“Li Auntie, even if you acknowledge Song Wanning as your goddaughter, you still can’t stop us from seeking justice!”
“You were there when Song Wanning said those words the other day, weren’t you?”
“I don’t believe it’s such a coincidence that right after she said it, our homes were robbed.”
Truthfully, Li Lan couldn’t explain it either.
Even she found the whole thing rather bizarre.
A mocking laugh suddenly rang out.
Chen Ailian and Li Guihua turned toward the source of the sound and saw Song Wanning leaning casually against the doorway with her arms crossed.
The laugh had come from her.
“I only said it casually yesterday.”
“If your homes got robbed afterward, what does that have to do with me?”
“If you have evidence, then show it.”
“If you don’t have any evidence and still insist on pinning the crime on me, I won’t admit to it.”
“Actually, I will admit it under one condition.”
“I curse both of you to be struck by lightning tonight.”
“If you two really get struck by lightning tonight, then I’ll admit I stole your things.”
“How about that?”
The moment they heard her words, both women’s faces turned deathly pale.
They were genuinely frightened.
Song Wanning’s mouth seemed almost blessed by fate.
What if lightning really did strike them tonight?
“Uh… I just remembered I have something to do.”
“I’ll be leaving first.”
Li Guihua looked up at the clear, cloudless sky.
Although the weather was perfectly fine, she was honestly afraid that lightning might suddenly appear later.
Without another word, she turned and fled.
Chen Ailian was equally terrified and quickly found an excuse before hurrying away as well.
Watching Song Wanning scare both women away with just a few sentences, Li Lan couldn’t help giving her silent approval.
The old Song Wanning would never have talked back like this.
Even when people insulted or bullied her, she always swallowed her grievances without saying a word.
Li Lan had often wanted to help her.
But Song Wanning herself had never stood up for herself.
Li Lan could protect her for a while, but not forever.
She had once thought that if Song Wanning married her son, she could protect her better.
Now that Song Wanning had separated from her family and was living here alone, perhaps she should talk to her again about marrying her eldest son.
That way, they could truly become one family.
With that thought in mind, Li Lan walked over, took Song Wanning’s hand, and mysteriously led her inside.
After entering the courtyard, she closed the door.
“Li Auntie, is there something you want to tell me?”
“Why are you acting so mysteriously? You even closed the door.”
“Girl, there’s something I want to ask you.”
Seeing the serious expression on Li Lan’s face, Song Wanning assumed it must be something important.
She immediately became serious as well.
She nodded firmly.
“Go ahead, Li Auntie.”
“Well… now that you’ve separated from your family and are living here alone, I can’t help worrying about you.”
“You’ve seen it yourself. Those people keep coming here to make trouble for you.”
“So I was thinking… why don’t you marry our Ziqi?”
“Our Ziqi is an honest and dependable boy.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Our whole family will treat you well.”
“We’ll never let anyone bully you.”
Song Wanning froze for a moment after hearing Li Lan’s proposal.
She had thought Li Lan wanted her help with something important.
She never imagined she wanted her to become her daughter-in-law.
In truth, she liked Li Lan very much and didn’t dislike the idea of becoming part of her family.
If, in her previous life, she had married Wang Ziqi instead, perhaps she would have lived a very happy life.
Unfortunately, it was destined to be impossible.
Perhaps by now, she was already carrying two little babies.
Only no one in the village knew about it.
Nor did she intend to tell anyone.
After all, it concerned her reputation as well.
She sighed inwardly.
She honestly didn’t know how to refuse.
In the end, she decided it would be better to simply tell Li Lan the truth.
“Li Auntie, let me tell you something.”
“But after I tell you, you absolutely can’t tell anyone else.”
Seeing Song Wanning’s solemn expression, Li Lan immediately realized it must be something important.
She nodded and listened attentively.
Song Wanning then told her everything Song Miaomiao had done.
When Li Lan heard that Song Miaomiao had actually dared to scheme against a soldier, her eyes widened in disbelief.
“So… Song Miaomiao intended to trap that soldier.”
“But somehow, things went wrong.”
“In the end, that soldier slept with Song Wanning instead.”
“And Song Miaomiao ended up sleeping with Wang Zhuzi.”
“So that’s why Song Miaomiao wanted Song Wanning to marry Wang Zhuzi while she herself wanted to marry the soldier.”
The more Li Lan thought about it, the more horrifying it became.
Thankfully, Song Wanning was no longer the timid girl who silently endured everything.
Otherwise, she couldn’t imagine how much suffering the girl would have gone through.
Li Lan stepped forward and gently stroked Song Wanning’s head.
“My poor child.”
“You’ve suffered so much.”
“It’s a good thing you finally told someone.”
“You absolutely did the right thing by separating from that family.”
“That family isn’t worth staying with.”
“Girl… how about this?”
“Let me officially recognize you as my goddaughter.”
“If anyone in the village tries to bully you in the future, they’ll have to think twice.”
“Otherwise, I’m worried about you living here all alone.”
Song Wanning remembered that Li Lan had previously told Chen Ailian and the others that she was her goddaughter.
At the time, she thought Li Lan had only said it to protect her.
She hadn’t expected Li Lan to truly mean it.
Actually, Song Wanning didn’t care whether she had godparents or not.
She believed she could live well on her own.
However, Li Lan had treated her so kindly.
And just as Li Lan had said, with that relationship established, the villagers would no longer dare to bully her so casually.
“Li Auntie… shouldn’t you discuss this with Uncle Wang first before deciding?”
Song Wanning was worried that while Li Lan wanted this, Wang Jianguo might not.
She didn’t want to become the cause of discord in their family.
After all, if they officially accepted her as their goddaughter, they would have to look after her from then on.
She wasn’t sure Wang Jianguo would agree.
Unexpectedly, after hearing that, Li Lan rolled her eyes helplessly.
“Oh, Song Girl.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Your Uncle Wang won’t have any objections.”
“Hmph!”
“If he dares object, I won’t let him into my bed tonight!”
Song Wanning covered her mouth and quietly laughed.
She suddenly remembered something from her previous life.
Once, Wang Zhuzi and Zhou Fang had been chatting at home and happened to mention Wang Jianguo.
They had mocked him for being spineless, saying he was afraid of his wife.
Whatever his wife said, he obeyed.
If she told him to go east, he would never dare go west.
Back then, Wang Zhuzi had thought Wang Jianguo was utterly pathetic and even claimed he wasn’t worthy of being the village chief.
Now, however, Song Wanning understood.
Wang Jianguo wasn’t afraid of his wife.
He simply loved her.
No wonder Li Auntie was so different from the other village women.
She was nearly fifty years old now, yet she looked barely forty.
There were very few wrinkles on her face, and only a handful of gray hairs.
It was said that she had once been a sent-down educated youth.
Later, she married Wang Jianguo and gave birth to three sons.
Although she had married into the countryside, she had lived a truly happy life.