The scene was so bizarre that Baoning's heart began to beat fast and her fingertips felt cold. Pei Yuan held her in his arms and said unhappily, "Sister-in-law, why are you here so late at night?"

Baoning realized that the woman was Su Mingyu. She was pregnant, and there was no other pregnant woman in the manor.

Yuanzi saw Baoning, screamed and ran off the bed, and threw herself into her arms.

Su Mingyu turned around slowly, and Baoning saw her face, which was so pale that it was scary. She was very thin, with arms and legs as thin as firewood sticks, and only her belly was protruding. Even though her face was beautiful, it couldn't hide this strangeness. Baoning had a feeling that the woman in front of her was not simple, but she couldn't tell where she was. Baoning

became alert.

Pei Yuan pulled Baoning and Yuanzi behind him to block them. He took a step forward and said coldly, "Sister-in-law, have you not recovered yet?"

"This child," Su Mingyu stared at Yuanzi's shadow behind him, "Does this child look like his father or his mother?"

Pei Yuan frowned, "What do you mean, sister-in-law?"

"Does he look more like daddy or mommy?" Su Mingyu slowly walked to three steps in front of Yuanzi, squatted down, looked into his eyes, and asked him, "Has anyone said that you don't look like daddy? Has anyone doubted it? If you are not your daddy's child, what will happen? Will your mom be beaten to death? Will she be put in a pig cage and spit on by thousands of people because the child she gave birth to is not your daddy's child?"

Pei Yuan looked at her carefully. Su Mingyu seemed to have lost his soul, completely different from the solemn and dignified manner during the day, and spoke words that he could not understand.

Baoning held Yuanzi in his arms. Yuanzi did not dare to cry and bit her lips tightly.

Su Mingyu asked slowly, "So, are you more like Daddy or Mom?"

"Sister-in-law!" Pei Yuan could no longer bear it and shouted, "If you still act like this, I can only throw you into Lihu Lake to wake you up!"

Su Mingyu shuddered and stood up suddenly. Her rationality returned, and a trace of helplessness flashed in her eyes. She looked at the trembling Yuanzi, then at Pei Yuan, who looked as gloomy as water, and said urgently, "Fourth brother, listen to my explanation..."

She couldn't explain it again.

Bao Ning tried to smooth things over, saying, "Maybe my sister-in-law was too tired during the day and had a nightmare just now."

Su Mingyou looked at her gratefully and said quickly, "Yes, fourth brother, I just had a nightmare. I'm so sorry to wake you up so late at night." After she finished speaking, she touched Yuanzi's face, "Don't be afraid, auntie won't hurt you..."

Yuanzi ran away from her, and Su Mingyou's hand froze in place awkwardly.

She swallowed her saliva, stood up straight, and said to Pei Yuan in a serious tone, "Fourth brother, I have been married to your eldest brother for more than four years. I know a lot of things, and I also know your concerns. You are worried that I have had contact with Pei Xiao, right? No, never. You can check. I have never done anything bad to you, not now and not in the future."

Bao Ning thought that Su Mingyou was really as the rumors said, a very smart person.

Because of her words, Pei Yuan's face was indeed much more relaxed, and he said lightly: "Sister-in-law, go to bed early, we will go to bed too."

Su Mingyu agreed. Baoning also said goodbye to her. She was worried that Yuanzi was frightened, so she waved him out to sleep with her and Pei Yuan.

Seeing them all leave, Su Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the wall, her forehead was full of cold sweat.

She touched her belly and murmured: "My child, do you look like daddy or mommy? Don't look like daddy, what if someone recognizes you?"

...

The next morning, Baoning got up early and made a very rich breakfast.

One was for Yuanzi, and the other was that today was Pei Yuan's detoxification day. Baoning felt sorry for him and wanted to give him something good to eat.

A large plate of steamed river shrimp, a basket of crab roe buns, lean meat porridge, cold shredded chicken, and sweet and sour cucumber.

When they were halfway through the meal, Chen Jia came and said that there was news from the Lihu government office. No one reported their child missing yesterday, but they had arranged personnel to check every household, and it was estimated that there would be results within five days. Lihu is not very big and it is far from the surrounding cities and counties. Yuanzi's home should be in Lihu Town, which is not difficult to find.

Baoning asked Chen Jia to bring some reward money to the government office so that they would be more careful. Chen Jia took the order and went out.

Pei Yuan peeled the shrimp slowly, threw the shrimp into Baoning's bowl, and looked at Yuanzi. He couldn't go home for a few days, and he was thought to be more or less sad, but Yuanzi ate happily as if nothing had happened. He didn't seem to want to go home at all, nor did he miss his parents.

"Yuanzi." Pei Yuan called his name, Yuanzi looked up and called him daddy in a baby voice.

