Chapter 89 Trafficking and Losing Face
"Come down quickly, your man will be here soon."
"Don't be impulsive, everything is negotiable."
"Go get help, go get help."
...
Hospital staff were trying to persuade Li Hui, fearing she might jump.
Of course, these people knew that Li Hui didn't really want to jump. Even so, they still had to try to persuade her; if no one did, Li Hui might do something rash.
"No, he won't come," Li Hui shook her head.
Li Hui was going to climb the railing; she had to make a show of it.
Then Guo Peng arrived, and he had no choice but to let Li Hui come down.
"No divorce, no divorce, I'll never divorce you in my entire life," Guo Peng shouted.
"Really? You're not kidding me, are you?" Li Hui asked.
"I'm not lying to you, it's true, it's true." How could Guo Peng say it was fake?
“No, your parents will definitely make you divorce. I can't have children; you don't have any biological children,” Li Hui said. “They will definitely not want me; they…”
As Li Hui spoke, she tried to climb up the railing again, wanting Guo Peng to make her a promise.
“We’re not divorced, and my parents haven’t told me to divorce you.” Guo Peng gritted his teeth. “As long as you don’t make the same mistake again, there won’t be any problems.”
"Is it my fault? You're always out, do you have other women?" Li Hui was unlikely to admit it was her fault; it must be Guo Peng's fault, that Guo Peng hadn't done a good job.
"There are no other women, only you." Guo Peng felt incredibly heartbroken. It was clearly Li Hui who had wronged him, yet he still had to comfort her.
Every pot has its lid; Guo Peng still cared about Li Hui. He couldn't bear to watch her die, even if he wasn't the one who did it, he would feel guilty.
"You can't find another woman in your entire life," Li Hui said. "You can't find another woman just to get revenge on me!"
"I won't look for her, I won't look for her." Guo Peng coaxed Li Hui, walking over step by step and pulling her to his side.
Guo Peng took Li Hui to the ward. He had already realized that he was bound to Li Hui for the rest of his life; Li Hui would never abandon him, never divorce him. Li Hui wasn't a love-struck fool; she wouldn't divorce Guo Peng for another man. She knew that if she married another man, no one would treat her as well as Guo Peng.
Li Hui could find other men, but she couldn't live without Guo Peng. Guo Peng paid her a salary, giving her enough money to buy clothes and other things. Without Guo Peng's money, Li Hui would be unemployed and penniless, unable to do anything else.
When Guo's mother learned that Li Hui had attempted suicide again, she was speechless.
“Your older brother shouldn’t have married Li Hui.” Guo’s mother sat in the room talking to Fan Yani, feeling very upset.
Li Hui kept tormenting Guo Peng, making it seem as if Guo Peng had made a mistake, not Li Hui.
How ridiculous!
“My elder brother has already married Li Hui.” Fan Yani thought Guo Peng deserved it. The original owner was waiting for Guo Peng to marry her in the countryside, but Guo Peng not only refused but also kept dragging his feet. If Guo Peng hadn’t kept dragging his feet, perhaps the original owner wouldn’t have had this accident, and she wouldn’t have transmigrated.
Fan Yani had no intention of time travel; she could just read time travel novels, why bother to actually go through it herself?
In this era, many things are not available, and technology is not as advanced. Fan Yani is still not used to it. She prefers the high-tech world.
"That's true, she's already married," said Guo's mother. "Now that things have escalated to this point, everyone around knows about it."
“People were already talking about it when my sister-in-law was dancing and singing with that person,” Fan Yani said. “They weren’t unaware of the gossip, but they pretended not to know and said that their relationship was innocent. As long as they weren’t caught in the act, they could say it was for art.”
"Sigh." Guo's mother sighed. Having a daughter-in-law like Li Hui, the Guo family was truly cursed for eight generations.
It's not that Guo's mother necessarily wanted to get something from her eldest son; it's just that Li Hui was inhuman.
In the capital, Song Fenglan knew that Li Hui had attempted suicide by overdosing on medication, but she was unaware that Li Hui had caused another scene at the hospital. Even if she knew, it wouldn't matter much; Song Fenglan hadn't fought Shi Guilan to the death back then, so naturally she wouldn't go after Li Hui now.
