The Little Secretary's Tearful Past, Astonishingly Similar History, Ready for Carnage

"Smack, smack..."

The woman held her tiny daughter, who was clutching a baby bottle and gulping down milk, while standing in the kitchen making more formula. Two or three empty bottles like this one were already sitting on the counter in front of her.

This was what the Little Secretary looked like as a child—chubby cheeks, tiny hands tightly gripping the bottle, sucking away endlessly.

She was a big eater right from birth. With a great appetite, she drank more than twice the amount of formula as other babies. Whenever she was hungry, she would cry out, so all they could do was keep feeding her.

The woman's health wasn't the best, and she couldn't produce breast milk, so the newborn had to rely on formula. She felt an inexplicable sense of guilt toward her daughter. In her hometown, there was a superstition that a wife who couldn't produce milk wouldn't bring good fortune to her husband, and marrying her would be bad for the family.

The woman's family was from a remote village in Dachuan City. She was an only child, but fortunately, she was very driven. She studied hard and was always at the top of her class growing up, which meant most of her tuition fees were waived.

Thanks to her university studies, she came to the big city, and while working to support herself through school, she met a man named Li Erhe.

Things happened between them. As the eldest son of the Li family and the primary heir to the Li Group, Li Erhe fell for this country girl. Although things didn't go very smoothly at first due to the massive gap in their social statuses, his thick skin eventually paid off. He managed to win the young woman over, and they quickly fell in love. Before even finishing university, they married early and had a child.

If things had continued smoothly like this, it would have been a great ending, but heaven rarely grants people's wishes.

As the heir to a major family, marrying a country girl out of nowhere infuriated Li Erhe's father. He gave Li Erhe a strict deadline to get a divorce and return for an arranged marriage, threatening to cut off his funds otherwise...

Li Erhe had guts, though. He stood his ground and outright refused, which left his parents completely dumbfounded.

The couple understood that the more defiant he was, the more it proved their son's excellence. And the more excellent he was, the more it pained them to see him "stolen away." Left with no choice, they set their sights on the powerless young woman.

Of course, they didn't use any despicable methods—just a standard meeting and standard procedures.

Take the money, get an abortion, leave, and disappear as far away as possible...

It wasn't that they were being soft; rather, they feared that if they used harsher methods and the truth came to light, there would be no room left for reconciliation. They could only adopt a slightly softer approach so as not to push things to the absolute brink.

If the massive family business ended up with no heir, they wouldn't even be able to find the tears to cry.

"You two aren't from the same world, girl. You're a good person. Please, have mercy and let our Erhe go..."

Having seen through the young woman's personality at a glance, the couple used the "begging" tactic. Sure enough, it worked perfectly. The young woman took their words to heart. Though her eyes were filled with reluctance and tears, she agreed.

They truly were not people of the same world.

A date was quickly chosen for the abortion. Lying in the cold operating room, her eyes were red, and her tears fell uncontrollably...

"Bang!"

Just as the anesthesia was administered, a commotion erupted outside the operating room. Everyone inside stopped. It sounded like someone was causing a scene?

Li Erhe had brought a group of people to crash the place.

Ultimately, the surgery was halted. Fortunately, it hadn't started yet, and the baby was saved. The only risk was that the anesthesia might have some effect on the child when born. The doctor's advice was to go through with the abortion to be on the safe side.

In the end, the child was kept. Driven by guilt and seeing his wife's reluctance and tears, Li Erhe braced himself for the possibility of raising a mentally disabled child. It was what he owed the baby.

A few months later, the child was born. Thankfully, there were no intellectual issues; she wasn't a fool. The only abnormality was... she could eat quite a bit more than a normal baby.

She learned to call for mom and dad, and was chubby and adorable...

Other things happened during that time. On the day of the hospital commotion, the young woman demanded a divorce upon discharge, threatening to get the abortion otherwise. The reason for this, naturally, was what Li Erhe's parents had said to her.

Their beginning was a mistake. She truly couldn't bear to part with him, but she couldn't be so selfish as to ruin his future. She was just too useless...

