Chapter 205 The Belated Truth
"If you say so, then it is?! Why don't I remember that I have relatives in Dawang Village?" Zhang Xiuer stared in shock.
Feng Mengru didn't argue with her and continued, "I had just been slapped twice by my father the other day. I was upset, so I hid in the west room alone. Zhang Xiuer came over and took me out to play for a while. After lunch, we had lunch and took a nap."
I slept until dark.
Three-year-old Xiao Mengru was awakened by Feng Liu. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw her mother's panicked expression, thick smoke billowing in the house, and blazing flames licking their house.
She was completely confused and had no idea why her house was on fire when she woke up.
But when she was picked up by Feng Liu, she was still thinking about Zhang Xiu'er who had slept next to her before. She wanted to ask Zhang Xiu'er to run with her, but the kang was empty and Zhang Xiu'er was not there at all.
Feng Liu carried her and ran out, and Old Man Feng also rushed out from the east room. The family of three had just run out of the house when the burned house collapsed to the ground.
At that time, they didn't know that Zhang Xiu'er had already run away, and they were still desperately digging through the charred ruins to look for her. Her mother was so nervous and frightened that she had a miscarriage.
Later, it was when the relative brought Zhang Xiu'er over that they realized that Zhang Xiu'er was fine.
Everyone originally thought it was an accident and no one thought much about it. After all, Zhang Xiuer was only a four or five-year-old child. She was fine, so everyone was thankful.
The Feng family suffered such a disaster that they almost couldn't make ends meet. It was thanks to the enthusiastic help of the head of the village and the villagers that the three members of the Feng family had a temporary place to stay.
But one day not long after, Feng Mengru was playing with her friends in the village and heard her friend talking about what happened that day.
Shortly before her house caught fire that day, her friends saw Zhang Xiuer running out of her house in a panic, covering her arm...
"I didn't believe a four or five-year-old could do such a thing. But after that day, Zhang Xiuer never played with me again, and her left arm was wrapped in gauze."
She had mentioned this to the adults, but who would believe something like this without any concrete evidence?
And not long after that, Zhang Xiuer was taken away and never came back.
After Feng Mengru finished speaking, Zhang Xiuer's face turned pale in an instant, but she quickly gritted her teeth and regained her composure.
"Impossible! How could I not remember this? If that were the case, would I have taken the initiative to come and propose marriage to my Cheng Yong?!"
"That's because you think Sister Mengru and her family have forgotten what happened back then, and you haven't seen each other for so many years, you've already changed and won't be recognized."
"Even if I recognize you, you won't be afraid, right? After all these years, you just have to deny it! There's no evidence anyway, and no one would think it was you!"
Baoya, standing next to Feng Mengru, put her chubby little arms on her waist and stared at Zhang Xiuer with her bright eyes.
Zhang Xiuer pursed her lips and said nothing.
She did feel guilty.
She will remember what happened when she was five years old for the rest of her life, and she swore that she would never tell anyone about it and would take it to her grave.
That day she took a nap with Feng Mengru at Feng's house, and when she woke up it was already dark.
She wanted to light a lamp, but accidentally knocked over the candlestick, and the flames ignited the curtains and became out of control.
She wanted to wake Feng Mengru up, but she didn't wake up after calling her several times. She felt that she had caused a big disaster, so she ran away in a hurry in fear.
She was very panicked at the time and ran back to her relative's house, pretending nothing had happened.
Later, she heard that the Feng family's house was on fire. She was scared to death, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that no one was killed. Seeing that no one suspected her, she gradually calmed down and made up her mind to keep this secret to the end.
"Sister-in-law?" Li Chengyong saw that Zhang Xiu'er looked flustered and didn't say anything, and his face suddenly changed.
"Is it really what Mengru said?! Why don't you say something!"
"I...what can I say? This happened more than 20 years ago. Who knows whether it is true or not?" Zhang Xiuer looked evasive.
"Don't you have that scar?" Baoya blinked and suddenly said, "Show us your arm. If you don't have the scar that Sister Mengru mentioned, then we've wronged you."
As soon as she said this, the surrounding villagers immediately responded.
"Yeah, rich family, since you've never done it before, just roll up your sleeves and show everyone!"
"That's right! Since Feng Mengru keeps saying she remembers it so clearly, then show it to everyone!"
"I, I..." Zhang Xiu'er stammered and hid behind Li Fugui.
Seeing her like this, Baoya was a little anxious, fearing that she would do something cunning like Zhou Cuihua.
Unexpectedly, Feng Mengru was a straightforward person. She stepped forward and grabbed Zhang Xiuer.
Zhang Xiuer screamed, "Feng Mengru, what are you doing? I'm your sister-in-law!"
Feng Mengru pulled her left arm without saying a word and tore her sleeve.
Swish!
The sleeves were torn, revealing the white arms underneath.
The onlookers' eyes widened and they looked at her arm.
Wow!
Just one glance and the villagers gasped.
There is a large crescent-shaped scar on Zhang Xiuer's left arm, and it is obviously a burn.
Feng Mengru stared at the scar, her lips trembling: "You still say you don't have it!"
"I don't know what happened back then. But for all these years, I've always wanted to ask you, why didn't you wake me up, why didn't you tell my parents, why did you run away by yourself!"
As soon as he finished speaking, tears began to fall.
It's been too long, this matter has been buried for too long.
At that time, her family suffered a misfortune. Her mother had a miscarriage, and her father could only go to the town to work early and come back late every day to save enough money to build a new house.
She stayed with her mother every day, fearing that she would be depressed because of losing her child.
At such a young age, she was too worried and began to have nightmares all night long. She dreamed that her house was burning down and that Zhang Xiuer was lighting the fire and smiling at her.
She was only three years old at that time. Gradually, she became mentally confused and unable to eat. She became so thin that she was just skin and bones.
Feng Liu looked for doctors everywhere for her, and she eventually recovered, but a witch doctor used some unknown method to make her forget the incident.
But she had forgotten it, and she had suffered from hysteria since then.
At first she started setting fires everywhere in the house, and later in the village. The biggest incident was when she burned down the woodshed of the last man who proposed to her.
When she saw the scar on Zhang Xiuer's arm, she felt as if something in her heart had finally settled down.
Tears streamed down her face, and Feng Mengru was crying uncontrollably.
"Sister Mengru."
Baoya held Feng Mengru's soft little hand and said, "Don't cry, sister. Everyone knows the truth now! You burned her barn yesterday to vent your anger. If you cry and hurt your eyes, Brother Chengyong will be distressed."
After hearing her words, Feng Mengru chuckled, and a blush appeared on her tear-stained face.
Li Chengyong wiped his eyes, waved his hand, and embraced Feng Mengru in his arms.
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