When Qin Yizhou heard Song Fenglan talking about Li Hui, he had to make it clear that he had no relationship with Li Hui.
"I've met her a few times, but we're not friends." Qin Yizhou was a little nervous. When Li Hui wanted to marry him, they wanted him to divorce Song Fenglan and marry Li Hui. Qin Yizhou felt this was a stain on his reputation. He clearly had no feelings for Li Hui, yet that incident happened; it was more disgusting than swallowing a fly.
“I know you’re not friends,” Song Fenglan said. “I didn’t say you were friends. It’s just that after hearing what Fatty said, and thinking about Li Hui… she really does all sorts of things.”
This is so melodramatic!
Reality is always more dramatic than fiction!
In her past life, Song Fenglan found the things she read online to be outrageous, even though others claimed they were true. Later, she stopped saying that TV dramas were unrealistic. Where were they unrealistic? They were simply not grounded enough, not realistic enough, not melodramatic enough, and not exaggerated enough.
"They can't get a divorce." Qin Yizhou knew Guo Peng a little. After what happened, to save Li Hui's life, Guo Peng couldn't get a divorce. He couldn't bear the blame for a murder. Even if Guo Peng didn't kill Li Hui, there was still some indirect connection. Li Hui's family would make trouble, and there would be other issues. Guo Peng's life would be difficult, and it would also implicate his parents.
Guo Peng wasn't ruthless enough at first to simply not rescue Li Hui. He planned to wait until she died before taking any action, at which point the question of divorce wouldn't even arise. Li Hui was certain Guo Peng wouldn't abandon her; if she had committed suicide at any other time, she might never have encountered Guo Peng. Li Hui chose the perfect time and deliberately left traces for Guo Peng to see.
Qin Yizhou thought about it for a moment and he knew what was going on. He figured Guo Peng must know too. Knowing everything but still being unable to divorce, only able to be bound together, was a truly agonizing feeling.
"This is how my life will go," Qin Yizhou said.
“Guo Peng got married at a very old age,” Song Fenglan said. If Guo Peng had gotten married earlier, he wouldn’t have had any other thoughts in mind and wouldn’t have married Li Hui.
Song Fenglan thought this was fate. Besides, Guo Peng was a male supporting character who didn't rise to power; a man whose actions insulted the female lead, and someone who indirectly caused the supposed death of the original owner of the body. How could the novel's author possibly let Guo Peng and his wife have a good life? Song Fenglan thought this was for the best; everyone has to pay the price for their actions.
"Your judgment is terrible," Qin Yizhou said. "Your hearing is terrible too."
At the time, Li Hui was in love with Qin Yizhou and intended to marry him, a fact that caused quite a stir. Guo Peng couldn't possibly have been unaware of this, yet he still married Li Hui; this was Guo Peng's own doing.
"Not everyone has such good taste as me." Qin Yizhou looked at Song Fenglan. He had fallen for his wife at first sight and only thought about being with her, not about being with other women.
If you like someone, you have to see if that person is worth liking.
Liking someone without any calculation seems pure. But this so-called pure liking is more like a feeling, and as this feeling dissipates, it turns into dislike.
Furthermore, liking something isn't about being calculating, but rather about seeing the shining qualities in the person you like.
“It’s better if they’re entangled for the rest of their lives, so they don’t have to cause trouble for others,” Song Fenglan said.
Guo Peng isn't incapable of making a good life for himself; it's his choice to choose Li Hui that matters. Everyone has to take responsibility for their own choices.
"Yes," Qin Yizhou replied.
Qin Yizhou and Guo Peng were not good friends, so he couldn't possibly call to comfort Guo Peng.
Among the people living in the same area as Guo Peng were some of his former comrades-in-arms. But how could others say those things? There was no way to say anything; it involved a life. It's a matter between a married couple, and what others say doesn't really matter. If they reconcile, then those others become the ones who harmed their marital happiness.
