Suddenly, Ye Erhe burst out laughing. He had always felt that the two children didn’t resemble him or their mother at all. But now, looking at Qian Dashan, it was obvious—they were carved from the same mold!
Ye Erhe shoved the children violently.
Ye Laopo, still confused, saw her son laughing madly in the courtyard and then watched him push her little grandsons harshly to the ground.
Ye Qingguang and Ye Qingmin had never seen such a furious father and immediately began wailing loudly.
“Dad’s bad! Dad won’t avenge mom, and now he hits me too! Waaaah!” cried Ye Qingguang, his voice shaking the whole yard.
Ye Laotai hurriedly picked up the two boys, dusting them off. Though she had never been overly fond of these grandchildren, they were still her family. Today, her second son seemed completely unhinged.
Ye Laotou glared at Ye Erhe.
“Second son, what in the world’s wrong with you? Why take it out on the children? Speak up!”
Ye Erhe glanced at the crowd gathering around, including the village elder, who had walked over. The elder struck Ye Erhe’s leg with his cane.
“No matter what happened, you cannot beat your wife into this state!”
The elder checked Liu Xiuxiu’s condition and, seeing she was still alive, sighed in relief.
“Ye family, for now, forget what happened. First, get your daughter-in-law to the clinic—she’s knocked out cold.”
Ye Laotai moved forward to help Liu Xiuxiu, but Ye Erhe shouted:
“Mother, leave her! She’d be better off dead!
If worse comes to worst, I’ll go to prison, but a woman like her deserves to be drowned!”
The villagers gasped. Drowning—“沉塘”—was historically used only for adulterous women, and even that had been banned by the village elder. Normally, bold women who cheated would face divorce, not death.
Some sharp-witted villagers quickly put two and two together. Ye Erhe was at old Qian’s house and had beaten Liu Xiuxiu badly. Could it be that she had been caught cheating there? Their speculation became vivid and colorful.
“I think! Liu Xiuxiu must be having an affair with someone from the Qian family! Otherwise, why else would she be beaten up at Qian’s?”
“Exactly! Second son is usually honest and gentle, always good to his wife, never heard of him hitting her. But now, she’s beaten like this—she must have cheated!”
The villagers whispered and murmured. Only now did Ye Laopo realize that her normally obedient and patient son was rarely violent. For Liu Xiuxiu to be unconscious, something serious had to have happened.
Ye Laopo looked at Ye Erhe, anxiously:
“Second son, what on earth happened? Hurry and tell me! You’re driving me crazy!”
Ye Erhe looked at the villagers, closed his eyes, and clenched his teeth. He decided to speak the truth, especially with the village elder present.
He knelt before Ye Laopo, pointing to Liu Xiuxiu on the ground.
“Mother… it’s my fault. I let those two bastards live off our family for years… caused you and father worry… and now…”
Tears streamed down Ye Erhe’s face like a waterfall, his head feeling unbearably heavy.
Ye Laopo felt as if lightning had struck her heart. If Liu Xiuxiu had been unfaithful, divorce would have been enough. But the grandchildren—weren’t her second son’s children after all!
Ye Laopo staggered back. Ye Anran quickly stepped forward to support her.
“Grandma, don’t worry.”
Ye Laopo patted Ye Anran’s head gently, trying to calm herself.
The villagers went into an uproar. They had assumed Liu Xiuxiu might have cheated, and that Ye Erhe caught her in the act. But in reality, Ye Erhe had been unknowingly raising two children that were not his for six or seven years.
The village elder slammed his cane into the ground, glancing at Liu Xiuxiu and then at old Qian and his wife.
“How did you raise a child? Look at what your son has done outside—it’s shameful!”
Old Qian was embarrassed. Dashan had always been a rogue, but now he had an affair with someone else’s wife and fathered two ambiguous children.
Qian Laopo, however, was overjoyed. She had thought Dashan would never marry or have children. Now, two grandchildren had been raised by the Ye family for seven years!
She examined Ye Qingmin and Ye Qingguang closely, her smile widening. If anyone dared claim they weren’t Dashan’s children, she wouldn’t believe it. They looked exactly like him when he was a child.
Qian Laopo nudged her husband, whispering,
“Look, the children resemble Dashan exactly! They’ve suffered for six or seven years away from us. We need to bring them home.”
Old Qian grumbled, shaking his sleeve, muttering to himself. Even if the Ye family was poor, it was far better than leaving the children in the wrong hands.
Meanwhile, Liu Xiuxiu, covering her head and groaning, gradually regained consciousness. She blinked and saw a crowd of villagers surrounding her.
The villagers pointed at her, cursing her loudly. Two women at the front spat in her direction.
“Shameless! Our village has truly had eight generations of bad luck to get a whore like you!”
Ignoring the spittle on her face, Liu Xiuxiu struggled to her feet, feeling as if her head were splitting and her bones scattered across her body.