7 – It Worked! The Malicious Aunt Harms Her Nephew
She had never liked this little nephew.
She and her husband had been married for several years without having children, but her sister-in-law got pregnant just three months after marrying her younger brother. After learning about the pregnancy, the whole family revolved around her sister-in-law—how could she not be jealous?
After ten months of pregnancy, her sister-in-law gave birth to a chubby baby boy, and both mother and child became even more doted on by the entire family. All the best treats were bought for them!
It was bad enough that she wasn’t as favored as her sister-in-law at home, but she also had to endure ridicule when she went out. How could she not harbor resentment?
What made her most resentful was the present situation. Her younger brother and sister-in-law had jobs in the city and no time to take care of their child, so they left him in their hometown for their mother-in-law to look after!
She and her husband had always lived with her parents-in-law under the same roof. When the elderly felt unwell, naturally, they had to help take care of the child.
Unable to have a child of her own, she had to look after someone else’s child. The more she looked at this little brat, the angrier she became!
Especially now!
Her head was aching, and her whole body felt uncomfortable. Seeing the little brat playing with his toy car all over the house, she suddenly felt extremely irritable.
For a moment, she even thought it would be really great if this little brat died—then the house would finally be quiet!
Her eyes fixed on Xiao Hui for half a minute before she suddenly said, “Why are you so noisy? Go outside and play with your little friends.”
Xiao Hui looked up at her, then glanced toward the kitchen. “I can’t. Grandma won’t let me go out to play…”
Zhang Shufen said, “Your grandma is cooking right now. She won’t notice!”
Xiao Hui slowly shook his head. “But Grandma said I can’t go out. I have to be obedient and stay inside.”
He put down the toy car in his hand and looked up at Zhang Shufen obediently. “Auntie, don’t be annoyed. I won’t make noise anymore. I won’t play with the car.”
Zhang Shufen grew angrier the more she looked at him!
“Who are you putting on this pitiful act for? Get out and play! I told you your grandma won’t notice, and she definitely won’t. Go out and play, and don’t come back until someone calls you!”
“Okay.”
Xiao Hui glanced at his fierce aunt, feeling a little scared.
He placed the toy car in the corner to avoid tripping his grandma or aunt, then stood up and walked toward the door.
Zhang Shufen watched his retreating figure and curled her lips into a slight smile.
Twenty minutes later, the elderly grandmother finished cooking and came out of the kitchen.
Her first priority was to check on her little grandson.
But the living room was empty—no one was there!
Not only was her little grandson missing, but even her daughter-in-law, Zhang Shufen, was nowhere to be seen!
The grandmother panicked in fright!
She called out Zhang Shufen’s name as she hurried toward her room.
Pushing the door open, she saw Zhang Shufen lying in bed, her face pale.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell? Do you need to see a doctor?”
The grandmother was still concerned about her daughter-in-law’s health and quickly asked.
Zhang Shufen opened her eyes and said weakly, “I might have heatstroke. I drank some Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui. I should feel better after resting for a while.”
The grandmother felt relieved and then asked, “Where’s Xiao Hui?”
Hearing that Xiao Hui hadn’t returned yet, Zhang Shufen’s hands clenched tightly under the blanket.
Could something really have happened to him?
Suppressing the panic in her heart, she looked up at the grandmother with a confused expression. “Xiao Hui? Wasn’t he playing in the living room?”
Upon hearing this, the grandmother’s face turned pale with fear.
“Oh no!”
She slapped her thigh and hurried out.She had just left when Zhang Shufen also threw off the covers and sat up!
Her face pale, she paced back and forth in the room, muttering to herself, “Could that little brat really be dead? It’s not my fault, I didn’t mean it… I really didn’t mean it…”
The old woman had already stumbled out the door.
She called out Xiao Hui’s name while asking the neighbors on both sides if anyone had seen her Xiao Hui!
A neighbor pointed to the right, “Xiao Hui just ran that way.”
The old woman hurriedly chased after him.
She soon found one of Xiao Hui’s playmates!
The playmate pointed toward the reservoir, “They went to play in the water over there! My mom wouldn’t let me go, so I came back alone.”
Hearing this, the old woman felt the world spin around her, her body beginning to sway!
She quickly shouted into the house, “Dali! Dali! You have a motorcycle and can go fast, please help me!”
The child’s father, Zhao Dali, hurried out of the house.
Seeing the old woman crying so bitterly, Zhao Dali quickly asked, “Auntie Sun, what’s wrong?”
“Quick, take me to the reservoir on your motorcycle!”
The old woman grabbed his sleeve, tears streaming down her face!
“This morning, I met a fortune teller who said my Xiao Hui would drown today! I kept an eye on him all day, not letting him leave the house, but who would have thought he’d run off to the reservoir in the blink of an eye!”
She choked back sobs, “Please take me to the reservoir. If we’re too late, I’m afraid my Xiao Hui will be gone!”
“Uh…” Zhao Dali himself didn’t believe in fortune-telling and had always scoffed at such things.
But seeing the old woman so distraught, he didn’t dare delay. He quickly hopped on his motorcycle and rushed with her toward the reservoir!
The motorcycle sped along, reaching the reservoir in no time.
As soon as they arrived, they heard a group of children frantically shouting Xiao Hui’s name!
Seeing adults approaching, the children cried out, “Uncle, Xiao Hui sank! He hasn’t come back up!”
Hearing this, the old woman collapsed to the ground in terror!
Zhao Dali’s eyes widened in shock.
Had the fortune teller really been right?
He didn’t have time to tend to the old woman. As he ran, he tore off his shirt and dove into the water to search for the child!
A strong swimmer, he reached the bottom of the reservoir with a few strokes and saw Xiao Hui lying motionless at the bottom!
His heart sank.
Was he already dead?
He quickly swam over, wrapped his arms around Xiao Hui’s small, water-chilled body, and swam back to the surface.
Fortunately, Xiao Hui was only six years old and not too heavy, so Zhao Dali managed to bring him up without too much difficulty.
Soon, Zhao Dali carried the child to the shore.
He laid the motionless Xiao Hui on the ground and pressed both hands against his chest to push out the water inside!
After pressing a dozen times, Xiao Hui suddenly coughed up a large amount of water!
He coughed violently, spitting out water with each cough.
Then, he opened his eyes.
“Uncle Zhao… Waaah… Uncle Zhao!”
Terrified and overwhelmed, Xiao Hui clung to Zhao Dali, sobbing loudly.
Seeing her grandson was safe, the old woman dragged her trembling legs over.
Kneeling on the ground, she cried and scolded, “Why didn’t you listen, child? How many times did I tell you not to leave the house today? Why did you still run outside?”Xiaohui saw his grandmother and struggled to throw himself into her embrace.
Hearing his grandmother say he was disobedient, he weakly shook his little head and tearfully defended himself.
“It wasn’t me… It wasn’t that I was disobedient… It was Auntie who thought I was annoying at home and drove me out…”