Fourth son, Chen Guangyao, exchanged a glance with Tang Lijuan.
Tang Lijuan rubbed her belly.
“Mom, Dad, we’re not going to adopt one. I’m already pregnant.
“We simply don’t have the time or energy to raise another child.”
Bai Fengxia, Chen Ergen, and Zhang Qiulian all frowned at the same time.
Hu Yan had been watching Zhang Qiulian closely.
She noticed Zhang Qiulian purse her lips and stare absentmindedly at Tang Lijuan’s belly.
Hu Yan remembered that in her previous life, Tang Lijuan had miscarried around this time.
She had nearly died along with the baby.
After that, Tang Lijuan’s health became extremely poor, and she spent years bedridden.
Could Zhang Qiulian have had something to do with it?
It made sense.
If Tang Lijuan’s baby were a boy, then Zhang Qiulian’s triplets would no longer be the only grandsons in the family.
Perhaps she had wanted the fourth branch to adopt Chen Hao, so she had deliberately caused Tang Lijuan to lose her baby.
Unfortunately for her, the fourth son and his wife didn’t care much about whether they had a boy.
So had she settled for trying to get the fifth branch to raise Chen Hao instead?
If that was really the case, Zhang Qiulian was far more vicious than Hu Yan had imagined.
Seeing that Hu Yan had been lost in thought, Chen Guangze spoke up.
“Mom, we just got married, so we’re not adopting anyone either. I’m always away working.
“Yan can’t take care of another child by herself.”
Hu Yan secretly nodded.
She was very pleased with Chen Guangze’s response.
Chen Hao was a bottomless pit, and he was an ungrateful little wretch.
In this life, she and Chen Guangze would avoid him at all costs.
Chen Ergen’s expression darkened.
“Fourth, Fifth, what kind of thing are you saying?
“Family members are supposed to support each other. Your eldest brother is gone.
“These children are the bloodline of the Chen family.”
At this point, Zhang Qiulian spoke with reddened eyes, looking pitiful and helpless.
“Fourth, Fifth, I understand your difficulties.
“But these children have lost their father.
“And I’m going to remarry. I really can’t bear to leave them behind.
“Please, just help your brother who passed away. Help me too…”
As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks, and her thin shoulders trembled.
Seeing the men in the family preparing to step forward once again, Hu Yan knew that if this continued, Chen Hao would end up being dumped on them.
She immediately spoke up.
“Sister-in-law, having triplets took a serious toll on your body. You may not even be able to have another child in the future.
“You should keep at least one son by your side.”
Hearing this, Second and Third sons also agreed.
“That’s right, Sister-in-law. If you give all three away, you’ll have no one left to rely on.”
Zhang Qiulian’s tears stopped abruptly.
She had three sons.
Even if they were adopted by others, she could always come around and manipulate them.
How could they possibly stop caring about her?
She certainly didn’t want the burden of raising children herself.
Fourth daughter-in-law’s father was the village Party secretary, and she had an older brother who worked in a government department.
Fifth son was good at making money and had plenty of cash.
Yet both families stubbornly refused to take a child.
How stingy!
Although Bai Fengxia and Chen Ergen didn’t want their grandsons to go with Zhang Qiulian when she remarried, they had reached this point.
The elderly couple didn’t want to raise the children themselves.
Fourth and Fifth sons were absolutely determined not to adopt them either.
Following Zhang Qiulian was the only option left.
Seeing that matters had reached this point, Teacher Bai said,
“Then we’ll think about it some more.
“Second, Third, decide which nephew you want to adopt.
“Go choose one yourselves and take him home tonight.”
Chen Ergen nodded in agreement.
“Right. We’ll transfer the child’s household registration to your family in a couple of days.”
After hearing this, Second and Third sons didn’t move.
Second daughter-in-law Lin Xiulan and Third daughter-in-law Guan Guiying slowly walked toward the triplets.
Chen Lei and Chen Sen were still young and confused.
They had no idea what was happening.
Only Chen Hao stood in the back with a gloomy expression.
Lin Xiulan chose Chen Lei.
