Upon hearing this, Fang Xue also felt sorry for Zhou Xiaoxia.
It's a boy.
But after the initial sighs, it all ended. After all, it was someone else's baby, not your own; the one in your own womb is the most precious.
Fang Xue ate and drank as usual, her mood unaffected at all. She even told Zhang Jun that she wanted to eat chive and pork dumplings for dinner.
She is now the number one contributor to the Fang family, and when she said she wanted to eat chive and pork dumplings, Zhang Jun naturally agreed.
"Honey, wait here, I'll go out and buy it for you right away."
Feeling sorry for her son being bossed around by his wife, Zhang Jun's mother stood up and said, "No need, you stay home and rest. I'll go check out the meat section; I'm going to the market this afternoon anyway."
Fang Jun immediately followed up with sweet words: "Thank you for your hard work, Mom. I'll have your daughter-in-law give you a litter of big, healthy boys someday."
Zhang Jun's mother was so pleased with her that she couldn't stop smiling. "What do you mean by 'a whole litter'? That sounds awful. One is enough. I can help you take care of them. I can't afford to raise so many kids in one litter."
Fang Xue playfully slapped him, "What are you saying? I'm not a sow, and I don't have a whole litter. Can't you speak properly?"
Zhang Jun immediately begged for forgiveness, "I was wrong, honey, I won't say it again next time."
Zhang Jun and Fang Xue were making a scene, while Zhang Jun's mother took the money and tickets, picked up her bamboo basket for grocery shopping, lifted the curtain, and went out.
If you run into your neighbor in the alley, you might as well go to the market together.
The two strolled and chatted, and before they knew it, half the afternoon had passed.
As the sun began to set, Zhang Jun's mother reluctantly carried her shopping basket home. Just as she passed a lane near the market, a neighbor suddenly tugged at her sleeve, urging her to look inside.
"Aunt Zhang, look, what's all those people doing over there? I think the one in the gray clothes at the back looks like your in-law."
"Really?" Zhang Jun's mother has presbyopia and can't see who is who from this far away.
However, she loved watching the excitement, and regardless of whether the person in gray was Fang Xue's mother or not, she became interested: "Let's go and take a look."
The two entered the alley one after the other. As they got closer, they could hear shouting, cursing, and crying coming from inside.
"Wow, judging from the sound, it's quite lively."
When Yang Fengxia saw Zhang Jun's mother coming over, she immediately went to greet her: "Mother-in-law, what brings you here?"
"My dear in-law, it really is you! I thought I was seeing things." Zhang Jun's mother exchanged a few pleasantries with Yang Fengxia, then gestured towards the inside with her chin: "I was just passing by, what's going on inside?"
Yang Fengxia sighed and said, "A group of bad elements who engage in feudal superstition have come here, swindling and deceiving people, spreading rumors and murdering for money. The families inside are crying so hard, it's heartbreaking."
Zhang Jun's mother was startled: "Someone's dead?"
“Yes!” Yang Fengxia pointed to the yard and said, “A boy died, and the police have come.”
"What happened? Why did the police have to be called in?"
"These harmful creatures claim to be the chief disciples of the Heavenly Venerable, saying they have boundless magical power and are omnipotent. They can exorcise evil spirits and ensure peace, and they can even grant children and change their fate. They can make those who cannot conceive pregnant, have sons if they want to have sons, have daughters if they want to have daughters, and even change the daughters they are carrying into sons."
Yang Fengxia curled her lips and said with a look of disgust, "Look, that stupid family crying inside believed it and eagerly gave their daughter-in-law the 'master's' prescription for changing the baby's gender. After drinking it for half a month, she had a massive hemorrhage, and the baby in her womb was born prematurely. The baby was born covered in bruises and only cried twice before it was gone. It was a chubby, fair-skinned boy."
Zhang, the idiot, felt a pang of unease.
Master... Could it be such a coincidence?
She hesitated for a moment and said, "Actually... there are many pregnant women who give birth prematurely. You can't blame the medicine entirely for this family's daughter-in-law's premature birth, can you? Didn't the girl she was carrying turn into a boy?"
"What? She was carrying a son all along. That swindler said she was carrying a daughter just to scam her out of money. Don't you think, if he didn't say that, would she buy his 'gender-changing medicine'?"
Zhang Jun's mother forced a smile, but her expression looked very strained: "Well, that's true."
Yang Fengxia snorted coldly, "These swindlers are vicious. They not only cheat you out of money, but they also kill you. You weren't here, so you didn't hear what they said. Besides wood ash, their medicine also contained safflower and cinnabar, which pregnant women absolutely cannot touch. Touching them will cause a miscarriage, no joke. That family inside had a miscarriage. My eldest son went with them to the hospital, and there was blood everywhere. The mother almost died."
Zhang Jun's mother's face turned pale instantly: "Really?"
“How could this be fake?” Yang Fengxia said, “The police said it was diagnosed by doctors at the Capital Hospital. That’s the Capital Hospital, the best hospital in the country, how could it be fake?”
"Then, the medicine that can make infertile women pregnant is also fake?" Zhang Jun's mother's voice trembled.
"Of course it's fake." Yang Fengxia scoffed and said, "It's just a drug that makes menstruation stop. It hurts the stomach, makes people unable to eat, and causes them to vomit acid. Once you stop taking the drug, menstruation will come back. In the old society, it was given to prostitutes. No respectable person would drink this stuff. They would find it disgusting to even look at it. It's very harmful to your health if you drink it for a long time."
"Yes, is that so..." Zhang Jun's mother felt a little breathless and dizzy.
Yang Fengxia continued, "If you don't believe me, ask Sister Chen. We all heard what the police said earlier."
She was about to call for help when Zhang Jun's mother suddenly went limp and almost fell to the ground.
Yang Fengxia quickly supported her, "Oh dear, mother-in-law, are you alright? Why is your face so pale?"
"I..." Zhang Jun's mother leaned against her, opened her mouth as if to say something, but before she could utter a sound, everything went black and she lost consciousness.
Yang Fengxia was startled: "Hey, hey, hey, mother-in-law, mother-in-law? Wake up, wake up! What's wrong with you? Don't scare me..."
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