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The three of them sat at the doorway and chatted idly.
"Did Gao Fei and Qiu Zhifang have a fight?" Aunt Luo was much more well-informed than Chen Yun. After a few words, she naturally brought up the couple: "I think they were arguing quite fiercely."
“Qiu Zhifang is now guarding against me and Gao Fei’s father like they’re thieves. How am I supposed to know why they’re arguing?” Dong Qiaoying said.
After their relationship completely fell apart a few months ago, Qiu Zhifang never gave the elderly couple a kind look, and she wouldn't even bother to ask why they were arguing... she was just asking to be scolded!
"I heard from Gao Yi that your sister-in-law isn't even going to the shop anymore?"
Gao Yi has been overwhelmed with family matters lately, and Gao Ming said he's been taking leave every few days, which has seriously affected his work.
His daughter's daily recovery definitely requires his involvement, and as a father, it is his responsibility, which is beyond reproach.
The grocery store's business plummeted due to the new road construction plan. Gao Fei privately revealed that he wanted to borrow money to open a furniture store, but Gao Yi had to persuade him to give up the idea.
His mother seemed quiet, but she dragged her repeatedly injured leg out every day, and Gao Yi was even more worried about what she was doing.
"Just thinking about her gives me a headache."
This name is now a tight rein on the entire Gao family. Everyone who mentions it sighs and doesn't know how to get along with them.
"Has your sister-in-law been acting strangely lately...like in her speech or behavior?"
For a moment, Chen Yun didn't know how to continue asking questions. Qiu Zhifang's sharp tongue and meanness were nothing new; if this wasn't unusual, then what would be?
"Abnormal?" Dong Qiaoying actually remembered something that sent chills down her spine.
"Really?" Aunt Luo asked.
"Yes!" Dong Qiaoying recalled the situation carefully. Because it was so memorable, she could describe it very clearly. She even remembered Qiu Zhifang's expression at the time.
“Last month, Gao Yi bought two pounds of pork ribs to make soup. After I finished making it, I asked him to take a bowl to Qiu Zhifang to eat…”
Not long after the pork rib soup was served, Qiu Zhifang brought it back, slammed it heavily on the table, and stared at Dong Qiaoying with a chilling expression.
"She asked me if I had eaten the soup. I said the soup was ladled directly from the pot, but she insisted that we wanted to poison her with leftover soup laced with rat poison... In the end, we had a big argument and a commotion in the house, and she only stopped after I drank two sips of the soup myself."
"Now that you mention it, I remember." Dong Qiaoying said, and Aunt Luo also had some recollection of it.
That day, pork rib soup was splashed all over the ground in front of the Gao family's house. Qiu Zhifang insisted that the soup was the wrong color and that the Gao family was planning to poison her so they could find another daughter-in-law.
Everyone thought Qiu Zhifang was being unreasonable. After trying to persuade her a few times, she pointed her finger at them and scolded them for meddling. So everyone stopped talking and just watched the show!
"Is there anything else strange?" Chen Yun pressed.
Chen Yun found Qiu Zhifang's reaction at the hospital increasingly unusual, so she specifically talked to her colleagues in the hospital's psychiatric department about it.
Colleagues pointed out that Qiu Zhifang may be suffering from a mental illness that is rarely noticed these days—personality disorder.
Due to the lack of release from long-term stress and a general distrust and suspicion of others, they may preemptively attack with the most sarcastic and bitter language.
Colleagues also suspect that Qiu Zhifang may be suffering from more than one mental illness, but specific testing is needed to determine the exact cause.
Chen Yun had virtually no medical knowledge about mental illness; she only sensed something was wrong based on her intuition.
But her colleague's initial diagnosis left her in a dilemma... how to persuade the person to go to the hospital for a checkup.