Pei Yuan smiled, and did not force him to change his words. Instead, he gently picked up a piece of food and gave it to him, and asked: "Are your family members not nice to you?"

Yuanzi thought about it and shook his head.

"Then they are very good to you?"

Yuanzi still shook his head.

Pei Yuan reached out to touch the garlic, lowered his head to peel it, and asked casually: "Is it good or bad?"

"I think," Yuanzi stuttered, his eyes bright, "I want to stay here!"

He spoke unclearly, and Pei Yuan had to work hard to understand what he said. He looked at Baoning in surprise.

Baoning asked: "Why?"

Yuanzi stopped talking.

Pei Yuan blew the garlic skin on his fingertips, and suddenly thought of a guess, and asked Bao Ning: "Do you think that this child was abused at home and ran away?"

"No way..." Bao Ning pursed his lips, "Let's wait for the government to get news in a few days. If the parents are really like that, just take the dumplings. You can't push them back to the wolf's den."

"Don't." Pei Yuan stopped him, bit a garlic clove, and lowered his head to drink porridge, "Grandpa gave birth to a son, so there is no need to pick up other people's leftovers."

Bao Ning took a breath and pushed his arm gently: "Don't always say such things in front of the child."

"Yes, yes, yes." Pei Yuan was helpless, "Can't you just stop talking?"

As they were talking, there was a burst of fierce dog barking outside, accompanied by a woman's scream. The barking of the mastiff was earth-shaking, and Pei Yuan's hand trembled, and the remaining half of the garlic clove fell to the ground.

Baoning ran out to see

what was happening. Su Mingyu stood at the door in a daze. Jixiang was five steps away from her, barking wildly. Aunt Liu slapped the ground with a stick to stop him: "Jixiang, Jixiang, stop biting. What if you scare Madam?"

Jixiang didn't listen at all. He didn't have a leash, so he kicked up with his hind legs and rushed over, tearing the hem of Su Mingyu's skirt.

Aunt Liu was so frightened that she dropped her stick and rushed forward to hold Jixiang with her body.

Su Mingyu fell to the ground in shock, grabbing the remaining half of her skirt. Fortunately, she was wearing a middle shirt underneath, so her legs were not bitten.

Aunt Liu was fat and held Jixiang tightly, shouting to the servants who were stunned by the shock: "Go and get a rope!"

"Sister-in-law, are you okay?" Baoning recovered and ran over to help Su Mingyu up, carrying her into the house, "Does your stomach hurt? I'll call a doctor for you!"

"It's okay." Su Mingyu smiled at her with a pale face, "I'll just rest for a while."

Baoning apologized: "Sister-in-law, I didn't know you were back now. Jixiang is wild and hard to tame. If I knew you were coming, I would have tied it up."

Pei Yuan stood aside, speechless. Yuanzi was still eating, with half a bun stuffed in his mouth. He stared at Su Mingyou and suddenly said, "Dogs only bite bad people."

Everyone present was stunned. Su Mingyu's face was indescribable. She covered her stomach and said, "What does this child mean?"

"Children speak without restraint." Baoning signaled Pei Yuan to take Yuanzi to the inner room to eat, and turned back to comfort Su Mingyu, saying, "Children are imitating, maybe they heard nonsense from somewhere, so I'll say it here, sister-in-law, don't take it to heart. Yuanzi got lost on the street yesterday, and her parents are still looking for her at the government office. She is staying at our house."

Su Mingyu smiled and said, "It's better to find her earlier. The child's identity is unclear, and I'm afraid she will cause gossip if she stays at home."

Baoning agreed with her and asked, "Sister-in-law, are you really okay? It's better to see a doctor."

Su Mingyu waved her hand. Baoning stopped talking. The atmosphere was extremely awkward for a while.

Qiu Lingyan was Bao Ning's previous experience. After that incident, Bao Ning always treated people with caution. She had never thought of having too much close contact with this adopted sister-in-law, so naturally she didn't care too much about her. Bao Ning thought that it was her duty to take care of Su Mingyou at home and give birth to a child, and to ensure that she was well fed and healthy. As for other credits, she didn't want them either.

"I just wanted to come and see you. What happened last night made me feel uncomfortable, so I came to apologize." Su Mingyou spoke awkwardly, breaking the silence, "I didn't expect you to raise a dog, and I happened to meet you guys having dinner. What a coincidence."

Bao Ning asked, "Did sister-in-law eat?"

"...Yes."

There was nothing else to say.

Pei Yuan came out of the inner room. He heard the conversation and stood behind Bao Ning. He asked, "Sister-in-law, do you want to eat more?"

Su Mingyue said, "I can't eat anymore."

She was really embarrassed. She felt that the couple really had nothing to say to her. She didn't want to make trouble anymore and hurriedly said goodbye and left.

