Chapter 99: I… I Gave the Child Away

On the way back to Wang Chunling’s house, she could barely walk. Her legs were so weak it was only with Chu Yue’s support that she managed to stay upright.

It was late. Even on New Year’s Eve, the celebrations were long over. Every household had already retreated into the warmth of their homes, with only faint glimmers of light seeping through the windows.

There were no streetlights in the military family compound. The only light guiding them forward came from the flashlight in Lu Zhanlin’s hand. Snow continued to fall gently in the cold wind, but there was no one left to admire its beauty.

Even though she was helping Wang Chunling, Chu Yue still moved swiftly and soon arrived at the house.

She wanted to push the door open and go in—but was surprised to find the courtyard gate was locked.

Ridiculous! When Li Jinhua was raising chickens before, she refused to shut the door. And now, on New Year’s Eve, with a living person—Wang Chunling—still out in the freezing cold, she’d shut the gate?

Was she trying to let Wang Chunling freeze to death outside?

Chu Yue had no patience for people like this. She raised her leg and kicked the gate hard. BANG—the loud crash sent a shiver through the chest, the wooden door swaying violently in the wind.

Beside her, Lu Zhanlin looked at the damaged wooden gate and suddenly felt his lower abdomen tighten.

Thinking back to that kick Chu Yue had given him in bed—it must’ve been merciful. If she’d gone full force, he probably wouldn’t be standing here right now.

Chu Yue’s eyes showed no hesitation. She didn’t spare the gate a glance and dragged Wang Chunling straight into the house.

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Inside the house.

Zhou Zhijian was on duty at the base tonight, so only Li Jinhua was home.

She had eaten a whole table full of food for New Year’s Eve and hadn’t even bothered to clean up. After stuffing herself, she went to bed and was only woken by the loud bang of the door being kicked open. Groggy and annoyed, she shouted, “Who’s there?!” and got up to put on clothes.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Chu Yue standing there—face cold as frost, presence like a god of death.

Before Wang Chunling ran out to seek Chu Yue’s help, she had just had a huge fight with Li Jinhua, crying and begging her to reveal the child’s whereabouts. But Li Jinhua hadn’t shown a shred of guilt. She’d simply gone to sleep!

What kind of heartless monster could act like this?

Seeing Li Jinhua again, Wang Chunling couldn’t control her emotions. She immediately stepped forward, trying once more to get the truth out of her.
“Mom…”

But her softness and pleading couldn’t move this old beast of a woman.

Chu Yue didn’t waste time. She cut Wang Chunling off and went straight to the point:
“Where is the child? What did you do with the baby?”

Li Jinhua replied shamelessly,
“That’s her child, not mine. If the baby’s gone, how should I know where? Ask her.”

Even at a time like this, Li Jinhua still had the gall to speak so righteously.

Chu Yue’s tone turned sharp and cold:
“There are only two people in this house—you and Chunling. Now the baby’s missing, and Chunling doesn’t know where the child is. You say you don’t know either? You think anyone’s going to believe that?”

But Li Jinhua remained stubborn.
“I… I really don’t know! She’s always guarded that baby like it was her eyeball, wouldn’t even let me touch it, not even to feed it. Why would I mess with her kid?”

Heh.

Chu Yue sneered inwardly.

She helped Wang Chunling sit down, then walked into the room. On the nightstand, there was still a half-finished bowl of red date and egg sweet soup that Wang Chunling had been drinking earlier.

Chu Yue picked it up and sniffed it, her brows furrowing instantly.

—Sleeping pills.

“You knew! You took my child… Give me back my baby… Mom, that’s my child! She came from my own body—please, I’m begging you, tell me where the baby is… I’m begging you…”

Wang Chunling sobbed as she pleaded with Li Jinhua, but if tears could change anything, their relationship as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law wouldn’t have reached this point in the first place.

Chu Yue straightforwardly placed the bowl of red date and egg sweet soup in front of Li Jinhua.

“There are sleeping pills in this. You drugged Wang Chunling on purpose, made her sleep so deeply she was unaware—just so you could take the child away. This is the evidence!”

Wang Chunling clearly hadn’t realized this before. She looked at the bowl in Chu Yue’s hand in disbelief, then turned to Li Jinhua—this was a raw betrayal. The baby’s own grandmother had caused her to go missing.

Li Jinhua’s expression changed, flashing with guilt and panic—but that alone wasn’t enough.

Chu Yue pressed on:

“Since you won’t admit it, why don’t we wake up everyone in the compound? It’s New Year’s Eve—let them watch a good show! Let’s have them all judge what happened to the baby—why she’s missing! Once the whole courtyard knows what you did, you’ll be famous, alright!”

That would be a scandal to remember.

Only now did Li Jinhua start to panic.

She had thought she’d used a strong enough dose of sleeping pills to make Wang Chunling sleep for at least two or three days. By then, it would all be in the past—and even if there were questions about the child, she’d have plenty of excuses.

Just a useless little girl anyway—what’s the big deal if she was gone?

But what she hadn’t expected was that Wang Chunling woke up after just one day, and immediately started demanding to find the baby—ruining Li Jinhua’s New Year’s Eve dinner in the process.

And later, when Wang Chunling couldn’t get an answer, she left to search outside.

Li Jinhua didn’t care if it was cold or dangerous out there. In fact, she hoped Wang Chunling would freeze to death—then her son, Zhou Zhijian, could marry a daughter-in-law she actually liked.

What she hadn’t expected… was that Wang Chunling would go find Chu Yue—and actually succeed.

Chu Yue was a thorn in her side. Every time she’d clashed with Chu Yue before, she had come out at a disadvantage. Plus, with her son Zhou Zhijian warning her not to mess with Chu Yue, she did have a bit of fear in her heart.

Chu Yue continued pressing:

“I’m asking you—where is the child?!”

Lu Zhanlin stood beside her, his brow furrowed deeply, fury simmering behind his eyes.

Chu Yue then added coldly:

“Company Commander Zhou is on duty at the base tonight. Maybe I should invite him over—let him ask you himself where his daughter went. If we can’t find the child by tomorrow, he’s going to be involved in the investigation too.”

Lu Zhanlin’s powerful presence worked at just the right moment.

Finally, for Zhou Zhijian’s sake, Li Jinhua caved.

“I… I… I gave the child away… This has nothing to do with my son—it was all me. Anyway, it’s just a little girl. Giving her away is no big deal. In our village, it’s normal to give girls away…”

Hearing this, both Wang Chunling and Chu Yue felt a tight grip on their hearts—but at the same time, a small wave of relief.

Because in their minds, there had been an even more terrifying possibility—that Li Jinhua, in her cruelty, had killed the baby.

A baby that young, if left outside even for a few hours, could easily freeze to death.

But if she’d been given away, then at least… she was still alive.

“Who did you give her to? When did you give her away?” Chu Yue asked immediately—faster than even Wang Chunling could react.