Chapter 113 Melon Two-in-One
"Her biological parents have come to our house to take Xiaoya back home!"
Xiang Yao raised an eyebrow and asked in confusion, "Then how did Zhou Laoer's family, uh, how did they adopt Xiaoya?"
This kind of thing is often difficult to conclude easily. After all, no one knows how such a small baby was lost and how it was brought back by Zhou Laoer's family.
Maybe, Zhou Laoer’s family is a legal expert.
He Yuezhi thought about it carefully and shook her head: "No one knows. Zhou Laoer and his wife both insisted that this is their biological child."
The aunt beside him said, "Come to think of it, we couldn't tell when they were little, but later on people said Xiaoya didn't look at all like them. Every time someone made a joke about it, Zhou Laoer and his wife got really upset. Once, they almost got into a fight."
Xiaoya is a pretty girl, with big eyes, double eyelids and thin lips.
Zhou Laoer and his wife look like a perfect couple, both with single eyelids and thick lips.
However, there are also children who don’t look much like their parents. Even bad bamboo can produce good bamboo shoots. Although some people have doubts in their hearts, no one can say anything.
Now two people who claim to be Xiaoya's biological parents came over, and those who were originally skeptical slapped their thighs and said:
"I told you all the time that Xiaoya wasn't Zhou Laoer's biological daughter, and you didn't believe me! Zhou Laoer even stood on the ridge of the field and scolded me! Humph, it's as I expected!"
Xiang Yao listened quietly, and was also very curious about what was going on.
Nie Baichuan asked her quietly, "Do you want to go and see it?"
Xiang Yao nodded: "Of course."
Nie Baichuan had no interest in this kind of thing. He glanced at He Yuezhi and the aunt, and felt that his Xiang Yao would not suffer any harm with these two friends by his side.
So he said, "Then I'll go back first and pick you up later."
Xiang Yao pushed him and said, "Okay, go back. No need to pick me up. Zhou Laoer's house is not far away."
Nie Baichuan wanted to pinch her earlobe, but when he raised his hand, he saw that there was still dirt on his hand from digging ginger. He had to rub his fingertips and gave up.
Xiang Yao didn't notice his little action. After Nie Baichuan parted ways with them, she took He Yuezhi's arm and rejoined the gossip camp.
After a while, they arrived at Zhou Laoer's house.
His family has a low presence in Xiangjiawan. Most of the time, they work quietly and don't interact much with other families.
But today, because some people from the city came to recognize their relatives, the yard in front of the house was full of people watching the fun.
This is a very common phenomenon in the countryside. If something unusual happens in someone's home, people will come to watch within a quarter of an hour.
Of course, this is even more true in some conflicts. When there are more people, some fights will not break out and some bloody incidents will not happen. After all, there are always people to pull the strings. Some things can also be laid out in the sun and resolved more fairly.
So generally speaking, the parties involved will not prevent outsiders from watching.
Xiang Yao used peanuts to clear the way and soon found an excellent position in the front row facing the Zhou family's gate.
He Yuezhi and another aunt took some peanuts and stood on her left and right like two bodyguards. If anyone pushed them hard, they would turn their heads away and roll their eyes.
The Zhou family's house was built with earthen bricks after the family split up. It was not big and there were no windows in the main room.
The sun was not shining much at this time, and the room seemed quite dim, so Zhou Laoer and his wife did not invite the two strangers in, but stood under the eaves.
Zhou Laoer has no parents. At this time, they are waiting for an old cousin from the Zhou family who has a lot of influence to come.
In matters like this, both sides wanted to discuss the matter in an environment where someone could be impartial, so the two city dwellers had no objections.
Xiang Yao looked at the couple supporting each other and murmured softly, "It's getting late now. Why are they here at this time? Can they still go back in the evening?"
She had learned from other people's discussions that the couple came from the city. They were not the dusty "small" city people from the county town, but the glamorous "big" city people.
Well, that's how the country folks here describe it.
So, as soon as the couple heard that their biological daughter was here, they ignored everything else and rushed over to recognize her?
With this guess in mind, she felt that the woman crying so hard was indeed very pitiful.
Her child was lost shortly after it was born. As a mother, she had gone through ten months of hard pregnancy, but suddenly encountered such a thing. How painful and desperate she must have been.
"Qiaozhen, Qiaozhen, don't cry. Our daughter has been found. This is a happy event." The woman's husband patted her hands and comforted her softly.
Sun Qiaozhen wiped away her tears, raised her eyes to look at Xiaoya who was standing next to Zhou Laoer's wife, and carefully stretched out her hands: "Xiaoya, I am your mother. I finally found you, I finally found you."
