Chapter 58 Pit
With the addition of Zhou Jianguo's family of five, the table in the main room became unusually crowded.
"Why did you decide to come to my house today, my dear in-law?"
Gao Tiejun sat at the top, with Zhou Jianguo's father on his left and Gao Ming on his right.
That seat was originally meant for Dong Qiaoying, but Chen Yun heard her say that the Zhou family members mostly had ill intentions when they came to the door, so she deliberately pulled Gao Ming, who was in charge, to sit there instead.
Gao Fei sat next to Gao Ming, and even though his mother meant that Gao Ming was the one in charge at home, he wasn't unhappy at all. Instead, he happily hugged Gao Nianping and talked to her.
The eldest brother has the kind of handsome appearance that the older generation often describes: thick eyebrows and big eyes. None of his features are particularly outstanding, but they are all arranged in a just-right way.
Unlike Gao Ming, who occasionally displays a sharp side, Gao Fei seems to be a particularly good-tempered person, even speaking softly and gently to children.
Gao Nianping was particularly fond of this uncle he was meeting for the first time, and obediently waited for the meat to be put into his mouth.
Chen Yun looked directly upwards again.
Old Zhou grinned and popped a large piece of fatty meat into his mouth, then quickly took a sip of wine.
"We were just thinking that it's been a long time since we've been here! We didn't hear that you were having a banquet today. We just happened to be here."
Zhou Jianguo followed his father and hurriedly asked, "Dad, why didn't you tell me you were having a party at home? Otherwise, I would have come back earlier to help."
"I already told you and Gao Lan a few days ago, didn't I?" Gao Tiejun picked up his small wine glass, took a sip of baijiu, and his expression finally improved a bit: "Yesterday morning I said your second brother and sister-in-law would be home in the evening, didn't you hear me?"
There were no neighbors at the table, Gao Tiejun said quite bluntly, and then asked Gao Lan with a half-smile, "Did you hear that?"
Gao Lan shrugged, cautiously glancing at Gao Ming, and hurriedly nodded, "I heard you, I heard you."
Having just handed over fifty yuan for food in the afternoon, Gao Lan's fear of her second brother, Gao Ming, was at its peak, and she dared not say anything carelessly.
"Since you've already heard it, why are you still asking?"
The blunt and direct question made Zhou Jianguo's round face turn red, and he was so taken aback that he didn't know how to respond.
Gao Tiejun would never have spoken like this before. As long as Gao Lan didn't have any children, the Gao family felt inferior.
"Don't be offended, in-law!" Old Zhou calmly took over the conversation, his greasy mouth reeking of alcohol as he spoke: "Jianguo hasn't been in a good mood lately. You know, he's over thirty and still doesn't have a man or woman in his house. Anyone would feel bad in that situation."
Chen Yun felt that Old Man Zhou and Zhou Jianguo were indeed father and son; not only did they look alike, but their expressions of taking things for granted were exactly the same.
Gao Tiejun was taken aback, and his momentum instantly diminished.
Just then, a slender hand suddenly reached out and poured a glass of wine for Old Man Zhou, passing over Gao Tiejun.
“Look at what Uncle Zhou is saying. Not having children is a matter for both of them, how can you blame only my sister?”
Old Zhou raised an eyebrow: "If a woman can't have a child, can you blame the man? Our Jianguo is in excellent health... He's no worse than anyone else on the bed."
"Jianguo even tells you about things inside the house!" Gao Ming looked surprised, glancing at Zhou Jianguo and then at Old Man Zhou: "Besides, who says that being good on the kang (heated brick bed) means you can definitely have a baby?"
As she spoke, her gaze swept over Chen Yun, and she continued, "I've heard my husband say that their hospital has treated many cases where couples can't have children because the men are impotent..."
Chen Yun knew it was her turn to speak, so she put down her chopsticks, cleared her throat, and continued, "There are so many cases like that. The woman comes in for a checkup and there are no problems, but in the end, it's always the man who has the problem."
"What problems could a man have? There are only hens that can't lay eggs!" Old Zhou retorted loudly, his face turning red and his neck thick from shouting.
After catching his breath, he pointed at Chen Yun and continued shouting, "I can't reason with a woman like you."
“I’m a doctor. Wouldn’t it be clear if there was a problem at the hospital?” Chen Yun said with a smile, while continuing to serve food to Gao Nian’an. “I see that Third Sister’s complexion is rosy, but Zhou Jianguo’s face is sallow. Could it be that there’s something wrong with him that’s preventing him from having children?”
“That’s right, my Gao Lan has always been healthy since she was a child,” Dong Qiaoying chimed in.
