Chapter 16: Shock After Shock (Part 3)

Mu Mian listened intently, catching every word.

She did recall a person named Li Xiaoshuan. However, his situation was different—he hadn’t been born infertile but had become unable to have children due to an injury.

Later on, he married a widow with two kids, and they were now living a pretty good life.

But that wasn’t the point. The real issue was…

Mu Mian and Xu Lele were standing close to the couple, and the voices of the gossiping women were loud.

Mu Mian clearly saw that when someone mentioned going to the county hospital to check if he was fertile, both Shi Xinggui and Li Guiyan suddenly froze.

Now, this was getting interesting. Mu Mian’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Shi Xinggui obviously never suspected he might be infertile. Otherwise, Shi Dabao wouldn’t have been treated like a treasure for so many years.

Back in those days, men rarely took the initiative to get checked for fertility issues. If a couple couldn’t conceive for a few years, the wife was always the one being blamed first. The in-laws would make her try all sorts of folk remedies—Li Guiyan had taken plenty of them.

Just then, Shi Xinggui, in the middle of their heated argument, suddenly shouted with determination, “Fine! We’ll get tested! We’re going to the hospital tomorrow!!”

The moment he said that, Mu Mian, with her sharp eyes, saw Li Guiyan visibly panic.

Mu Mian’s eyes widened. “!!!!!”

What was going on?! What was going on?!

Could it be… that Shi Dabao’s mother really had an affair?!

Shi Xinggui had clearly never gone for a fertility test before. He didn’t know if he could have children, and neither did Li Guiyan.

If she wasn’t sure either but still panicked at the thought of the test, then that could only mean one thing—

Shi Dabao was most likely not Shi Xinggui’s biological son.

Mu Mian’s eyes darted around, and she finally spotted a figure that looked like Shi Xiaolian hiding behind an old woman.

She hadn’t been entirely sure before whether Shi Xiaolian was just making up stories to stir trouble for the second household or if there was some truth to it.

But now, there was no doubt—it was real.

Even Shi Xinggui, the person involved, had no idea, yet his niece somehow knew. The answer was obvious.

In the crowd, Shi Xiaolian, hiding behind an old woman and secretly observing, had no idea what Mu Mian was thinking. She simply felt a surge of satisfaction watching Shi Chuncao cry on the ground as if she were about to pass out.

In the past, because of this so-called “precious golden child,” the old woman would constantly come to her father asking for money. If he refused, she would cause a scene at the factory. At least half of her father’s wages had gone into Shi Dabao’s stomach.

Even after they moved back to the brigade two years ago, their lives hadn’t been peaceful. That family couldn’t stand to see her mother and sisters living even a little better.

They had even planned to sell her older sister for a bride price just to build a new house for Shi Dabao.

What a pity. In her previous life, even until the day she died, her grandmother never knew that Shi Dabao wasn’t even her biological grandson.

Back then, her mother had been arrested, and that man, along with Shi Dazhu, was also taken away. The police said there was only enough evidence to prove that Shi Dazhu and his wife had taken the bride price money, but no proof that her uncle and aunt were involved. So, the three of them got away unscathed.

Shi Dabao had lived well, growing up to the age of twenty. Her uncle had even planned to find him a wife. But before that could happen, her uncle fell seriously ill. During his hospital visit, they coincidentally discovered that he was born infertile.

How ridiculous. The child they had treasured for twenty years turned out to be someone else’s.

—

The commotion lasted until nightfall.

But it couldn’t be considered completely over, as there was still no conclusion. Shi Xinggui kept shouting that he would go for a medical check-up the next day, probably because he had his own doubts.

After all, a man has some idea about his own condition. Plus, in all these years, Shi Dabao was the only child they had.

If no one had mentioned anything, he might not have thought about it. But now that the issue had been raised, the seed of doubt had taken root and was growing wildly.

Mu Mian followed the dispersing crowd. Xu Lele had disappeared somewhere. Since the people around her were only acquaintances, she didn’t engage in conversation and hurried home alone, carrying an empty bowl.

By the time she reached home, the house was completely dark. No one was back yet.

Just as she lit the kerosene lamp, she heard her father’s voice.

“Why did you run back so fast? Your mother and I were looking for you.”

Mu Mian chuckled. “Hehe, I didn’t see you guys, so I just came back first.”

She lifted the kerosene lamp to light the way for her parents. When her gaze fell on Mu Fugui’s hands, she paused.