Guo Peng asked for leave to take care of Li Hui; he couldn't refuse, as Li Hui wouldn't see him and would cause a scene. Guo Peng figured Li Hui was still in the hospital, so he would go to work after she was discharged.
class.
If we don't go to work, the two of us will starve.
Guo's mother even brought some food to visit Li Hui, but Li Hui wanted the Guo family to show their support, so Guo's mother had no choice but to go.
Niu Cuihua found Li Hui disgusting. She went to find Fan Yani, and the two of them talked alone, during which she talked about Li Hui.
"After all this fuss, she's become like a precious treasure, someone who has to be pampered." Niu Cuihua didn't even dare to imagine what kind of trouble Li Hui would cause in the future.
“She doesn’t live under the same roof as us; it’s my older brother who lives with her. We can just pretend we don’t know anything and continue as before,” Fan Yani said. “After something like this, don’t expect my sister-in-law to treat us any better in the future; it’s unlikely. That’s just how she is. Even at a time like this, she’s still thinking about herself, not others.”
“Brother deserves it,” Niu Cuihua said. “He was the one who wanted to marry this sister-in-law.”
Niu Cuihua thought Fan Yani was far superior to Li Hui. She had heard that Li Hui's college entrance exam score was even lower than Fan Yani's. Li Hui could dance, but she used dancing as a pretext to find other men.
“Yes, let our eldest brother bear it himself,” Fan Yani said. “We shouldn’t go there recently.”
“We didn’t go there either,” Niu Cuihua said. “To be honest, we’ve only been to their house once in all this time. When we went in, the sister-in-law complained that we were dirty, as if she was afraid we would make a mess of her house. Their house is just so-so, not very clean, but she still complained about us.”
Every time Niu Cuihua thought about Li Hui's attitude towards them, she felt that Li Hui didn't genuinely want to be relatives with them; Li Hui was afraid that they would cause her trouble. Niu Cuihua was speechless; she hadn't said she wanted to rely on her older brother.
At most, she would jokingly say that her older brother should help them out in the future, and she would say that to Guo Peng, not to Li Hui. Li Hui thought Niu Cuihua and her husband were bloodsuckers. Niu Cuihua and her husband had received benefits from Guo Peng in their early years. Guo Peng sent money to his parents, which could be considered as helping Guo Peng get married.
Some things, once you've endured them, you've simply endured them; you can't say you haven't gained anything from them.
That's all in the past. After Guo Peng got married, he sent less money, but Niu Cuihua didn't say much or pressure him to send more. Niu Cuihua was self-aware enough; she was Guo Peng's sister-in-law, not his wife, so how could she expect him to send her money?
“She’s always like this,” Fan Yani said. “What you need to do is bring her some food after she’s discharged from the hospital. If you don’t want to go over, have Mom go over.”
“I don’t want to go there. If I go, she’ll think I’m going to make fun of her. What should I do then?” Niu Cuihua wasn’t afraid of offending Li Hui, but she was afraid that Li Hui would make a scene over there, making it seem like she had bullied Li Hui.
Niu Cuihua disliked Li Hui, not at all, and had no intention of pretending to like her. Having such a sister-in-law was truly unlucky.
“Then let Mom go,” Fan Yani said. “I don’t plan to go there often either.”
After all, the original owner was Guo Peng's childhood sweetheart, and Li Hui might go crazy at this time.
Fan Yani couldn't leave Nancheng, nor could she move elsewhere. If anyone had to move, it would be Guo Peng and his wife. Guo Peng and his wife had become the butt of gossip here; there was no benefit for them to stay.
But you can't just throw away a house like that, or sell it off so easily.
Guo Peng has already received housing allocations, so his former employer is unlikely to allocate him another one. People like Guo Peng who bought houses for less money essentially benefited from their previous employers' arrangements. From a policy perspective, Guo Peng has already enjoyed housing allocation benefits and cannot receive them again.
If housing were allocated again, everyone would get housing first, then sell their houses, and then get housing again... then people at the bottom of society shouldn't even think about having a place to live; they should just wait to rent. They shouldn't expect their work units to allocate housing for them.
