Sun Liang got into a vocational college in Yuncheng, which only required three years of study.
It was a Saturday during Sun Liang's third year of college. Sun Guihua packed several of her son's favorite dishes and went to the male dormitory building of Yuncheng University to find him.
"Mom, why did you come alone? It's so hot, aren't you tired?" Sun Liang came downstairs and saw his mother, wearing a mask in the sweltering heat to bring him food. He was deeply moved. He knew his mother had been reluctant to see people for years due to the scars on her face.
"Ah Liang, Mom is fine. I just thought you hadn't eaten my cooking in a while, so I brought you some," Sun Guihua said, looking at her handsome son with immense pride. "By the way, do you have enough for living expenses? I've found a factory job now, and the money is okay."
"No need, Mom. I'm an adult now, I can earn my own money by working," Sun Liang felt heartache for his mother. His maternal grandparents had passed away successively during his freshman year, and now it was just him and his mother relying on each other.
"No matter how old you are, you're still Mom's child. It's my duty to take care of you." Sun Guihua noticed many young girls passing by glancing at her son, and she teased, "Ah Liang, have you found a girlfriend yet? I see many pretty girls at your school."
"Mom, I'm not in a hurry about that," Sun Liang replied shyly. Suddenly, his phone rang, and he quickly answered it.
After ending the call, Sun Liang told Sun Guihua, "Mom, a senior of mine has something to do today and asked me to cover his tutoring class. I need to go back to get some materials."
"Okay, okay, Ah Liang, go ahead. Don't be late!" Sun Guihua said goodbye to her son and slowly walked towards the school gate.
Suddenly, she saw a group of freshmen walking towards her, and one of the boys immediately caught her attention. Sun Guihua recognized him instantly – it was her younger son, Dong Bin.
Originally, Dong Bin and Sun Liang shouldn't have been at the same school. However, when Sun Liang was young, he followed that man and didn't start primary school on time, repeating first grade. So, years later, these two half-brothers coincidentally met again at the same school.
Sun Liang resembled his mother, Sun Guihua, more, while Dong Bin took after his father, Dong Zhenhua. At first glance, almost no one would have thought they were related, including themselves.
But as his mother, Sun Guihua, recognized him immediately. After inquiring about his name, she quickly confirmed the boy's identity.
Sun Guihua was very excited and had tried to find Dong Bin secretly, revealing her identity to him.
At that time, Dong Bin was standing outside a bar with a group of friends. He became furious upon hearing her words and spat at Sun Guihua, "You old hag, look in the mirror! With your disgusting, hideous face, could you possibly give birth to a son as handsome and rich as me? These days, con artists are getting more and more sophisticated. Someone just comes out wanting to be my mother? Don't you see who you are?"
Sun Guihua's enthusiasm was doused by a bucket of cold water from Dong Bin. She stood there, not knowing what to do.
Dong Bin's friends surrounded her, "Haha, Brother Bin, this ugly woman says she's your mom? How brave of her!"
"I've seen girls come forward claiming to be your girlfriend, but this is the first time someone claims to be your mom, hahaha, this is quite novel."
"She has self-awareness. With that appearance, being your girlfriend wouldn't be reliable either, would it?"
"So does being your mom seem reliable? Uncle probably doesn't have that bad of taste, right? Hahahaha..."
Dong Bin watched as the group mocked and ridiculed Sun Guihua, his contempt evident.
The light in Sun Guihua's eyes gradually faded...
Dong Bin, her son, lived a life of extravagance, yet treated her with shamelessness and cruelty. Sun Liang, her other son, lived frugly but treated her with filial piety and politeness.
Sun Guihua felt a huge disparity. Why was one of her sons sensible and filial, while the other was so detestable?
What was even more outrageous, in her opinion, was that the filial son was poor and struggling, even relying on part-time jobs to supplement the household income. The detestable son, on the other hand, had plenty of money and could squander it at bars. Was there any justice in this world?
The shadows of over a decade of suffering had driven Sun Guihua to obsession. She decided to seek revenge. The man who had hurt her the most had died in prison, and her anger had nowhere to be vented. Now, she turned her attention to her younger son, Dong Bin, and her ex-husband, Dong Zhenhua.
Dong Bin, as a son, was so disrespectful to his mother, he deserved to die! Dong Zhenhua, as a husband and father, had abandoned her and caused her such misery, and now he couldn't even raise his son properly; he deserved to die too! Sun Guihua thought: Since Heaven wouldn't punish them, she would act on Heaven's behalf!
Sun Guihua never reflected on her own actions, only blaming others. The more she thought about it, the more she believed that if Dong Zhenhua hadn't abandoned her, she wouldn't have been disfigured and forced to return to her hometown to marry that man. She should still be a wealthy socialite, living a carefree life of shopping and drinking coffee every day.
Thus, a malicious plan formed in her mind.
Sun Guihua called her filial son, Sun Liang, back and recounted these events to him with embellishments.
Sun Liang was already devoted to his mother. Hearing that he could live a life of wealth, he became even more obedient to Sun Guihua and vowed to avenge his mother.
The first step of revenge required a beautiful, gentle, and obedient woman.
Sun Guihua wanted to find a woman who perfectly matched Dong Zhenhua's taste, then have her marry Dong Zhenhua and infiltrate the Dong family.
Sun Liang thought of Xu Xinyi, whom he had met not long ago, and told his mother about her.
Sun Guihua secretly observed Xu Xinyi for several days and found that the girl truly liked her son. Furthermore, while following Xu Xinyi during her part-time job, she accidentally discovered that the girl actually knew Dong Zhenhua. This was truly heaven-sent. Sun Guihua became even more convinced of her righteousness.
The second step of revenge was for Sun Liang to feign weakness and gain the woman's sympathy.
For Xu Xinyi, who already admired Sun Liang, this required very little effort. Sun Liang's repeated rejections, followed by his pretense of reluctantly revealing the supposed "truth" to avoid deceiving her, made Xu Xinyi believe him completely.
With Sun Guihua's cooperation, the scars on her contorted face became the most convincing evidence, intensifying Xu Xinyi's love for Sun Liang.
The third step of revenge was to apply relentless pressure. Sun Liang himself declared that for his mother's sake, he would marry a wealthy person even if he didn't love her.
Xu Xinyi deeply loved Sun Liang and of course did not want him to marry someone else. With Sun Liang's intentional or unintentional hints, she thought of the wealthy and kind old man, Dong Zhenhua.
Before Sun Liang could even suggest that Xu Xinyi approach the wealthy man, she proposed the plan herself and successfully gained Sun Liang's approval.
And so, the revenge plan against Dong Zhenhua and Dong Bin was more than halfway complete.
According to their original plan, Xu Xinyi would then kill Dong Bin in self-defense and go to prison. Dong Zhenhua would slowly succumb to poison and eventually die. After Xu Xinyi was released from prison, she would inherit Dong Zhenhua's entire fortune, allowing Sun Liang and Sun Guihua to live a wealthy and happy life...