Chapter 106 The Pregnant Woman Lying on a Stretcher
It's their little wooden boat that's been abandoned for over ten years! No one except their own family knows that inside that abandoned boat is a hidden compartment, originally used for hiding things, but it's surprisingly spacious! Big enough to hide a child!
The small wooden boat had been abandoned for a long time, but it was, after all, a small wooden boat passed down through generations of the Qian family. Although it was no longer usable, they couldn't bear to throw it away. So they kept it moored at the mouth of a semi-enclosed bay with a rope, and even the big typhoon a while ago couldn't blow it away.
Qian Mei carried a torch to the mouth of the bay. The small wooden boat, which she hadn't seen for a long time, looked even more old and dilapidated. It creaked as soon as she stepped on it. Without stopping, Qian Mei opened a wooden plank in the cabin and went down to the inner cabin.
This small boat was passed down from Qian Mei's great-grandfather's generation. At that time, their village was an unknown fishing village where most people relied on fishing for a living. This small boat was earned through the combined efforts of the entire family.
But in those days, bandits were rampant and would often raid the fishing villages. So many people found ways to transport their family's grain into the ship's hold.
The great-grandfather of the Qian family was extra careful and dug a small secret room in the inner bulkhead near the deck. All the family's important items and some of their food were hidden there.
As expected, the bandits who later looted the village found much less grain and instead raided the fishing boats. While most families had their grain stolen by the bandits, the Qian family managed to preserve at least half of their food by relying on that small secret room.
The inner hull of the ship was originally used to store grain, and it was very well waterproofed. Even now, it remains quite dry.
Qian Mei had no time to pay attention to anything else. She went straight down to the inner layer and headed towards the wall near the deck. The tightly fitted wooden planks showed no signs of any gaps, but after Qian Mei turned a button somewhere, a small crack suddenly appeared in the planks.
Qian Mei tucked the torch under her arm and stepped forward to pry open the small gap with both hands. The gap gradually widened, and soon, the figure of a child appeared before her.
After the last class, Zan Zan was packing his schoolbag to wait for Xiao Li and the others at the entrance of the daycare center when a little boy he didn't know came up to him and told him that his mother had an accident at the herb garden.
Zan Zan had been to his mother's herb garden many times and knew the place. Moreover, in his three-year-old mind, Zan Zan had already considered that if that person knew his mother had a herb garden, it meant he knew her and probably wasn't a fraud. So he ran towards the herb garden as fast as he could, thinking that his mother might really need him!
To save time, he ran along the path closest to the mountain. He had only run halfway when a masked man kidnapped him, and he knew nothing after that.
When he woke up again, he found himself in a dark place, his hands and feet were tied, he couldn't move, and his mouth was stuffed with something so he couldn't make a sound.
He was terrified and cried for a long time, but no one came to save him. He cried until he was exhausted and fell asleep again without realizing it.
"Zan Zan, Zan Zan, wake up!"
Looking at the unconscious little boy in front of her, Qian Mei felt terrified. If her benefactor's child died on her own boat, she would be haunted by guilt for the rest of her life.
Fortunately, Zan Zan was just asleep.
Hearing Qian Mei's shout, he groggily opened his eyes. The torchlight allowed him to see Qian Mei's face clearly. Zan Zan had a good memory; he had seen Qian Mei when he was playing in the brigade and knew that she was from the brigade. So he quickly made a "uh-uh" sound.
Qian Mei realized what was happening and quickly removed the gag from his mouth. Zan Zan immediately cried out for help in a clear voice, "Sister, save me! I am Qin Suisui and Pei Jiuyan's child. My name is Zan Zan. I have been kidnapped by bad people. Sister, save me!"
Seeing that Zanzan was alright, Qian Mei almost cried with joy: "Oh! Oh! Good child, I know, I know, many people outside are looking for you. Don't be afraid, I'll untie you and take you out."
The appearance of Zan Zan made Zhou Zecheng's face turn ashen. He thought that even though he had kidnapped Su Yunyi and injured Jia Zhenzhen, he had not caused any greater harm. He believed that by threatening Zan Zan's safety, Pei Jiuyan would be able to keep him safe.
