking about how she held her back just now, she couldn’t bring herself to stay cold. Behind her, Shen Tian also turned and gave Shen Xian a little smile.

Shen Xian stood in place watching them leave before heading back home. She started cooking and cleaning. After everything, she earned another {200 yuan}. Subtracting the money she spent earlier on food for Shen Tian, she still had {1,700 yuan} left.

She went online to look up Moon Coins — a new cryptocurrency that only a few people knew about, and even they treated it like a joke. But Shen Xian knew blockchain was the future, and a coin worth nothing today could be worth a fortune in a few years.

She registered a special overseas account, saw that 1 Moon Coin was currently equal to just 10 yuan, and gritted her teeth. She used her entire {1,700 yuan} to buy 170 Moon Coins. She saved all her account info carefully. These coins could make her a fortune one day, but for now, she was broke again.

After all that, Shen Xian went to bed early. Her current body wasn’t in good shape — she used to smoke a lot and had heavy dark circles under her eyes. All of that would take time to fix.

Meanwhile, when Shen Tian got home, she couldn’t wait to eat the milk cake. Seeing her, Lin Qinghan finally cracked a smile on her frosty face. “Tian Tian, be good — wash your hands with Mom first before you eat.”

Shen Tian nodded and reluctantly glanced at the cake, making Lin Qinghan laugh. “Little glutton, come on — let’s wash up.”

Shen Tian obediently went to the bathroom and quickly washed her hands under the faucet. When she finished, she looked at Lin Qinghan as if showing off, “Mom, I washed them myself!”

“Good girl, my Tian Tian is awesome. Come on, let’s go eat the cake.” Lin Qinghan led her to the living room and brought out the six-inch cake. She poured two cups of mango juice — one for each of them.

She usually worked a lot and had a chaotic home life. Shen Xian often asked her for money, her younger brother was addicted to gambling and constantly came begging, and her mother kept calling her to send money home — saying it was for her brother’s future wedding. All of this drove her nearly mad. Her daughter was her only joy.

Shen Tian picked up her plate and sweetly asked, “Mom, help Tian Tian cut it?”

“Okay, Mom will cut a big piece for you. But if you eat sweets, you have to brush your teeth afterwards, alright?” Lin Qinghan said, patting the tiny ponytail on Shen Tian’s head.

“Okay!” Shen Tian took a huge bite of the cake, getting it all over her mouth. While eating, she said, “Mom, you eat too! The milk cake is yummy!”

“Alright, I’ll have some too.” As Lin Qinghan ate a few bites, she suddenly remembered the 200 yuan she’d transferred to Shen Xian last time. She opened her phone, waited a while for the FeiXin app to load, and checked their chat. She saw that Shen Xian had returned the 200 yuan red envelope.

She thought to herself, Shen Xian really is strange… whatever. We’re already divorced anyway. As long as she doesn’t ask me for money again, I don’t care anymore.

The next day followed the same routine. Shen Xian took over all the chores that Fang Jinglan used to do. For a while, Fang Jinglan didn’t know what to do with herself.

Seeing how on top of things Shen Xian had been these past few days, part of her started to feel some faint hope, while another part kept warning her not to trust her too much. So she took Shen Wenkang out for a walk instead. The house had been cleaned so thoroughly by Shen Xian that she had nothing left to do.

Once they were out, Fang Jinglan called her third sister. The moment the call connected, she couldn’t wait to say,

“Jingping, Shen Xian has been like a completely different person these past few days. She’s taking on all the chores — honestly, I’ve got nothing to do. Do you think she’s really changed, or is she up to something again?”

Fang Jingping replied, “Second Sis, if she’s willing to work, that’s a good thing. At least she’s not just lazing around at home all day. If she’s truly changed, that’s great. But still, be careful — you don’t want to get tricked out of money again. That child of yours is too smart when it comes to money. Of course we hope she’s really changed for the better, but you can’t let your guard down either.”

“I thought the same — whatever, just take it easy while we still can.”

There’s only one child in the family, yet they still have to treat her like guarding against a thief.

Fang Jinglan talked to someone about how she felt, which made her feel a bit better. Even her face lifted into a smile.

Shen Xian spent her whole day either doing housework or checking news online to see if there were any ways to make money. It wasn’t until the afternoon, when Shen Tian was about to get out of school, that Shen Xian greeted Fang Jinglan and the others before heading out.

In the end, she still didn’t want Shen Xian to disappear again without a trace. Fang Jinglan asked casually, as if unintentionally, “Where are you going?”

Shen Xian looked up and smiled, saying, “Tian Tian is almost out of school. I’m going to buy some fruit for her.”

Fang Jinglan’s anxious heart finally eased a bit. After all, she was her own daughter. She added another question, “Do you have money? Buy some good fruit for the child.”

Shen Xian nodded with a smile and said, “I’ve got money. Mom, don’t worry about it. I made a bit from doing online side jobs these past few days.”

Fang Jinglan was a little surprised. This was the first time Shen Xian didn’t ask her for money. In the past, it didn’t matter whether it was | a few thousand | or just | fifty | or | twenty | — Shen Xian never minded how little it was; she’d take it and go buy cigarettes. Oh right, that’s what seemed off — there hadn’t been any smell of smoke at home these past few days. Had Shen Xian quit smoking too?

Shen Xian didn’t know Fang Jinglan was thinking all this. She went to the supermarket and bought about fifty yuan worth of fruit — some sweet oranges, lychees, dragon fruit, mangosteen, and so on. Seeing it was almost time, Shen Xian simply stood at the kindergarten gate to wait for her little Tian Tian.

This time, when her little one came out of the kindergarten, she had a smile on her face. Holding hands with a few little girls, she seemed nothing like the unhappy child from the day before. Kids’ thoughts are always simple. Over the past couple of days, Shen Tian also seemed to have gotten used to Shen Xian showing up every afternoon. Plus, when Li Jie bullied her yesterday, the first one to protect her was Shen Xian. So, she couldn’t really dislike Shen Xian anymore. And now, with Shen Xian around, everyone knew she had a mommy.

Shen Xian waved at Shen Tian. Shen Tian saw her and waved goodbye to her little friends before running over. When she saw the bag in Shen Xian’s hand, a blush appeared on her cheeks. Mommy came to see her — so the yummy things Mommy bought must be for her, right? But it had been a long time since she’d seen Mommy before yesterday or the day before. She felt a little shy.

Shen Tian kept looking at the bag. Of course, Shen Xian noticed. She reached out to gently pat the two little buns on her girl’s head, squatted down, opened the bag, and smiled, saying, “Today, Mommy bought fruit for Tian Tian and Grandma. Remember to eat it when we get home so you can grow tall.”

Shen Tian smiled shyly and said, “Okay, Tian Tian wants to grow tall too. If I grow tall, I can protect Mom.”

“What are you two talking about?” Lin Qinghan rode over on her little electric scooter.