Wang Xiaoping, Wen Qian's birth mother, married into the Zhang family with a burning desire to have a son. Instead, she gave birth to three daughters.
Wen Qian happened to be the third and only surviving daughter. The adults in the family silently agreed to abandon the child on the roadside, leaving her fate to chance.
When they didn't find a body later, Wang Xiaoping and her husband realized someone must have taken the child in.
The matter was left at that. Some might imagine that parents who abandon their children must have their reasons or at least feel uneasy about it.
In reality, this couple felt none of that. They were desperate for a son, and the fact that others had sons while they didn't made them feel insecure, unable to hold their heads high, and looked down upon by others.
How does one get a son? Naturally, by staying healthy and continuing their efforts in the bedroom.
Finally, their wish came true. Wang Xiaoping gave birth to a son, feeling immensely relieved.
The child was born with the physical attributes she had longed for. This was what Wang Xiaoping had been waiting for with bated breath. She was overjoyed, holding her son and kissing the little one countless times.
Some might think this reaction excessive, but this was what she had yearned for after many years. She felt her suffering had finally paid off.
Her in-laws, who had never shown her a kind face before, finally deigned to cross the threshold to take a look. It's worth noting that when she had given birth to girls, they wouldn't even enter the room, just asking a question from outside before turning away with gloomy faces.
Zhang's father was also delighted. The Zhang family finally had an heir, and he felt he hadn't let down his ancestors. He felt that all his hard work finally had meaning.
They followed all the customs - holding a celebratory feast and taking photos. Not a single celebratory activity was skipped, a treatment the two older sisters never received. This was unique to the Zhang family's son.
Although Wang Xiaoping felt her in-laws still didn't treat her well, having a son gave her hope. She could now stand a little straighter. Where she used to bow her head, she now spoke with more confidence.
At this time, they didn't think about Wen Qian at all. They had two daughters right in front of them, but they didn't care about them either, only worrying that their son wasn't being well-cared for by his sisters. They had no time to think about the child they had abandoned.
But gossips will be gossips. They naturally knew about the Zhang family's daughter-in-law's secret, and similarly, they noticed when a family in a distant village suddenly had an extra child. Gradually, they pieced things together.
The villages were far apart. The Zhang family didn't go to that area, and Wen Qian's adoptive family didn't come to their area. Although the rumors reached Wang Xiaoping, she simply chose to ignore them.
Having many children in the family meant higher expenses, mainly for raising the son.
Spending more on the son and saving more for his future meant that when she looked at her daughters, Wang Xiaoping saw them as mere abacus beads, calculating how soon they could grow up and earn money to reduce the family's burden.
Often, children aren't really a burden to a family. Rather, the family already has many burdens, and the arrival of a child is just another drop in the bucket of "when it rains, it pours."
The two daughters were always grimy, doing various chores, but Wang Xiaoping saw this as expected and never praised them, only demanding more.
As for their father, as long as the children were alive, fed, and clothed, he didn't concern himself with anything else.
So the two daughters did as Wang Xiaoping said, dedicating their lives to their brother, always putting him first.
Even though this brother still had infinite possibilities, Wang Xiaoping had already pigeonholed her precious son as a living corpse.
While others hope for their sons to be excellent and successful, Wang Xiaoping was different. She wouldn't let her son take an extra step, carrying or piggybacking him herself, and making the two sisters do the same.
In her imagination, her son was mentally challenged, unable to dress himself, feed himself, or do his own laundry. Everything should be done for him by his two sisters and herself.
If it weren't for the fact that she couldn't relieve herself for him, she would have helped with that too.
She imagined her grown-up son as a destitute person, believing he couldn't find a girlfriend on his own. So she planned early on for her two daughters to prepare everything needed for their brother's marriage.
She didn't think her son was excellent, just precious - the result of countless efforts in bed with her husband, opening several "blind boxes" before finally getting one with male genitalia.
She wanted to reserve the best for her son, yet paradoxically imagined that everything he needed could only come from his sisters.
This was puzzling - if he was so precious, why raise him to be so useless, and in such a seemingly mentally challenged way?
Wang Xiaoping's child-rearing methods eventually dissatisfied her husband and in-laws. While it was expected for the girls to be hardworking, they couldn't raise the boy to be completely helpless.
At this rate, he would starve even with food hanging around his neck.
So Wang Xiaoping was scolded at times, with other adults in the family not allowing her to raise the child to be useless.
The children finally grew up, and both daughters got married. However, Wang Xiaoping felt that her daughters were unsuccessful, unable to help their brother after marriage.
They used to hand over their wages to her before marriage, but after marriage, they stopped giving money.
Zhang's father was fine with this, believing that married daughters were like spilled water, and it was enough to visit during holidays and not embarrass themselves at their in-laws' homes.
But Wang Xiaoping was different. She felt that the two sisters should be responsible for their brother for life, even after he married and had children. She thought the daughters should prioritize helping their brother over their own children.
However, if she were to say this to anyone, they would likely call her crazy, so she could only fret about it internally.
It's worth noting that they had received substantial bride prices for their two daughters, asking for the local average amount. The daughters took nothing with them, and Wang Xiaoping and her husband kept all the money for their son.
These two daughters owed their parents nothing, but Wang Xiaoping believed that parental kindness was greater than the sky, and daughters could never fully repay it in their lifetime. So she wanted them to repay it through her son.
Ironically, after her son's first marriage failed, Wang Xiaoping was anxious to find someone with better conditions, worried that the ex-daughter-in-law would remarry and have children first.
She wanted to be superior in every aspect, but her dreams were far from reality. They weren't a wealthy family with a gold mine; no matter how much they puffed themselves up, they couldn't make themselves look bigger than they were.
Moreover, her son had expensive tastes but lacked the skills to match. He never considered his own income when making purchases, always asking his mother for money first. He insisted on high-end items, believing that everything in the house belonged to him anyway, so he was merely using it in advance.
Unable to squeeze any more resources from her two daughters, Wang Xiaoping suddenly remembered she had another daughter she had abandoned.