Most people in the hospital knew about Li Hui's situation. Li Hui had made such a big fuss that it was hard for anyone not to know.
No one from the Li family came over. They were determined to have Guo Peng take care of Li Hui, because only in this way could Guo Peng and Li Hui avoid getting divorced.
Song Fenglan redecorated her home for Qin Zihang's birthday party.
Qin Zihang's birthday fell on a weekend, and Song Fenglan stayed home with him. Even if it hadn't been a weekend, they could have waited until then to hold the birthday party. A weekend would have allowed everyone to enjoy themselves more.
Song Fenglan watched Qin Zihang playing with the neighbor's children and some of Qin Zihang's classmates. They were having a great time, some playing in the living room and others in the yard, all of them very happy.
There was plenty of food prepared at home, including roast duck and roast lamb leg.
Qin Zihang originally wanted to eat skewers of grilled meat and vegetables, but Song Fenglan refused. Roast duck and roast lamb leg were enough; eating too much grilled meat could cause internal heat, and children's constitutions weren't so strong. Song Fenglan was worried about other people's children getting sick. If their own child got sick, their own family could take care of them, and they wouldn't blame anyone else. But if someone else's child got sick, it would be Song Fenglan and her husband's fault for not doing a good job.
Qin Zihang likes sweet and spicy foods, but he doesn't like foods that aren't flavorful enough. As Qin Zihang gets older, he becomes increasingly picky about food.
"Do you guys eat roasted sweet potatoes?" Qin Zihang asked his friends.
"..." When Song Fenglan heard his son ask such a question, he was speechless.
"Eat up, eat up!" one of the friends immediately exclaimed.
"Should we go to the sweet potato field to get some?" someone suggested.
"Are there sweet potato fields at this time of year?" another question was asked.
"They said we could go to the sweet potato field and get sweet potatoes to eat, that's what the book says." One of the children recalled the passages in the book that the older children had mentioned.
Several parents were also there, and they were speechless when they heard their children say they wanted to go to the sweet potato field to take sweet potatoes. Going to someone else's sweet potato field is stealing, not taking. As for what's written in books, that's just childish fun. It's common for children to dig up sweet potatoes and pick vegetable leaves in other people's fields; many people did that when they were young.
In the end, Song Fenglan asked Sun Mei to roast sweet potatoes. There were sweet potatoes at home, so there was no need to dig them up from someone else's sweet potato field.
After the birthday party ended, Song Fenglan couldn't help but ask her son, "Why do you like roasted sweet potatoes so much?"
"I don't particularly like it, but I can eat it when I'm with other people," Qin Zihang said. "When I used to eat roasted sweet potatoes with Brother Xiaohu, we were both very happy."
Qin Zihang remembered the joy of eating roasted sweet potatoes, and he wanted to share that joy with everyone, which is why he mentioned roasted sweet potatoes.
Children's world is so simple. They don't know whether food is expensive or cheap; they only know that they are happy.
Song Fenglan is hugging her son, which shows that the child was quite happy living in Nancheng.
“I wrote a letter to Brother Xiaohu, and Brother Xiaohu wrote back, but…” Qin Zihang hesitated.
"What's wrong?" Song Fenglan asked.
“Little Tiger’s handwriting looks just like his. Could it be someone else’s handwriting?” Qin Zihang asked.
"He wrote it," Song Fenglan countered.
"Why?" she chuckled. "Sister-in-law Pang said that after you returned to the capital, Xiao Hu studied very hard and practiced calligraphy."
"Is he working that hard?" Qin Zihang tilted his head and looked at Song Fenglan.
“Yes, he worked really hard.” Song Fenglan nodded. “He wanted to come and see you, so he worked very hard.”
"Just do your best," Qin Zihang said. "I will do my best too."
Qin Zihang felt a sweet warmth in his heart. Since his little tiger brother had come to see him, he couldn't make a bad impression.
"Mom, I want to get into the best university in our area," Qin Zihang said. "When Brother Xiaohu comes, he'll know how amazing I am."
"It depends on the major," Song Fenglan said. "Some schools are the most famous, but some majors are not the best."
