Hearing the noise, Xie Laoda quickly moved his body, tilted his head back, and weakly called out, "Third brother, third brother, I'm here, I'm here."

The third brother he mentioned came looking for the sound, poked his head out and said, "Uncle, why did you go down into the ditch?"

"My leg is probably broken, quickly find a way to get me up there."

After Xie finished speaking, he immediately lost his strength and fainted again.

He fainted, and his nephews from the second wife had no choice but to work together to carry him upstairs and take him home.

When she learned that her eldest son, who was more trouble than he was worth, had broken his leg, Old Mrs. Xie was practically going crazy.

She sent her grandson to fetch a hunter from the village to fix the man's leg, then threw him back into the main house and left him there.

"Where are the eldest son's family? They haven't come back yet? What time is it? The whole family is still running off to escape to a life of leisure. They're all heartless beasts. I've wasted all these years raising them. Tomorrow morning I'm going to go and beat the grievance drum at the county government office."

Xie Lao Er also found his elder brother in the way and couldn't help but start cursing.

"Go and call them back tomorrow, I want to divide the family property!"

Grandma Xie sat in the chair with a long face. She didn't want to wait for her backer to return and was planning to get the important matter done.

The unconscious Xie Laoda was unaware that he was about to be kicked out of the house, let alone that Xie Ming was preparing to run away with his mother, siblings and other family members.

Yes, Xie Ming never even considered taking care of Xie Laoda in his old age.

He'd seen enough of that family's jokes, and with those two ungrateful wretches about to be born, he naturally had to take his family and leave as soon as possible.

So when the Xie brothers arrived at Yunlai Temple the next day, they were told that Xie Chunniang had been taken away by her brothers the day before, and they did not know where she went.

The brothers from the second wife's family were dumbfounded. What did it mean by leaving?

Immediately, someone remembered that Xie Xia Niang, the eldest daughter of the main wife, still lived at the foot of the nearby mountain. However, when they found the place, it was deserted.

What else could the crowd not understand?

Those with sharp minds thought to hurry to the county government office, as wandering around without a travel permit was a serious crime, but Xie Ming wasn't afraid of them reporting him to the authorities.

Because the new identities prepared by Master Changqing had already been given to Xie Ming, and they had abandoned their original identities when entering and leaving the county, where were they supposed to find the eldest son's family?

When the brothers from the second branch of the family returned to Shuangbei Village and told them about it, the Xie family was dumbfounded. Did the eldest branch of the family not even want their family property?

Grandma Xie also suspected that Xie Ming, that bad boy, might have known all along that he wasn't planning to give anything to the eldest son's family.

But no matter how much she thought about it, it was no use; the other person had already left the county and was now completely out of her grasp.

With nowhere to vent her anger, Old Mrs. Xie slammed her fist on the table and decided to give away her useless eldest son.

Just as Xie Laoda was regaining some consciousness, he was so angry that he fainted again after realizing that he had been abandoned by his wife and children.

He fainted, and Li Xiaomei was also about to collapse.

She hadn't slept a wink for a whole day and night. Nothing else was wrong, except for the excruciating pain in her stomach. The midwife had come to check on her several times, but always said she hadn't started giving birth yet.

But her sweat had already soaked the haystack completely, and she had no strength left in her body.

The brothers' wives fed him a bowl of sugar water and eggs, but they didn't stay by his side, since there were other chores to do at home.

Her mother took her daughter-in-law home last night and probably won't come back until after sunset.

Li Xiaomei was in pain for three whole days, and it wasn't until the early morning of the fourth day that she showed signs of giving birth.

The midwife came over, checked on her, and then began to deliver the baby.

Knowing that she could finally give birth, Li Xiaomei cried and begged the midwife to hurry up and deliver the baby.

Another half day passed, and after the twins were successfully born, Li Xiaomei was already seeing stars and couldn't see anything clearly.

On the other side, Xie Lao Er's wife was overjoyed, holding her two children, and had no interest in checking on her daughter-in-law's condition.

Her family has twins, a boy and a girl! What a blessing!

No one in the entire county has ever heard of having one; the Xie family's second branch is the only one of its kind in the area.

But before she could even enjoy her moment, the midwife rushed out in a panic, shouting, "She's hemorrhaging! Quick, find a doctor!"

The Xie family was terrified when they heard this, and they quickly sent someone to fetch the village doctor.

Li Xiaomei felt extremely cold all over, constantly wishing that someone would come and give her an extra blanket and light a stove. She thought this to herself and murmured it to herself, but no one could understand her.

"That's nonsense."

The woman standing nearby noticed her mouth moving and making strange noises. She immediately grabbed the bowl of eggs and ran outside to call for help, her hands trembling.

Li Xiaomei had no idea what was happening outside. She seemed to see many scenes she had never seen before, including Xie Ming being forced to marry her, her daughter's frail figure, and many more.

Suddenly, she realized that what she had seen was completely different from what was happening now. Her eyes widened, and she shouted, "Xie Lei—!"

Then he coughed up blood and died.

The doctor who had just entered the outhouse and the other members of the Xie family all witnessed this scene. The doctor, carrying his medicine box, shook his head at everyone and left.

Xie Lao Er was holding his newborn son in the main room, cursing Li Xiaomei as a truly unlucky thing. A joyous occasion had been turned into a tragedy.

He looked at his newborn grandson with heartache and carried the two children back to his room.

Before he could even settle in, someone else came in, bringing news to the family that Xie Lei was gone.

The Xie family immediately burst into tears and screams, and his wife even fainted.

Xie Lao Er stared hatefully at the two swaddled babies on the bed, with only one thought in his mind: these are cursed children who bring misfortune to their parents.

At this moment, the two newborn babies on the bed were dumbfounded. They wondered if they had been born into the wrong family.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!