Chapter 171 Uninvited Guest
"How old are you all? Still playing wildly in the snow?" Wang Meihua's voice suddenly came through the crack in the door, with a hint of reproach.
She walked out quickly, wearing a cotton-padded coat and carrying a thick cloak. Without a word, she wrapped it around Xia Qianqian and turned to Lu Zheng to scold him: "Look at you, how old are you? You still have no sense of propriety! Qianqian is pregnant, what if she gets cold?"
Lu Zheng felt like a child who had done something wrong after being scolded by her. He awkwardly touched his nose and whispered to Xia Qianqian, "Let's go inside quickly."
Xia Qianqian's eyes were practically overflowing with laughter as she watched him look so embarrassed.
The room was warm and cozy. Wang Meihua worked quickly and efficiently, arranging the bright green cabbage, the pink radishes, and the thinly sliced meat neatly on a plate. The gleaming copper pot was already placed on the charcoal fire, the water inside bubbling gently.
"We're just waiting for the water to boil!" Daya and Erya leaned over the table, their little noses almost touching the edge of the pot.
Seeing the pot start to boil, Lu Zheng quickly picked up his chopsticks: "The water's boiling, Qianqian, let me help you rinse it."
Lu Zheng picked up a slice of mutton as thin as a cicada's wing, dipped it in the boiling water for a few seconds, and the bright red slice instantly turned into an enticing light brown, curling slightly. He carefully placed the slice into Xia Qianqian's bowl, then scooped a spoonful of his homemade chive blossom and sesame paste, and the aroma instantly filled the air.
Xia Qianqian's mouth watered, and she was about to put the meat slices into her mouth when suddenly there was a series of urgent knocks on the gate.
"Who could it be on such a cold day?" She frowned, her heart skipped a beat. Could it be someone in the village who had fallen seriously ill and came to her for medical help?
Thinking about this, she couldn't eat anything anymore and suddenly stood up to leave.
Lu Zheng quickly grabbed her: "You're pregnant, and it's snowing heavily outside. I'll go check on you."
Xia Qianqian shook her head, her voice tinged with worry: "If it's really an emergency, we can't delay. Let's go together."
Seeing that he couldn't persuade her otherwise, Lu Zheng quickly found a thick cloak to wrap around her, and then took off his own leather hat and put it on her, tying the hatstring tightly before leading her towards the door.
A cold wind, carrying snowflakes, slipped in through the crack in the door, causing the lamp wick to flicker.
The two had just reached the courtyard gate when the door was pounded on loudly, even more urgently than before.
Lu Zheng replied in a deep voice, "Who?"
The person outside seemed to hesitate for a moment before a soft female voice came from outside, tinged with timid inquiries: "Excuse me, is this the Lu family residence?"
Her accent didn't sound like that of someone from the village. Lu Zheng stepped forward and unlatched the door, letting in a woman wearing a patched old cotton-padded coat, the cold wind blowing in.
When the door suddenly opened, she was startled and cried out, staggering back two steps before she could see Lu Zheng and Xia Qianqian behind the door.
"Who are you looking for?" Lu Zheng asked in a deep voice, frowning.
The woman's gaze swept over his face twice before she timidly asked, "You are... Brother Lu?"
Lu Zheng was taken aback upon hearing this, and his brows furrowed even more. He didn't remember knowing such a person.
Seeing that he didn't recognize her, the woman became anxious, "Brother Lu, don't you recognize me? I'm your sister-in-law! We met back then!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng's gaze swept over the woman's chapped hands and her faded, patched cotton-padded coat, his jawline taut.
It took him a full three breaths to remember who she was.
The woman in front of me is the one who ran off with the compensation money, abandoned her three-year-old daughter, and remarried overnight!
His face darkened instantly, and his aura was colder than the wind and snow outside the courtyard: "What are you doing here?"
Xia Qianqian was startled by his sudden change in demeanor. Just as she was about to ask, "Who is this?", she heard Lu Zheng squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "She is Da Ya's biological mother."
Is it her?
Looking at the pale, thin woman with evasive eyes, Xia Qianqian felt a surge of anger. She had cruelly abandoned her child back then, and now that she was down on her luck, she came back to her door. What was she up to?
She stepped forward, blocking Lu Zheng's path, her voice as cold as ice: "I don't care whose sister-in-law you are, what are you doing at the Lu family?"
The woman shrank back, startled by her sharp gaze, twisting her clothes with her hands, and stammered, "I just wanted to come and see... to see the child."
"Watching the child?" Xia Qianqian sneered, her eyes surging with anger.
"When you abandoned her back then, didn't you ever think of looking after her? Daya was chasing after your oxcart in the snow, crying, did you even glance back?"
Lin Guizhi was shocked that the two of them showed no mercy at all. Her face turned pale and then red, and she was so embarrassed that she almost dug her toes into the ground.
She bit her chapped lips, her eyes slightly red, and her voice trembled with tears: "I was foolish and did something wrong back then, but a prodigal son who returns is more precious than gold. You have to give me a chance to make amends, right? I know I was wrong now, and I want to take my own flesh and blood back. Is that... is that wrong too?"
She spoke the last few words with such self-righteousness, as if she were the one who had suffered a great injustice.
Lu Zheng frowned, his heart indeed wavering.
Daya always eagerly helped Qianqian with chores, and her sensible nature, without arguing or competing, was heartbreaking. Yet, he had seen her staring blankly at the village entrance more than once.
If Lin Guizhi can truly repent and give Daya a complete family...
"Qianqian, why don't we let her in first?" Lu Zheng said in a low voice.
Upon hearing this, Lin Guizhi grasped at a straw and quickly said, "Yes, yes! I am her biological mother! Blood is thicker than water, Brother Lu!"
Xia Qianqian glanced at Lin Guizhi and noticed that her eyes were shifting, and she felt that there was a hint of scheming hidden deep in her eyes.
But since Lu Zheng had already given his consent, she didn't argue anymore. She simply nodded calmly and stepped aside to make way for him.
No matter what this woman was up to, Xia Qianqian was not someone to be trifled with; she would deal with whatever came her way.
As soon as Lin Guizhi stepped into the courtyard, a rich and enticing aroma of hot pot wafted towards her, causing her red, frostbitten nose to twitch violently a few times.
These days, who isn't tightening their belts to make ends meet? How come the Lu family can still afford to eat meat? No wonder I heard people in town say that the Lu family has been doing very well these past two years.
She couldn't help but swallow, her voice tinged with craving: "Brother Lu, what delicious food are you eating? It smells so good it's almost bewitching!"
Lin Guizhi rushed into the house like a gust of wind without waiting for the two to answer.
Seeing the plates of red and white slices of meat on the table, her eyes widened, and like a hungry wolf pouncing on its prey, she reached out and grabbed them.
The scalding hot slices of meat burned her so much that she kept shaking her hands, but she couldn't bear to throw them away, so she stuffed them whole into her mouth, with oil dripping down the corners of her mouth.
Xia Qianqian felt a wave of nausea as she looked at her ravenous, starving face.
The next time she saw that her gaze hadn't lingered on her daughter for a single second since she entered the house, and that her mind was completely focused on the meat on the table, Xia Qianqian finally understood.
All her remorse is fake; she only cares about herself and doesn't act like a mother at all.
She's a cold-blooded animal who would abandon her own daughter for the sake of her stutter!
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