Just like aerospace-related majors, Capital University of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the most outstanding in this field, as it is a specialized institution and is better than the same majors in comprehensive universities.
"This is so troublesome. I don't even know anything about majors," Qin Zihang said. "I want to study the same major as my mother."
"Okay." Song Fenglan patted Qin Zihang's head.
As time passed, Song Fenglan learned of Li Hui's whereabouts about six months later: Li Hui had eloped with someone.
When Li Hui was with another man, Guo Peng caught them in the act. Although they didn't divorce, their relationship was no longer what it used to be; they engaged in a cold war and emotional abuse. Li Hui couldn't tolerate violence, and Guo Peng wasn't giving her much money anymore. Unable to bear it, she ran off with another man.
Guo Peng didn't report it to the police. After seeing the letter Li Hui left behind, he wondered why he should report it. But it was useless; in the vast sea of people, they wouldn't be able to find Li Hui.
Li Hui disregarded her own niece and ran off with someone else. She didn't even mention her niece once in her letter, nor did she think of her adopted daughter. After this happened, Guo Peng didn't even consider looking for Li Hui.
Li Hui's niece's name is Guo Furong. Guo Peng came up with the name after watching a martial arts drama. If Guo's mother hadn't asked, Guo Peng and his wife wouldn't have even thought about naming their child.
Now things are really messed up. Li Hui has run away, and Guo Peng will remarry in the future. If he remarries, it will be difficult for him to take this child who is not related to him by blood.
"Let her stay with us," Niu Cuihua said. The child's surname is Guo after all. Even if the child is not related to the Guo family by blood, if they send her to the Li family now, the Li family may not accept the child, and the child will suffer if she goes to the Li family.
Under such circumstances, sending the child back would be harming the child.
“She’s been living with us for so long, so she should stay here,” Fan Yani said. “Mom can still take care of her, and I have a room to stay here too.”
"It's this one child who's suffering the most," Fan Yani sighed.
Niu Cuihua hesitated, knowing it wasn't the right time to say this, but she still pulled Fan Yani aside, "Could this child be like her aunt...?"
I'm afraid this child is an ungrateful wretch; if that happens, there will be many problems, and then things will be really messed up.
“What’s there to be afraid of? I have my own child, I don’t need her to be filial to me in the future,” Fan Yani said. “I won’t tell her that she will have to help her brother and sister in the future, I won’t tell her.”
Having traveled through time in this age of information overload, Fan Yani has witnessed far too many adopted daughters and sons who feel bad about their adoptive parents. No matter how good their adoptive parents are to them, they always think of their biological parents. Some people do find their biological parents, but those parents see them as people who have come to claim their inheritance—that's truly ridiculous.
“We can’t just abandon a child to an orphanage,” Fan Yani said. “Let’s raise her.”
"You're too kind-hearted, too soft-hearted," Niu Cuihua said. Ideally, neither of their families should raise the child, and the child should return to the Li family. But they had watched the child for a long time; the child was obedient and sensible, and it was hard to part with him.
At this time, Li Hui was sold by the man to a remote village, where she was left helpless and desperate. Li Hui had originally hoped to live a happy life with the man, rather than end up a widow. While Guo Peng was treating her coldly, she did try to seduce him, but he remained unmoved.
Guo Peng couldn't bear the thought of Li Hui kissing another man.
Someone like Li Hui couldn't possibly endure Guo Peng's cold violence forever; she wanted to make him pay. Li Hui had a dance background, a decent figure, and wasn't particularly unattractive, so she could easily seduce men.
Li Hui never imagined that the man wasn't wealthy at all; he was a human trafficker. He even had a wife who was also involved in child trafficking; the two worked together. Li Hui didn't know he had a wife until she was lured to a small village.
Li Hui wanted to escape, but she couldn't escape at all.
The man knew that Li Hui had difficulty conceiving, but he didn't tell anyone. If he did, he wouldn't be able to sell her for a good price.
But Li Hui said, "I can't get pregnant, I can't have children. My husband used to be in the army. You can't treat me like this."
