At this moment, the couple in the east wing of the main house also fell into a nightmare.
"Huff huff huff huff..." The man's rough breathing echoed in the room, but his sadness and anger could not be heard in his voice.
After a long while, a terrified scream rang out, and the man finally awoke from his extreme pain.
Xie Chunlin suddenly sat up in bed, gasping for breath. The pain and despair of death hadn't yet allowed him to recover from his past life. Touching his smooth forehead, he felt lingering fear.
He had just passed away in his previous life, and from this day forward, his branch of the Xie family underwent a complete transformation.
The son was no longer bright and clever, so his wife strongly urged him to support Chen's nephew. The nephew went to school every day, while the son stayed home to farm and earn money.
My nephew achieved great success, while the Xie family was destroyed. It all felt so real, like a warning from heaven!
Realizing something, he turned to look at his wife lying beside him. The face that had captivated him now looked nauseating and repulsive.
She claimed that giving birth to a son had damaged her health and prevented her from having any more children, but it turned out she was just afraid that having more mouths to feed would affect her nephew. Most of the family's money was spent on that beast, yet she complained about her nephew's hardships and grievances.
This despicable woman even framed her own son for her nephew, leaving him mentally impaired without any remorse or guilt. She even persuaded her grown-up son to work in the fields to earn money so that he and his wife could support Chen Sinian.
After that good nephew passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, he gave all the benefits to Chenjia Village. The clan didn't say much about their branch of the family, but this foolish woman even said that her nephew knew his roots and was extremely filial.
When Chen Hehua went to the capital to take the imperial examination, she even gave all the money in her family, hoping that her nephew could live a better life. Unexpectedly, that ungrateful wretch later said that her family had mistreated him and even tried to kill him.
Xie Chunlin's eyes were bloodshot, and the tragic scenes of his parents, brothers, children, and clansmen in prison were vivid in his mind. He reached out and quickly grabbed Chen Hehua's fair neck with both hands.
He must rid this troublemaker!
Suddenly, a clap of thunder interrupted Xie Chunlin's actions. Rain! Son! The thought flashed through his mind.
Xie Chunlin hurriedly got out of bed and rushed to the woodshed; his son couldn't afford to get hurt again.
A while after the person ran out of the room, the woman on the bed slowly opened her eyes, looking around at the dimly lit surroundings with fear and helplessness.
I was just dreaming! But everything in the dream felt so real!
Thinking of her nephew, who was even smarter than her son, Chen Hehua still couldn't believe that it was true.
No! Chen Sinian, such a good boy, would never treat her like that.
She sat up and touched the not-so-warm spot next to her, softly calling out, "Husband!" There was no response, and she then noticed that the door was wide open.
Feeling uneasy and unsure of the time, she quickly got out of bed, dressed, and headed to her nephew's room.
Xie Chunlin took the oil lamp to the kitchen, took several breaths, and slowly opened the locked wooden door. There he saw his son sitting on the ground, coldly looking up at the stars.
The light was dim, but he could clearly see the gleam in his eyes, no longer the foolish, timid eyes that had appeared after he became stupid.
"My son!" His lips trembled, filled with longing, but even more so with a deep sense of guilt from the bottom of his heart.
It was his inability to distinguish right from wrong, his poor judgment of character, and his lack of common sense that caused such a good child to be ruined in his hands.
"Father, I didn't lose Grandmother's safety lock." Xie Ming turned around and stared at him, saying only these words.
I hadn't heard my son's clear and insightful reply in a long time. I never expected that the first thing he said to me when I saw him again would be something that touched my heart.
"It's my fault, it's my fault for not believing Ming-ge'er." After saying that, he put the oil lamp on the lamp stand and hugged the small body on the ground.
Was he out of his mind? How could he leave such a young child in the woodshed?
I still remember what that wicked woman said to him before he went to sleep: that children shouldn't be spoiled too much, that Ming-ge is a sensible person, and that in order to clear herself of suspicion, that woman spared no effort in infesting her own son with maggots.
Thinking about how he had been extremely gentle with his wife in bed before going to sleep to calm her down, Xie Chunlin felt waves of nausea.
"Dad, it's cold!" Xie Ming hadn't gotten used to being a child yet, but he had to make the man in front of him feel guilty. Sure enough, as soon as he said that word, Xie Chunlin's body began to tremble.
In his past life, after Xie Ming became mentally impaired, he never fought for anything for himself again.
Even if you faint from the scorching summer sun in the fields, you'll just smile foolishly when you wake up.
Wearing a tattered coat in the cold winter, he was forced by his mother to brave the wind and snow to deliver brand-new clothes to his cousin in town, which he happily accepted. Even though he was shivering from the cold, he still managed to smile ingratiatingly at his mother.
Thinking of those memories, Xie Chunlin felt a churning pain in his heart.
His only son, a child with Xie family blood, lived a humble life under the care of someone from another family.
"I can't think about it anymore. I can't let my child repeat the mistakes of my past life." Xie Chunlin picked up the child and walked towards the room.
As luck would have it, the father and son had just come from the woodshed at the back and crossed the courtyard when they bumped into an aunt and niece walking towards them from the opposite direction.
When her husband suddenly appeared in front of her, Chen Hehua's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that her husband also had memories of his past life?
She couldn't help but speak first: "Husband?"
"Yes, there was a loud thunder just now, which woke me up. I was afraid it would frighten the child, so I came to check on him." Xie Chunlin had considered divorcing this woman, but he quickly changed his mind. His son had suffered enough, and if he had a mother who was "abandoned," his future would be filled with hardship.
Chen Hehua thought of the thunderclap and realized that her husband was most likely awakened by it, as if it had happened in a past life as well, except that she hadn't dreamt about it then and had been quickly startled awake. Seeing her frightened, her husband kept comforting her, completely ignoring their son in the woodshed.
After figuring it out, she naturally frowned and looked at the person in his arms.
“Why is my husband still holding Ming-ge’er? He’s not a child anymore…” Chen Hehua instinctively began to ostracize her own son.
In the past, Xie Chunlin might have been persuaded by her sophistry, but now Xie Ming in his arms could clearly feel the man's arms becoming increasingly tense.
He's angry! Angry? That's right! How else would he remember those grudges?
He remembered clearly how his love-struck mind in his past life had ruined him.
"Why is Nian-ge'er up too?" Xie Chunlin didn't want to hear her nonsense anymore, so she asked Chen Sinian in the gentlest voice.
"This child is so thoughtful. He didn't sleep even though he knew his younger brother was being punished. When I went over, I happened to see him heading to the woodshed. He said he was going to see Ming-ge'er." Chen Hehua gently patted her nephew's head, as if he were the most precious treasure in her heart.
Xie Chunlin's fingers were trembling. In their past life, when they woke up in the morning, this ungrateful wretch was still in his warm bed!
Does he also have those memories? If not, then what does he want to do here?
Having learned from those painful lessons, Xie Chunlin immediately realized that Chen Sinian was probably not there for any good.
It's actually quite easy to guess what that little bastard would have done if the rain hadn't followed. Two people fighting over money—it's never as satisfying as one person enjoying it all alone.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com