Ning Wanciu’s anger was becoming difficult to contain.
Things were even more disgusting than she had imagined.
Her mother had never truly cared about what had happened to Ning Dongli.
Ning Wanciu’s face darkened.
She wanted to shout, but she instinctively held herself back.
Not far away, the two little ones were playing happily.
She didn’t want this to affect them.
Ning Wanciu gripped her phone in silence and quietly left the kitchen, returning to her own room.
She locked the door, walked over to the window, and only after confirming that her voice wouldn’t reach Ning Dongli did she finally lose control and roar.
“Do you even know what actually happened to Dongli?!”
“Just because Dongli rejected a boy’s confession, the girls in her class got jealous, spread rumors about her, and led the effort to isolate and bully her. The teacher did absolutely nothing!”
“And now, as her parent, you’re telling me they should just apologize to each other?”
“What did our Dongli do wrong that she needs to apologize for?!”
Today was supposed to be a good day.
She had just seen Ning Dongli take her first step toward recovery.
Now, all that good mood had vanished completely because of this phone call.
“You even want to send Dongli back to that school?”
Ning Wanciu gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with rage.
“Before I took her out of there, you never helped her at all. Even after I brought her out, you never once mentioned Dongli. Yet now you’re suddenly doing this?”
Ning Wanciu fought the urge to smash her phone and continued pressing for her mother’s reasons.
“…Ning Wanciu, you’ve only been away for a few days and you already dare to yell at me?”
“I’m doing this for her own good! Making such a big fuss over something so small—don’t you know how busy I am? Haven’t I indulged her long enough?!”
“Don’t I know Ning Dongli? She’s just exaggerating. It can’t be as serious as she claims. What can a bunch of kids even do? Bullying?!”
The more their mother spoke, the more agitated she became.
“I’ve already looked into it. It’s not that serious at all. It’s all just Ning Dongli misunderstanding the situation!”
Ning Wanciu frowned.
“Who did you hear that from?”
“On the day she was supposed to return to school, I ran into that boy from Dongli’s class. He was bright, cheerful, very polite, and comes from a good family. He wasn’t like how Dongli described him at all.”
“He’s actually a nice guy. He even said that once the misunderstanding is cleared up, he’ll take care of Ning Dongli.”
“Besides, with his background, why would he bother with the same childish tantrums as Dongli?”
Ning Wanciu sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes full of disbelief.
Background… background… So that was it.
Ning Wanciu clenched her fist.
The anger in her eyes could no longer be hidden.
The last time they asked her to attend the Recognition Banquet, it was for the same reason.
No wonder they suddenly remembered Ning Dongli. So this was why.
That boy was the source of Ning Dongli’s bullying.
And now, her mother chose to believe the bully’s words instead.
Not only that, she even wanted to personally send her daughter back into that person’s hands?
“You’d rather believe an outsider than your own daughter?”
Ning Wanciu spoke through gritted teeth, trying her best to remain calm.
“Ning Wanciu, what exactly do you mean by that? Have you grown wings now? You won’t even listen to me anymore?”
It was always like this.
Ning Wanciu simply couldn’t have a proper conversation with her.
“Eating what I provide and drinking what I provide, and now that you’ve grown you want to learn from your father, is that it?”
“I’m not—”
“Enough. I’m done talking with you. Just pass the phone to Ning Dongli. She hasn’t said she doesn’t want to.”
“…Ha.”
In that instant, Ning Wanciu laughed—a laugh born purely from anger.
She was extremely grateful that Ning Dongli had long since blocked all contact with the family.
Otherwise, just as she was starting to get better, her own mother would have dragged her right back down.
“I will never let you contact Dongli. Since you didn’t care before, don’t bother caring now.”
This was the first time Ning Wanciu had spoken so bluntly.
Originally, she had planned to wait until Ning Dongli recovered a little more before trying to talk with the family again.
But after this phone call…
Ning Wanciu took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
After all, Ning Dongli and An Yu were right outside.
Taking care of Ning Dongli was something their mother couldn’t do, but as the older sister, she could.
Rarely, the mother on the other end of the line remained silent.
Ning Wanciu simply held the phone, waiting quietly.
She didn’t hang up—this was the final bit of respect she had for her mother.
The Ning family was essentially a single-parent household.
When they were young, their father had run away, leaving the entire Ning family to their mother.
Their parents’ marriage had been an arranged union between families.
Their father, in pursuit of so-called true love, abandoned everything and left with nothing.
From childhood to adulthood, their mother had raised them alone.
However, unlike typical single-parent families, their lives had actually been quite comfortable.
After all, the Ning family was powerful and wealthy. Although their mother was busy, she managed the company quite well.
Once things stabilized, she even found time to look after the two sisters.
Unfortunately, that became the beginning of the nightmare.
Ever since their mother had spare time, she constantly displayed her need for control.
Even though she herself was a victim of an arranged marriage, she had no qualms about her children walking the same path.
She even wanted to actively facilitate it.
“Ning Wanciu, you’re the one harming her! Put Ning Dongli on the phone!”
Ning Wanciu stayed silent. It seemed she had no intention of responding anymore.
There was no point in continuing the conversation.
“You don’t need to say anything else. Dongli’s matters are not up to you. I will never let her return to that school.”
Absolutely not.
Send Ning Dongli back into that kind of environment?
She was finally starting to move past her psychological trauma.
Going back would only create new wounds.
She didn’t want to lose her little sister.
Besides, truthfully, since moving out, Ning Wanciu hadn’t spent a single cent of the Ning family’s money.
So there was nothing they could use to threaten her.
“That’s all. I wish you good health. Goodbye.”
The girl hung up the phone. She had nothing more to say.
“Sigh…”
Ning Wanciu let out a long sigh, her face filled with helplessness.
She hadn’t realized before just how unreasonable her mother could be.
But never mind.
Ning Wanciu shook her head, adjusted her expression, and prepared to leave the room.
Today was supposed to be a happy day. She couldn’t let the two little ones notice anything.
Ning Wanciu forced a smile onto her face and pulled open the door.
“Mmph!”
“Ouch!”
Right outside the door, the two little ones were pressed against it, clearly eavesdropping.