“That’s what everyone says,” the man said. “You’d better keep a close eye on her. Look, she’s got plenty of energy, she’s a good catch. If anything goes wrong, I won’t be responsible.”
"Okay, okay, we'll keep an eye on her." Those people didn't believe Li Hui couldn't have children at all, and they didn't listen to what Li Hui said.
Everyone was wondering why Li Hui would run away if she had such a good husband. Now that she was here, they couldn't let her escape. If Li Hui went out to report to the police and others found out about the situation in the village, it would be terrible. They knew that many women in this village had been trafficked, and some had already resigned themselves to their fate.
Those women, after giving birth, have resigned themselves to their fate, compromising for the sake of their children. Then, they transform from victims into perpetrators, mistreating other trafficked women, keeping a close watch on those newly trafficked, preventing them from escaping.
The man took the money and left; that was his business.
Li Hui was completely bewildered; she was still tied up. Li Hui had initially thought they were going back to the man's hometown, as he had said he hadn't been back in a long time, and she had believed him. Furthermore, on the way, the man had drugged Li Hui's water, and she fell asleep, unaware of how they had gotten there.
Because Li Hui wrote that letter, everyone assumed she had eloped with someone and no one thought that something bad would happen to her.
When Fatty Sister told Song Fenglan, she also said that Li Hui had eloped with someone. Guo Peng was concerned about his reputation; in this vast ocean, finding someone would be difficult, so Guo Peng simply didn't bother looking for her.
"They said they'd go through the divorce proceedings in a while," the plump woman said.
"Can we get a divorce if the person isn't here?" Song Fenglan asked.
“This is a special case. Guo Peng was a soldier before,” the plump woman said. “Li Hui had been with other men before. Now that Guo Peng is getting a divorce from Li Hui, no one will say anything.”
Song Fenglan thought it made sense. If the person wasn't around, they could still apply for a divorce in court after a certain number of years.
Li Hui acted so recklessly, and Guo Peng was already incredibly tolerant of her by not divorcing her.
"It's good that they're divorced. What's the point of not getting a divorce?" the fat woman said. "If they're divorced, Guo Peng can find another woman and have another child. It's just that adopted daughter... Li Hui is a mentally unstable person. She never intended to raise that child. Why did she adopt such a child from her parents' home? It's only because Yani and the others are kind-hearted that they kept the child. If it were me, I might have sent the child to an orphanage."
The woman felt terrible. It was someone else's child, not her own, yet she still had to take such good care of the child.
“That’s right,” Song Fenglan said. “It’s hard not to feel uncomfortable looking at the child. Guo Peng can’t keep that child, so the child will have to stay with someone else.”
"Yes," the plump woman sighed. "This child... what will she think when she hears others talking about those things in the future?"
Anyway, Sister Pang herself doesn't want to hear those words; she wouldn't be able to stand it. It's impossible for others not to talk about such a young child; that's human nature—you can't control what others say.
“It’s good enough to have a place to stay, with food and shelter,” Song Fenglan said. “If we go to an orphanage, it might be even worse.”
Not every orphanage is good, and not every orphan can find a new home. Besides, that child has biological parents, but they don't care about her.
Guo Peng did contact the Li family, but they simply didn't intend to pick up the child. They said the child would stay there and that Li Hui was just going out to clear her head and would return later. The Li family refused to admit that Li Hui had eloped with someone else, insisting that Guo Peng must have mistreated her. The two sides almost got into a fight on the phone.
"Sigh, who would have thought she would end up like this? Li Hui, I never imagined she was this kind of person," said the plump woman. "She's making life difficult for others."
"Mm." Song Fenglan nodded.
"Xiao Hu's grades have improved a lot. He's really working hard so he can see his little brother Zihang in the future." Aunt Pang was very satisfied with this.
After a brief chat with Song Fenglan, the two hung up the phone.
Qin Yizhou already knew about Guo Peng's situation before Song Fenglan even told him. Several days had passed since then, and his acquaintances also found out.
Qin Yizhou and his wife didn't mention this in front of Qin Zihang, as it wasn't suitable for a child to hear. They discussed it before bedtime, and Song Fenglan glared at Qin Yizhou when she learned he already knew.