Strangely, Li Erhe agreed to the divorce request very easily, appearing surprisingly calm.

The subsequent developments fell into place naturally.

Not long after, Li Erhe's arranged marriage was a success. His new bride was the only daughter of another top-tier family in Dahai City who had liked him for a long time. Their family backgrounds matched, and her family was willing to support Li Erhe, elevating the Li family to a higher level!

They later had children—one boy and two girls. Following the marriage alliance, Li Erhe successfully seized actual power over the Li family, though this happened a few years down the line.

Once he had everything, Li Erhe, who had seemingly been a "good father," instantly changed his face. He bared his fangs and demanded another divorce!

He wanted to kick his arranged wife to the curb and remarry the young woman!

Even though his current wife loved him deeply, even though she had helped him immensely over the years, and even though they had three children... none of it could compare to the ordinary woman who had nothing.

Since ancient times, wealthy families have produced hopeless romantics. Clearly, Li Erhe was one such romantic. He didn't abandon his wife and child in the traditional sense; instead, he endured hardships and lay dormant for years.

The script was inexplicably similar. The exact same drama played out on the other side of Dahai City in the Lin Group, only over there, the methods were... far more ruthless!

While Li Erhe abandoned his wife and children, his relationship with his parents remained normal. Lin Tianxiong, on the other hand, equally struck out at everyone around him. Parents? What parents? Weren't they just two old fools?

The root cause was that Li Erhe still had room to maneuver—the woman was still alive. For Lin Tianxiong, his person was already gone.

This showed the cleverness of Li Erhe's parents. They always left themselves an out and never pushed things to the absolute limit. If the couple's child—the Little Secretary—hadn't been saved and was aborted, the script that played out at the Lin family would have unfolded exactly the same way in the Li family.

The wheels of history roll ever forward, and the only lesson humanity learns from history is that they never learn their lesson...

"Slap!"

A crisp slap echoed through the room. A red handprint appeared on Li Erhe's face, stinging with pain.

"Erhe, do you think what you're doing is even human?!" The woman's hand, having just struck him, was trembling. Her heart ached terribly; that slap hurt her more than if it had landed on herself.

But she had to do it. She needed to knock some sense into the man standing before her!

This was the first time the young woman had ever raised her hand against him, and it would be the only time.

Over those few years, the young woman had met Li Erhe's arranged match—his current wife. The other woman was beautiful and possessed great elegance. In comparison, the young woman felt deeply inadequate.

There were none of those mind-numbing tropes you'd find in the trendy short dramas airing nowadays.

The other party wasn't malicious at all. Calling her "sister" with every breath, she didn't avoid the "past" between the woman and Li Erhe. She faced it openly and honestly. It wasn't an act; she was sincere, a truly nice person.

Even if the other party did everything perfectly, in Li Erhe's eyes, she was just a usurper, the murderer who caused his family to fall apart!

He had fallen into a certain kind of paranoia, entering a dead end in his thinking.

"If you do this, how is she supposed to face the world in the future? How will you make the people around her see her..." The young woman's tears pattered down.

"It's fine just like this. Mengmeng and I are fine like this. Status doesn't mean much to me. Erhe, you have to do right by that girl. Please don't be like this anymore, okay?"

A slap to the face had the effect of a purification spell.

His lover's words were more effective than anything else. Li Erhe, who had been unreasonably paranoid, instantly snapped awake. What he was doing right now was indeed inhuman. His current wife from the arranged marriage had sacrificed so much over the years, yet he...

"But, but what about you and our daughter..."

The room fell silent. The woman and Li Erhe both looked toward a certain bedroom in the house. The bedroom was completely quiet. The Little Secretary, having eaten her fill, was now sleeping, suffering from a bit of a food coma...

"Just like this, I think it's quite good like this. I just hope Mengmeng can live a peaceful and safe life..."

After that day, the woman was brought back to the Li family. Li Erhe's parents, who had previously torn the two apart, also settled down and acted very warmly. The woman shyly responded to their greetings while holding the chubby little hand of her daughter hiding behind her.

