“You…”
Gu Yunyun gritted her teeth in fury. Lin Qingyue had always been meek and pitiful in front of her before—when had she become so sharp-tongued?
Lin Qingyue completely ignored her sister-in-law’s venomous glare, her gaze falling instead on the old woman who had collapsed to the ground and couldn’t get up from the pain.
Her fists clenched tightly within her sleeves!
This shameless old hag!
After Gu Niancheng had left for school, she’d called Lin Qingyue “dear daughter” with every breath—yet there she was, lying in bed early, playing the invalid.
Watching coldly as Lin Qingyue bustled about, waiting on that whole household hand and foot.
This “wonderful mother-in-law”—Lin Qingyue had wiped her shit and piss for over a decade.
Now that she looked back, there had been so many glaring signs in her past life, but she’d been blind and foolish, seeing nothing at all.
Hmph, in this life, she would stay far away from this family!
She’d like to see whether that Young Widow would wait on them the way she had!
This family deserved to be locked together forever—never to be separated!
If the old woman had broken her back from that fall, even better!
But unfortunately, fate didn’t cooperate. Mother Gu was still dragged to her feet by Gu Yunyun.
Seeing there were still others in the yard, Mother Gu knew she couldn’t start a fight. She wiped the blood from her face and hobbled off, clutching her waist and groaning.
Seeing there was no more drama to watch, the other women began to leave as well.
Lin Qingyue quietly tugged at Auntie Liu’s hand and gave her a meaningful look.
Auntie Liu was a shrewd one—there wasn’t a piece of village gossip she didn’t know.
“Auntie Liu, my Niancheng…”
Lin Qingyue spoke with a troubled expression, her voice lowered to a whisper:
“I don’t mind you laughing at me, but my husband’s heart is entirely with that Young Widow now. He cares more about the child in her belly than his own flesh and blood. Anyone would think that was his real son instead.”
Auntie Liu’s eyes nearly lit up like pearls, her voice trembling with barely contained excitement:
“Niancheng’s wife, this… it can’t be, surely?”
But even as she said it, her mind was screaming—Yes! It must be!
Gu Niancheng wasn’t stupid. If it weren’t his child, why would he treat that Young Widow so well?
Sure enough, they were adulterous scum! If this got reported to the town, carrying on like that and knocking her up out of wedlock—that could mean a bullet to the head.
They were from the same village, so she wouldn’t do something that wicked, but gossiping a little was fair game.
“Auntie Liu, my husband didn’t get the money, and I don’t know how the Young Widow is doing. I’m worried. You can see I’m not in a good state myself—would you come with me to check on her?”
Lin Qingyue looked at Auntie Liu with pitiful eyes, pressing a red hair ribbon into her hand.
Auntie Liu was always eager for gossip, let alone when there was something in it for her.
These red hair ribbons were hot sellers at the Gongxiaoshe—two mao apiece wasn’t cheap, and she’d never been willing to splurge on one herself.
“Niancheng’s wife, you’re far too soft-hearted. She’s the one who seduced your man, and you’re still worried about her… Ah, Niancheng’s wife, you’ll suffer for this kindness one day.”
Auntie Liu’s face was full of sympathy. A girl who’d never had a mother’s guidance was always bound to get taken advantage of.
Still, the two of them headed over to the Young Widow’s house.
The Young Widow’s place wasn’t far from Lin Qingyue’s—just a five or six minute walk.
When they arrived, the yard was empty.
Auntie Liu tugged at Lin Qingyue to go inside, but Lin Qingyue stopped and pointed at the side window on the east wall, giving a wink.
Auntie Liu understood instantly!
The two crept over quietly, crouching low.
It was summer, and the window wasn’t shut tight—a crack was left for air, which also made it convenient for the two of them to peek inside.
Gu Niancheng must have just arrived, having worked up a sweat from running.
As soon as he entered, he rushed to the edge of the kang and crouched down, grabbing the young widow’s hand.
“Hey, no men allowed in, you can’t come in…”
The midwife Granny Wang shouted in alarm, trying to shoo him out, her hands still stained.