"You knew, why didn't you tell me?" Song Fenglan asked.
"I didn't tell you because you were busy. I was planning to tell you when you were resting," Qin Yizhou said. "This whole thing has turned out quite ugly."
No one expected Li Hui to elope with a man, and she even left a letter to humiliate Guo Peng. Guo Peng was furious, but there was nothing he could do. Li Hui wasn't there, so Guo Peng could only punch the wall a couple of times.
“No one can help someone who doesn’t want to live a good life,” Song Fenglan said. “Heaven has been very kind to Li Hui. When she couldn’t have children, Guo Peng didn’t abandon her. When they adopted a child, it was a child from the Li family.”
Many men care about whether or not they have biological children. Guo Peng could have divorced Li Hui much earlier, but he didn't. This led to the subsequent events. Li Hui never intended to treat Guo Peng well. If Li Hui had any conscience, she wouldn't have gone through all this trouble.
I heard that the child stayed at Fan Yani's house.
"That's right," Song Fenglan said. "If that child stayed with the Guo family, they'd probably look at her badly. Guo Peng never really cared about the child to begin with, and now he's even less likely to pay attention to her. Regardless of whether she's their biological child or not, they should have been responsible for her when they decided to adopt her."
A little girl became a victim.
Song Fenglan thought it didn't matter what the little girl looked like in the future. Even if others treated her well, she might not be grateful to them because of her bad family background.
“They have to take responsibility,” Qin Yizhou said. “Their behavior… if you encounter someone who doesn’t want to take care of the child, the child can only go to an orphanage. The child’s biological parents have already abandoned her and won’t let her go back, saying that their daughter is dead.”
"You know quite a lot." Song Fenglan looked at Qin Yizhou.
“Please elaborate on what others have said,” Qin Yizhou said.
“You men are quite gossipy,” Song Fenglan said.
"The green hats on other men's heads." Qin Yizhou coughed lightly, mainly because of this, which is why those people paid more attention.
Men like to talk about those things, to see who's more capable, not just about love and romance.
“…” Song Fenglan remained silent.
"Their marriage is coming to an end," Qin Yizhou said. "Guo Peng will remarry sooner or later."
"They have no intention of going to find her and bring her back?" Song Fenglan asked.
"Where else can we find it?" Qin Yizhou said. "It's such a big place, it's hard to find."
"That's true." In this era, the internet wasn't as developed, so it was easy for those people to hide. Song Fenglan thought that many criminals hid like this, and it was only when everyone had to undergo nucleic acid testing that more hidden criminal traffickers could be caught.
When Shi Guilan learned about Li Hui's situation, she was completely bewildered. What exactly was Li Hui doing?
Previously, when Guo Peng discovered that Li Hui had been seeing another man, Shi Guilan even called Li Hui, telling her to be more careful and not to bring him home. Indeed, Shi Guilan meant that as long as Li Hui didn't bring men home and wasn't discovered, Li Hui could do whatever she wanted.
Shi Guilan was far away in the Northwest, so she couldn't help Li Hui. She also knew Li Hui's personality; Li Hui just couldn't stand being alone.
Such a huge thing is a scandal!
The Li family didn't want outsiders to know. After all, Guo Peng and Li Hui had only visited the Li family once, and others might not remember what Guo Peng looked like. As long as no one revealed it, they could pretend that Li Hui was still with Guo Peng.
"Aren't you planning to bring the child over?" Shi Guilan asked the Li family on the phone.
“We’re not taking him back. We’ll leave him with Guo Peng,” Li’s mother said. “This child was originally adopted by them; how could we let him come back?”
The Li family has already told everyone that the child is dead and that they must not let the child come back.
“This is a family matter, so you don’t need to interfere,” said Li’s mother. “If you had introduced her to a better man back then, she wouldn’t be like this.”
Li's mother hung up the phone. Shi Guilan couldn't help them, so why should they contact her? The Li family was furious; they were all afraid Guo Peng would send the child over, afraid everyone would know Li Hui had eloped.
