Chapter 225 Ask around first
After hearing this, Lin Yuru felt mixed emotions.
At that time, she was pregnant with her second child, and the date of the birth was almost coming. A river was being repaired near the town, and every household in every commune was required to send someone to work.
At that time, Liu Hongmei and Sun Yuxiu of the Xia family were also pregnant, but they were not pregnant for long periods of time. However, Li Cuihua only picked on the honest ones, so she let Xia Shuangshan take care of the Xia family's share.
Repairing the river channel requires digging sand and clearing silt, which is much more tiring than farm work. Lin Yuru felt sorry for her man, so she went to deliver food with her big belly and stayed to help with the work for a while. In the evening, on the way back, the two of them picked up the abandoned baby girl.
They came back late at night and no one was paying attention to the baby girl in their room. The baby girl was hungry and weak, and her cries were as soft as the buzz of a mosquito, but the Xia family didn't even notice her.
Lin Yuru used the only cornmeal in the house to make some corn paste and fed it to the baby girl, who then fell asleep.
No one else in the Xia family noticed it.
Lin Yuru is still worried about how to tell her family tomorrow.
In those days, the family could not even have enough to eat, so it was not a good idea to raise another child, and a girl at that. Most families would not be happy about it, let alone the Xia family, who were always selfish and mean.
Apart from anything else, Li Cuihua has never been nice to her since she got pregnant! This is her own grandson...
However, it happened by chance.
Lin Yuru began to have excruciating stomach pains in the second half of the night and was about to give birth.
The other members of the Xia family, including Li Cuihua, looked as if they were dead. Lin Yuru screamed in pain. Even Yan Haotian, who was only four years old at the time and had not been abducted yet, was so scared when he saw his mother in so much pain that he burst into tears. Despite the big commotion, no one came out to help.
Xia Shuangshan quickly asked Yan Haotian to look after his mother, and he went to the village to call the midwife, Aunt Li, to come and deliver the baby.
The child was born when it was almost dawn.
However, Lin Yuru worked too hard all year round, and the child died at birth.
Lin Yuru cried bitterly, and finally she thought of an idea. She asked Aunt Li to tell the outside world that she gave birth to twins, one of which was lost, so she picked up the baby girl and raised her own baby.
Therefore, in the whole commune, only Aunt Li knew that Xia Juanjuan was not her biological daughter.
Lin Yuru and Xia Shuangshan both begged Aunt Li not to tell anyone about the matter, otherwise the baby girl was not theirs and the Xia family would definitely not accept her.
Aunt Li felt sorry for them being bullied because of their honesty, so she nodded and agreed.
Later, the villagers found out that Lin Yuru gave birth to twins, one of whom died, and the other was Xia Juanjuan.
Lin Yuru's first reaction after hearing what Aunt Li said was, if Juan'er reunited with her biological parents, would she no longer recognize her and Xia Shuangshan?
But she soon felt guilty about this selfish thought.
Over the years, how much suffering has the young lady endured following them because of their misfortunes?
Even if Juan'er really doesn't recognize them anymore, that's normal.
Besides, didn't she know that they were her daughters? She was loyal and righteous, so she certainly wouldn't really disown them.
At that time, she thought that Juan'er was abandoned by her parents because she was a girl, which was very pitiful. So she didn't intend to reveal her life story to avoid hurting Juan'er.
But now, his parents have come looking for him, maybe there was some hidden story back then?
It would be selfish of her to keep it a secret.
"Auntie Li, please describe to me what the person who is asking you looks like and where he is from?"
Aunt Li said, "The woman's hair was all gray. She must be about 60 years old. Her clothes were quite plain. She said her last name was Wang and she was from Liujia Village in Fen County in the north."
As Aunt Li spoke, she could not help but comfort her, "I think that woman doesn't look like your daughter Juan at all, so maybe they have nothing to do with each other. Don't take it too seriously. Even if that's the case, they cruelly abandoned the child back then, and now you have raised the child to such an age, and married him to such a good son-in-law as the fourth son of the Li family. Your life is thriving, and they are coming to claim you as their relative? How could such a good thing happen in the world? I think that woman will stay here for a few more days, so I came to tell you so that you can feel at ease, but I don't mean any other meaning."
After hearing this, Lin Yuru forced a smile and said, "Auntie Li, we have been neighbors for many years, how could I not know that you have good intentions?"
Aunt Li said a few more words and then left.
Lin Yuru hesitated again. What Aunt Li said was right.
If you wanted to find it, it's been twenty years. You could have come any year. Why did you come now?
If Juan'er's biological parents were from a well-off family and there was indeed some hidden secret back then, then she would definitely not be able to stop the girl from recognizing her parents.
But if he can't live anymore, and thinks of having an abandoned daughter and wants to look for her, and then take advantage of her, then it's better for him to deny this relationship!
Lin Yuru couldn't make a decision for a moment, so she didn't go back to Xia Juanjuan, but waited for Xia Shuangshan at home, wanting to discuss things with him first.
When Xia Shuangshan came back from weeding, he was also stunned when he saw Lin Yuru was still at home: "Why are you still at home? Juan'er is alone there, how can she be busy?"
Lin Yuru came to her senses at this point. Seeing that it was almost dark, she got up and went to the kitchen to make a bowl of noodles for Xia Shuangshan, sprinkled some green vegetables on it, and put two poached eggs in it.
While the two were having dinner, Lin Yuru whispered to Xia Shuangshan what Aunt Li had said.
"Juan'er's father, what do you think? Should we tell Juan'er about this? If her biological parents are good and have hidden secrets, and will not burden Juan'er and her son-in-law after they recognize each other as relatives, then it would be better. If they are useless and cannot live on, like the abandoned daughter who is begging for money, then if we tell Juan'er, won't it harm her?"
Xia Shuangshan was also a little undecided.
Selfishly speaking, even if Xia Juanjuan is not their biological daughter, she was not stolen or bought by them; she was picked up.
They had raised her for twenty years with much hardship, and now her biological parents suddenly showed up and wanted to take her back? Even a saint would feel reluctant.
However, it is also a fact that Juan'er has suffered so much with them over the years, and they are reluctant to let her recognize their relatives, which makes them feel a little insecure.
After a long silence, Xia Shuangshan said, "How about this. You keep it a secret for a few days. Didn't Aunt Li tell me the name of that woman's village? Before the autumn harvest begins, I'll write a letter of introduction and say that she's going to work as a bricklayer there. I'll go over and ask around. If the family is of good character, I'll tell Juan'er and see if she's willing to recognize me as her relative."