She had known the Zhou father and son's character for ten years. If she didn't talk back, the blame would really fall on her own head, and the neighborhood might start talking about Gao Lan's problem tomorrow.
"Uncle Zhou, please don't be offended!" Chen Yun immediately imitated the old man's tone from earlier, waving his hand unhurriedly: "Whoever's problem is going to the hospital for a checkup, how about this... I'll pay!"
"You..." Old Zhou had just opened his mouth when Gao Ming handed him another bottle of wine: "Uncle Zhou, please don't be offended! My wife was just trying to do what's best for the two of them. She wanted to go to the hospital to find out who had the problem, so that Zhou Jianguo wouldn't be wrongly accused."
"To be honest, it was my negligence as the father-in-law. We've been living in my house for so many years and I never suggested that Jianguo and Gaolan go to the hospital for a checkup. You know... it's been so long since we've had a chance to see a doctor," Gao Tiejun added.
They both shifted the blame for not having children onto Zhou Jianguo and indirectly told Old Man Zhou that his son was living at his father-in-law's house.
"Dad." Zhou Jianguo sensed that the atmosphere in the Zhou family was a bit different today. He knew that if he said anything more, he would definitely suffer a great loss. So he quickly pulled on the old man's arm and said, "We can't blame Gao Lan for not having children. It's just that my wife and I are not destined to have biological children."
Chen Yun raised an eyebrow, and Ruan Qiu immediately leaned over and whispered a reminder: "You might have been holding in a fart, be careful."
Old Zhou's eyes darted around for a moment, then he picked up his wine glass, tilted his head back, downed it in one gulp, clicked his tongue twice, and wiped his mouth.
"Let's not talk about having children, so as not to ruin the relationship between the two children."
Many eyes stared speechlessly at Old Man Zhou.
“I’ve discussed it with Zhou Jianguo’s mother! It’s not good to be childless all the time… What will we do when we get old?” She turned her head with a sincere expression, and even grasped Gao Tiejun’s hand when she got emotional: “After we’re gone, one of our two children has to take care of us in our old age and see us off in our final days…”
After going around in circles for a while, we've finally gotten to the main point.
The Zhou family really had something up their sleeve... They planned to give Zhou Laosan's son, who was only a few months old, to Zhou Jianguo for adoption.
They claim they're all family, but outsiders are definitely not as trustworthy as family.
The implication was that Zhou Laosan risked being caught having more children than allowed by the one-child policy specifically to give birth to this child for Zhou Jianguo's sake...
“That’s strange…” Ruanqiu suddenly muttered again.
He didn't lower his voice, but Old Zhou was speaking so passionately that he couldn't hear what the others around him were saying.
Li Huguo asked, "What's strange?"
"Zhou Laosan only has one daughter, yet he's willing to give her to his eldest brother?" Chen Yun answered, then paused and continued, "Old Zhou lets Laosan live at home, while he lets his eldest brother live at his father-in-law's house, living almost like a son-in-law living with his wife's family. Why do you think that is?"
"Old Zhou is biased towards Zhou Laosan." Dong Qiaoying scoffed disdainfully, then turned and glared fiercely at Gao Lan.
"So how could he possibly let Zhou Laosan's son be adopted by Zhou Jianguo? If he were to adopt someone, it would definitely be for his daughter." Chen Yun pouted.
"..."
"I think there's definitely something wrong with the child!"
No matter how eloquently Old Man Zhou spoke, not a single member of the Gao family showed the slightest sign of being moved.
Even Gao Lan, who initially had that thought, quickly calmed down after Chen Yun's analysis. As she thought about it, a chill ran through her body.
She shoved Zhou Jianguo hard: "Child, do you see what he looks like?"
“He’s in my younger brother’s and sister-in-law’s room, I didn’t see him.” Zhou Jianguo thought for a moment and then added, “Dad said we can take him out of the room on the day of the adoption. The baby is still breastfeeding, so we can’t do anything about it now.”
Snap—
Dong Qiaoying slammed her hand on the table.
“Bring the child over today so I can take a look. If there are no problems, we’ll register the child’s household registration in Gaolan tomorrow.”
Old Zhou completely ignored the first half of the sentence, his lips curled up into a wide smile, his eyes narrowing into slits.
"Then let's go register the baby this afternoon. We can send the baby over after weaning in two more months. Or you can raise the baby too..."
“No way.” Dong Qiaoying waved her hand to interrupt, directly refusing: “We have to see the child first, let my daughter-in-law check him over, and we can talk about adoption if there are no problems.”