She smiled gently: "You know, your real name is not Xiaoya. Your father and I gave you a name. Your name is Li Xiaoqing. You are my Qingqing."
Xiaoya seemed a little at a loss. He was not used to such true feelings from strangers, so he moved closer to Zhou Laoer's wife and secretly observed the woman in front of him who claimed to be her biological mother.
As the only child in the family, Xiaoya did not live badly. Although the Zhou family's conditions were not very good, Zhou Laoer and his wife had always loved children very much, so Xiaoya did not have that strong feeling of "being able to live a good life in the city in the future" at this moment.
Of course, as a young girl, she naturally longs for life in the city.
However, she still couldn't imagine what it would be like to live with these two biological parents who were like strangers to her.
If these two people are really her biological parents, would he really go with them?
Xiaoya didn't know and felt very confused.
She wanted to live a good life, but she also wanted to live with her parents who had raised her for more than ten years.
Zhou Laoer's wife He Jinfeng did not look at the hand Sun Qiaozhen extended, but pulled Xiaoya behind her with some caution.
Although she and Zhou Laoer had already agreed to wait until her uncle came over before formally talking to them, she could no longer hold back.
She asked bluntly, "You've been saying you're Xiaoya's biological mother ever since you arrived. Why are you saying nothing when I ask you for evidence?"
He Jinfeng had already said with certainty in front of so many people that Xiaoya was her child. She was indeed not Xiaoya's biological mother. This was a fact. When this matter was brought to the surface, she had no way to refute it.
It was not difficult to find the strangeness of this matter, but in the past, she and her man had always been firm in their attitude, and even if others had doubts in their hearts, they would never say much. Now that someone came to find her, she dared not lie.
However, she and Zhou Laoer are not Xiaoya’s biological parents, and the man and woman standing in front of them may not be the same. How can they take Xiaoya away just because they want to?
Even if she really was going to lose her daughter Xiaoya, she couldn't lose her in obscurity.
Sun Qiaozhen was stunned by her blunt statement. She lowered her eyes and said pitifully, "I really don't have any evidence. The child's grandmother wouldn't let me go to the hospital, so I gave birth at home. She disappeared before she was even a month old."
She raised her eyelids, her eyes misty with tears: "I only know that on the day Xiaoqing disappeared, she was wearing a pink jacket, wrapped in a thin floral quilt."
He Jinfeng's eyebrows moved slightly, and after a moment of silence, she said, "Are you sure it's a pink jacket and a small floral quilt wrapped around her?"
Sun Qiaozhen frowned and thought carefully for a moment, then said uncertainly, "I remember it like this, but my mother-in-law was taking care of Xiaoqing at the time, so I don't know if she changed her clothes during the visit."
He Jinfeng didn't respond to this answer. She crossed her arms and continued to ask, "Besides this?"
Sun Qiaozhen slowly shook her head: "My Xiaoqing doesn't have any birthmarks or anything like that."
"But," she looked at He Jinfeng and said firmly, "The child's father and I went to your mother's house to inquire. When you and your husband returned to your mother's house, you were holding a child!"
Although no one remembers what color clothes the child who was wrapped tightly in He Jinfeng's arms was wearing, since the time doesn't match, the child was not born to He Jinfeng and her husband. If she is not her daughter, whose daughter could it be?
Someone in the crowd whispered, "Come to think of it, Jinfeng's family is quite far from here. We really don't know whether her child Xiaoya was born there. I think what this person said is true..."
Someone said, "I don't know how the couple took the child away. Did they steal him?"
"I don't think so. Zhou Laoer and his wife have been honest and upright for so many years. How could they do something like stealing a child?"
"Humph, who says honest people won't do bad things? There are so many people who appear honest on the surface, but actually do all sorts of bad things behind the scenes."
Xiang Yao listened to others talking silently, and looked at He Jinfeng and Zhou Laoer when he heard the words.
Zhou Laoer was frowning and silent from beginning to end. He was a taciturn man, not tall, with a dark face. He was not too old, but if you said he was young, he had a face full of vicissitudes of life and it was difficult to tell his age.
As for He Jinfeng, she seemed to be a person whose facial expressions were easily expressed, because after Sun Qiaozhen said those words, she had been visibly responding with a defensive attitude, not polite at all. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that something was definitely wrong.
Everyone could see it, including Sun Qiaozhen and her husband, and they looked at Xiaoya even more eagerly.
"Sister-in-law, we're all mothers, so I believe you can understand how I feel. I've been searching for years before I finally found my Xiaoqing..."
Sun Qiaozhen choked with sobs, her eyes full of pleading.
"Please give the child back to me. I miss her so much. Please fulfill our love for our daughter."
