Living like a widow? My rough neighbor is coaxing me to have a baby every night.

Chapter 30 A Shocking Reversal

That shout, tinged with sobs, shattered the deathly silence above the Zhao family compound.

Liu Chunhua had just been rebuffed by Qin Rushan and was seething with anger with nowhere to vent it.

As she walked, she spat angrily, cursing Qin Rushan in her heart as an ungrateful eunuch. Then she thought that Li Xianglian, that slut, was probably having fun in some random man's bed right now, being scorned by the whole village. Only then did she feel a little better.

Just as she reached the entrance of the Zhao family courtyard, a figure rushed out like a madman, the wind he stirred up almost knocking her over.

"Who dares to bump into me, you blind fool...?"

Liu Chunhua opened her mouth to curse, but her phoenix eyes glared, and the rest of her words got stuck in her throat, choking her so much that she almost passed out.

The person in front of her had disheveled hair and a face full of tears. Although he was in a sorry state, she would recognize his features and figure even if he were reduced to ashes!

It's Li Xianglian!

Liu Chunhua felt a buzzing sound in her head, as if she had been hit on the head with a club, and she stood there dumbfounded.

Just now she was confidently telling Qin Rushan that this woman had eloped with the money, how come in the blink of an eye this living person jumped out of the Zhao family's courtyard?

Is this some kind of ghost?!

"You...are you a human or a ghost?!"

Liu Chunhua recoiled in fright, her back slamming against the earthen wall. Her voice was shrill and distorted, her finger trembling as she pointed at Li Xianglian, "You...you slut, didn't you run off with some other man? How...how are you still at home?"

Li Xianglian paused, glanced at Liu Chunhua's collar with one button undone, and then looked in the direction of the Qin family's gate behind her. She knew exactly what was going on.

That vixen, taking advantage of this opportunity, went to seduce Qin Rushan?

Normally, Li Xianglian would have slapped her twice and torn that foul mouth apart.

But right now, there's Aunt Zhao lying in the house, who just fainted. She's the main character we need to deal with today. We don't have time to waste on some clown.

"Get out of the way! Don't block my way!"

Li Xianglian ignored her completely and pushed Liu Chunhua, who was blocking her way, aside.

He used a clever trick, knocking the still-dazed Liu Chunhua flat on her backside.

"Ouch!"

Liu Chunhua fell hard into a dirty puddle by the roadside. She braced herself with her hand and landed right on a pile of rotten chicken droppings. The stench hit her nostrils and made her gag.

"Help! My mother has fainted! Someone, please come quick!"

Li Xianglian didn't even glance at the woman on the ground, and started crying as she plunged into the crowd.

It was high in the sky, the lazy villagers were just getting up, and the hardworking ones were just returning from their midday rest in the fields. It was the time when everyone was gathered under the big locust tree.

Everyone was still enjoying the gossip that Aunt Zhao had told them that morning about her daughter-in-law cheating on her husband and running away. They were chatting away enthusiastically.

"I think Li Xianglian is always dishonest. Her eyes are so watery and she's good at seducing people."

"That's right, Gangzi hasn't been back for three years, no woman could stand the loneliness."

"Didn't Old Sun say he saw a dark figure? He's probably already hooked up with one..."

Just as they were talking animatedly, Zhao's daughter-in-law, who was said to have "run off with a stranger," came rushing out of the alleyway like a madwoman, her hair disheveled and her face covered in tears.

The once noisy locust tree suddenly fell into a deathly silence, like a flock of ducks being strangled.

Dozens of eyes stared intently at Li Xianglian, their gazes as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

Several timid women shrank behind their men in fear, stammering, "It's...it's come back to life?"

Li Xianglian gave them no time to react. She knelt down in front of Wang Defa, the village's barefoot doctor, grabbed his trouser leg, and cried uncontrollably, her tears streaming down her face: "Dr. Wang, please save my mother! My mother suddenly fainted in the yard! She's foaming at the mouth, and she's about to die!"

Wang Defa was also stunned, and almost dropped the tobacco pipe in his hand.

He looked down at the living, breathing person clinging to him and stammered, "Xiang...Xianglian? You...you didn't run away?"

As soon as he said that, the people around him realized what he meant.

In broad daylight, there are shadows, warmth, and someone is even pulling on your trouser leg. This isn't a ghost, it's a living person!

"Run? Where can I run to?"

Li Xianglian raised her head, her face filled with confusion and grievance. Her tearful eyes looked particularly innocent. "I haven't been feeling well these past few days, and Mother told me to sleep a little longer. I took a nap in the woodshed, and when I woke up, I heard Hu'er crying. I went out to check, and Mother was lying on the ground. Uncles, aunts, what happened? I can't understand what you're saying!"

The crowd immediately erupted in uproar.

"Oh my goodness! Didn't that old woman Zhao swear this morning that her daughter-in-law had run off with the money?"

"Yeah, she cried so hard, she even had snot bubbles coming out of her nose, she described it in such a vivid and convincing way!"

"If Li Xianglian had run away, who would be kneeling here now? Aren't they just making a fool of us?"

The villagers' opinions shifted faster than the weather in June.

Just moments ago, everyone was criticizing Li Xianglian for being unchaste, but now, looking at this thinly dressed, anxious, and dutiful daughter-in-law in front of them, and recalling Zhao Da Niang's usual mean and shrewish nature, their hearts immediately turned skewed.

