Lei Shuhui’s question was rather despicable. Calling Qin Shuyao an “aunt they didn’t know” was clearly a deliberate attempt to warn the two children not to follow strangers.
Furthermore, she had heard that Huzi had cursed Qin Shuyao at Chen Qilan’s home yesterday. Yes, she admitted that she had taught Huzi all the insults he hurled at Qin Shuyao. She just couldn’t swallow her resentment!
Why should Chen Qilan look down on her daughter? Why should Qin Shuyao be the one to marry Chen Qilan?
Xiaojiao, terrified after falling into the water, trembled and sobbed, huddled in Lei Shuhui’s arms. Huzi stared with wide eyes, his fists tightly clenched. He looked at the expectant Lei Shuhui, then at Qin Shuyao and Chen Qilan, who were smiling at him. When his gaze swept over Gao Jinliang, the man was glaring at him viciously.
He remembered the scene just before Xiao Jiao fell into the water. His sister was squatting in the yard catching ants as usual, when Gao Jinliang grabbed her clothes and threw her directly into the large water vat. He had been stacking firewood in the woodshed.
Hearing the splash, he rushed out, only to find Gao Jinliang furiously pushing his sister, who had just surfaced, back under the water. Seeing Huzi appear, Gao Jinliang instinctively pulled the girl out. “Dare to utter a single word, and tomorrow I’ll throw her into the pond and drown her!”
“Huzi, hurry up and tell me, who are you going with?” Lei Shuhui asked desperately.
Huzi snapped back to reality, raised his finger, and pointed at Qin Shuyao. “I’m going with her!”
The words struck Lei Shuhui like a bolt from the blue, causing her to nearly lose her footing. She stumbled and sat on the ground, tears welling up in her eyes. Three years! She had cared for these two children day and night for three years! Even a dog would become loyal after being fed for that long, wouldn’t it? Yet he… he actually wanted to leave with someone else!
“Get out! All of you, get out!” Lei Shuhui, who had been strong her entire life, roared hysterically. “You ungrateful brats, who carried you through the heavy snow late at night to see the doctor? Who lit the kerosene lamp to mend your padded jackets? Who…” She asked herself honestly, she had cared for these two children more diligently than she did for her own daughter!
She wanted to scold the two children, but seeing their innocent, frightened expressions, she turned her attack on Qin Shuyao instead. “Bitch! You wicked, malicious instigator! Our lives have been ruined ever since you showed up. Why don’t you just drop dead!”
Qin Shuyao had originally intended to give Lei Shuhui a few words of warning: to thoroughly check her tractor, and especially not to drive it to Tuoshan County today.
But hearing Lei Shuhui’s vile and offensive curses, Qin Shuyao was filled with anger. Everyone has their own destiny. If some people insist on rushing toward death, even the gods descending to Earth probably couldn’t stop them! She wasn’t a deity meant to save all sentient beings; how could she control everyone’s life and death?
Immediately, she held Xiaojiao in one arm and led Huzi by the hand, leaving the Geng family home. Chen Qilan cast a cold glance at Gao Jinliang, who had just gotten up, and grabbed him by the collar. “Stay honest, understand?” After tossing Gao Jinliang onto a nearby woodpile, Chen Qilan followed his wife out.
Lei Shuhui cried for a while, then suddenly stood up. “Go then, the sooner you ungrateful things leave, the better! I’ll go to Tuoshan County alone to eat meat buns and buy clothes. I won’t let you laugh at me!” As she started to walk out, Geng Sa quickly tried to stop her. “Mom, it’s not a big deal. You can go to the county another day…”
Gao Jinliang, however, dragged Geng Sa away and even proactively handed the crank handle for starting the tractor to Lei Shuhui. “She’s in a bad mood, just let her go. Maybe eating something and watching a show will cheer her up!” Geng Sa struggled against Gao Jinliang, cursing, “Driving a tractor in this state is no different from driving to her death! Let go of me!”
Gao Jinliang clung tightly to Geng Sa’s waist, even intentionally punching her abdomen twice to vent his personal frustration. Taking advantage of the distraction, Lei Shuhui started the tractor and left in a cloud of black smoke…
***
Qin Shuyao brought Huzi and Xiaojiao home. Arriving at a new place, especially since Huzi had pushed Qin Shuyao yesterday, the two children huddled in the corner like quails, looking timid and fearful.
Qin Shuyao was actually quite nervous herself. In this life and the last, she had never been a mother, nor did she have experience caring for children. Suddenly having two children, especially ones who initially rejected her, put Qin Shuyao under immense pressure. But thinking of the tragic fate of these two children, she knew she had to forge ahead, even if it meant biting the bullet.
Remembering that she still had plenty of small pastries brought from her hometown, Qin Shuyao quickly hurried into the bedroom, brought out bags of snacks of all sizes, and displayed them before the two children like precious treasures. She picked out two snacks she thought were the best and offered them, but both children simultaneously retreated, avoiding the treats she held out.
Seeing this, Chen Qilan stepped forward and gently pulled Qin Shuyao up. “The snacks are here for you. Take whichever one you like. You are big children now; don’t always wait to be coaxed!”
Qin Shuyao said it was fine, but inwardly she was filled with frustration, even a little sadness.
“I’m sorry, you were wronged because of me!” Inside the bedroom, Chen Qilan gently hugged Qin Shuyao’s waist, apologizing repeatedly.
Qin Shuyao shook her head. “A long time ago, Grandpa Shepherd bought a little lamb. The lamb was very shy around strangers. Grandpa said the lamb was testing me, to see if I had enough patience to tame it.”
“What happened next? Did you manage to tame the little lamb?” Chen Qilan asked with a smile, leaning down to kiss Qin Shuyao’s cheek.
“Of course! Every day I cut the tenderest grass for it. Gradually, it stopped hiding from me. After that, it started approaching me on its own, snatching the grass from my hand, and even intentionally nibbling my hair!”
Changing the subject, Qin Shuyao said, “If a little lamb needs enough time and patience to be tamed, let alone two living children!” She continued softly, “I may feel sad, but I won’t hold it against the children.”
Qin Shuyao said gently, “If you think about it, Geng Sa and her mother have also experienced these difficulties, and they overcame them. How can we say we can’t do it?”
“Well, I know I can do it. I’m very capable, you know that much!” Chen Qilan’s words were suggestive, and when Qin Shuyao realized his implication, her face flushed. She spat lightly and scolded, “You are truly shameless!”
Now that her anger had subsided, Qin Shuyao still couldn’t bear to watch Lei Shuhui drive to her death. In the previous life, Lei Shuhui died in a car accident, yet Geng Sa said her mother was one of the first female tractor drivers in the county! What did that imply?
Lei Shuhui’s driving skills must have been excellent, and she certainly wouldn’t have made careless mistakes, especially when carrying two children. The most likely scenario was that the tractor had a fatal mechanical failure that even the experienced Lei Shuhui couldn’t manage, leading to the tragedy!
It would be difficult for Qin Shuyao to save the woman by herself. “Gao Jinliang has a wicked heart. Geng Sa has effectively jumped into a pit of fire!”
After a moment of silence, Qin Shuyao decided to pin the blame squarely on Gao Jinliang without bothering to find concrete proof first.
“When I went to the Geng house this morning, I saw him crouching suspiciously by the tractor, fiddling with something. He must have known beforehand that his mother-in-law was taking the children to Tuoshan County today…”