Zhang Laogen, being a father himself, immediately recognized that she was probably pregnant. He then invited the village's barefoot doctor to examine her, who confirmed that Liu Qinqin was indeed pregnant.
The moment the barefoot doctor announced the results, Liu Qinqin's face turned deathly pale, and her mind went blank.
Immediately, she felt as if the sky had fallen.
Before, she couldn't run away. Now that she has a child, can she still run away?
The answer is, of course, no.
Not only did Zhang Laogen not relax his supervision of her because she was pregnant, he also kept a close watch on her at all times, fearing that she might deliberately miscarry the child.
Actually, this is really an overreaction, because Liu Qinqin wouldn't dare to do it at all, after all, she really values her life.
The news of Liu Qinqin's pregnancy spread quickly, and even Zhang Laogen's two married daughters came back for a visit.
However, they came back not for anything else, but to scold Liu Qinqin, saying that she was shameless, that she would seduce an old man old enough to be a father, and that she shamelessly got pregnant.
Perhaps because she had been beaten and scolded by Zhang Laogen so many times, Liu Qinqin seemed somewhat unmoved by her two stepdaughters who were older than her, no matter how much they cursed at her.
The Zhang sisters seemed to have punched cotton; they were furious and about to retaliate when Zhang Laogen suddenly reappeared.
And so, Liu Qinqin's baby remained safe and sound for more than five months.
Just when Liu Qinqin was numb and about to resign herself to her fate, the elderly couple from the Liu family reappeared, causing another unexpected turn of events.
That day, Liu Laogen went out to work, and Liu Qinqin sat at the table, feeling the movements in her belly while sewing clothes for the baby with the fine cloth that Zhang Laogen had brought back.
Just then, a commotion came from outside the courtyard gate.
Liu Qinqin thought it was Zhang Laogen who had returned, so she didn't even look up and continued doing what she was doing.
The next second, I heard that voice that I both looked forward to and resented.
"Xiaoqin, you..."
Liu Qinqin looked up abruptly, and it took her a while to realize that the two people standing at the door were her parents—Zhang Cuihua and Liu Dafu.
In that instant, her eyes held resentment and hatred, but none of the dependence and affection she once had.
Zhang Cuihua was, after all, her mother, and she could tell at a glance that her daughter had probably already distanced herself from them.
Zhang Cuihua glanced at Liu Dafu, who remained silent beside her, and then at Liu Qinqin, whose expression was unfriendly, before letting out an awkward laugh.
"Xiaoqin, your parents heard you're pregnant, so we've come to see you."
Liu Qinqin continued to work on the clothes in her hands, completely ignoring the two people.
Liu Dafu wasn't a very patient person, and seeing Liu Qinqin's indifferent attitude, he instantly felt his authority was challenged, and he was so angry that he wanted to punch Liu Qinqin.
However, before he could make a move, Zhang Cuihua stopped him.
At Zhang Cuihua's prompting, he saw that Liu Qinqin was actually chained up with thick iron chains, one end of which was connected to a pillar in the room, and the other end was tied to Liu Qinqin's small ankles.
Presumably to prevent her from running away, the ankle was locked with a brass lock, leaving no gaps whatsoever.
Compared to before, Liu Qinqin has lost a lot of weight, but no one knows how she has managed to take care of this pregnancy. Her belly is so swollen that it doesn't look like she's five months pregnant at all; it looks like she's seven or eight months pregnant.
"Xiaoqin, what's wrong with you... Are you disobeying me? Why did Zhang Laogen lock you up? Tell your mother what you've done!"
However, Liu Qinqin still ignored her. Zhang Cuihua was extremely anxious, fearing that if something went wrong, Zhang Laogen would ask her to return the betrothal gifts.
They've already spent a lot of the money, and sent half of it to Liu Yansong, so how can they possibly get it back?
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