He Jinfeng didn't look at her expression. She said in a strong voice, "You said you've been looking for her for years, right? Even if my Xiaoya is really your biological daughter, you can find out about my family's situation. Why did you find out now?"
Sun Qiaozhen paused and subconsciously clenched her palms. Her husband Li Zhiguo said in a deep voice, "My wife's health has not been very good in recent years. Later, we had several children. I have been trying to find time to look after her all these years. I really don't have time to spare." Just at this time, Uncle Zhou arrived.
He came with a cane. Although he looked old, his voice was loud and full of energy. After looking around, he said loudly:
"Although my last name is Zhou, everyone knows that I have always been fair and just in my life and never taken sides."
He glanced at Sun Qiaozhen and her husband and continued, "Our second son and his wife invited me here because they trust me. I ask you to rest assured. Let's talk it out clearly. This matter will have a conclusion today."
Li Zhiguo said politely: "Uncle, with your words, my wife and I feel relieved."
Someone brought a chair to Uncle Zhou. After he sat down, he said to He Jinfeng:
"Second brother's wife, the second brother is a quiet person, you are more talkative than him, first tell me, what exactly happened to Xiaoya in the beginning."
He Jinfeng glanced at Xiaoya, who was standing beside her with a nervous look on her face, bit her lip, nodded and said:
"Xiaoya is definitely not my and Lao Er's biological daughter."
"At the time, my second son and I went to the city's big hospital for treatment. It was a rare trip to such a large place, so we didn't rush back. We just wandered around the hospital and unknowingly walked into a small alley."
She lowered her head and stared at her shoes, recalling the past and telling the whole story in detail.
It was the beginning of spring at that time. The weather was not very hot, but not too cold either. He Jinfeng and Zhou Laoer had enough money to go out, so they decided to take a walk first, stay overnight, and wait for the doctor's results to come out tomorrow before going to the department store to buy a pair of shoes.
The two men didn't know the way, so they just walked around casually. Because they were country people who had never seen the world, they were afraid of being looked down upon by city people if they walked in crowded places, so they chose to walk on remote roads.
As a result, when she reached an intersection, He Jinfeng heard a faint baby crying coming from an alley nearby.
The alley was very dilapidated and dark, with all kinds of wood and garbage piled up in it. Moss grew in the damp corners of the walls, and if you sniffed, you could smell a strange stench.
He Jinfeng took a look and felt terrified. She was already a little suspicious and thought she was hallucinating.
As a result, after walking a few steps, Zhou Laoer also said that he seemed to hear crying. Now that both of them heard it, they became bolder, looked at each other, and went into the alley.
When I got there, I found a tightly tied cloth bag behind a pile of garbage. Something was struggling and moving inside the bag, and the crying sound came from inside.
The two men whispered revolutionary slogans to give themselves courage, and then they tore open the bag.
So I picked up Xiaoya, a little bud who was crying so hard that she was about to die.
When He Jinfeng said this, she glanced at Xiaoya and touched her hair.
This is the little girl she picked up and the little girl she raised all the way.
After hearing what He Jinfeng said, Sun Qiaozhen bit her lip and cried, "I don't know. I was in confinement at the time and had no idea what happened. The child disappeared in the blink of an eye. Over the years, we thought she was stolen, but we didn't expect..."
But no one expected that the baby would be placed in a cloth bag and thrown into a deserted alley to die.
If He Jinfeng and her husband had not walked over there and happened to hear the faint crying sound because they had experienced the pain of losing their daughter, Xiaoya would probably have disappeared from this world.
He Jinfeng ignored her and continued, "We picked up the little girl, but my husband and I didn't think of raising her at the time."
She stared at Sun Qiaozhen and Li Zhiguo and said, "We've been in the city for two days, asking around to see if anyone has lost a child, but no one has given us any clues."
"We are from the countryside, and our letter of introduction is only valid for a few days. We can't stay in the city for long. When the time comes, we have no choice but to go back."
"On the way back, I discussed it with my husband. We thought the baby was in a sealed bag and looked like someone else's discarded baby. Since we don't have any children, we might as well just take the baby home and raise it."
He Jinfeng smiled lightly when she said this: "So we came up with a plan. I'll go back to my parents' home and pretend to give birth there, and my husband will be responsible for spreading the news. That way, when we come back with the baby, no one will know that we adopted the baby."
Uncle Zhou took a puff of his pipe, turned around and asked Zhou Laoer: "Laoer, is what your wife said true?"
Zhou Laoer nodded: "Uncle, it's the truth."
He glanced at the couple across from him and added, "Since you've come to our door, Jinfeng and I won't lie. This is indeed how we picked up Xiaoya and raised her."