Gao Ming stood up and said, "Adoption is a big deal. Let's go to the Zhou family to pick up the child. We can also ask Chen Yun to keep an eye on him while we're at it, so that our Gao family can't afford any problems that might arise."
“Then I’ll go back and get my stethoscope, and check the child’s heart while I’m at it,” Chen Yun said with a smile.
If there's a problem that's not immediately apparent, Chen Yun needs to check it carefully.
It was only then that Gao Tiejun finally got the hang of it. He coughed twice and, as if he couldn't resist his family's enthusiasm, grabbed Old Man Zhou's arm: "Come on, come on, I should go and see for myself. What if he really becomes my grandson!"
With Gao Ming on the left and Gao Tiejun on the right, Old Man Zhou was thus supported by the two men.
Dong Qiaoying made a point of announcing the "good news" to her neighbors in the courtyard, and even invited everyone to come and see for themselves and join in the fun.
The Zhou family lives in the next alley, only a five-minute walk away.
This loud shout made many people put down their chopsticks. Not many were happy for Gao Lan; most looked at Old Man Zhou with strange eyes.
They all lived in the same area, and everyone had heard about what kind of person Old Zhou was.
Even the neighbors suspected that Old Man Zhou had ulterior motives, not to mention Dong Qiaoying, his in-law who spent the most time with him, who was already certain that there was something wrong with the child.
"Let's go take a look." Old Jiang was the first to throw down his wine glass, wipe his mouth, and pick up his pipe to smack it: "We didn't even know when Zhou Laosan's wife secretly gave birth to a son."
"Let's go see the baby."
"Shouldn't we congratulate Lao Gao in advance? His grandchildren just returned to Beicheng, and now he has a grandson."
"Who knows if it's true or not? What if Old Zhou is just trying to trick Old Gao?"
"What can you possibly lie about... It's not like the Gao family doesn't have grandsons. They have three grandsons. Do you think they can leave their inheritance to their great-grandsons in the future?"
"Men and women are equal now!"
Anyway, there were all sorts of opinions, and it didn't matter what Old Man Zhou said since he was caught in the middle.
Zhou Jianguo was somewhat confused. He didn't use a single word of the explanation he had prepared. Gao Lan, whom he expected to be overjoyed, also looked at him with a strange expression.
He was practically dragged and pushed by the crowd to the Zhou family's house.
The Zhou family lived in a typical tenement courtyard, where more than a dozen families lived together, and every inch of the courtyard except for the space where people could walk was filled with houses.
Old Zhou lived in a red brick house built in the courtyard; the door was just a few steps away from the threshold.
"Hey girl, we're Gao Lan's parents! We've come to see our child." Gao Tiejun called out loudly into the house, then winked at Dong Qiaoying.
Chen Yun immediately reached out and pushed the door open.
By this time, many people in the courtyard had come out after hearing the commotion, and Gao Ming immediately told everyone about Old Man Zhou's plan.
"I thought to myself, we're in-laws, they wouldn't want to harm us, would they?"
"That's not necessarily true!"
Suddenly, an old man in the crowd, holding an enamel bowl, pursed his lips, spitting out rice grains as he pointed with his chopsticks at Zhou Laosan's wife's room.
"The baby hasn't been taken out of the house for four months. What normal person would do that?"
"Zhou Laosan said he was afraid the neighborhood committee would find out." Some people clearly had similar questions.
“What can the neighborhood committee do once the child is born? The Liu family across the street in Liushu Hutong also had an extra daughter, and in the end they were only fined 600 yuan and they got the child registered.”
"Old Zhou probably didn't want to give his grandson to Zhou Jianguo just to save on this fine!"
"Who knows..." The old man gestured towards the house with his chin, "The baby's been brought out, we'll see and know."
The baby was swaddled in a gray, worn-out garment. As soon as Dong Qiaoying brought the baby out, everyone smelled a strong odor of urine, which lingered in the air for a long time.
"How long has it been since the third son's wife changed the baby's diaper!" Zhou's neighbor, an elderly woman, pinched her nose and took a few steps back with a look of disgust on her face. "She's such a nice baby, and she's made him so dirty."
Dong Qiaoying's face also showed anger, and her cold light shone as she stared straight at Old Man Zhou.
When she went inside to pick up the baby, Zhou Laosan's wife was sleeping on another bed. The baby was covered by a thin blanket, with half of its face covered.
On such a hot day, the adults were sleeping with fans blowing on them, but the children were even covered with blankets.
Chen Yun stepped forward and lifted the corner of the blanket... and the thought "I knew it" came to mind.
