Chapter 37: That Woman is Back

“I’ll need to come back in a few days,” Lin Bingwei said to Zhang Tingyuan. “I’ve arranged with that elderly couple to come collect the house on the third of next month; they’ll leave on the fourth.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“Okay.”

The two squeezed onto a bus to head back. It was getting late, and there weren’t many people, so they arrived home quickly.

As they pushed open the courtyard gate, they saw a stylishly dressed stranger squatting on the ground with a rattle drum, playing with Zhang Jianguo.

Zhang Jianguo wasn’t close to her at all and kept hiding behind Li Yurong.

Lin Bingwei looked at Zhang Tingyuan in surprise, only to see him with a dark expression as he strode forward, pushing the woman on the ground aside and pulling Zhang Jianguo behind him.

“What are you doing here?”

The woman was caught off guard and fell to the ground, her eyes filled with sorrow.

“Tingyuan, I came to see Jianguo.”

Zhang Tingyuan coldly replied, “Since you don’t want him anymore, why are you here to see him? Just leave; he doesn’t need you to come.”

“I didn’t abandon him; I left for a reason. I wanted to go to a bigger city to earn more money to support him. I didn’t expect it to be so hard to make money. I spent all the money I brought from home and didn’t earn much. Tingyuan, let’s raise Jianguo together in the future.”

Listening to their conversation, Lin Bingwei guessed the woman’s identity.

So she was Zhang Jianguo’s biological mother, Zhou Shufen.

After her husband died, she abandoned her three-month-old son and stole money from home to leave.

Oh, she ran out of money and came back.

But why didn’t she come back in her past life?

Right, in her past life, Zhang Tingyuan died, the Zhang family fell apart, and even the rats avoided their home, so this woman naturally wouldn’t return.

Zhang Tingyuan mocked, “Listen to yourself; do you even believe what you’re saying?”

The woman was sobbing uncontrollably, wiping her tears as she began to plead, “I know your family hates me, but what can I do? I became a widow just a year after marrying. Do you think it’s easy for me? Do you think I’m not sad? My life is so hard; what can I do? I’m still so young; I can’t stay single for a lifetime.”

This woman attributed the harm done to her child and the Zhang family to fate and to Zhang Tingyi’s death.

She seemed completely unaware of where she went wrong.

Lin Bingwei said Zhou Shufen, “There’s no rule that says a woman has to remain a widow after her husband’s death; you have the right to pursue happiness, and that’s not a problem. But you are not worthy to be a mother.”

Zhou Shufen was taken aback and turned to look at Lin Bingwei.

Lin Bingwei continued, “If you had any conscience at all, you would have at least waited until the child was weaned before leaving. You could have discussed it with the child’s grandparents. You could have said you wanted to leave, but it was difficult to live with the child, and everyone would understand your situation. But you left without a word and even stole money from home.”

She had heard before that there was originally six hundred yuan in cash at home, and Li Yurong planned to deposit it the next day.

That day, Li Yurong had asked Zhou Shufen to stay home and take care of the child while she went to the bank to deposit the money.

But Zhou Shufen said that ever since Zhang Tingyi died, she had been feeling terrible and had been cooped up at home, wanting to go out for a walk.

So she suggested that Li Yurong go deposit the money and let her stay home with the child.

Li Yurong felt sorry for her and thought she was doing the right thing, so she agreed.

She even told her that depositing five hundred was enough, and she could keep the remaining hundred to buy whatever she liked.

She gave her the passbook and the six hundred yuan in cash, and there was still a thousand yuan in the passbook.

In the end, this woman took the six hundred yuan in cash and withdrew the thousand yuan from the passbook and ran away, never to return.

Zhang Yuanxiu and Li Yurong had thought she had an accident and searched everywhere for her.

Later, they heard from someone in a neighboring village that they saw her waiting for a train at the station, and they finally understood that she had run away with the money.

After hearing Lin Bingwei’s words, Li Yurong was immediately in tears.

“Weiwei.”

Lin Bingwei walked over to Li Yurong and handed her a handkerchief to wipe her tears.

“Mom, don’t cry; it’s not your fault.”

Now Li Yurong cried even harder.

She hadn’t expected her daughter-in-law to understand her.

Because she truly never intended for her eldest daughter-in-law to be a widow for life or to use the child to trap her forever.

“Who are you?” Zhou Shufen’s gaze fell on Lin Bingwei.

She thought Lin Bingwei looked a bit familiar but couldn’t recall where she had seen her; she might be a neighbor.

Lin Bingwei replied lightly, “I’ve called you ‘Mom,’ so who do you think I am?”

Zhou Shufen looked back and forth between her and Zhang Tingyuan, surprised. “You’re Tingyuan’s wife?”

No one spoke; it was just assumed.

Zhou Shufen stared at Zhang Tingyuan, saying, “You’re married? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Zhang Tingyuan replied coolly, “Why? Do I need to inform you that I got married?”

“I…” Zhou Shufen suddenly remembered something and said, “Didn’t you say you would take care of us and raise Jianguo with me? How could you marry someone else?”

Hearing this, the whole family was stunned.

Lin Bingwei narrowed her eyes and looked at Zhang Tingyuan.

Zhang Tingyuan felt both anxious and angry, quickly stepping in front of Lin Bingwei to pledge his loyalty.

“Weiwei, don’t listen to this crazy woman.”

“Then explain what’s going on. How could you promise to raise Jianguo with her?”

Zhang Tingyuan was flustered, eager to defend himself. “That’s a misunderstanding! When my brother passed away, I took leave to attend the funeral. I saw her holding Jianguo and crying at the mourning hall. She said she couldn’t support the child alone and didn’t know what to do in the future. I just told her I would help my brother take care of them, to help raise the child together. This ‘together’ doesn’t mean what you think; Jianguo is my brother’s child. Even if Zhou Shufen doesn’t raise him, I have to, right?”

Li Yurong hurriedly joined in to explain for Zhang Tingyuan. “Yes, yes, Weiwei, don’t misunderstand; that’s not what he meant.”

Then she turned to Zhou Shufen and shouted, “Zhou Shufen, our family hasn’t wronged you; stop talking nonsense here. Tingyuan and Weiwei have a good relationship; your few words can’t break them apart.”

Zhou Shufen’s face turned red, and she opened her mouth, wanting to say something but hesitating several times.

A few years ago, she had taken the money and run to Haicheng, originally planning to start a small business, but as an outsider, she faced obstacles everywhere. Not only did she not make any money, but she also ended up in debt.

Later, she was deceived and drugged, tricked into doing illicit work.

In her situation, it was too difficult to find a good family to marry into.

During her hardest times, she regretted it and remembered the good things about the Zhang family.

But she had stolen money and run away; how could she go back? That was a dilemma.

As she racked her brain for reasons to return, she suddenly remembered what her brother-in-law had once said, that he would help Zhang Tingyi take care of them and raise Jianguo together.

She actually knew her brother-in-law didn’t mean it that way, but she was moved.

Ignoring those superstitious thoughts, the Zhang family was actually well-off, and Zhang Tingyuan was tall and handsome, more manly than Zhang Tingyi.

He was someone who didn’t understand things; maybe if she returned and admitted her mistake, proposed to marry Zhang Tingyuan, and raised Jianguo together, they would agree.

Once this thought took root, it became uncontrollable; her mind was filled with images of Zhang Tingyuan.

So she came back, and upon returning, she headed straight for the Zhang family.