From Broken Family to Life Winner: A Reborn Mother's Journey

It was snowing. The temperature was low, and it was bitterly cold.

The cotton prison uniform Mrs. Tang wore offered no protection from the cold. Her nose was red from the chill, and her runny nose only got worse when she started crying.

”Mom, please don’t cry.”

Mrs. Tang burst into tears the moment she saw Tang Yuanxiao. He wasn’t surprised, just pained.

”I don’t want to cry either, I just can’t help it...”

Tang Yuanxiao’s attempt to comfort her only made Mrs. Tang more upset. ”My life is so hard...”

Ever since she entered prison, life had been truly difficult for Mrs. Tang.

These days, the women who ended up in prison were rarely simple folk.

Mrs. Tang was an exception.

She was timid, ignorant, and incompetent. She bullied the weak and feared the strong, and on top of that, she was old.

She wasn’t the oldest one there. Some inmates were older than her, but they had all been incarcerated long ago and were simply serving out long sentences.

Mrs. Tang was the first to be imprisoned at her age.

Every place has its own rules, and prison rules are especially strict.

Without exception, Mrs. Tang was at the very bottom of the pecking order.

Being at the bottom wasn’t necessarily a problem. If she didn’t provoke anyone, they would have left her alone, especially since she was old and the guards had informed everyone of her medical history.

If Mrs. Tang had been a little more sensible, her days wouldn’t have been so miserable.

But she just didn’t get it.

She cried from the moment she arrived. She cried every day, day and night, grating on everyone’s nerves.

It was utterly unbearable!

So, Mrs. Tang began to be ostracized, bullied, and threatened.

This, undoubtedly, poured salt on the wound.

Mrs. Tang’s incontinence had become a chronic problem. She couldn’t handle being scared; the slightest fright would make her wet herself.

By the end of the day, she would stink!

Mrs. Tang and the others were there for ”re-education through labor.” What they did, ate, drank, and wore were all strictly regulated.

Mrs. Tang didn’t have a change of clothes, nor was there time for her to change. Soon, she constantly reeked of urine, a smell you could detect from a distance.

Everyone was already on edge, and this added to their torment.

Her cellmates were on the verge of a breakdown.

It was inevitable that Mrs. Tang would be bullied and shunned. And when she was bullied, she cried even more.

The more she cried, the more she was bullied... a vicious cycle.

From her very first day, it was as if Mrs. Tang had fallen into hell. Every day was an ordeal.

She didn’t even know how she had survived. How could she not cry upon seeing Tang Yuanxiao?

”Tangyuan, I don’t want to be here. Every day is so hard.”

Tang Yuanxiao took his mother’s hand. ”Mom, it’ll be over soon.”

He looked at Mrs. Tang’s almost completely white hair and swallowed the lump in his throat before asking.

”Are you eating well? Sleeping well?”

Mrs. Tang shook her head. ”No, not at all. We eat steamed corn bread every day. I can barely swallow it. There’s not a drop of oil in the vegetables... I can’t eat it at all.”

In her younger years, Mrs. Tang had endured all sorts of hardships, even eating tree bark and chaff. But that was all a long time ago.

She had been coddled these past few years and could no longer stomach such things.

”I can’t eat well, I can’t sleep well, and I have to work. If I don’t finish my work, I don’t even get the steamed corn bread...”

The more Mrs. Tang spoke, the more distraught she became. ”Tangyuan, look at my hands. Look what’s become of them.”

Mrs. Tang used to work back in Xinghua Village, but she hadn’t done any heavy labor for many years. Besides, she could rest whenever she was tired, setting her own pace.

After all these years of a comfortable life, she could no longer endure hardship.

There wasn’t a single good spot on her palms. They were covered in calluses, and because of the cold, she had developed chilblains that were both painful and itchy.

”There isn’t a single part of my body that’s okay. I never eat or drink anything good or warm, and my stomach pain is getting worse and worse...”

The mention of stomach pain immediately made Tang Yuanxiao tense up. ”Stomach pain? Is it severe?”