But now that Zan Zan has been found! He's out of chips!
Wait a minute! He still has a system! Where did the system go?! Why is there no response after summoning it for so long?!
Zhou Zecheng was led away by Pei Jiuyan like a walking corpse. As he was cursing the system in his mind, Pei Jiuyan's cold voice suddenly rang out: "Do you know that Zanzan is your brother's orphan?"
Pei Jiuyan's words were brief, but it took Zhou Zecheng several minutes to process them before he asked in disbelief, "What did you say?"
Pei Jiuyan simply stared into his eyes and said nothing more.
Zhou Zecheng suddenly broke down: "You knew I'd been looking for him, but you didn't tell me. You're taking our child hostage. What are you trying to do?!"
Pei Jiuyan raised his eyelids, his eyes seemingly concealing a layer of ice: "Didn't you yourselves give up custody of the child?"
Zhou Zecheng's screams of despair suddenly stopped. Yes, when his older brother and sister-in-law got married, his mother disagreed. Later, his older brother and sister-in-law had accidents one after another. His mother resented his sister-in-law, thinking that she had cursed her son to death, and was unwilling to accept this grandson she had never met.
Later, on her deathbed, she seemed to have repented, calling him to her side and urging him to find the child and take good care of him.
He knew that his mother was originally the daughter of the brigade leader, the most beautiful girl in the production team, but his father, that toad, had his eye on her and took the opportunity to kidnap her to the mountain and defile her.
In those days, a woman who lost her virginity was essentially ruined. The brigade leader's family, not wanting to make a big deal out of it, actually married his mother off to his father.
At first, his mother was heartbroken and lay in bed every day, refusing to eat or drink, wanting to die. Until a month later, she discovered that she was pregnant! She hated the child and believed that he was the source of all evil.
But when his father found out, he was overjoyed. He knelt before his mother's bed and promised to treat her well and to be good to them for the rest of his life. His father was an orphan in the village, having suffered hardship and loneliness for many years. He had finally managed to marry and have children, so he genuinely cared for them. Day after day, this gradually melted the ice in his mother's heart.
Gradually, his mother finally let go of her resentment and started living a good life with his father. However, she still harbored resentment towards her first child. It seemed that she transferred all her resentment and hatred onto this child, as if only in this way could she survive.
So this child, who was not expected from birth, was always neglected by his own mother and bullied by his family. Finally, he joined the army, found a way out, and left his hometown, but unfortunately fell on the front line.
Before she passed away, his mother looked back on her life and seemed to finally feel maternal love for his older brother, asking him to find the child his brother had left behind and raise him well.
He had lied to Qin Suisui, saying that he had come all the way here because he longed for Qiongtan Island after receiving a letter from his elder brother. But that wasn't the case. He was on a mission to find his nephew!
But who would have thought that the child they had been searching for for so long, who was right in front of them, would almost be killed by him!
Zhou Zecheng deflated like a punctured balloon, visibly shrunk in dejection.
On the other side, Qin Suisui took Zan Zan to get a physical examination and confirmed that he had only inhaled a small amount of sleeping pills and was otherwise fine, before she finally felt relieved.
Zan Zan seemed genuinely frightened, holding onto her hand tightly and refusing to let go.
Qin Suisui simply pulled him into her arms.
Qian Mei glanced at Zan Zan with envy, then prepared to leave quietly.
Qin Suisui spotted her quickly and called out, "Qian Mei, where are you going?"
Qian Mei smiled and said, "Sister, I have to go home now. My dad is probably still waiting for me at home."
Qin Suisui nodded: "Don't rush, change your clothes and put on your shoes first. The guards have already gone to your house to tell your dad that it's too late for you to go home alone. Eat something first, then put on some medicine. We'll take you home first thing tomorrow morning."
Zan Zan ran over and grabbed her hand: "Sister, don't go, you're injured."
Qian Mei then realized that her clothes were torn, one of her shoes had disappeared at some point, and her foot had probably been cut by a pebble on the road, with a lot of dried blood.
