Leaving those words behind, Old Mrs. Luo, panting heavily, prepared to turn and leave. Luo Zhiwan's barely suppressed anger finally erupted.
“If you hadn’t made me go up the mountain to gather herbs day and night, would I have been... forced into this body and given birth to this child? And now you’re blaming me? You’ve been mean to my mother and me all these years. We respected you as an elder and didn’t hold it against you. But now you’re going too far. You may want to stay in this family, but I don’t want to stay anymore.”
After saying this, she turned to go inside to hug the child, but Jiawang's mother quickly stopped her.
"Zhiwan, you can't leave, you can't leave."
"Mom, don't pull me. I've had enough of this house. Rather than getting in other people's way, I'd rather find my own way."
Grandma Luo kept tapping the ground with her cane, urging everyone on.
"Let her go, the farther the better. As long as she stays in the Luo family, the Luo family is destined to have no good days..."
As the mother and daughter were struggling, Luo Tianhe walked in from the front yard, his face dark, and roared.
"Stop arguing."
These words silenced the three women instantly. Seeing her son return, Old Mrs. Luo hurried forward to inquire.
"Tianhe, have you had any business today?"
Luo Tianhe did not respond to her; instead, his face fell.
“Our Luo family ancestors advocated that family harmony is the key to business prosperity. But now, you’re all making a ruckus all day long. What kind of behavior is this? Go back to your rooms.”
Grandma Luo wasn't about to give up; she pressed her advantage.
"She said she wanted to leave, so let her leave. Once she's gone, things will be peaceful for the Luo family..."
"Mother, you're letting her go now? Where is she supposed to go? To beg on the streets? Our Luo family can't hold our heads up high in Willow Grove Alley anymore. Do you want others to watch this spectacle? She's just a child, why can't you tolerate her?"
"But……"
Grandma Luo wanted to say something more, but Luo Tianhe simply waved his hand.
"Stop talking, I'm tired..."
After leaving those words, Luo Tianhe sighed and turned to walk back into the room.
After standing there speechlessly for a while, Old Mrs. Luo turned her head again and glared at Luo Zhiwan resentfully before leaning on her cane and storming off.
It was rare for Luo Tianhe to speak up for her and her child today, and Luo Zhiwan felt a little touched.
She hesitated for a moment, then said to her mother:
"Mom, I'm tired. I'm going back to rest for a while."
"Sigh, you haven't had a single day off during this postpartum period. Now that business at the shop is bad, you finally have time to rest. Go on..."
After leaving those words, her mother shook her head, sighed, and left, while Zhiwan breathed a soft sigh of relief.
The day after giving birth, the original owner was forced by Old Madam Luo to go up the mountain to gather herbs. She fainted several times while on the mountain... Just thinking about those scenes made her feel suffocated.
Now she must treat this body well and not let it suffer even the slightest grievance.
Yiming had just been coaxed to sleep by Zhiruo. After telling Zhiwan not to wake her, she ran to the kitchen to cook with her mother.
Luo Zhiwan lay beside Yiming, listening to his faint breathing. Thinking of what the original owner had encountered on the mountain a year ago, her brows furrowed slightly...
It was a dark and windy night. She was happy to have collected a large basket of medicinal herbs when she realized she couldn't find her way down the mountain. She was so anxious that she kept pacing around in circles.
Just as she was trying to walk down a small path, a man in black suddenly appeared out of nowhere, grabbed her from behind, and pinned her down before she could react.
She tried to break free, but the other person was too strong. She cried out for help, but in these mountains, even if she screamed until her throat was hoarse, no one would hear her.
And so, he violently tore her clothes and forced himself on her, during which he seemed to be sobbing repeatedly, saying, "I'm sorry."
The man was masked, so she couldn't see his face clearly. She only remembered that his eyes seemed to be burning with fire. When she struggled and resisted, she saw a red mole on his chest, a mole that became her nightmare for the past year.
Before leaving, the man took a jade pendant from his waist and placed it beside her, saying in a deep voice:
"I'm sorry for taking your first time, but I will take responsibility for you. In three days, take this jade pendant and wait for me at the Phoenix City Tea Garden."
After leaving those words, he fled the grove as if his life depended on it, leaving Luo Zhiwan sitting there blankly all night.
She clutched the jade pendant tightly. She had fantasized about going to the appointment three days later and killing the man when he appeared. But when dawn broke, she became afraid again.
When she got home, her basket was gone, her clothes were torn, and she was even scolded by her grandmother. Fortunately, Zhiruo and Jiawang saw that she was in such a sorry state and pleaded with their grandmother, so she was allowed to stay at home for two days.
She didn't go to the man, nor did she dare tell her family. She thought she could keep it to herself, but who could have imagined that in the following months, her period would stop and her belly would grow bigger? Only then did she realize that she was pregnant.
She found abortion pills at the pharmacy, secretly brewed them, and took them, intending to abort the child quietly. However, the child was lucky; she only bled a little, and after lying in bed for two days, she discovered that the child was moving inside her.
She immediately softened and kept the child. From then on, she wore loose-fitting clothes every day, trying her best not to let others notice anything amiss.
But when this child is born, everything will be exposed to the world.
Seeing that she couldn't explain the child's origins, she finally revealed that she had been forced to possess someone on the mountain.
Luo Tianhe was so angry that he fainted several times. Madam Luo cried in her room for three days and three nights, and Old Madam Luo stood at her door and cursed for three days.
Only Luo Zhiruo and Luo Jiawang cared about her and her child, taking care of them tirelessly...
Thinking of all this, she breathed a sigh of relief, took the jade pendant out from under her pillow, and examined it carefully.
This jade pendant is crystal clear and has a fresh and elegant color, like the new green of spring. The "Fu" character in the middle is even more distinct and has a strong three-dimensional effect.
This jade pendant should have been left by Yiming's biological father. Let's keep it for now, so that when Yiming asks for his father in the future, we can have an explanation.
Just as she was about to take a nap, another image flashed through her mind:
Three days later, Phoenix City will be struck by a plague unlike any other in a century. The price of medicinal herbs will increase more than tenfold overnight. Many people will die from the plague because they cannot afford the herbs. The city will be filled with sorrow and despair, and Phoenix City will become a ghost town overnight.
Plague? Bubonic plague?
Upon hearing the news, she sat up abruptly in bed. Since the plague was out of control, she might as well take this opportunity to make a small fortune and stop those unscrupulous medicine merchants from harming the people. She would earn money, and the people would benefit. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Thinking of this, she happily went to the doorway and greeted Jiawang, who had just entered the backyard:
"Jiawang, watch the kids for a bit, I need to go talk to Dad about something."
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