But Gu Niancheng didn’t care: “Granny Wang, I’m not an outsider!”
His gaze at the young widow grew even more pained, and his voice choked slightly, “Hongyan, I’ve borrowed the money. I’ll take you to the clinic right now.”
The young widow’s face was pale from pain, and hearing Gu Niancheng’s voice only made her angrier: “It’s all your fault!”
“Fine! My fault!”
Gu Niancheng’s tone was indulgent, his face full of distress. He lowered his head and kissed her sweat-beaded forehead:
“Once our son is out, I’ll give him a good beating!”
“This little rascal—how dare he torment his mother like this!”
The young widow gave a weak smile and pointed at Granny Wang, pleading feebly: “Granny Wang, please step out for a moment.”
Granny Wang tore off some toilet paper to wipe the blood from her hands, casting a look of contempt at the two.
Adulterers, shameless as can be!
But it wasn’t any of her business—she was a lonely old woman; as long as she got paid, she’d do the job.
“Niancheng, maybe we should wait a bit longer?”
The young widow was weak all over from the pain, cold sweat covering her forehead, her voice tinged with uncertainty: “If I go to the clinic to give birth, what will happen to our son later?”
“In a few days, I’m supposed to go to university with you. You don’t want me to stay home and raise your son for you, do you?”
Auntie Liu, eavesdropping from outside the side window, widened her eyes in shock. Good heavens, what had she just heard?
A son?
So the young widow’s son really was Gu Niancheng’s?
Those two really were adulterers!
They deserved to be drowned in a cage!
Turning to look at Lin Qingyue beside her, Auntie Liu felt even more heartbroken.
She was about to offer some words of comfort when she saw Lin Qingyue’s small face set in a stern expression, cold and grim to the extreme.
Even she couldn’t help but shiver!
Good heavens, this was the first time she’d felt such a chilling aura radiating from a person.
Lin Qingyue wasn’t thinking of killing someone, was she?
At that thought, she quickly grabbed Lin Qingyue’s small hand—only to find it ice cold!
“Niancheng’s wife, please don’t do anything rash.”
Auntie Liu pleaded in a low voice, and Lin Qingyue gave a faint, weak smile: “Auntie, I know.”
Just then, Gu Niancheng’s voice came from inside again,
“How could that be? Hongyan, didn’t we agree to go to university together? Lin Qingyue can raise our son.”
“She’s got plenty of strength, she’s good at farm work too, and she can read—she’s the most suitable person to educate our son.”
“Ah…” Yao Hongyan cried out in pain again, and Gu Niancheng quickly urged: “Hongyan, Granny Wang says this delivery will be difficult. Let’s get you to the town clinic first—you and our son can’t have anything go wrong!”
“Mm!” Yao Hongyan gritted her teeth hard, her hand clenching tightly around Gu Niancheng’s arm, her nails digging into his flesh.
With reddened eyes, she nestled in Gu Niancheng’s arms, looking even more fragile:
“Niancheng, I’m suffering all this for you—you can’t let me down.”
“I never will.” Gu Niancheng carefully helped her up and began dressing her:
“I wonder how my mother is doing? That worthless girl needs to give birth today too, as soon as possible.”
Outside the window, Lin Qingyue’s fists clenched with an audible crack, startling Auntie Liu once again.
“Niancheng’s wife, why would your child need to be born now? Isn’t your due date not until next month?”
Why?
Naturally, it was to swap the children!
Only those born around the same time could be exchanged—if the timing were too far apart, even a fool could tell the difference!
Lin Qingyue’s heart clenched in pain. The premature birth she had always felt guilty about, which had left her son frail and sickly, had been nothing but a calculated scheme!
No, this scheme must have started even earlier!
Could it have begun from the moment she became pregnant?
Or was that drunken night at the very beginning also deliberately orchestrated by the Gu family?
“Could he be planning to raise the two together, passing them off as twins?”
Auntie Liu was stunned by her own realization. To so brazenly have his illegitimate child raised by his own wife—this Gu Niancheng truly had audacity that knew no bounds!