"Child, if you have something to say, come down and say it. Auntie will uphold justice for you."
On the fifth floor, a child stood at the edge of the rooftop, so thin that a gust of wind could blow him over.
"I want to save my older brother. He has a fever and has been locked up; he's about to die."
The little boy's heart-wrenching cries echoed. Because he exerted too much force, he stumbled and almost fell.
This scene made the hearts of the people gathered below clench. Many women quietly shed tears.
"These twins are truly unlucky to have such a mother. What kind of biological parents treat their children like this?"
"Who can say otherwise? One has a high fever and is locked up, forcing the other child to threaten her by jumping off the building."
"When she was found, she was on a date with another man. To cover his escape, she was hit by a car and is still unconscious."
The noisy chatter of the crowd made Shen Lu's temples throb, and she couldn't help but shout.
"Shut up!"
Shen Lu held her head, just about to sit up, only to find that her bones felt like they were shattering. Not only that, but her entire body felt as if it were filled with lead, heavy and sluggish.
Shen Lu lifted her heavy eyelids. The first thing she saw was her own plump body. She was utterly confused. Wasn't she at a shareholders' meeting? Where was she?
Shen Lu looked around. She saw rows of brick houses with white signs bearing red characters that read, "Unite and strive for greater victory."
Looking at the crowd, the women wore floral shirts and blue trousers, while the men wore dark blue work clothes.
Whether it was the surrounding environment or the people's attire, it was clearly the appearance of the 1970s or 1980s.
At this moment, a slightly plump middle-aged woman walked over, looking anxious. She said:
"Gu Xiao's wife, hurry up and let your eldest son out. It won't be good if this escalates into a death."
Gu Xiao's wife?
Who was that?
A sharp pain shot through the depths of Shen Lu's mind, and memories flooded in like the tide.
Shen Lu processed the memories and finally realized she had transmigrated into a period novel she had read before, becoming a cannon fodder character with the same name.
The original owner's older brother had entrusted her to his friend Gu Xiao. As a result, Shen Lu got drunk and had an accident with Gu Xiao, and they were forced to marry.
After marriage, the original owner discovered she was pregnant and gave birth to twins after ten months.
From then on, the original owner believed that Gu Xiao and the children had dragged her down, so she gave up on herself and constantly courted disaster.
Not only did she abuse the two children, causing the eldest son to be unable to speak at the age of five, but the second son developed a strange and fiery temper.
She also squandered the household expenses Gu Xiao mailed her every month. In this era of scarce resources, she ate herself into a 180-pound fatty.
She even got involved with other men, preparing to pursue what she considered her own freedom.
And today, the original owner was being sought after while leaving with someone. During her escape, she panicked and crashed into a military vehicle.
And then she transmigrated.
Shen Lu recalled the contents of the book. Not long after today, the original owner would be arrested and imprisoned, dying tragically in jail.
Meanwhile, the female lead, Wen Xin'er, would occasionally take care of her man and his two sons, becoming their benefactor.
In the end, Gu Xiao became the youngest commander. To repay Wen Xin'er, he and his children would always protect her, becoming the steady and reliable male second lead in the book.
His two children would also be completely smitten with Wen Xin'er's daughter, paving the way for her with their own futures and happiness, while they themselves met a hasty end.
Shen Lu found it speechless when she read the book. A normal supporting character, through the author's deliberate arrangement, gave up on herself, became a 180-pound fatty, and ultimately met a tragic end in prison.
She never expected to wake up and transmigrate into this universally disliked cannon fodder.
However, Shen Lu had a strong ability to adapt. Since things had already happened, she would prepare to take over the original owner's fate.
She remembered the general content of the book. Recalling the plot, Shen Lu's heart skipped a beat.
Today was a major turning point in the life of the original owner's eldest son, Gu Xingze!
Gu Xingze had simply drawn a family portrait, and after the original owner saw it, she punished him by making him stand outside the door all night.
The temperature difference between day and night in early summer was significant. After standing outside all night, Gu Xingze developed a high fever the next day.
And the original owner, eager to meet a man she had just met, locked the five-year-old child in the closet.
In the original text, due to the persistent high fever that day, Gu Xingze's inflammation affected his brain, causing him to lose his ability to speak and his hearing, becoming deaf and mute.
This was also why, later on, Gu Xiao showed no sympathy when she was imprisoned.
Shen Lu dragged her heavy, clumsy body up from the ground and looked up at the small figure on the rooftop. Her pupils contracted sharply.
It was her second son, Gu Xingyu.
Shen Lu, afraid he would fall, cautiously called up to the roof, "Xiao Yu, come down first."
Shen Lu's words successfully attracted Gu Xingyu's attention.
He stared at the figure that was fatter than others.
"As long as you let me go, I'll agree to anything you say. You can hit me however you want later, please don't hurt my older brother."
A five-year-old child was at an age where he cared about his dignity, yet Gu Xingyu pleaded with Shen Lu in front of so many people.
He only wanted to beg for a way out for his older brother.
After hearing this, Shen Lu took a deep breath and said, "You come down, and we'll go save your older brother."
Gu Xingyu was still somewhat skeptical about the truth of Shen Lu's words, but with so many uncles and aunties around, he wasn't as scared anymore.
After Gu Xingyu came down, Shen Lu could finally see the child's appearance clearly.
He was wearing ragged clothes, his small frame was thin, and his large eyes stared fixedly at her, his gaze filled with hatred that was almost overflowing.
Mixed within that hatred was a trace of fear.
Shen Lu couldn't bother to comfort Gu Xingyu, nor could she pay attention to the murmurs around her. She ran swiftly in the direction of home.
As a mother, no matter what, she could not let her child become deaf and mute.
Shen Lu, almost relying on the instincts of this body, found her way home.
The third house on the first row of the military compound.
The door was locked from the outside, with a five-year-old child suffering from a high fever locked inside. The window had been broken from the inside; it seemed Gu Xingyu had gotten out this way.
The original owner's actions made her unable to help but despise herself.
Shen Lu took out a key from under a nearby flowerpot and, with trembling hands, opened the door.
The room was a mess, with food scraps and dirty clothes piled up everywhere.
Fermented by the summer heat, it emitted a sour and rotten smell, like a small garbage dump.
Shen Lu took a deep breath. The situation was even worse than she had imagined.
However, Shen Lu did not flinch. Time was life. The most important thing now was to rescue Gu Xingze, who had a high fever.
She pushed open the door and walked into the bedroom, the overwhelming stench of decay stinging her eyes.
The situation here was even worse. Because the original owner was too lazy to move, she ate and drank in bed, so various household garbage was piled up around the bed.
Shen Lu pushed through the layers of garbage and walked to the closet.
The locked closet was silent, not at all like there was a child inside.
This was not a good sign.
Shen Lu quickened her movements, preparing to take out the closet key from her pocket to unlock it. Only then did she realize that the key in her pocket was gone.
Shen Lu had no choice but to go to the kitchen to find a kitchen knife to chop open the door.
Seeing the knife, Gu Xingyu instinctively felt that his older brother was in danger. Shouting, he charged towards Shen Lu.
"Bad woman, don't hurt my older brother."
Although Gu Xingyu was only a five-year-old child, his eagerness to save his brother gave him all his strength.
The large-bodied Shen Lu already had poor balance, and this push directly knocked her down, causing her to fall heavily to the ground.
The back of Shen Lu's head sharply hit the corner of the bed. She saw stars from the fall, and a warm liquid began to flow from the back of her head.
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