boyutpedia Chapter 425 The Village Woman Who Raised Someone Else's Son (Part 1)
Chapter 425 The Village Woman Who Raised Someone Else's Son (Part 1)
"Wow wow wow..."
On the secluded path back to the village, the sound of a baby crying suddenly came from the road. Qingmo paused, her hand holding the pastries still.
She followed the sound into the bushes and found a baby in swaddling clothes, curled up in a pile of dead leaves, its little face red from the cold.
The child was crying loudly, looking quite pitiful.
Qingmo's heart tightened, and she quickly squatted down to pick up the child.
The swaddling clothes were thin and cold to the touch; the baby's cries were weak, as if it had exhausted all its strength.
She lifted a corner of the fabric and found a faded red cloth strip tied around the child's wrist, on which two words were crookedly embroidered: "An'er".
"Who could be so cruel..." she murmured softly, her brows furrowed.
Seeing that there was no one around and only the rustling of the wind through the bare branches, he realized that no one was around and that the only sound was the wind rustling through the bare branches.
Qingmo hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed and said softly, "Never mind."
She then carried the child to a small puddle, placed him face down, and let him drown in the puddle.
Only after seeing that the child had really stopped crying did she curl the corners of her lips and continue to go home as if nothing had happened.
Ah! She really is kind.
Unable to bear seeing a child abandoned by his own parents suffer, they send him on his way, sparing him from the troubles of this world.
Carrying pastries and humming a song, she skipped and hopped on her way back to the village.
It was 1975, a time when every household had to go to work. The villagers and educated youth were all busy in the fields.
She was the brigade leader's beloved daughter, and she still had spare money to go to the city to buy pastries. Of course, she wasn't buying them for herself.
When she reached the village entrance, she saw a man pacing back and forth under a locust tree. When he saw her, he immediately walked over.
"Jiaojiao, you're back."
Qin Yu's face lit up with a smile as soon as he saw her.
When he got closer and saw that Qingmo had nothing but pastries in her hands, his expression changed immediately.
He couldn't resist glancing at Qingmo's back again, and seeing that she wasn't carrying a basket or anything, he immediately became anxious.
"Jiaojiao, did you come back alone?"
Qingmo glanced at him in surprise, blinking her innocent big eyes.
"Yeah! I'm not alone, am I two? Is there a ghost behind me? What are you looking at?"
Qin Yu's face stiffened, and he forced a smile: "N-nothing, I was just worried that you would get tired after walking such a long way by yourself."
Qingmo tilted her head to look at him, a faint smile on her lips: "Really? Qin Yu, you're so good to me."
"Of course, of course..." Qin Yu couldn't help but glance behind her. "By the way, Jiao Jiao, did you encounter anything... unusual on the way?"
"Something special?"
Qingmo blinked, then suddenly looked enlightened. "Oh! How did you know I lost two yuan? I should have known better than to take the main road."
Qin Yu's pupils contracted sharply, and his voice trembled: "The main road? You took the main road today? Didn't you take the path back to the village?"
"No, my dad said it's not safe to take the back roads, so I didn't take them today."
Qingmo innocently waved the cake in her hand: "What's wrong? Is there something on the path? Why are you so nervous?"
Qin Yu's face turned deathly pale instantly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Her voice trembled: "N-nothing."
Suddenly remembering something, Qin Yu wanted to leave. "Jiaojiao, I... I suddenly remembered I still have some work to finish... I'll go now."
"Wait!" Qingmo grabbed his sleeve, almost pulling him to the ground.
"What's the rush, Qin Yu? Let's talk a little longer. Do you hate me? You don't even want to chat with me anymore."
Qin Yu was extremely anxious and had no mood to play along with her antics, so he shook off her hand and ran away.
"Jiaojiao, I really have something to do, you should go back!"
Qingmo watched Qin Yu's retreating figure, a mocking smile curling at the corner of her lips.
Of course she knew what Qin Yu was nervous about, but what did that have to do with her?
Ha ha.
She hummed a song as if nothing was wrong and strolled slowly toward home.
It's work time now, and both my parents are busy in the fields; there's no one at home.
She was happy to have some peace and quiet, so she brewed herself a pot of tea and lay on the kang (heated brick bed) slowly eating pastries.
Qin Yu over there ran frantically down the path, muttering, "Faster, faster!"
At this moment, he was really angry that he didn't have the speed to run fast. It was all that bitch Meng Jiaojiao's fault. Why didn't she take the shortcut today?
If anything happens to the child, he will never let that bitch get away with it.
Meanwhile, Qingmo, who knew nothing about it, was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) reading a novel, grinning from ear to ear.
Completely unaware, I was lying at home when trouble came out of nowhere.
When Qin Yu finally found the child, panting heavily, the baby was already cold.
Qin Yu knelt by the wet puddle, his trembling hands lifting the small body.
The baby in the swaddling clothes had a bluish-purple face and was already lifeless; the red cloth strip on its wrist had also disappeared.
"No...impossible..." His fingers dug into the soil so hard that blood seeped from under his nails.
He clearly put the child in the bushes, so how did he end up next to the puddle?
What the hell does this happen?
How could his son, his newborn baby boy, possibly be dead?
Qin Yu's eyes were bloodshot as he frantically searched his surroundings, oblivious to the cuts his palms made by withered branches.
Unfortunately, he found nothing, not even a footprint, and the red ribbon tied to his son's wrist was gone...
Qin Yu held the child and wept uncontrollably, as if he had lost his own son.
Ahem! Excuse me, that's his son, but it's the result of him having a child out of wedlock with someone else.
Qin Yu was devastated and convinced that the child had been murdered by someone else.
Otherwise, how could the position be moved? Could the baby possibly crawl over there by themselves?
He carried the child and stumbled as he hurried towards the village, heading straight for the village head's house.
At this moment, Qingmo was still lying comfortably on the kang (a heated brick bed) when suddenly the door was kicked open, and Qin Yu, with bloodshot eyes, rushed in carrying the child.
"Meng Jiaojiao, you vicious woman, how could you stand by and watch someone die?!" Qin Yu roared.
Qingmo was startled at first, but then calmed down: "Qin Yu, what's wrong with you?"
Qin Yu, his eyes red, gritted his teeth and said, "Why didn't you take the shortcut today? Do you even know...?"
Qin Yu swallowed the rest of his sentence halfway through.
He couldn't very well tell Meng Jiaojiao directly that he had abandoned his illegitimate child on the roadside, waiting for her to pick him up and raise him, could he?
How will he ever be able to face people in the village again?
Qingmo stared at him with a half-smile, "What do you know?"
Qin Yu then changed the subject, "Do you know that there's a child on the path who's dying? If you take the path, you might be able to save him!"
Qingmo sneered, "Do you think I can foresee things? You're blaming me for not taking the shortcut?"
"Besides, if you care so much about this child, why don't you go and save him yourself instead of blaming me?"
As she spoke, Anning's gaze fell on the child in his arms, as if she had just noticed him.
Qin Yu was speechless with anger. He held the child, trembling with rage, but he was helpless against Qingmo.
"In short, it's all your fault, Meng Jiaojiao. You killed this child."
Qin Yu is being unreasonable and has started to argue irrationally.
Qingmo didn't tolerate him and immediately slapped him twice across the face.
"You can eat shit however you want, but you can't say whatever you want."
Qin Yu...