Shen Nian looked completely speechless.
“Hey, you little brat! How come you’re lying at such a young age? Why are you just like your mother, never honest? I’m warning you—better tell me the truth, or do you believe I’ll throw you in the river to feed the fish?”
Shen Nian was furious. Sure enough, like mother, like son—this boy was cut from the same mold.
Shen Erdan closed his eyes, lifted his head, and immediately burst into loud crying.
The other children didn’t notice anything unusual about Shen Nian and all pointed at her.
“Aunt Tian, we saw it clearly. It was Shen Nian who pushed Simao into the water herself.”
Shen Nian rolled up her sleeves. “Oh really? You all love lying, huh? Fine, I’ll pull Simao back from the gates of death myself, and then he can tell you the truth.”
Tian Xiaoye pointed at Shen Nian in fury.
“You crazy woman! I thought you were a bit crazy before, but not evil. But now you’ve done something so utterly heartless—I’ll make you pay with your life!”
Shen Nian was running out of time. If she delayed any longer, the child might not survive.
She grabbed Tian Xiaoye and snapped, “Aunt Tian, shut your mouth! Your son can still be saved. If you keep holding him and crying, he really won’t make it! You better close that big mouth of yours, or if he dies, how about you push me into the water instead?”
Tian Xiaoye was taken aback. Once Shen Nian had put the child flat, she pressed on his chest quickly, not forgetting to give him artificial respiration.
Realizing what was happening, Tian Xiaoye slapped her thigh and yelled, “You heartless, crazy woman! You actually let a child live? And you even kissed his mouth—are you going mad from longing for a man?”
Her wailing was so loud that nearby villagers working in the fields realized something was wrong and rushed over, seeing the scene.
“What’s with this crazy woman? Why is she kissing Simao?”
“Who knows? Such a little child almost drowned—what a tragedy.”
“It must be this crazy woman who did it.”
At that moment, Li Hong, out of breath, arrived nearby and heard this.
“Everyone, shut up! Simao wasn’t pushed by Shen Nian. When he fell in, I was washing clothes on the other side of the river with Niannian—I can testify.”
Tian Xiaoye’s mind nearly collapsed. When she gave birth to Simao, it took three days and nights; she nearly died. The older villagers suggested giving him a humble name to survive, so they named him Simao.
She had nervously raised him to five years old, and now this crazy woman had almost drowned him.
Li Hong must be lying.
She was determined to avenge her son.
Tian Xiaoye’s gaze landed on a shovel held by a bystander. Like a madwoman, she gritted her teeth, snatched the shovel, and swung it at the back of Shen Nian’s head.
But before it could hit, a large hand grabbed it.
Tian Xiaoye hissed in anger, “Let go! I’m going to avenge my son!”
Li Hong was terrified and quickly rushed to shield Shen Nian.
Gu Xiao furrowed his brow and said coldly, “What are you doing? She’s saving your son.”
“You’re lying, you’re deceiving—”
Before she could finish, Simao suddenly coughed and spat out a mouthful of water.
Then he coughed up a few more times and finally caught his breath.
Seeing this, Tian Xiaoye dropped the shovel with a clatter and lunged at Simao.
“Simao, are you alright? Tell Mom, where does it hurt?”
The boy panted heavily, weakly opening his mouth.
Shen Nian was drenched in sweat. She wiped her brow, not even noticing her clothes were sticking to her body.
A group of men had gathered as well. Gu Xiao strode forward and stood in front of Shen Nian.
Shen Nian thought she had imagined it.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I have some business,” he said.
Gu Xiao wore a white shirt on top and olive green military pants on the bottom, tucked neatly into the waistband. With his broad shoulders and long legs, it seemed almost like his entire lower half was all legs.
In front of everyone, he took off the white shirt and draped it over her shoulders. Shen Nian looked down and realized—she had almost exposed herself while rescuing the child.
Underneath the shirt, he wore a white tank top, revealing his well-toned arms.
Seeing that Simao was awake, Shen Nian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Tian Xiaoye’s anxious heart finally settled. At that moment, she had no strength left, only able to hold her child and cry.
“Simao, tell Mom, who pushed you in?”
Simao’s eyes scanned the crowd and finally landed on Shen Erdan.
“It was Shen Erdan who pushed me into the water.”
Everyone was shocked.
Li Hong scolded, “You all accused someone without seeing anything. Luckily, Niannian is kind-hearted. If it were me, I wouldn’t have saved him.”
Li Hong’s words were harsh, but true. She couldn’t swim; otherwise, she might have gone to save him. But she had two children to care for. As a mother, she wouldn’t risk herself for other children.
“Turns out it wasn’t Shen Nian who pushed Simao in—we nearly blamed her wrongly.”
Tian Xiaoye looked guilty. She hadn’t expected Shen Erdan to do it. Thankfully, Shen Nian had saved her son. If not, Shen Nian would have borne the blame.
Shen Nian finally stepped out from behind Gu Xiao, her expression serious.
“Yes, I was crazy before. But when I jumped into the lake to save him, I wasn’t crazy anymore. Also, I was performing chest compressions and artificial respiration to save your son—techniques to restart his heart.”
Hearing this, everyone was even more shocked.
Unbelievable—Shen Nian had truly recovered.
“Is this… really Shen Nian?”
Tian Xiaoye scrambled to her knees in front of Shen Nian, repeatedly kowtowing.
“Niannian, it’s my fault. I misunderstood you. Thank you for saving my son. Don’t worry about kissing him on the mouth—when he grows up, I’ll make him marry you.”
What?!
Shen Nian almost spat out a mouthful of old blood. What kind of backward thinking was this? Was she supposed to be her son’s bride?
She pinched the space between her nose and upper lip and hurriedly said,
“I’m saying, Sister Tian, don’t misunderstand. I don’t want to marry your son. I have other things to do. All you need to know is, I’m no longer crazy. In the future, if anyone in the village does something bad, don’t pin it on me. I also have nothing to do with the Shen family. Your son was just rescued. He still has water in his lungs. You should take him to the clinic to get checked. I have other matters to attend to.”
With that, Shen Nian rolled up her sleeves and fixed a fierce glare on Shen Erdan.