The Villain's Mother

Chapter 151 – I’m an ungrateful rat in the eyes of outsiders (3)

“When I boarded the train to the capital city to attend college, I vowed that I would accomplish things and gain merit.” Song Tingshen paused, “If I didn’t find out later how much the insurance proceeds and the compensation from the accident was and how great-aunt sold the two properties that my father left me, I wouldn’t have the slightest bit of complaint towards her. I have to admit that my success is inseparable from my experiences over these years. And yet, I can’t get over this hurdle. She clearly hasn’t done anything to harm me, but I can’t... make peace with her.”

Ruan Xia understood this sort of feeling.

It would be far-fetched to say that his great-aunt had abused him, but a normal elder wouldn’t have sent a preteen to work at a factory to earn tuition and living expenses.

If Song Tingshen’s dad hadn’t left behind those two properties as well as a large amount of money from the insurance proceeds and the compensation from the accident, then from the perspective of an outsider, although his great-aunt’s approach was wrong, it wasn’t unforgivable. But those conditions were reality. She had sold his properties, took a large amount of his money, and still made him work to earn his tuition and living expenses. What was wrong with her?

If this story was put on the internet and every reader spat once, it would be enough to drown his great-aunt in saliva.

Song Tingshen finished drinking the can of beer. He truly had excellent self-control. He said he would only drink one can and only opened one can for himself.

Even he didn’t know why he told Ruan Xia about his past. There wasn’t any point in telling her. As she had said, he was already successful now to the point that he could step on his great-aunt and her family’s faces, and they could smile in response.

He had never said a word about this to anyone else. Even his good friend, Li Yuanhang, didn’t know about these experiences. He felt that this was in the past, and there was no need to mention it. Besides, his friends wouldn’t be able to relate even if he told them. Regarding that period of his past, other than himself, everyone else was an outsider. What was the point in complaining to outsiders? In the end, it was his experience and his own business.

Song Tingshen didn’t say anything after that, and Ruan Xia didn’t know what to say. The two of them were relatively silent as they ate the skewers and seafood.

When Song Tingshen stood up to go back to his room, Ruan Xia hesitantly called out to stop him. “With your current ability, you can definitely make that family miserable. Even if you really want to do something to them, it’s normal to feel that way.”

If Song Tingshen wanted to retaliate against his relatives and make their lives miserable, it would be ridiculously easy for him.

But, he seemed to have decided to leave them alone after taking the one hundred yuan?

Wasn’t that letting them off too easily?

Song Tingshen turned around and walked to the bed. As he slightly leaned over, touched Little Wang’s forehead, and tucked the blanket around him, his eyes were full of gentleness and softness. He straightened up and looked back at Ruan Xia. “I did have that thought in my twenties and that when I had the time, I would definitely deal with them. But something happened when I was 31 years old, I had a child...”

“At that time, I asked myself if I could make them disappear from this world in a surefire way. I couldn’t. Since I can’t, then I don’t want any unforeseen deviations to appear in my life. Of course, the most important thing is that when I became a father, I could better understand the painstaking efforts of a parent. I think that my parents’ greatest wish before they died was that I could live a happy and safe life. They wouldn’t have wanted to see me become someone that would do something like that.”

Is that so? Ruan Xia was somewhat absent-minded as she pondered. What about you? What was your last thought in the original novel before you died? You must have been thinking about Little Wang, right? You probably couldn’t bear to pass on and leave him without a father.

Translator Rambling: This might be first time I read a story where ML doesn’t utterly destroy his enemies. I like that Song Tingshen is mature enough to see that he might have turned out differently if he didn’t have go through hardship and has mixed feelings towards his relatives and that the story is showing how he changed when he became a father and not just Ruan Xia’s development. At first, I felt that he chickened out by making up an excuse for why he gave her those roses, but now, I think its much more meaningful and exposing a vulnerable side to himself by sharing something very private about himself vs giving her a romantic item.

Do you guys like the resolution of this story arc?