“Dad, whose bowl are you holding? It doesn’t look like ours.”

Mu Fugui looked down and exclaimed, “Oh! You’re right! Everyone put their bowls on the wall, so I must have grabbed the wrong one.”

Then, he laughed twice. “But who cares? They’re all just for holding food anyway.”

Mu Mian: “………………”

Noted. Next time, she shouldn’t bring a bowl while watching the drama. Otherwise, the moment she let go of it, it might get swapped.

It was already late.

Since they had to work and go to school the next day, Mu Mian was sent to bed after washing her feet.

Being forced to sleep so suddenly, she found herself unable to doze off right away.

She lay in bed, listening to her parents and grandmother whispering instead of going to sleep. She couldn’t hear clearly, but she could guess they were talking about Shi Xinggui’s family.

It was nothing more than the usual gossip—whether Li Guiyan had really been unfaithful, who the other man might be, and whether he was from their brigade or somewhere else.

Mu Mian turned over and clicked her tongue. She understood. This was the kind of talk kids shouldn’t be listening to.

Not that she was all that curious about it. What interested her more was Shi Xiaolian. It was obvious that Shi Xiaolian had lived through this before.

That meant that in Shi Xiaolian’s previous life, the Mu family’s fate was likely exactly as she had heard from the elderly grandmothers in her past life.

No wonder, that day at the classroom door, Shi Xiaolian had looked at her strangely.

But it didn’t matter. As she had thought before, when someone carries a secret like this, they won’t go around asking others to confirm it. She was sure Shi Xiaolian wouldn’t come to her either.

Her thoughts drifted from one thing to another, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

Even though she had gone to bed late, she still woke up on time the next morning—her biological clock was always reliable.

She got dressed, quickly ran her fingers through her hair, and stepped outside, planning to fetch a basin to wash her face. But something felt off.

The house was too quiet.

Where were her mother and grandmother?

She was used to not seeing her father in the morning since he had to leave early for work at the slaughterhouse.

But there was no one in the kitchen, no one in the backyard. The food was ready and kept warm in the pot, and the fire in the stove had been put out.

Mu Mian put down the ladle and basin, her head full of questions, and walked to the courtyard gate.

Before she could step out to look for them, she spotted Aunt Wang, who had ridden the ox cart with her before. The woman was hurrying past with a bowl of food, looking like she was rushing somewhere.

Mu Mian recognized that posture immediately—many people had been like this last night!

She called out, “Aunt, where are you going? Have you seen my mom and grandma?”

Aunt Wang stopped. “No. Are they’re not home? Then they must be at the Shi family’s house. I heard Li Guiyan ran off with Shi Dabao in the middle of the night. They just realized it this morning.”

Mu Mian’s eyes widened. “What?!”

Aunt Wang added, “Seems like she took all the money with her too.”

Mu Mian was hit with a second wave of shock. “What what?!!”

Aunt Wang sighed. “Shi’s old couple were so furious they had a stroke. They might be paralyzed!”

Mu Mian was stunned into a third round of disbelief. “What what what?!!!”

Early in the morning, and things were already this exciting?

Aunt Wang let out an “Aiyo!” and said, “I’m not talking to you, little girl. I’m going to take a look!”

With that, she ran off.

Mu Mian also wanted to run, but the next second, she turned back, quickly grabbed the lock, and secured the courtyard gate.

There were still valuable things at home, so the door had to be locked properly. In the past, there had been incidents where people took advantage of the commotion to sneak into other households and steal things.

After making sure the door was locked, Mu Mian turned and ran, dashing off like the wind. She quickly overtook Aunt Wang, leaving only a fleeting silhouette behind.

Aunt Wang, eating a bit of dust, laughed and panted, muttering, “What a little calf.”

By the time Mu ‘Little Calf’ Mian reached Shi Xinggui’s house, a crowd had already gathered. She didn’t see her mother and grandmother right away but first spotted the people of the brigade helping the elderly couple from the Shi family onto an ox cart.

Old Lady Shi’s mouth was crooked, her eyes slanted, and half her body kept twitching. Shi Dazhu appeared to be in a similar condition.

The barefoot doctor from the brigade, Old Li, was also there, looking helpless. It was clear this situation was beyond his abilities.

The brigade leader furrowed his brows so tightly that it seemed he could crush a fly between them. In a booming voice, he directed Old Wang to move the ox cart.