"I remember now!" Aunt Luo's eyebrows shot up excitedly, and she pointed her embroidery needle into the yard. "The night before last, I heard footsteps and thought a thief had broken into the yard. But when I lifted the curtain, I found Qiu Zhifang wandering around in the yard. It was past three in the morning..."
The faint smile on Chen Yun's lips slowly froze, replaced by deeper worry and seriousness.
Before the conversation could reach a conclusion, Qiu Zhifang appeared.
She wasn't alone; as the limping figure crossed the threshold, a young woman followed her in.
Chen Yun looked over, and Gao Ming was also looking into the courtyard. The couple's gazes met in the air and then looked away.
The little girl was wearing a drab gray floral cotton-padded jacket with a pink scarf tied around her neck. Two jet-black braids hung down her chest as she curiously looked around the yard and the people inside.
"This is where my third aunt lives?" she murmured to herself, a smile playing on her lips.
"Mom." Qiu Zhifang greeted her with a smile first, then nodded to Chen Yun, "Sister-in-law is here too! It's so cold today!"
"Sister-in-law." Chen Yun's sigh was completely hidden in this address.
“Meiling is the niece of a distant relative of my mother’s family. She recently came to Beicheng to work and is staying at my house for a few months.”
Meiling smiled and nodded to the group, her gaze sweeping over the two older women before quickly settling on Chen Yun.
Chen Yun could feel her gaze moving from her clothes to her wrists and finally to her shoes; her gaze... was unsettling.
Seemingly noticing that Chen Yun was looking at her, she quickly looked away and lowered her head, fidgeting with the hem of her clothes with a timid expression.
But Qiu Zhifang was completely oblivious, praising Meiling to her with great enthusiasm for quite some time.
"Don't let Meiling's young age fool you; she's beautiful and hardworking. Everyone in our village praises her for being capable..."
The people in the courtyard didn't know how to respond to these inexplicable compliments.
Fortunately, Qiu Zhifang hadn't expected them to praise her anyway. After finishing her own conversation, she led Meiling to the backyard.
Chen Yun raised an eyebrow and suddenly waved to Gao Nian'an, who was peeking through the doorway.
"Mom has a task for you..."
Gao Nian'an's eyes lit up immediately, her ponytail swaying as she nodded vigorously, and she raised her fist at Chen Yun after speaking.
"Watch me!"
After saying that, he quickly followed Qiu Zhifang and Meiling into the backyard.
"Does Qiu Zhifang still have relatives from her maternal family?"
Dong Qiaoying remembered that after Qiu Zhifang's parents died, she was left as an orphan. Gao Fei wrote to her saying that the village secretary was invited to witness their marriage, and that he had never heard of Qiu Zhifang having any contact with her family over the years.
How come a niece from her maternal family suddenly appears twenty or thirty years later...?
As guests arrived one after another, Dong Qiaoying quickly forgot about her doubts.
Gao Tiejun said he wanted to make his great-granddaughter's 100-day celebration a grand affair, so he invited many of his old colleagues and neighbors.
With everyone gathered together, the atmosphere was naturally very lively.
After exchanging pleasantries with the elders she knew, Chen Yun waved to Gao Ming, who kept glancing over, and the couple went into the backyard one after the other.
The row of houses in the backyard is still the same, one of which has been rented to a couple who work nearby.
Gao Nian'an had informed the other party in advance, and Chen Yun had just walked over when she saw her daughter's comical appearance as she pressed her head against the wall to eavesdrop through the glass window.
Sometimes, poor soundproofing makes it easier to eavesdrop openly.
"Mom." Gao Nian'an waved her hands repeatedly, her face beaming with excitement, as if she had overheard some incredible secret.
The couple exchanged a glance, then quietly opened the door and went inside.
"Mom." Gao Nian'an waved her hand, her voice very low: "She's not my aunt's niece, she's not..."
Chen Yun sighed deeply.
"Let's talk outside."
There were other people in the house besides them; the couple who rented the place were looking over curiously, so it wasn't appropriate to continue the conversation in a big way.