The smell inside was truly awful, practically stench-filled. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law picked up the child and headed out without lingering.
Dong Qiaoying lowered the swaddling clothes so that everyone else in the yard could see it clearly.
"Good heavens, we've given birth to a fool." The old woman pinched her nose and approached, then immediately backed away in fright: "No wonder we didn't dare to bring him out."
The child's first impression is that his eyes are very wide-set, with amber pupils and many spots around the edges.
It had almost no bridge to its nose, its nostrils were agape and pointing upwards, and a fat tongue was unconsciously spitting out saliva from its small mouth.
Even though she was burning up and her whole body was red, she didn't utter a single cry or show any reaction.
A very typical appearance of a child with Down syndrome.
Most people haven't heard of Down syndrome, but after seeing so many children with this condition over the years, they all know that these children are mentally challenged.
"You old man Zhou, you've made up your mind to harm us!"
Dong Qiaoying carried the swaddled baby around, determined to make sure everyone could see the child's face clearly.
Gao Tiejun asked Chen Yun, "Is the child mentally challenged?"
“Down syndrome.” Chen Yun slowly shook his head: “And it’s a very severe type, with virtually no ability to take care of oneself.”
"Zhou Jianguo, you're ruthless!" Gao Lan was so angry she almost lost her mind. Her hands clenched into fists and her body trembled uncontrollably. Her gaze towards Zhou Jianguo was filled with hatred: "You were afraid the child would be a burden to the Zhou family, so you planned to bring him here to bring disaster to our Gao family!"
If they really did register the child's birth first and then take the child home as Old Zhou suggested... Gao Lan couldn't even imagine what she would do in the future.
I estimate that most people share the same thoughts as Gao Lan.
Chen Yun looked at Zhou Jianguo's shocked expression, which seemed genuine. It was as if he had also been tricked by his own father and was now caught in a dilemma.
“Gao Lan, I swear I didn’t know the child was mentally challenged… the third brother said…”
"Third brother! Third brother! It's all Zhou Laosan's fault! He told you to eat shit and you wouldn't go!" Gao Lan roared, then turned and rushed towards the door.
Zhou Jianguo quickly chased after him.
He truly knew nothing about it; he had only returned to the Zhou family yesterday to avoid any confrontation with Gao Ming.
His younger brother and father were worried that he would have no descendants, saying that it would be better to let the Zhou family's children enjoy the good life than to let outsiders inherit the property.
They were not only after Zhou Jianguo's money, but also the Gao family's house and the old couple's money.
Zhou Jianguo thought it made sense. His parents-in-law doted on Gao Lan, and they would eventually give them two rooms. Rather than letting outsiders benefit, it was better to let his own nephew get them.
He was wholeheartedly thinking of the Zhou family, but he never expected that Old Man Zhou would even harm his own son.
"You dislike it yourself, but you want Gao Lan to raise it for you." Dong Qiaoying almost shoved the swaddled baby into Old Man Zhou's face: "I knew you wouldn't be kind... Pah!"
"Old Zhou, you need to give me an explanation for what happened today." Gao Tiejun clenched his fist and pressed Old Zhou step by step: "Otherwise, Zhou Jianguo and my Gao Lan will not be able to live together."
"An explanation! What explanation!" Old Zhou stretched his neck, his face full of self-righteousness: "If you don't want to, then so be it, what explanation do you want! I never said anything about what the child looks like from beginning to end, you're the one who came to see him yourself."
"Have you no shame...?"
The arguing continued, and Chen Yun felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
When Zhou Laosan walked into the yard after get off work, he saw Zhou Laotou being grabbed by the collar by Gao Tiejun. Without saying a word, he clenched his fist and rushed over.
Seeing this, Gao Ming and Gao Fei immediately joined in.
The courtyard erupted into chaos as several men wrestled and fought. Dong Qiaoying shoved the swaddled baby into Chen Yun's hands and then turned around to grab Zhou Jianguo's mother's hair.
Chen Yun suddenly shuddered.
"With such a commotion, how could the child's mother not make a sound at all!"
From the moment the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went inside, took the child, and started arguing and fighting outside, the woman lying in bed remained completely unresponsive.
Chen Yun took the lead and quickly went inside to pull down the light cord.
The dimly lit room suddenly became bright.
The woman lay with her back to the door, her right hand resting awkwardly behind her, and the fan was blowing towards the foot of the bed.
"Hold the child first."
Chen Yun handed the child to Ruanqiu and took a few steps forward to turn the woman over.
I don't know if it was because the smell of feces and urine in the room was too strong, which masked the sour smell of vomit, but the smell only came out when the woman was turned over.
