Behind her, Elder sister-in-law Kang was carrying a basin of warm water, and the two of them, one after the other, entered the room where Captain Kang and his wife lived.
Cai Xiufen carefully cleansed the child in her hands, then took the baby bottle from Kang Li, just as Kang Li said, "Mom, the temperature is just right."
"I got it, you always find things to fuss over when there’s nothing to worry about."
While giving her treasured daughter a stern look, Cai Xiufen sat cross-legged on the kang, holding the little infant.
Perhaps because he was so hungry, the little one drank greedily from the bottle.
"Look how well-behaved this child is, how could anyone have the heart to just abandon him in the mountains?"
Second Brother Kang’s Wife suddenly spoke up.
"Second sister-in-law, things aren’t as simple as you say."
Third sister-in-law Kang sighed and shared her speculations, and after finishing, she said, "That young girl might not have been as pretty as our Li Bao, but she was nonetheless exceptionally beautiful. She didn’t like talking much or wandering around; she just worked silently behind her grandparents every day. Now she’s gone at such a young age, it truly is pitiful."
Cai Xiufen turned her gaze toward Captain Kang, "Is that how the third brother’s wife told the story?"
Captain Kang, "Old Man Loh and his wife ca to our place last winter, and they brought only one granddaughter with them. The girl looked to be about the sa age as our Li Bao. Seeing Loh and his wife weren’t in good health, I offered them so help. At the start of this year, I went to see the elderly couple, and they clearly weren’t acting right. I wanted to ask what happened to see if I could help out, but Old Man Loh and his wife didn’t say anything; they just kept sighing. Later, gossip started spreading in the village, saying Loh Xue was with child, until we heard she was too sick to get out of bed and the rumors slowly died down."
Saying this, Captain Kang let out a long sigh, "This morning, as soon as I opened the courtyard door, I saw Old Man Loh standing there, which gave a start.
He then inford that his granddaughter Loh Xue was gone and asked to help find a place to dig a grave to bury her. Following Old Man Loh into the room they were living in,
I was imdiately hit with the stench of blood. Later... later, Elder Loh’s wife sobbed and said her granddaughter died in childbirth, it was a case of one death and two lives lost."
"But this child was clearly born alive!"
Elder sister-in-law Kang glanced at the infant in Cai Xiufen’s arms, her eyes filled with confusion.
Big Brother Kang, "Perhaps the child’s origins were dubious."
"What do you know?" Glancing at Big Brother Kang, Elder sister-in-law Kang said, "Even if the origins were dubious, they let their own granddaughter give birth to the child, so why couldn’t they raise him by themselves?"
"Enough, let’s not talk about that now. Father, you decide what to do now. We can’t just keep this child here with unclear origins, if we really keep him, who knows what the villagers will say."
Furrowing her brows, Cai Xiufen was at a loss for a mont.
Kang Li, "Is it possible that this child isn’t the one born to Loh Xue?"
"The cloth wrapping the child when you took him from the basket is Old Man Loh’s, I’ve seen him wearing it," Captain Kang said, and with this, everyone present understood.
The child was definitely born to the granddaughter of Old Man Loh.
Frowning in thought for a mont, Kang Li, "Father, is there no one else in the Loh family?"
Captain Kang, "When chatting with Loh, I heard him ntion that he had only one son, but the son had fallen on the battlefield years ago. His daughter-in-law struggled on with their only daughter for two years but eventually couldn’t hold on. She left the child with the grandparents and remarried."
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