The dawn light suddenly appeared, and the crowing of roosters rose and fell as smoke curled up from each household.
The Zhou family.
Setting out this ti, it would be earliest to co back after giving birth and completing the confinent period, so Matchmaker Liu packed up the thin clothes worn in sumr.
The family wasn’t short of silver, but savings on a trip were always good.
Ever since deciding to keep this child, her sharp eyes were filled with anticipation and affection.
But...
It’s just that, for so reason, she always felt that Zhou Qin was deliberately or unintentionally staring at her these days.
If it weren’t for the fact that it wasn’t obvious yet, she would have thought that Zhou Qin had noticed she was pregnant.
"Are you heading out, mom?"
Suddenly, soone called from the door.
Matchmaker Liu turned around and looked at Zhou Qin who appeared, causing an inexplicable jolt in her heart, and she cursed, "Are you trying to kill soone, scaring them early in the morning."
This stepdaughter, just a glance at her elicited disgust.
She said irritably, "There’s trouble in the village, your grandpa and I do indeed need to leave for a bit of a dodge, why, you won’t allow it?"
Matchmaker Liu snorted.
"A married woman is ddling too much."
"Do the affairs of the elders concern you?"
She looked at the taut corners of Zhou Qin’s mouth and understood inside.
"What, do you also want to follow?"
What a joke.
"Give up the thought, let be clear with you, we will definitely not take you along."
"You’re not my own child, why should I care about your life or death."
To Zhou Qin, this was simply a disaster.
She was just waiting for Matchmaker Liu to be unlucky!
The village had been generations of farrs who couldn’t leave their tiny plots of land, what on earth did the stepmother say to make Grandpa agree?
Matchmaker Liu was so cunning, what if she took the chance to get rid of the child on this trip?
If Grandpa went along, he might be kept completely in the dark, not knowing whether this daughter-in-law was a human or a ghost!
The more Zhou Qin thought about it, the more upset she beca.
Seeing her bewildered, Matchmaker Liu got pleasure, starting to mock her verbally.
"You’ve been back for many days, yet haven’t seen your husband co to pick you up, what will you do? Poor thing, being abandoned at your maiden ho, and yet unwelco at your husband’s place."
"What will you do if he divorces you?"
"Qin Niang, you are like your early deceased mother, destined to live a bitter life."
Zhou Qin was burning with rage, yet out of fear of alerting the enemy, she refrained from calling her a harlot.
She held her anger in her heart, and went to find Aunt Wu. Upon eting, she anxiously grabbed and asked,
"Aunty, the fortune-teller you ntioned last ti, is he accurate? My stepmother is about to run away."
Zhou Qin steeled her heart: "She guards against , though we are under the sa roof these days, she hardly lets get close."
Though she hated this stepmother, she couldn’t deliberately cause her a miscarriage to achieve her aim.
But obviously, she was so angered that she lost her reason.
She didn’t care what Matchmaker Liu said about her.
But talking about her mother was not acceptable.
"I can’t stand her arrogant look, if it really won’t work, I’ll go to Doctor Qian to get so abortion pills and put them in her als; if she has stomach pain and bleeds, the matter will spread."
Aunt Wu quickly covered her mouth.
"No way!"
"Are you crazy? You still have a pair of children!"
If it could be done, why go round and round to seek Yu Tingwan’s help in the first place?
"If you ask for dication, will Old Man Qian prescribe it without clarity?"
"Liu the widow is immoral, got pregnant by a bastard...no matter what, she deserves to die."
"When things co to light, soone will deal with her sooner or later."
"Drugging her will leave evidence; don’t drag yourself down, the Zhou family matters are a ss, why get involved for no reason!"
-----
anwhile, Old Man Zhou was already knocking on the Village Chief’s door.
Chang Shu frowned at the sight, "What brings you here?"
Old Man Zhou pushed past him, darting his eyes around the Chang family’s yard.
Despite the Zhou family being wealthy, it was all in Matchmaker Liu’s hands.
Their family house wasn’t as well-kept as the Chang family’s.
Matchmaker Liu was always too busy running around to care for the household, unlike Li Lian who often added this and that, with the daughters-in-law industrious, cleaning the yard neatly.
The Chang family was flourishing.
Envy briefly glinted in Old Man Zhou’s eyes.
But he was about to beco a father again.
If it was a son, he wouldn’t fall behind the Chang family in the future!
"Where’s your grandpa? I have sothing to discuss with him."
Chang Shu said gruffly, "My grandpa’s asleep; tell what you want, and when he wakes up I’ll relay it."
The Village Chief, being old, was worn out from yesterday; indeed he needed rest.
Chang Shu wasn’t willing to rouse him for Old Man Zhou.
Hearing this, Old Man Zhou laughed angrily.
"Chang Shu, do you hold sothing against Grandpa Zhou?"
Whenever he saw him, he had a sour face.
He showed off his yellow teeth, saliva spraying: "I’m busy too, do you think you can afford to delay ? It’s no effort for the Village Chief, he can handle my business and then return to resting."
Chang Shu, showing no respect, muttered, "Every kind of person wants to co saying they are relatives; I didn’t know we had so many kin."
"I disdain you, and that’s clear. Just because you’re older, you act shalessly everywhere."
ntioning this, a wave of panic crossed Old Man Zhou’s eyes but was quickly concealed.
No worries, no worries, Yu Tingwan was already dead.
No one would know what happened on the mountain.
"Chang Shu."
The warning voice ca from the Village Chief.
Awakened by the commotion outside, Village Chief ca out, draped in a coat,
Yet he didn’t reprimand his grandson much, casting a glance at Old Man Zhou.
"This child lacks stability without a wife, his words offend, forgive him on my behalf, don’t take it to heart."
Though he said apologize, it was rely a perfunctory gesture; he never chastised Chang Shu.
Watching the Village Chief maneuver with words, Old Man Zhou was furious inside.
Nonetheless, he didn’t dare offend him.
Village Chief: "You arrived just in ti; I was planning on seeking you out as well."
He said sternly, "Be honest, is there a tiger in the mountain?"
Panic flashed through Old Man Zhou’s eyes: "Yes, there is!"
Recalling it made him fearful, "If I hadn’t run fast back then, I wouldn’t be standing here."
"Old Man Zhou, this is no small matter. The entire village is alard by your words; if you are speaking falsely, I won’t let you go!"
Old Man Zhou: ???
He couldn’t understand why the Village Chief suddenly turned hostile.
Thinking about it, Old Man Zhou was enraged, that little bitch Zhou Qin eavesdropping on his and Caiying’s conversation; though she didn’t catch the secret, it still scared him into a sweat.
Mouths were too quick to spread anything!
A tiger should have co down the mountain and eaten up the Village Chief, that old man!
The villagers who despised him, who gloated over his misfortune, and mocked his childlessness all deserved death.
But all he could do was keep smiling.
"What kind of talk is this? Yes, my mouth usually speaks little truth, yet I’d dare not speak recklessly before you even with ten guts."
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