Hearing Mrs. Tang mention stomach pain, Tang Yuanxiao finally remembered something important he had forgotten to prepare—medicine.

”It hurts! It’s a piercing pain, of course it hurts,” Mrs. Tang cried. ”It’s because I’m not eating well or staying warm. The pain is going to kill me.”

Tang Yuanxiao said, ”Next time I visit, I’ll bring you more food, and some medicine. You can take it whenever you’re not feeling well.”

Mrs. Tang grew impatient. ”I don’t want medicine, I just want to get out! Life is so hard. If this goes on, I’m going to die!”

’Two years. How am I supposed to survive two years!’

For Mrs. Tang, every day, every second, was torture.

”Tangyuan, can’t you find a way to get me out?”

Tang Yuanxiao shook his head. ”Mom, there’s no way.”

Mrs. Tang had only dared to hold onto a sliver of hope, and after hearing his words, the light in her eyes died completely.

Tang Yuanxiao tried to lift her spirits. ”Mom, I brought you some food, a blanket, and clothes. I’ve already given them to the guards. They’ll give them to you after they’re inspected. Don’t worry, I’ll come see you every month and bring you things.”

”You have to hold on. Two years will pass by quickly.”

Mrs. Tang was listless, but after Tang Yuanxiao talked with her for a while, her spirits lifted a little.

The visiting period was an hour long. She spent fifteen minutes complaining tearfully, Tang Yuanxiao spent another fifteen minutes consoling her, and only in the last half hour did they have time to talk about serious matters.

”Mom, custody of Momo has been transferred to Su Li. From now on... he’s no longer one of the Tang family.”

Tang Yuanxiao had suffered enough from hiding things from his mother before, so this time he decided to be direct.

After a moment of surprise, a flash of joy flickered in Mrs. Tang’s eyes.

Although she regretted her actions and felt guilty towards Little Tang Mo, the fact that he wasn’t the Tang Family’s biological grandson still made her uncomfortable with him staying in the family.

Especially after suffering in prison for so long!

”Is that so.” Remembering Su Li’s previous demeanor, Mrs. Tang pursed her lips but didn’t say anything more.

She didn’t ask how Little Tang Mo was doing at all. Instead, she changed the subject, asking about Tang Yuanxiao’s recent situation—whether he was eating and sleeping well.

She was genuinely concerned about Tang Yuanxiao, asking about every little detail.

But about Little Tang Mo, she didn’t ask a single thing.

As Tang Yuanxiao answered her questions, he had to admit to himself that his mother’s previous claims—that she would continue to treat Little Tang Mo like her own grandson—were just empty words.

Since Little Tang Mo wasn’t her biological grandson, in Mrs. Tang’s heart, he was no longer her grandson at all.

Tang Yuanxiao felt a pang of sadness but said nothing.

”Tangyuan, you’re not getting any younger, and you and Su Li are divorced. Shouldn’t you be thinking about remarrying?”

He was pulled from his thoughts when his mother spoke.

”Mom, why are you bringing this up now?” Tang Yuanxiao said, exasperated.

He had neither the energy nor the mood for it.

”What’s wrong with now? Look how old you are.”

Mrs. Tang thought for a moment, then said, ”Tangyuan, I think Shanshan is a good choice. She likes you, too. You should consider her. I’d love to have her as my daughter-in-law.”

”Mom, that’s impossible. Stop talking about it.” Tang Yuanxiao’s expression soured.

Mrs. Tang thought Tang Yuanxiao was still upset about what happened in Xinghua Village and hurriedly explained.

”Tangyuan, what happened in the village last time, Su Li framed her! She was wrongly accused! If she weren’t, why would I even mention her to you!”

Mrs. Tang leaned closer to Tang Yuanxiao and lowered her voice. ”I checked myself, Tangyuan. She’s still a virgin.”

Tang Yuanxiao’s face instantly flushed crimson with anger.

’How could his mother say something like that to him!’