Aunt Tian didn’t have the time to look back and exchange pleasantries with her, as saving a life was something she dared not delay. Once she left the house, she loudly called for her husband, Su Sangen. Then the two of them just hurried home as fast as they could, ignoring greetings from others along the way without offering a single response.
Watching Aunt Tian walk away, Xia Yuan felt as if all her strength had been drained, nearly collapsing. She stared at her daughter, muttering to herself, “Xiaoyun, you mustn’t have anything happen to you, Mommy promises you, as long as you get better, Mommy will… immediately divorce your Uncle Lu. From then on, it’ll just be the two of us.”
Lu Aiguo heard her words and couldn’t help his body from shaking violently, his eyes filled with deep sorrow, his hand involuntarily tightening until his veins bulged… He wanted to be angry, but he felt so defeated that the anger trapped in his heart couldn’t be released. His shoulders slumped helplessly.
He was too unwilling to accept it, but what was the use of not being willing?
In the sweltering heat, the temperature of his blood seemed to drop below freezing, chilling him to the bone, a feeling of utter despair reaching its peak.
When Xia Yuan glanced up and accidentally saw Lu Aiguo looking like this, she cried even harder. Like Lu Aiguo, she was also unwilling to let go, but what could her unwillingness do? She said those words partly to prepare him mentally in advance.
She couldn’t bear to let go of this man she loved, who also loved her, yet she had to let go. Her path ahead was already a dead end; she could no longer selfishly drag him down with her…
Xia Yuan’s eyes were fixed on Doctor Lin’s actions, with a hint of desolation and madness in her gaze.
Although he was just a barefoot doctor, Doctor Lin from their village was renowned for his medical skills in the surrounding areas.
Watching Doctor Lin maintain his composure, methodically administering medicine and inducing vomiting for her daughter… Xia Yuan’s heart finally settled a bit, and hope returned.
After going through such a life-and-death ordeal, her daughter ought to have learned a lesson, right?
The moment she saw her daughter collapse, in her heart rose the thought that if her daughter really died, she might as well take them all with her.
That thought still crazily lingered in her mind, impossible to dispel.
Xia Yuan really felt life had nothing more to offer.
When thinking of the greed of that family, Xia Yuan’s heart was consumed by hatred.
Although Xiaoyun always bared her teeth and put on a fierce front with her, in reality, the child was sensitive and timid. If no one had been there insidiously instigating, she never would have dared to touch rat poison, let alone ingest it.
She was only six; moreover, she was the only bloodline left by the Su Family’s eldest son. How could they be so cruel as to risk harming the child? Weren’t they afraid of really causing harm?
Did they not realize that poison meant for rats is not something a six-year-old child can easily obtain? Even if she could, how could a child possibly be “considerate” enough to mix water into it to reduce the toxicity?
This was a discrepancy that any clear-sighted person could see. Who was behind this didn’t even need guessing.
Their goal was merely to use the daughter to threaten and intimidate her, then achieve their aim of keeping a tight grip on her, and make her continue to be exploited by them. Were their hearts and livers made of flesh?
She saw too clearly, and so she despaired too deeply. Her daughter was her Achilles’ heel, and that very heel was firmly grasped by others. So other than continuing to surrender, what choice did she have?
As long as her daughter couldn’t wake up, she couldn’t be free. This time her daughter might have listened to them and drunk watered-down rat poison to scare her, but maybe next time she might directly eat undiluted poison…
She couldn’t bear the consequences of that.
But Xiaoyun was so young; how could she know that even watered-down rat poison could be fatal to a six-year-old child?
She treasured her daughter as the apple of her eye, yet her daughter chose to believe in the nonsense spread by those people. Not only had she grown distant, but she had become a knife in the hands of others, ready to carve out her mother’s heart at any moment.
This time, those people had gone too far, if her daughter was unharmed, it would be one thing. Otherwise, she had lived enough. When the time came, she wouldn’t let that entire family avoid descending to the underworld with her; how lonely would her daughter’s journey be then?
Xia Yuan lowered her head, her eyes filled with a trace of determination.
The village clinic was dead silent inside as no one spoke, but the discussions outside never ceased. The voices, carried by the wind, would occasionally drift in.
…
“It’s truly pitiful, to see such a splendid wedding turn out like this, sigh, the child is too young to understand, to be so short-tempered.”
“Exactly, Xia Yuan has had it pretty tough, hasn’t she? First, she couldn’t find a decent husband, and then such a difficult mother-in-law now was finally finding someone compatible, but then this happened…”
“Really, the way this wedding has turned out is just too ominous, there’s no telling how they will manage in the coming days.”
“She had it coming. Her man’s only been dead two years, and she couldn’t keep herself together? Back in the day, she’d have been drowned in a pig cage. If you ask me, it’s the child who’s the sensible one.”
While many villagers discussed the situation with sympathy, there were inevitably those who took joy in others’ misfortunes, kicked them when they were down, or just loved to see the world burn. However, most of the people here had come to join the wedding procession or the bridegroom’s party and had a good relationship with Xia Yuan and Lu Aiguo, so these discordant remarks were immediately met with displeasure.
“Dog-son’s mom, at a time like this, you still have the nerve to speak such cold words?”
“You’re not the one in pain, so you talk without care. If it were you who had to deal with such a difficult mother-in-law, I bet you couldn’t endure it for even a day.”
“That’s right, and we’re all from the same village, who doesn’t know your ulterior motives? You just wanted Xia Yuan for your son’s wife, but she didn’t fancy your precious boy. Does your son even deserve a city girl?”
“Clarify yourself, how is my son not good enough for her, a widow burdened with a child?”
“Oh, stop arguing already, isn’t there enough chaos in their household? If you want to squabble, go do it somewhere far away. Dog-son’s mom, no offense, but as a human being, shouldn’t you at least have a kind heart?”
“Hey, how am I unkind?”
…
The crowd’s words had varying impacts on the listeners.
Xia Yuan’s expression was wooden, as if she couldn’t hear a thing.
But annoyance and restraint were evident on the faces of the people by her side, especially Lu Aiguo, whose eyes burned with anger. Dog-son’s mom’s words were etched into his memory, a debt he decisively planned to repay when the opportunity arose.
“Alright, once she’s had the mung bean soup, we can send her to the township.”
Dr. Lin stopped what he was doing and glanced back at the crowd. He understood the situation all too well. The village was so small; not only did he know everyone, but he also knew their backgrounds well… He shook his head, feeling a deep sympathy for the unfortunate woman before him.
However, apart from feeling sorry for her plight, there seemed nothing else he could do.
No sooner had Dr. Lin spoken than Xia Yuan rushed over to her child. Lu Aiguo, Lu Hongzhen, and Wu Tan also gathered around the youngster.
Before they had a chance to take a closer look at the child, a sharp howling sound suddenly pierced the air, assaulting everyone’s eardrums.