Fu Qiyuan had a dream.
In his dream, he was entangled with a woman.
"Erlang, why are you so hot? Are you sick? I'll hold you, don't be afraid!"
"Erlang, you're shivering. Are you cold? Don't be afraid, I'll take off my clothes and give them to you."
"Erlang, be gentle, it hurts..."
"Waaah, Erlang, it hurts so much..."
He and the woman had a passionate lovemaking session, but he couldn't remember what she looked like. Only the repeated calls of "Erlang" were crystal clear in his dreams.
When Fu Qiyuan woke up, the afterglow seemed to linger in his mind, and his eyes were filled with a stormy sea.
He tried hard to recall the woman's voice and smile from his dream, but what followed was a sharp pain in his head.
He endured the pain, thinking of the woman he had met during the day, the woman who held him tightly and called him "Erlang," and the child who called him "Brother."
No, something's not right!
He checked the missing persons records of various county offices in Yuzhou City, and also checked the records of Jiao Erlang in Huaigu Village. Jiao Erlang was a year younger than him, and the county office records showed that Jiao Erlang had died unexpectedly three years ago.
His identity in Huaigu Village was fake to begin with, and it's quite normal for his birth date and time to be falsified. But what if Jiao Erlang's records at the county government were falsified? What if what the woman and child said was true? What if that woman...?
Upon thinking of this, Fu Qiyuan's expression suddenly changed.
He overlooked a crucial point: he had never connected the woman with the Jiao family. Fu Zhi said the simple-minded girl was from Huaigu Village, but he never mentioned that she was from the Jiao family. He had never heard anyone mention the simple-minded girl from the Jiao family, only that she was of questionable character and had affairs with strange men.
If Jiang Shan was indeed the Jiao family's mentally challenged daughter, he would never believe that she was the morally corrupt woman the villagers described. However, it was true that Jiang Shan was pregnant. If she was the Jiao family's mentally challenged daughter who was bullied by a strange man, then the child in her womb...
Fu Qiyuan gasped, his anger even overshadowing the excruciating pain in his head. Ignoring his injuries, he left the inn before dawn.
Jiang Shan never expected that Jiao's mother would go mad and completely change.
How to describe it? It's like a demoralized soldier who, after his morale is suddenly boosted, becomes decisive and invincible.
When Jiang Shan woke up, she saw that Jiao's mother had changed into a brand new, bright crimson dress, her hair was neatly combed, and she was standing in front of her bed with a blank expression, staring at her without blinking.
"Holy crap!" Jiang Shan rolled over onto the inside of the bed, his heart pounding in his throat.
Jiao's mother reached out and smoothed her hair, then straightened her clothes, cleared her throat, and asked Jiang Shan with a stern face, "Is this outfit alright for me?"
Jiang Shan patted his chest and swallowed hard. "It's...it's alright, you look quite energetic. It's just...it's just that your face isn't very pleasing. Come on, smile..."
Seeing that Jiang Shan was not afraid of trouble, Jiao's mother reached out and pinched her chin, and said with a stern face, "You have no manners! Get up and eat, Mother made noodle soup."
At the dinner table, the mother and her two children each picked up the soup dumplings from their bowls, remaining silent.
Jiang Shan stretched out his foot and kicked Sanlang, giving him a look.
Saburo silently picked up the bowl to cover his face and pulled his feet back.
Mother seems a bit intimidating right now, so I'd better talk less and eat more.
As if ignoring the commotion between the siblings, Jiao's mother peeled an egg and put it in Jiang Shan's bowl, saying calmly, "Eat more, you may not be hungry, but the child is!"
Jiang Shan smiled sweetly, and taking advantage of the situation, grabbed Jiao's mother's arm and shamelessly said, "Mother, the plum blossoms on the mountain are in bloom. I want to eat plum blossom pastries, and Sanlang wants to eat some too, right, Sanlang?"
Saburo peeked his face out of the bowl and nodded timidly.
After a moment of silence, Jiao's mother reached out and touched her son's head, saying softly, "Sanlang, I'm sorry for you and for your sister. I will take good care of you from now on. Our family must live well!"
Saburo grinned and said, "And there's my brother, waiting for him to come back..."
"Your brother is dead!" Jiao's mother slammed down her chopsticks, her face turning grim once again.
"Brother isn't dead, I was just yesterday..." Sanlang was cut off by Jiangshan before he could finish speaking.
Jiang Shan understood that no matter when or where, Erlang would always be a source of pain in his mother's heart.
Let's not mention it again!
"Sanlang, help your sister crack some eggs. Your sister is making you a delicious cake today, and she'll make you a big birthday cake for your birthday!"
Jiang Shan dragged and coaxed Sanlang away.
Jiao's mother sat alone at the table, staring blankly at the person opposite her. After a long while, tears streamed down her face as she said, "Brother Chun, I'm sorry. I'm the one who has wronged you and the children. Look, my retribution has come!"
In an alley not far from Jiang's shop, Yuan Wen, carrying two baskets of eggs, looked at the man blocking his way and asked in confusion, "Young master, why are you here so early in the morning instead of recuperating at the inn?"
The man touched the white gauze on his head and said through gritted teeth, "How is Aunt Jiao...? How is Sanlang? How is Miss Jiang...?"
Yuan looked around, sighed, and said, "It's not good. When I got back last night, Sanlang was still crying, Aunt Jiao was acting like she had suffered a great shock, and even the master seemed to have had a miscarriage... Why are you asking about this?"
The man clenched his fists tightly and took several deep breaths to calm the lingering pain in his chest.
"Fu Wen, remember my words. No matter what method you use, you must protect that family and the child in Miss Jiang's womb! If anything happens to them, I will hold you responsible!"
Yuan Wen was startled and quickly put down the load in his hands, kneeling down. "Young master, rest assured, I will do my best to fulfill your request, even if it costs me my life!"
The man staggered back a step, as if he had exhausted all his strength, and murmured, "Fu Wen, this is the only important task I have entrusted to you. If anyone tries to stop you, no matter who it is, even if it is the master of the Ministry of Rites, you cannot back down even a step!"
"Yes, young master!"
In the kitchen, Jiang Shan was whipping milk while observing Sanlang's expression.
Saburo was in a bad mood; he hadn't been beating the egg whites properly.
"Sanlang, you must understand your mother's feelings. If your mother keeps worrying about Erlang, she won't be able to live a good life, nor will she be able to take care of you and your future grandchildren. Isn't that right?"
Sanlang remained silent, but Jiangshan pressed on: "Mother will not forget Erlang, and none of us will forget him. We just keep him in our hearts. Mother said that because she hopes we can live our lives well, after all, we still have a long life ahead of us!"
"Besides, Mother didn't say you couldn't miss your brother. Let's just think about it secretly in our hearts, as if Erlang just went on a long trip and hasn't come back yet, or as if Erlang is a high-ranking official abroad, and he'll retire and return home one day, right?"
Saburo's movements noticeably slowed, and his bright black eyes gradually regained their sparkle. After a long while, he muttered, "Sister, you have to keep your word!"
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