The corner of the backyard is still the same as before; the waste piled up more than ten years ago is still in the same old spot.
Gao Nian'an walked over and scraped the snow off the wood before speaking: "I heard them talking about money inside. The woman asked my aunt to give her the money first... What is a concubine?"
"Cough cough—"
Faced with her daughter's inquisitive eyes, Gao Ming tactfully avoided eye contact and passed the problem on to Chen Yun.
Chen Yun was even more straightforward: "You tell me what happened first, and then Mom will explain."
"All right……"
The woman was not Qiu Zhifang's distant niece, but someone she had found through an intermediary to give birth to a son for Gao Yi.
These matchmakers aren't the kind of people who introduce potential partners to each other; they're the ones who specialize in shady dealings and will go to any lengths to arrange a relationship as long as you can afford it.
In the city, bachelors who can't find wives can buy them with money, and those who can't have children can buy babies.
"Using a surrogate mother!" Gao Ming coldly summarized Qiu Zhifang's plan.
Wang Xueli underwent a hysterectomy to save her life, shattering Qiu Zhifang's dream of having a grandson. So, she secretly came up with this despicable method.
The woman whose real name is Meiling moved into the Gao family with only one purpose: to seduce Gao Yi, have a child, and then leave with the money.
“I heard from my aunt that they give 10,000 yuan for a son and 3,000 yuan for a healthy daughter. The woman even told my aunt not to worry, saying that her mother had given birth to five sons in a row... so she would definitely give birth to a big, healthy boy.”
However, before the child was born, the woman demanded two thousand yuan from her aunt, otherwise she would not do it.
“My sister-in-law has really gone mad,” Chen Yun said.
“I didn’t believe you when you said my sister-in-law had a mental illness, but now it seems she really is quite ill,” Gao Ming said.
No normal person would do such a thing; she didn't even consider whether it would ruin her son's marriage, and was only focused on having a big, fat grandson.
Besides, the whole family is working together to help Gao Su recover, and she not only doesn't help... but she also wants to sabotage it.
"Talk to your older brother and Gao Yi, but when you persuade your sister-in-law to go to the hospital for a checkup, make sure you don't mention the word 'mental illness'!"
She already had emotional problems, and if she found out that her family thought she was mentally ill, Chen Yun wouldn't have been willing to go to the hospital either.
“I’m going to find Gao Yi.” Gao Ming sighed, turned around and took two steps, then suddenly stopped. “I think the biggest responsibility for my sister-in-law becoming like this is that my eldest brother bears the most responsibility.”
"..."
Chen Yun didn't know what Gao Ming, Gao Fei, and Gao Yi had said. She clearly saw Qiu Zhifang leading Mei Ling to the restaurant before the meal started, but the two disappeared as soon as she turned her head.
Gao Fei appeared briefly during the welcoming ceremony, but disappeared after the banquet began.
Gao Yi and Gao Ming did not appear at all from beginning to end.
After the 100-day celebration, the guests left one after another.
The Gao family returned to the courtyard with heavy hearts. When they pushed open the bedroom door of Gao Fei and Qiu Zhifang, they gasped at the scene before them.
The room was in complete disarray.
All the appliances and items that could be smashed were smashed to pieces; the television screen had a large hole in it, and there was blood on the wall.
Gao Fei sat on the edge of the bed, one hand covering his bleeding forehead, his gaze fixed on the messy floor, his thoughts unreadable.
“They’re next door, and no amount of persuasion will work. I’m at my wit’s end…” Gao Fei said.
"Your head!" Dong Qiaoying asked worriedly.
"Don't worry about me. If she really refuses to go, just tie her up with a rope and take her to the hospital," Gao Fei said calmly.
Chen Yun immediately turned and left.
Gao Ming is right... Gao Fei bears the greatest responsibility for Qiu Zhifang becoming what she is today.
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