The harm caused by naughty children is obvious. While it might not be as catastrophic as a nuclear bomb, it’s certainly on the level of a rocket launcher.

It would be one thing if they just made loud noises frequently, but sometimes they would even howl in the middle of the night, keeping everyone in the building awake.

Lu Yiyuan went door to door apologizing, and the family had to buy fruit candies every week just to make amends.

Eventually, she decided to keep the child at home and not allow him to play with others until he corrected his behavior. Otherwise, buying fruit candies every week wouldn’t be enough—even buying a pig a week wouldn’t cover the apologies.

On the day Li Sunming sent the child away, he brought another little girl with him.

He didn’t go into detail about the situation, but many people guessed the truth by looking at the child’s face.

The girl really did resemble Lu Yiyuan and Li Sunming.

The upper half of her face looked like her father, and the lower half looked like her mother. When you looked at her, you could see both her father’s and her mother’s features. No one would believe she wasn’t their child.

Suddenly, the family compound was buzzing with noise! Even Wen Jiajia, who had just woken up, heard the commotion.

“Oh my god, Jia Jia, how can you just sit there? Don’t you want to see what’s going on? Let’s go, let’s go!” Sister Bao exclaimed. Even someone like Sister Bao, who had sworn off gossip, couldn’t resist the temptation, which shows how intriguing this situation was.

Wen Jiajia had just finished her porridge when Sister Bao dragged her off toward the family building.

“Tell me, how could something so strange happen in the world? Children being swapped—and it was their own father, mother, brother, and sister-in-law who did it!” Sister Bao said as they walked, her eyes gleaming with a long-lost passion for gossip.

“That poor little girl is as thin as a stick. I bet she weighs half as much as the original child did. That boy was so heavy, even fatter than Xiaopang. Tsk tsk, what a sin. And she was wearing clothes so worn out they couldn’t be patched anymore. She was hiding timidly behind Li Sunming, not daring to speak. Oh, and Comrade Lu was crying miserably while holding the child—it was heartbreaking to see.”

They talked all the way to the family building.

From a distance, Wen Jiajia heard the crying. In her previous life, she had seen a kidnapped child being reunited with their parents. The mother’s cries were like a sharp sword, bringing tears to everyone present.

It was the same now. Sister Bao, who had been excited, suddenly had red eyes, and her excitement vanished.

“This is so painful. My heart aches,” Sister Bao said, touching her chest. “What mother wouldn’t feel heartbroken to see something like this?”

Wen Jiajia nodded vigorously, instinctively touching her belly. If her child had been swapped, she would have fought to the death with whoever was responsible.

When they arrived at the Li family’s door, they could see the scene inside through the window.

Many people had gathered around, but not all of them were there just to watch. Maybe they were at first, but they fell silent when they saw the scene unfold.

Lu Yiyuan was sitting on the ground, clutching the child tightly, crying loudly, her face a mix of grief and relief. The child looked frightened, but he placed his little hands on his mother.

Wen Jiajia shook her head, unwilling to watch any longer, and left after saying something to Sister Bao.

She was in a somber mood for the rest of the day.

But later that night, Lu Yiyuan came to her door.

As soon as she entered, she knelt on the ground before saying a word.

Wen Jiajia’s eyes widened in shock. She was almost scared to death and quickly bent down to help her up. “Hey, hey, Comrade Lu, what are you doing? Get up, get up, let’s talk.”

Lu Yiyuan said, “Comrade Wen, you saved my life! I can’t imagine how my daughter would have lived if you hadn’t pointed this out.”

Hearing the noise, Wei Dai quickly put on his clothes and opened the bathroom door, just in time to see Li Sunming.

He was a little annoyed and hurried into the house. As he passed by, he whispered, “Thank you, but don’t let your wife kneel. What if she scares my wife?”

Jiajia was still pregnant, and he was very superstitious. He didn’t know if this kneeling would have any effect on the baby in her belly.

After all, Comrade Lu might be his wife’s sister, or perhaps a higher-generation relative. If it were just his wife, it would be one thing, but kneeling to the baby in her belly as well? Wouldn’t that be against the will of Heaven?

Li Sunming quickly apologized and helped his wife up, saying, “Comrade Wen is pregnant.”

Lu Yiyuan, who had been busy either dealing with her naughty child or going out to work, wasn’t much of a gossip and genuinely didn’t know Wen Jiajia was pregnant.

“Sorry, sorry!” Lu Yiyuan slapped her head. “I wasn’t thinking.”

Wen Jiajia scratched her face and said, “It’s okay. Please, sit down. Would you like some tea? This year’s new wild tea was picked from the nearby mountains. It’s quite good.”

