Even if the villagers couldn't see clearly, the old lady could tell by the general figure: "Second brother, you are a rare guest. Why are you here today? What's the matter?"

As soon as the group sat down, the old lady started asking what could be the matter with a midwife like her, not to mention that she hadn't done this job in many years.

"Aunt Meng, I wanted to ask you today, were you the midwife when Ye Zi was born?"

The old lady was stunned and squinted her eyes to carefully look at the people who came over. Now that the distance was closer, she could see more clearly. Finally, her eyes fell on Cen Boxu's face and did not move away.

The old lady just stared at Cen Boxu without saying a word. They all looked at Cen Boxu's face, and then at Chen Ye's face. The two of them looked too similar when put together.

After a long while, the old lady finally sighed and said, "This young man must be Ye Zi's relative, right?"

Cen Boxu nodded: "If I'm not mistaken, Ye Zi should be my daughter." When he mentioned his daughter, his body subconsciously became straighter.

The old lady slapped her thigh and looked a little excited: "Oh, what do you mean? Didn't you say you were sacrificed?" How could a dead person come back to life?

No, who is so wicked? He is alive and well, yet you say he is dead: "Then why didn't you come to find Xiao Liu and her daughter when you were still alive?"

Without waiting for Cen Boxu to continue answering, the old lady began to chatter. That's how old people are, they talk about whatever comes to their mind.

"Xiao Liu was a very miserable child. She came to our village with a big belly and her clothes were all tattered. I don't know how much hardship she had to endure."

"I guess if she really couldn't hold on any longer, she might not have settled in the village."

"I remember Xiao Liu said that her husband was a soldier and disappeared without a trace. Now that she has a child, she wanted to find you to tell you that she is pregnant."

"But after finally begging and getting here, I found the army, and the people there told me you were gone."

"She was a pregnant woman with no other options, so she thought about going back, but she couldn't walk back in her condition at the time. I remember Xiao Liu told me that her home was very far away."

"The old village chief was still around at the time. Seeing she was a martyr's family member, he kindly let her stay first. After she gave birth, she could leave if she wanted. Otherwise, she would die before she could reach her hometown."

"Life was hard back then, and no one had extra food. Xiao Liu had nothing, and everyone thought that the family couldn't afford much food, so they all pooled their resources to help Xiao Liu get by for a while."

"Xiao Liu is a capable person. He will be able to support himself soon. Although his life will be hard, he will not starve to death."

"She was just unlucky. Who could have imagined that she would bleed profusely during childbirth and die, leaving behind only a newborn baby girl. She was so pitiful that she begged me to help find a good family for the child."

The old lady may have recalled the original scene, and her eyes turned red. Being a woman has a hard life. Giving birth is really like having one foot in the gate of hell. Whether you can make it through depends on luck.

"How did that child get to my eldest brother's house?" Chen Shengli continued to ask in confusion.

This old lady is also wrong. How could she secretly replace the child? There is no one in the village who can raise Ye Zi. After all, this child is the descendant of a martyr. There are many descendants of martyrs in the village.

Chen Shengli paused when he thought about this. The person was still alive and well. What martyr or not? Just pretend that he didn’t think about anything just now.

The old lady felt a little guilty when she spoke of this: "Ah...what a coincidence. Your eldest brother's daughter-in-law gave birth that morning, and Xiao Liu gave birth to Ye Zi in the afternoon."

"Xiao Liu was dying, so I thought I'd find someone who had just given birth to take care of her for two days. I'll take care of Xiao Liu's funeral and then find a good family for Ye Zi."

The old lady squinted her eyes and looked into the void, as if recalling what happened at that time: "I took the child to Old Chen's house, but there was no one in the yard when I got there. It seemed that the couple had gone to the county town to see the child."

"I was thinking, these old couple are really worthless. Instead of taking care of their daughter-in-law who just gave birth, they went to see their son who married into the family. It seems like they don't like the mother and daughter at all."

"I carried the child to Dasheng's room. When I entered, Dasheng's wife was fast asleep. The child who was left beside her was already dead, and her little body was stiff."

"I was thinking, if they knew you had a girl, your eldest brother and sister-in-law would scold you. If you didn't take good care of the child and the child died, who knows how they would torture your eldest brother's wife in the future."

"It's not easy for Dasheng's wife. She lives alone without a man by her side. Her life is so hard."

"I wonder if she, as a woman, can bear the loss of this child? What a sin! I glanced at the child in my arms and immediately thought that Dasheng's wife might not even know the child is gone."

"I'll swap the two kids. Dasheng's wife doesn't even know about it. She thinks this is her own daughter. Having a child around gives me something to look forward to, right?"

"It just so happens that Dasheng's child is gone. If I go down with Xiaoliu, he'll be a companion and I won't be lonely on the road."

"That's it. No one found out I switched the baby. Even if your eldest brother and sister-in-law are not good people, they shouldn't be too harsh on their own granddaughter. They can be nicer to this child."

"After I came back, I talked to Xiao Liu about it and told her to leave your child with someone else to help raise him. If you can guide their child, he will be born into a good family and live a good life in the future."

They have a saying here that children who die at birth are not allowed to be buried. They are directly thrown into the back mountain to be taken away by wild animals.

Of course, there are also parents who are reluctant to part with their children and just dig a hole to bury them. However, these are still a minority. Most of them are thrown naked into a ravine in the back mountain.

"I thought I was the only one who knew about this, but after seeing how Dasheng's wife treated Ye Zi, I knew that she knew her child was gone. But at that time, I didn't know what to say."

"The child is growing up day by day. I can't take him back and send him to another family. I can only secretly give him some food occasionally to keep him alive."

She was also afraid. If her parents knew that she was the one who sent the child there, they would definitely make a fuss. Those two were a lot of trouble. She selfishly wanted to live a peaceful life, so she didn't say it out loud.

Unexpectedly, Dasheng's wife didn't say anything. She thought it was better to just let it go. It was just a girl. She would be fine when she grew up and got married.