"She ate rat poison!" Chen Yun shouted as he turned and looked outside. His heart skipped a beat as he pressed two fingers against the woman's neck.
Ruanqiu immediately rushed to the door and shouted, "Stop fighting! The baby's mother has taken her medicine!"
Her curled-up body was already stiff, and even when Chen Yun turned her over, her twisted hand was still pressed down behind her in the same position.
His face had turned a horrible bluish-purple color, especially his nails and lips, which had become a dark purple.
His cloudy eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets, covered with spiderweb-like red blood vessels, and his left hand was gripping his collar so tightly that his knuckles were twisted and deformed from the extreme force.
"What's wrong!"
"Who took their medicine?!"
"Add some soapy water, just in case."
The crowd surged in, offering suggestions all at once, until Chen Yun shook his head at them with a grim face: "It's no use, he's already dead!"
It's unclear how much determination the woman had, but she didn't utter a single sound during this painful and agonizing process.
"What! Dead!" Zhou Laosan, who was grabbing his hair, froze for a moment, followed by a burst of rage. He didn't even glance at his wife on the bed: "You bitch, you're talking nonsense!"
Gao Ming grabbed the raised hand and dragged the person towards the bed: "Are you blind? Can't you see for yourself what it looks like?"
"..."
Judging from the woman's rigor mortis, she had been dead for at least six hours.
That is to say, no one came to this room for six hours or even longer, not even Old Man Zhou and his wife... or even Zhou Laosan.
No one cared what she was doing in the house, nor did anyone care whether she had eaten lunch.
"You beast!" Chen Yun cursed under his breath, then stepped aside and picked up a piece of paper from the foot of the bed: "If any of you had discovered this sooner, there might have been a chance to save him."
The neighbors were so frightened by the woman's death that they all left the house. Few ordinary people can bear to face the death of someone they once knew.
Chen Yun was a doctor, and seemed to have become accustomed to facing death.
Gao Tiejun and Gao Ming are both from the military and had experienced many life-and-death situations in their early years, so they remained calm and stood at a distance.
Ruanqiu and Dong Qiaoying had already left the room.
Chen Yun unfolded the paper. The dried tear stains on the paper made the words somewhat blurry, and it was impossible to see what was written under the dim light.
"Let's report it to the police first," Gao Tiejun said with a sigh in a deep voice.
Was it suicide? What was the reason for the suicide? These questions need to be investigated by the police. What is certain is that it cannot be considered a natural death.
Chen Yunmo silently left the room, and while everyone was peeking into the room, he quickly read through the suicide note, which was several hundred words long.
You could also say... it's an indictment!
Chen Yun licked her lips, silently folded the paper and put it in her pocket, then went to the well to fetch water to wash her hands.
"Mom, you take the children home first."
Several children peeked out from the courtyard gate, having somehow followed the Zhou family to their home.
"What should we do with this doll?"
"I'll hold him." Chen Yun sighed and took the swaddled baby.
The blanket that covered half of the face was originally intended to cover the whole face, but the child's mother softened and left only half of it.
Several hours had passed since the woman died, yet the child hadn't made a sound from hunger, leading Chen Yun to suspect he might have other illnesses.
The room erupted in sobs, the three of them crying in unison, as if they had finally realized they had lost a loved one.
Old Gao helped Granny Zhou out of the house, sobbing and crying, and then their legs gave way and they sat down on the steps.
They are now convinced that the woman couldn't get over her conscience because she gave birth to a mentally challenged child.
The other people in the courtyard seemed to think the same way, and they all stepped forward to comfort the two elderly people with white hair.
In Chen Yun's view, there sat two beasts covered in human skin.
The cries were deafening, and darkness was falling.
As the last rays of sunlight slowly sank behind the roof, two teams of police officers rushed into the courtyard.
The captain asked which room the deceased was in, and Gao Ming suddenly exclaimed a name in surprise.
"Xiao Mu!"
The head of the criminal investigation team was none other than Gao Ming's comrade-in-arms, Xiao Mu.
The two exchanged a pleased glance, then their faces hardened as they led the forensic doctor into the house to conduct an examination and carry out follow-up investigations.
While waiting, Chen Yun fed the child some formula, but later discovered that the child swallowed very slowly and had to be fed little by little.
Most of it spilled out, and he barely managed to feed the baby a small portion of the bowl.
"Chen Yun, Xiao Mu has a question for you." Gao Ming waved to Chen Yun from the doorway.
Chen Yun, who walked over, simply handed over the suicide note.
The suicide note says it all!
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