Guan Guiying chose Chen Sen.
Just as in her previous life, Chen Hao was left behind.
The two families happily carried their newly adopted sons back to their respective rooms.
Hu Yan watched the backs of the second and third families disappear.
Then she remembered something strange.
In her previous life, Chen Sen and Chen Lei had both been rather slow.
Teacher Bai had complained about them more than once.
She had even taken them to the hospital for examinations, where doctors said they had intellectual disabilities.
They had no problems eating, drinking, or taking care of their basic needs, but they struggled terribly with their studies.
For the second and third families, the purpose of keeping the boys around was to have someone to care for them in their old age.
If the boys weren’t academically gifted, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to them.
They could simply keep them by their side and enjoy having their children around.
But Zhang Qiulian’s three triplets had such strange problems.
One had congenital heart disease, while two had intellectual disabilities.
Was it really just a coincidence?
Their eldest brother and Zhang Qiulian had both been healthy and intelligent.
Teacher Bai waved at her two sons.
“All right, everyone can go. Fourth and Fifth, think it over carefully.”
The family members gradually dispersed.
As Hu Yan was leaving, she deliberately kept an eye on Zhang Qiulian.
Sure enough, Zhang Qiulian’s sights were still set on Tang Lijuan.
Hu Yan followed Chen Guangze back home.
Remembering what had happened earlier, she asked,
“What did your sister-in-law want from you just now?”
Chen Guangze could vaguely tell that his wife disliked Zhang Qiulian.
He turned around and asked with a half-smile,
“What did she do to offend you?”
Hu Yan didn’t feel like answering him.
Was this man always such a flirt when he was young?
Whenever he got the chance, he would move closer to her and tease her.
Seeing that his wife was annoyed, Chen Guangze stopped teasing her.
“What could she want? Money.”
“You lent it to her?”
“Didn’t you tell me not to agree to anything she asked for?”
Hu Yan burst out laughing.
“Since when have you become so obedient?”
The two stepped inside their room.
Chen Guangze pulled a large bag out from under the bed as he answered,
“I’ll listen to anything you say.
“I know what kind of person my sister-in-law is.
“I only took care of her because she was my eldest brother’s wife.
“This time she wanted to borrow 3,000 yuan. Three thousand! Does she think my money grows on trees?”
Hu Yan looked at him as if she were meeting him for the first time.
She had assumed the Chen brothers all treated Zhang Qiulian unconditionally well.
Chen Guangze took out bag after bag of things and handed them to Hu Yan.
“I bought these cosmetics and snacks for you in Shenzhen. See if you like them.
“And that 3,000 yuan she asked for? It seems like she’s setting her sights on your dowry.
“I didn’t care much when she asked for five or ten yuan before.
“But now she’s asking for three thousand at once.
“Her appetite has gotten way too big.”
Hu Yan looked at the food, then opened the cosmetics first.
The packaging was covered in English, clearly imported products.
At this time, there weren’t many domestic cosmetics available.
There was lipstick, mascara, cold cream, face powder, perfume…
All of these things required foreign-exchange certificates and were extremely difficult to obtain.
Hu Yan was delighted when she saw them, but she still complained,
“They aren’t necessities. They cost so much money and take so much effort to get.”
Chen Guangze loved seeing her happy.
He had gone to so much trouble to marry his wife.
Of course he wanted to spoil her and let her live without worries.
He moved closer and rested his head on her lap while she happily examined the cosmetics.
He closed his eyes and breathed in her faint fragrance, his fingers playing with her curls.
“Yan, your curly hair looks really pretty.”
Hu Yan put down the cosmetics and gently massaged his temples.
Thinking about the village’s upcoming demolition, she decided it would be better to give him a hint.
If she wanted to buy houses in the village, she probably wouldn’t be able to buy them directly as a daughter-in-law who had married into the family.
She would have to have Chen Guangze purchase them under his name.
“Brother Ze, I saw Zhang Qiulian in the city this afternoon.
“She was being very intimate with a man, so I followed them for a while.
“Guess what I heard?”