While Qin Suisui was taking Zanzan for her checkup, Qian Mei was called away by Pei Jiuyan's people for questioning. Remembering the little girl's disheveled appearance, Qin Suisui took advantage of a break in the bathroom to take out a set of her own clothes from her spatial storage, along with a pair of cloth shoes that she hadn't worn much as a child. She put them in her cloth bag and only now had time to hand them to Qian Mei.
The clothes Qin Suisui wore when she was little were not suitable for Qian Mei, so she could only wear a new set of clothes that had been made recently. Fortunately, Qian Mei was already tall, and at the age of 12, the clothes had reached Qin Suisui's shoulders. By rolling up the sleeves and pant legs, the clothes looked a bit loose, but that's how people dressed in those days.
Qin Suisui's clothes were all made of good materials. Qian Mei looked at the light yellow cotton clothes in her hand and felt a little hot: "Sister, these clothes of yours are too good. It's a waste for me to wear them. You can take them back. I'll wear these and they'll be fine. I can change them and mend them when I get home."
Qin Suisui felt heartbroken: "It's alright. Clothes are meant to be worn. This set is just the right size for your sister, so you can wear it. Besides, you saved Zanzan, so it's only right that I give you as many nice things as I can."
Being a young girl, Qian Mei had an innate desire for beauty. As she stroked the soft cotton fabric, she felt an overwhelming joy in her heart.
The doctor came over and cleaned Qian Mei's foot wound. Fortunately, it wasn't serious; there were just a few scratches. He applied medicine, wrapped it with gauze, and told her to keep it dry for a few days.
In the hospital room, Qian Mei washed her face and body with hot water, changed into the clothes and shoes Qin Suisui had given her, and felt much lighter. Over the years, under her mother's influence, she had always felt that as a girl, she was a burden and didn't deserve to eat or use good things. But today, Qin Suisui told her that giving her as many good things as she wanted was only right.
This planted a seed of hope in Qian Mei's young heart.
After Qian Mei finished washing up and changing, Qin Suisui remembered to ask her about the aftermath of her parents' divorce. She only knew that Li Yaobao had been sentenced to death and executed. Mai Dong must have played a big role in it, and it was only after Li Yaobao's death that Xie Ting was able to let go of her resentment and agree to work at the medicinal herb garden.
But she really didn't have time to pay attention to what Li Chunmei and Qian Rencai were doing.
Li Chunmei committed adultery, had affairs, and even participated in murder, so she should be sentenced to death.
But Qian Mei was a smart girl. Fearing that her mother's death sentence would prevent her from getting a divorce, which would affect her and her father's future, the young woman went to the police station, the civil affairs bureau, and the divorce committee several times and successfully helped her father get a divorce!
Qin Suisui couldn't help but admire this child. She recalled that when she was 12 years old, she was still acting spoiled at home and would occasionally write letters to Pei Jiuyan to complain. This child was already capable of handling things on his own. No wonder he would be a person who would do great things in the future. She once again had the idea of taking Qian Mei into her medicinal herb garden.
The next morning, Jia Zhenzhen was still asleep. The doctor predicted that she would wake up around nine or ten o'clock. Qin Suisui and Su Yunyi left first. The military hospital was not far from the compound. They wanted to take Qian Mei back first, then take a shower and change their clothes, and then cook some food for Jia Zhenzhen to bring over.
Fortunately, Jia Zhenzhen's mother, Wu Fang, arrived late last night, so there's no shortage of people to take care of her here. After they rest a bit, they can come and relieve Wu Fang.
As we approached the hospital entrance, medical staff suddenly rushed in carrying a stretcher, shouting, "Make way! Make way! Make way! A pregnant woman is hemorrhaging and needs emergency care..."
Qin Suisui and Su Yunyi each grabbed a child and quickly moved away. In this era, heavy bleeding in pregnant women was a very serious matter. Qin Suisui couldn't help but crane her neck to look at the stretcher. She was stunned when she saw that the pregnant woman lying on the stretcher was actually Hao Ke!
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