Pei Yuan asked someone to see her off.

After such a tiring meal, the food was cold. Fortunately, they were all full. She told Aunt Liu to leave. Bao Ning took Pei Yuan to take care of the child.

Pei Yuan lay on the bed on his side, twisting the string of the jade pendant on his waist in his hand, staring at them with half-lidded eyes.

Baoning took out her slingshot again, grabbed a handful of small beans, and drew several circles with lime five steps away. She and Yuanzi competed, and whoever could throw the beans into the circle would be the winner.

Yuanzi was having a lot of fun, and Baoning was also happy. Pei Yuan had a wooden face, thinking that these two people were really boring.

Throwing beans, picking beans, it didn't take long for the two of them to sweat. Pei Yuan moved to the inside of the bed, patted the bed board and said, "Come and rest, I will tell you a story."

Baoning ran over and snuggled in his arms, and Pei Yuan hugged her shoulders. Yuanzi sat cross-legged beside him, looking at Pei Yuan eagerly.

"I'll tell you a ghost story." Pei Yuan smiled with the corners of his mouth curled up. He jumped his fingers on Baoning's shoulder and asked, "Have you seen a spider?"

Baoning said, "Of course I have." Yuanzi also nodded.

"Some spiders are poisonous. If a person eats a poisonous spider by mistake, he will die. But there is a kind of spider that is poisonous but will not kill you. Instead, you will turn into a spider man." Pei Yuan said slowly, "Once upon a time, there was a scholar who went to the capital to take an exam. One night, it was raining. He was walking in the wilderness and saw a ruined temple. He quickly hid inside. The scholar had no money and had eaten all his dry food. He could only eat the fruits offered in the temple. But he didn't know that these fruits were not for Buddha, but for a kind of spider. Rumor has it that the village at the foot of the mountain was cursed by the spider, and one day, this spider would kill them all."

Bao Ning nervously grasped Pei Yuan's sleeve and asked, "Then what?"

"In the fruit the scholar ate, there happened to be a spider that was about to lay eggs. He ate the mother spider and felt that it was a little sweet."

Baoning asked: "Then what happened?"

"After he finished eating, he went to sleep. But unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, his throat suddenly became tighter and tighter, and he couldn't speak. He woke up in shock and quickly used his fingers to dig it out, and pulled out a ball of red spider web. The scholar was terrified and kept digging, but there were more and more spider webs in his throat, and he slowly couldn't breathe."

Baoning asked: "Did he die?"

"Later, the scholar's left arm snapped, and his leg also broke. Two very thin spider legs covered with short and thick hair quickly grew from the broken limbs. His left belly also gradually grew bigger, bulging and blood-red, like a spider's belly, swelling up. And the eyes on the left side of his face were like big round bells. He turned into a spider man and learned to walk like a spider, very quickly, and could even climb walls."

Bao Ning asked, "Then what happened?"

Pei Yuan said lazily, "Then he went down the mountain and ate everyone in the village. That's all."

Bao Ning almost didn't catch her breath. When she thought of the strange appearance of the spider man, she was sweating. It was too scary.

Bao Ning hurried to see Yuan Zi, fearing that he was frightened by Pei Yuan's inexplicable spider-man story. Just as she was about to hug him and comfort him, she met his incredulous eyes.

Yuan Zi shook his head and said firmly, "No, you won't die from eating spiders, and you won't turn into a spider-man."

It was rare for him to speak this sentence clearly and neatly, like the pronunciation of a five-year-old child.

Pei Yuan asked with interest, "Why?"

Yuan Zi said, "I, I have eaten a lot."

"Are you sleepy and talking in your sleep?" Bao Ning smiled. She looked at the sky outside. The sun had risen to the top, and said, "It's time to take a nap."

She straightened Yuan Zi's clothes and took his little hand to the side room: "Come on, auntie will take you to bed."

Yuan Zi went obediently.

While Yuanzi was sleeping, Baoning took out a fat leech and performed the second detoxification on Peiyuan this month. They were already used to this process. Except for the initial pain, everything else was fine. Peiyuan was still energetic enough to chat with Baoning. However, the poisonous blood sucked out by the leech was still dark black, which was completely unchanged from the last time.

Every time at this time, Baoning would worry whether Aunt Ming's method would work, and how long Pei Yuan's current body could hold on. Will he suddenly collapse? No one can tell.

But there is no other way. He can only accompany him one day at a time, maybe there will be a way when the car reaches the mountain.

The leech that was full of blood fell on the quilt. Because of the blood loss, Pei Yuan felt tired and closed his eyes for a nap. Baoning went to put away the medicine jars.

When Yuanzi woke up and staggered in, no one saw him.

He went to Pei Yuan's side, saw the fat black leech, picked it up and looked at it, and put it into his mouth without thinking.