Chapter 103: The Heartless Man Trapped in His Own Lies

The little boy, barely over two years old, held the poisoned pastry given to him by his own father and was just about to take a bite.

At that moment, Zhang Qiuhe’s mind went completely blank with terror. Without thinking, she lunged forward and snatched the pastry from his hands. “It’s poisoned! Don’t eat it!”

The child, too young to understand the concept of poison, only knew that he had never seen such a beautiful treat before. Now that his own mother had taken it away, he felt wronged and was on the verge of tears.

Seeing his pitiful expression, Zhang Qiuhe’s heart ached. She pulled him into her arms, her voice hoarse as she tried to soothe him. “Be good, little one. Mama will buy you another one tomorrow.”

As she spoke, tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

She had thought that Liu Shengyuan was only heartless toward her, but she never imagined he could be so cruel to his own son as well!

They say even a tiger doesn’t eat its own cubs, but Liu Shengyuan was worse than a beast.

The little boy was an understanding child. He reached up with his tiny hands and wiped away the tears on Zhang Qiuhe’s face. In his soft, childish voice, he comforted her, “Mama… don’t cry… I don’t want cake… I’ll eat wowo…”

By “wowo,” he meant the cornbread buns that Zhang Qiuhe usually made. For them, that was already considered a rare treat.

Zhang Qiuhe immediately pulled herself together, straightened up, and said, “Alright, Mama will make you wowo right now.”

With that, she carefully wrapped the poisoned pastry in cloth and tucked it into her pocket.

Later that evening, after finishing dinner, Zhang Qiuhe carried her son to Du Wanchun’s house and recounted everything that had happened to Du Wanchun and Aunt Zhou.

“Aunt Zhou, Sister Du, what should I do? Liu Shengyuan clearly wants to leave us with no way to survive!” Zhang Qiuhe sobbed as she spoke. In just one day, she had cried so much that her eyes were swollen.

Aunt Zhou quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears. “Qiuhe, don’t panic just yet. Cheng’an County doesn’t belong to the Liu family—he can’t do whatever he pleases!”

Zhang Qiuhe held her child tightly in her arms. “I don’t care what happens to me, but my little one… He’s still so young. It’s bad enough that his father doesn’t love him… How could he be treated like this by his own flesh and blood?”

Aunt Zhou had long since seen through the nature of men. Right now, Zhang Qiuhe was just like she had been years ago—desperate and helpless.

Back then, when Aunt Zhou had cradled her crippled son, she had felt the same anguish.

At that moment, Du Wanchun got up and went into her room. She soon returned with a box of sour jujube cakes.

This box of cakes had been made by Aunt Zhou when Du Wanchun was suffering from morning sickness a while back. Du Wanchun had been reluctant to eat them, so there were still plenty left.

She placed the jujube cakes in the little boy’s hands and smiled. “Little one, take these and go play with Uncle Zhao and Uncle Feng.”

The boy held the cakes and nodded.

Zhang Qiuhe immediately understood Du Wanchun’s intention. She stopped complaining and let her son go find Zhou Feng and Zhou Zhao.

“Sister Du, I Know This Isn’t Right in Front of the Child, But I Have No Other Choice”

Zhang Qiuhe wiped her tears and choked back a sob.

Du Wanchun, now expecting a child herself, deeply understood Zhang Qiuhe’s pain. She held her hand and said, “Sister Zhang, did you keep the pastry?”

Zhang Qiuhe nodded. “Yes, I kept it.”

Du Wanchun spoke slowly, “Tomorrow, I’ll go to the shop with you. Just follow my lead and do as I say.”

Zhang Qiuhe looked at her in confusion. “Sister Du, what do you have in mind?”

Du Wanchun squeezed her hand tightly. “Tomorrow, I’ll take you to meet someone.”

Zhang Qiuhe didn’t know many people in the village and only truly trusted the Zhou family. For the sake of her child, she was willing to do anything, so she nodded without hesitation.

Aunt Zhou, seeing that she had calmed down, went into the house and brought out two meat pies, giving one to each mother and child.

As night fell, both Du Wanchun and Aunt Zhou decided it was safer for Zhang Qiuhe and her son to stay over rather than return home. They arranged for them to sleep in the guest room.

Only after ensuring they were asleep did Du Wanchun return to her own bedroom.

—

Meanwhile, miles away from Changliu Village, on a pitch-black road, Liu Shengyuan staggered forward.

After leaving Zhang Qiuhe’s house, he had tried to walk back to Cheng’an County, but he found himself trapped in an eerie loop, unable to find his way out even as night fell.

Having been stuck in this endless maze for hours, his nerves began to fray. He dropped to his knees beneath a large tree and pleaded, “Dear ghostly ancestor, please let me go! I swear, once I get back, I’ll burn more paper money for you!”

After making his plea, he stood up and continued walking. Yet, when he looked up, he found himself standing before the same tree once again.

Liu Shengyuan collapsed to the ground, nearly in tears. “Ghostly ancestor, why are you doing this to me? I’ve never done anything truly wicked in my life! Just let me go!”

After speaking, he kowtowed twice toward the tree.

At that moment, the cold wind that had been howling around him suddenly ceased.

Liu Shengyuan assumed the spirit had finally taken mercy on him. Overjoyed, he scrambled to his feet and ran forward.

Yet, no matter how far he ran, he found himself back at the same spot—facing that same ominous tree.

Looking up at it in utter defeat, he gritted his teeth in frustration. Rage boiling inside him, he clenched his fists and charged straight at the tree, shouting, “If you won’t let me go, I’ll just bash my head against you!”