"I knew it! Gangzi's wife rarely leaves the house, where would she meet any other men?"

"That old woman Zhao is so wicked! She actually made up such lies to ruin someone's reputation! She's trying to drive someone to their death!"

Wang Defa also came to his senses. A doctor's heart is like a parent's; hearing that the person had fainted, he didn't dare delay. He grabbed his medicine kit and ran towards the Zhao family: "Let's go, let's go, saving lives is the priority!"

A large group of villagers, eager to see a good show, followed behind, completely blocking the entrance to the Zhao family's house.

Liu Chunhua, who had just climbed out of the latrine, stomped her foot in anger as she watched the large group of people rush into the Zhao family's house. Ignoring the chicken droppings still on her hands, she squeezed in after them.

She insisted on seeing what kind of play this was.

When everyone rushed into the courtyard, Aunt Zhao was still lying unconscious at the entrance of the woodshed.

His old face was as pale as paper, his mouth was crooked and his eyes were slanted; he was indeed frightening to look at.

Tiger was sobbing uncontrollably, lying on his grandmother's stomach.

The only one missing was Zhao Xiaoyun, who was usually the most favored.

Wang Defa stepped forward and pinched her philtrum and pricked her tiger's mouth. After a long while, Aunt Zhao finally woke up.

When she opened her eyes, before she could even see the sea of ​​black heads around her, the image in her mind was still stuck on that scene.

Li Xianglian... that wretched woman who should have been sold... is still at home!

Who sold it?

A chill ran down her spine and straight to the top of her head. Aunt Zhao sat bolt upright, and without caring how many people were around, grabbed Wang Defa's arm frantically, screaming, "Where's my daughter? Where's my Xiaoyun?!"

Wang Defa, wincing in pain from her grip, frowned and shook off her hand: "Aunt Zhao, are you possessed? We just entered the courtyard and saw you and Hu'er lying on the ground, where is Xiaoyun?"

"No...no..."

Aunt Zhao's eyes darted around in a panic, and suddenly her gaze settled on Li Xianglian at the front of the crowd.

Li Xianglian looked at her with feigned concern, holding a bowl of cold water in her hand: "Mother, you scared me to death! Did you have a nightmare just now? You kept shouting something about selling it, about making a mistake. Isn't Xiaoyun sleeping in the room? I called her for a long time but she didn't respond. Is she sick?"

These words were like a sharp knife, precisely piercing Aunt Zhao's heart.

Sleeping indoors?

The person in that sack last night was also fast asleep!

Aunt Zhao seemed to have her backside on fire; she scrambled to her feet and rushed towards the main house like a madwoman.

"Xiaoyun! Xiaoyun!"

She burst through the door to the main room and collapsed onto the kang (a heated brick bed).

It's empty.

The blankets were a mess, but there was no one under them.

Only the red rope that Qin Rushan had casually torn off and thrown in the corner of the kang (a heated brick bed) lay forlornly on the mat.

That was Zhao Xiaoyun's most treasured amulet, which she said she got from a temple to ensure her safety, and she never took it off when she took a bath.

Aunt Zhao picked up the red rope with trembling hands, making a strange "hehe" sound in her throat, like a rooster being choked.

Gone.

Really gone.

She personally drugged her own daughter, the lazy and gluttonous but beloved daughter of hers, stuffed her into a sack, and sold her to a ruthless human trafficker!

"Damn it!!!"

A heart-wrenching scream rang out from the main house, shaking the old locust tree in the yard three times.

The villagers in the courtyard looked at each other, all somewhat puzzled.

What's wrong with Granny Zhao?

Even if your daughter is missing, you don't have to wail like this, do you?

Anyone who didn't know better would think someone in the family had died.

Li Xianglian stood in the courtyard, listening to the screams, her lips curled up almost imperceptibly, then she put on a panicked expression and rushed into the house with everyone else.

Zhao Da Niang was slumped on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), clutching the red rope tightly in her hand. Tears and snot streamed down her face, and she was trembling violently.

"Mother, don't worry, did Xiaoyun go visiting someone?" Li Xianglian stepped forward to help her up, deliberately raising her voice, "Or did she go to the fields?"

"Go to hell!"

Someone in the crowd chimed in, "Zhao Xiaoyun is the kind of person who wouldn't even pick up a fallen oil bottle, let alone work in the fields! The sun would have to rise in the west for her to be considered a travesty!"

"Exactly, maybe she went to her lover's house."

The villagers' gossip sounded like poisonous thorns to Aunt Zhao.

She knew perfectly well that Xiaoyun hadn't gone anywhere; Xiaoyun was currently on that dilapidated donkey cart leading into the deep mountains!

They may have even been taken to a remote mountain valley hundreds of miles away, where they could cry out to heaven and earth in vain!

But can she say that?

Does she dare to say it?

If people find out she sold her daughter-in-law for money and ended up selling her own daughter, she'll go to jail! She might even get shot!

Aunt Zhao's mouth was agape, her chest heaving violently, and she was choking on her own breath. She was like a mute eating bitter melon, unable to express her suffering.

Her cloudy eyes were fixed on Li Xianglian, filled with resentment and fear.

is her!

It must have been that little bitch who did it!

Last night, she clearly saw Li Xianglian drink that bowl of brown sugar water with her own eyes, and she was the one who tied her up.

How come the world has changed when I woke up?

That little bitch must have known all along; she did it on purpose!