The couple nodded and sat on the sofa.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan came out upon hearing the noise and greeted the couple.

Lu Yiyuan had never met these two children before, or maybe she had but hadn’t paid much attention.

Now that she was a mother with a daughter, she felt an affection for children who were about the same age as her own. She found Wen Chun and Wen Xuan especially endearing, so she took out two handfuls of candies from her pocket and gave them to the sisters.

“Good girls, have some candy.”

The two sisters looked up at Wen Jiajia, and only after she nodded did they happily accept it.

“Thank you, Auntie,” they said.

Wen Jiajia patted the two girls on the head and said, “No eating today, go back to your room.”

The two children skipped back to their room.

Lu Yiyuan said, “They’re so lively and look a lot like you, Comrade Wen.”

Wen Jiajia picked up the thermos to make tea and said with a smile, “You just moved here earlier this year, right? They’re my nieces, the daughters of my two sisters, so naturally, they look like me.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Sunming hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t.

Wen Jiajia guessed that he might have discovered something. After all, the name of the original owner’s biological mother was in his personal records. If he had uncovered that and was even a little perceptive, he might connect it to his own Yue family.

Lu Yiyuan also laughed, but as she did, the smile on her face gradually faded. “To be honest, the moment I held my daughter in my arms today, I finally felt like a mother. You are the savior of our family. I’ve been such an unqualified mother, and that’s why she has suffered so much.”

Wen Jiajia shook her head. “You can’t punish yourself for someone else’s mistakes. Giving birth is the most vulnerable time for a woman. This isn’t your fault. Don’t hold a grudge against yourself. The important thing is that your child is back now.”

Then she asked, “By the way, how is your hometown now?”

Li Sunming replied, “It’s hard to say who the mastermind is, but they’re probably all guilty. I called the police when I got home, and after questioning, they put my eldest brother in jail. He took all the responsibility and even paid compensation, emptying all of my parents’ savings.”

In just a few days, relatives had turned into enemies.

Wen Jiajia was surprised that Li Sunming had the courage to call the police and that his report was successful.

Calling the police might be common in a few decades, but back then, people believed that problems should stay within the village. If they could be resolved locally, they would be, and if they could be kept within the family, they would be. Secrecy was key, and nothing was to be shared with outsiders.

In clan-like villages, the words of some so-called elders could carry more weight than the law.

There’s a small village under Fuyang that’s known for this. It’s said that someone was beaten to death there, and the villagers handled the situation themselves. The incident only came to light when the victim’s child escaped the village and went to the commune at night. Only then was the murderer brought to justice.

Even after several rounds of legal education, the village’s customs didn’t change. The victim’s family suffered various unfair treatments because they “broke the rules” by reporting the crime until the commune moved their household registration out of the village and into the commune.

This shows that in some legally ignorant villages, reporting to the police is a big deal. Reporting a family member would definitely be criticized, and it couldn’t be done without great perseverance.

It was predictable that Li Sunming’s reputation in his hometown had been ruined.

As expected, Li Sunming said, “People in my hometown think I made a big deal out of a small matter, but when I look at my daughter, I feel that I would be failing her if I didn’t put my brother in jail. She’s still in the hospital receiving treatment and just fell asleep, so we had time to come out.”

Wen Jiajia asked hurriedly, “What’s wrong with the child?”

“She’s malnourished and has injuries on her body.” As they said this, the couple’s eyes turned red again.

Wen Jiajia sighed, thinking that this girl might have suffered even more than the original owner did with her adoptive parents.

The couple had brought gifts with them, and Wen Jiajia just noticed the bag in Lu Yiyuan’s hand.

They didn’t stay long, as the child was still in the hospital. Before leaving, Lu Yiyuan took out the items in her bag, stuffed them into Wen Jiajia’s hands, and left in a hurry without giving her a chance to refuse.

What was inside? A basket.

When Wen Jiajia opened the basket, she found meat and brown sugar wrapped in oil paper, dried goods like red dates and mushrooms, and cotton cloth that felt extremely fine and soft.

There was even a bicycle ticket. No wonder she had waited until the last minute to give it to her—she was afraid Wen Jiajia wouldn’t accept it.

“I’m so sleepy, let’s go to sleep,” Wen Jiajia yawned and went back to her room. Her stomach was slowly swelling, and even riding a bicycle wasn’t as convenient as before. She wasn’t clumsy, just cautious.

Wei Dai, concerned that Wen Jiajia might get hungry in the middle of the night, brought a glass of water to the bedside table and placed an iron box of biscuits next to it.

Wen Jiajia thought to herself that after brushing her teeth, she wouldn’t eat anything, no matter what, as her mouth was sealed.