After much effort, the two elderly people were finally placed onto the cart. When Xu Yongshou turned his head, he saw Shi Xinggui still standing there like a lost soul.

Frustrated, Xu Yongshou slapped Shi Xinggui on the back and scolded, “What are you standing around for?! Hurry up and go check on your parents!”

The ox cart quickly set off toward the commune.

The remaining people of the brigade stood around in small groups, still discussing the matter. Mu Mian finally spotted her mother and grandmother near her little uncle, Mu Xinglong.

She ran over and called out, “Mom! Grandma!”

Zhao Meihua turned to look at her. “When did you get here? Did you lock the door?”

Mu Mian nodded. “I did! What if a thief got in? I’m not stupid!”

Mu Xinglong patted his little niece on the head. “Oh, so clever?”

Mu Mian dodged away in a few quick steps. “Uncle, your hands are dirty!”

She had seen the dirt on them.

Feeling rejected, Mu Xinglong let out a “Hey!” and stretched his arm toward Mu Mian’s head again. “It’s just a little mud. You’re really avoiding me? When you were a baby, I even washed your diapers, and I didn’t complain!”

Zhao Meihua smacked him. “How old are you? Still playing around like a child.”

Mu Xinglong winced in pain. “Ouch! Mom, you’re getting stronger. How can you hit your own precious one like that?!”

As the youngest son, he often called himself her “precious one.”

Unfortunately, his mother didn’t even spare him a glance. Clearly, this “precious one” wasn’t worth much.

On any other day, the older women around would have teased Mu Xinglong, but today, no one had the time for that.

As they walked home, the conversation naturally returned to the Shi family’s second household.

“Now that Li Guiyan has run away, Shi Xinggui doesn’t even need to get checked. He’s definitely the one who can’t have children.”

“I never thought Li Guiyan had such a ruthless side. She even took all the money?”

“Heh, do you really think Li Guiyan took it? With how stingy Shi Chuncao is, do you think she’d even let her know where the money was kept? Even Shi Xinggui might not know.”

“You mean… Shi Dabao took it? Now that you mention it, that old lady only ever cared about her eldest grandson.”

“That’s what I think. That kid is sharp too. He probably figured out he wasn’t really part of the Shi family and knew he wouldn’t have the same good life if he stayed. So, he just ran off with his mother.”

Some people cursed Shi Dabao, while others were more interested in a different matter.

“How much money do you think Li Guiyan took?”

“Shi Chuncao never had much to begin with. Any money she had was squeezed out of Shi Xingfu.”

“I remember the compensation back then was three hundred yuan. Tian Hongjuan and her mother fought hard just to keep one hundred and fifty. And with how often Shi Chuncao ran to Shi Xingfu for money, they must have had at least three hundred yuan in total, right?”

“I doubt it. Shi Dabao was always asking for eggs one day and meat the next. A lot of money must have been spent.”

“If you ask me, this is karma for Old Lady Shi. She always looked down on Shi Xingfu’s daughters, and now look—her ‘golden treasure’ wasn’t even hers.”

Mu Mian followed her mother, listening all the way home as the women talked non-stop. They covered all kinds of topics.

When the conversation turned to the Shi family’s eldest branch, Aunt Wang suddenly slapped her thigh. “Speaking of Tian Hongjuan, I just remembered! When I went back to my mother’s brigade, that matchmaker, Madam Yang, asked me about Zhu girl. Someone had hired her to arrange a marriage for Zhu girl with a wealthy family!”

Liu Shuangcui asked, “Why didn’t you mention this before?”

Aunt Wang smacked her lips. “Did you forget? The day after I got back, my husband broke his leg! I was so busy taking care of him that I completely forgot!”

One of the women frowned in confusion. “But I never heard Hongjuan say anything about finding a match for Zhu girl. I even asked her before, and she said her eldest daughter was still too young. Besides, Zhu girl probably wouldn’t want to get married. If she left, who would take care of her mother and little sister?”

Aunt Wang gave her a look, as if wondering how she could be so slow. “I bet Old Lady Shi was the one who arranged it! I heard it with my own ears—Madam Yang said they were only looking for someone rich. Nothing else mattered, just the money.”

Someone sighed. “Shi Chuncao is really heartless.”

Zhao Meihua firmly stated, “Isn’t this retribution? Heaven sees everything.”

Liu Shuangcui nodded in agreement with her mother-in-law.

Mu Mian silently glanced at the sky. That actually made sense.