The chubby Little Secretary hid behind her, a bit shy around strangers. This was her first time meeting her nominal "grandpa and grandma," as well as... her stepmother and younger siblings.

Her school was also changed to an aristocratic school. Compared to the public school the woman originally had the Little Secretary attend, it was like the difference between heaven and earth, and naturally, the tuition fees were also worlds apart.

There, the slow-witted Little Secretary would hear all sorts of "bad voices" every day, calling her an illegitimate daughter, a fat pig, saying she wasn't smart and was an idiot...

This was also why the Little Secretary worked so hard when she heard she could become smarter. It was all a leftover issue from the past, all tears...

Feeling the malice of those around her, the young Little Secretary could only hide in the school restrooms to cry secretly, or cry in her mother's embrace after going home.

These were all lingering issues from the past. There is no wall in the world that doesn't leak wind, especially with a behemoth like the Li family. People in their circle would more or less know some "gossip."

Perhaps it wasn't intentional, but it was inevitable that when discussing it at home with their spouses, the children would overhear, remember it, and finally spread it back to school, forming an invisible "school bullying."

When a branch is crushed, no snowflake on the tree is innocent!

The malice of the people around her, big and small, much and little, piled up and left an indelible shadow on the young Little Secretary. The people around her became terrifying, like demons.

The people at home also became terrifying: grandpa and grandma, stepmother, younger siblings...

Only her mother was different...

After the woman passed away from illness, the world completely turned gray. Everything around her was pitch black, filled with terrifying "monsters." Once-familiar faces became terrifying and bizarre. Having lost her shelter, she became helpless and lost.

"Mengmeng, go to sleep. Everything will be fine after you wake up. Mommy will be alright..." The woman's last words before she died echoed.

"I'm fine, Hamster. Go to sleep. Everything will be fine when you wake up."

"Patter, patter..."

In the hospital, on the bed, surrounded by a crowd, the Little Secretary sat blankly like a wooden puppet. Tears spilled from her empty eyes and instantly slid down her cheeks.

Beautiful woman: "!!!"

"Doctor, doctor!!!" Li Juan's pupils shrank as she yelled and ran out to call a doctor.

Tang Shouye gasped, feeling that things were getting tricky. Beside him, a miniature version of "Tang Shouye" was sitting on a small stool eating a lollipop, his belly round and bulging, his short legs swinging back and forth.

Seeing his cousin like this, he gasped, and then... sped up his lollipop licking.

"Dad, is cousin possessed by something evil?" the younger son asked, licking his lollipop vigorously.

Tang Shouye looked grave: "Hard to say. Watch over your sister here. Call me if anything happens. Dad is going downstairs to bring the master up. And eat less, look how fat you've gotten!"

Younger son: "..."

Dad, how about you look at your own build before talking about me?

Tang Shouye left in a hurry. The hospital room was left with the younger son sitting on the stool licking his lollipop, and the Little Secretary sitting blankly on the bed in a daze. With a hop, he jumped down from the stool.

He planned to see what being possessed looked like and study it...

"I'm sorry..."

Younger son: "???"

An inexplicable voice appeared in the room. A question mark popped up in the younger son's head as he looked at his cousin sitting on the bed: "Cousin, are you talking? Cousin?"

"Patter, patter..."

Tears fell, and the clear voice did not appear again, but the younger son was certain that his cousin was indeed saying something right now.

Looking left and right, the younger son grabbed a stool, climbed onto the hospital bed, leaned his head close to his cousin, and listened carefully for a while.

"I'm sorry... Mommy... liar... Commander..."

Younger son: "???"

What in the world is all this!

It was just these few words over and over. The younger son climbed up from the stool, thought for a moment, and decided to use his kids' smartwatch to call his dad.

"Dad, cousin seems to have spoken..."

...

Meanwhile.

Outside the hospital, the ambulance carrying Ye Cheng and the special car of the Li Group arrived at the same time, entering the hospital one after the other!