Many people gathered at home that day. The old lady cried so hard she almost fainted, and the old man puffed on his hookah, his face grim.

Cheng Jinlan took the initiative to discuss with everyone how to arrange the child's funeral.

She had only said a couple of words when the old man slammed his hand heavily on the table.

"Whose fault is it? It's his own! He insisted on swimming in the river, and we couldn't stop him!"

"Xie Cheng is a debt collector! He's here to bring disaster to our Xie family!"

Cheng Jinlan was stunned. Before she came back, she had heard on the phone that it was clearly her son who saved everyone.

How come her father-in-law changed his tune so quickly, saying that her son brought it on himself?

Cheng Jinlan looked anxiously at the others, wanting an explanation.

Those who had repeatedly apologized to her on the phone now avoided eye contact.

"Jinlan, you and Zude should try to think more positively."

"Xie Cheng, that kid. Our Xie Liang is also naughty, but thankfully he's obedient and hasn't gone astray."

"Yes, yes, Xie Cheng is so insensible."

Several people unanimously said that Xie Cheng was ignorant and went into the river on his own.

Otherwise, if five people went together, how come he was the only one who got into trouble? It must be because he was too careless and got carried away by his own cleverness.

The old man added fuel to the fire, saying that Xie Cheng was usually stingy and extravagant, and that he was deliberately courting death, so he was just a debt collector.

What's the point of holding a funeral? According to custom, a child who dies young cannot be buried in the ancestral grave, nor can a grave mound or tombstone be left.

Xie Zude was a man who believed in these things the most. Upon hearing this, he was shocked and disposed of the body the next day. Then he urged Cheng Jinlan to return to the provincial capital as soon as possible.

Although Cheng Jinlan was heartbroken, she always regarded her husband as her everything. Now that her child was dead, what else could she do?

She had children early, at only 30 years old. The couple fought hard and had a son the following year.

However, when the husband saw the blue birthmark on the baby's face, his expression changed drastically, and he stopped caring about his youngest son after that.

The comments section showed that they didn't understand the story.

Why is this happening? It's so strange.

[This is chilling to think about. Could it be that this man thinks his youngest son is a debt collector?]

Mingzhuo: "Not only that, he also suspected that his younger son was the reincarnation of his older son."

Cheng Jinlan hesitated for a moment, and then tears streamed down her face.

It wasn't until recently, when she kept dreaming about her eldest son and the village started promoting cremation, that she finally had the courage to ask about the whereabouts of her eldest son's remains.

Then he heard something extremely terrifying: the husband said that a wise man had instructed him to whip her corpse all night long on the night she gave birth in order to prevent the debt-collecting ghost from being reborn into their family!

Then they picked up the remains and threw them into the bridge pier under construction, where thousands of people trampled on them, ensuring he would never be reincarnated.

Unfortunately, it was still not enough to prevent it. The youngest son was born with a mark on his face, which was the mark of the black ash he had smeared on Xie Cheng's face back then!

The man gritted his teeth and said that he had consulted a master again, and this time it would be foolproof.

Cheng Jinlan nearly collapsed upon hearing this. Her son was not given a proper burial; instead, his corpse was whipped and he was suppressed under the bridge.

She felt her husband was being unreasonable, had a big argument with him, and didn't want to stay at home, so she came to visit her daughter.

Mingzhuo couldn't help but frown, "Do you have your husband's and your youngest son's birth dates and times, or photos would be fine too!"

Her tone was very serious, and Cheng Jinlan hurriedly gave out her birth date and time.

Mingzhuo did the math for a moment and quickly said, "Call the police right now! Your husband has gone to his hometown, and he's going to kill your youngest son!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Xiao Xie couldn't stand it anymore; she felt that everything she had heard tonight was too absurd.

She knew her father would also scold her younger brother as a troublemaker, but that was because he was spoiled, always sick, and caused a lot of trouble for the family.

Just because of this, Dad wanted to kill his brother? That's impossible!

This streamer is a fraud; I fell for their scam!

"You just wait, I'm going to report you! Don't think you're safe hiding behind the internet, I'm not someone to be trifled with!" Xiao Xie was completely enraged.

Cheng Jinlan felt a sudden pang of anxiety for no apparent reason, and took out her phone to send a video.

The call was answered quickly, and my father-in-law appeared on the screen.

"Dad! Why is Zude's phone with you? Did he go back to his hometown?"

Xiao Xie was stunned for a moment. Why didn't her father tell her when he went back to his hometown?

"He's back, but he's gone out again..."

"Where's Xiaoyu?" Cheng Jinlan asked anxiously.

"Xiaoyu is sleeping inside..." The old man pushed open the door and looked inside, then exclaimed in surprise, "Oh dear, where is Xiaoyu? He's gone out to play again!"

Cheng Jinlan felt a sudden darkness before her eyes and cried out, "Dad, hurry and find Xiaoyu! Zude is going to kill Xiaoyu!"

The father-in-law didn't believe it at all. How could this be? Even if he didn't like Xiaoyu that much, he wouldn't kill the child.

The old man was even a little angry: "Zu De must have taken the kids out to play. Are you crazy? Don't you want things to be better at home?"

Cheng Jinlan was extremely anxious, and Mingzhuo said, "Hold the phone up to me, I'll talk to the old man."

The old man was a little confused. What was going on?

Mingzhuo stared at the old man for two seconds. "Judging from your facial features, the peach blossom pattern on your temple indicates that you were a womanizer in your youth and liked to have affairs. So, where were you fourteen years ago, the night Xie Cheng drowned?"

The old man's expression immediately changed, and he asked warily, "What do you mean?"

"What you mean is, that night you used the excuse of playing with the children to sneak out and have a secret rendezvous with someone, which resulted in Xie Cheng drowning after exhausting himself while trying to save four people. You were afraid of taking responsibility, so you turned around and accused Xie Cheng of wanting to go swimming on his own."

This is the truth about that night.

The four families initially felt guilty and wanted to apologize, but the old man insisted that he had seen Xie Cheng go into the water to play by himself. Since that was the case, why not just go with the flow?

Otherwise, their son would be the one getting scolded.

Cheng Jinlan was completely stunned. For fourteen years, she had suspected that she had misheard the phone call, but she never expected that her father-in-law was trying to smear her child.

"Dad, how could you do this?!" Her words were filled with anguish.

She said that Xie Cheng was smart and sensible since childhood, how could he be naughty and go into the water to play!

The old man's eyes darted away. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

He was extremely flustered. He had kept this a secret for fourteen years. Why was his daughter-in-law bringing up old grievances again?

I took care of Xiaoyu and Xiaoyu for her all these years, and I've cherished Xiaoyu like the apple of my eye. Don't I deserve credit for that?

Besides, Xie Cheng was foolish enough to insist on saving people and died in the Black Sand River. He was a troublemaker to begin with, and I didn't say anything wrong.

Why would someone protect a debt collector? Maybe he was just there to cause trouble for their family.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Police!"

The old man stared at the police officer in uniform, completely dumbfounded: "Seriously? I just told a lie, and they're calling the police to arrest me for this?"

Wow, he admitted it!

[He was lying back then, how disgusting!]

It's so unfair to the child. He was clearly a little hero, yet he was betrayed by his own family and left with a tarnished reputation even after his death.

[No, who called the police?]