He and He Jinfeng had no children, and they never had one in the end. They always treated Xiaoya as their own daughter, giving her whatever she wanted and all their love.
Uncle Zhou nodded: "I know you two have always been honest people."
He Jinfeng sniffed, looked at Sun Qiaozhen, and got back to the point: "Sister, tell me, is it because you lost your child but didn't look for him, so no one else knew about it; or is it because this alley is too far from your home, so no one around here has heard of someone else losing a child?"
Sun Qiaozhen's tears welled up again. She twisted the corner of her clothes unconsciously and said weakly over and over again: "I don't know, I really don't know..."
Xiang Yao felt a little strange standing in the crowd.
Although the urban area is quite large, news of a missing child can often spread quickly.
If someone loses a child, they won't look for him/her everywhere and ask around. If they keep asking around, the news will spread far and wide.
If Zhou Laoer and his wife really spent two days asking around and still couldn't find out, then this matter is indeed questionable.
Of course, this is not the key point. The key point is that if someone holds a baby and asks around to see who the baby belongs to, the person being asked will definitely have an impression, right?
If Li Zhiguo and Sun Qiaozhen's family were really looking for the baby all over the world at that time, would it be possible that no one who was being interrogated told them this information?
You know, whether people are traveling or staying in a hotel, they need a letter of introduction. As long as they get a little bit of information, even if they don't find the person at that time, they won't be unable to find him for more than ten years.
Since Xiang Yao could think of this, naturally others had thought of it as well.
Everyone was whispering and discussing their own guesses.
At this time, Li Zhiguo patted Sun Qiaozhen's hand, but skipped the topic of "Why didn't we find the person?" and pointed directly to the destination and said:
"Let's not discuss this issue for now. The key point now is that we have found people everywhere to confirm that Xiaoya is our lost daughter."
He Jinfeng sneered, looked at Li Zhiguo carefully, and said loudly: "Your wife can't even tell us what color clothes the child was wearing. How can we believe you?"
"Xiaoya, she didn't have a blanket on her at the time. She was just lying in a cloth bag with the bag tied up tightly," she said. "And what she was wearing wasn't a pink jacket at all, but a cyan long-sleeved dress!"
Sun Qiaozhen was holding on to Li Zhiguo's arm, swaying.
Li Zhiguo said with a stern face, somewhat dissatisfied: "My mother was taking care of the child at the time, so it's possible that Qiaozhen remembered it wrongly."
Before He Jinfeng could say anything, a clear voice from the crowd shouted, "You've all been so diligent in looking for the child, but haven't you even confirmed with your mother what color clothes the child was wearing that day?"
Everyone around nodded, and Uncle Zhou also nodded.
Yes, losing a child is such a big deal, but they even got the clothes the child was wearing wrong?
No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t seem right!
Now everyone looked at Li Zhiguo and his wife with a strange look in their eyes. Even Sun Qiaozhen's tears seemed to be a bit of a performance.
Yes, just like the female roles in operas long ago, every movement seemed to be designed.
After Xiang Yao said this, he kept his achievements and fame to himself and remained silent.
Earlier, Sun Qiaozhen and Li Zhiguo saw that something was wrong, looked at each other, and decided not to talk any more with these peasants.
Sun Qiaozhen pursed her lips and said softly, "Sister-in-law, no matter what, Xiaoqing is really my child. Blood is thicker than water. This is a fact. No one can erase the blood relationship between me and my daughter."
He Jinfeng raised her chin: "So?"
Sun Qiaozhen smiled and said, "So, Zhiguo and I agreed when we came here that we must take the child back. She has suffered so much in the countryside for over a decade. As parents, we certainly can't bear it. We will definitely let her live the best life possible."
"Sister-in-law," she looked at He Jinfeng with a hint of provocation in her eyes, "you won't stop Xiaoqing from returning to the city, right?"
He Jinfeng opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out.
She is a city dweller, and it is clear that people from the country live a hard life. Now she wants to recognize her daughter and return to the city to live a good life. What else can she say?
If only, if only Sun Qiaozhen didn't mention the hardship, He Jinfeng felt that she would have to compete with this woman no matter how high or low.
Why should the daughter they raised with so much effort be taken away from them?
But she kept talking about going to the city to live a good life. No matter how reluctant she was, she didn't want to hinder her daughter's bright future...
Life in the countryside is incomparable to life in the city. If she stays in the countryside, her little girl will live there all her life. If she moves to the city, her parents, who love her so much, will probably find her a good job and marry her off to a good man...
He Jinfeng felt heartbroken.
She turned around and pulled Xiaoya to the front. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the little girl with a stubborn look on her face, holding her arm tightly.
"Mom, I won't go. I won't go to the city."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