Even though the Li family didn't want anyone to know, the news quickly spread throughout the small county. The Li family's daughter-in-law told her family, who in turn told other relatives, and that's how the story spread.
Everyone knew that Li Hui had eloped with a man. A woman who couldn't have children had eloped with another man. People even joked with Li's family, saying: "Your daughter is so charming!"
Shi Guilan listened to the dial tone on the phone and then went home.
"How is things going with your cousin?" Grandma Cao asked.
"That's how it is," Shi Guilan said. Her whole family knew about Li Hui's situation. "They're probably going to get a divorce."
"After all this, how can we not get a divorce?" Old Mrs. Cao said. "Your cousin seems like a decent person, but I never expected her to do something like this. If she were a good person, it would be one thing, but she just..."
Grandma Cao couldn't help but shake her head. Li Hui wasn't a good person; she even eloped with someone. Did she really think other men would treat Li Hui well? Grandma Cao didn't believe that any man would treat Li Hui as well as Guo Peng did. Li Hui just wasn't very bright.
A woman's life should be peaceful and comfortable. Men, on the other hand, are just like that; there are no perfect men in this world, and many men have various flaws.
"Why make such a fuss when you could have a perfectly good life?" said Old Mrs. Cao. "Don't be like your cousin."
"No." Shi Guilan cherished her current life. She was originally a country woman, and marrying Staff Officer Xu was her blessing. Shi Guilan was determined to hold onto Staff Officer Xu tightly and would never elope with another man.
Shi Guilan also believed that Li Hui had a problem with her brain. If Li Hui were even slightly more intelligent, she would not have done anything to betray Guo Peng.
The news spread throughout the family compound, and everyone felt that Guo Peng should have divorced Li Hui long ago.
"They shouldn't have gotten married in the first place; the marriage was meaningless."
"He has no biological children, and now he has to raise Li Hui's niece."
"We didn't get any benefits, and we lost so much money."
"Back then, everyone knew that Li Hui had feelings for Qin Tuan, yet Guo Peng still married her. He brought it on himself."
"If you don't open your eyes to see things that are obvious, you can't blame others."
"He just eloped with someone like that, without even caring about his own niece. This person is so cold-hearted."
...
When those people saw the Guo family coming over, they spoke in a low voice, afraid that the Guo family would lose face.
The Guo family already knew those people would talk about it; how could others not? What a great source of amusement!
Guo Peng wasn't thinking about moving; he just wanted to finalize the divorce as soon as possible. The house felt cold and empty; no one cooked. He ate either at the company cafeteria or at his brother's restaurant. Guo Peng felt embarrassed to eat at Fan Yani's house. He now regretted it; he should have married the child bride his family had arranged for him in the first place, instead of marrying Li Hui. Li Hui was no good person at all.
Li Hui made Guo Peng lose face, and everyone who talked about him laughed.
The relevant departments quickly processed Guo Peng and Li Hui's divorce certificate. Guo Peng worked at the Grain Bureau, which was still a popular position at the time. When Li Hui had just eloped, some people wanted to introduce Guo Peng to potential partners, but he refused, saying he needed to get the divorce certificate first.
At the time, Guo Peng was worried that he wouldn't be able to get the divorce certificate and that he might be holding back a good girl from another family. Guo Peng had a few minor flaws, but he was generally a reliable man.
Guo Peng became a hot commodity once again; everyone knew that his adopted daughter was now with Fan Yani and her husband and would no longer live with Guo Peng. However, the adoption relationship wasn't dissolved. Fan Yani wasn't a fool; she helped...
She wanted to raise the child, but she couldn't register the child on her household registration. Fan Yani didn't want any future complications; the child was still Guo Peng's adopted daughter, but Guo Peng didn't need to interfere much.
That day, Guo's mother went to see Guo Peng specifically, because Guo Peng couldn't stay single forever. Guo Peng was still young; if he got married, he could have children.
“Li Hui, just forget about him,” Guo’s mother said. She sat in the living room and handed Guo Peng several photos. “Take a look and see which one you like. These are photos from the matchmaker. Take a look and see if you click with her. If you like her but she doesn’t like you, it won’t work.”
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