"Mother, Mother, please wake up!"
Jiang Yuwei was immersed in a sweet dream when she suddenly felt a small hand shaking her arm tightly, forcing her to struggle to open her eyes. As her blurry vision gradually cleared, she saw Ning Zhao standing by the kang (a heated brick bed), wearing the new clothes she had sewn herself, her face full of anxiety.
Jiang Yuwei gave Ning Zhao a warm smile and softly praised him:
"Zhao'er looks as handsome as a child in a painting in this new outfit."
Ning Zhao was extremely anxious and had no time to think of anything else. She gripped Jiang Yuwei's arm tightly and urged her urgently:
"Mother, please go and see her, Ningxin, she...she..."
Seeing Ning Zhao so anxious that she was almost crying, Jiang Yuwei hurriedly got up, quickly put on her coat, and followed Ning Zhao to the door.
In the courtyard, Ning Xin was violently grabbing Ning Wan's hair and shoving her head into a basin of cold water. Ning Xin's screams echoed throughout the yard.
"You mute, how dare you wear such beautiful clothes? Tell me, where did you steal this red dress from?"
Ning Wan struggled fiercely, waving her little hands. Jiang Yuwei's heart clenched at the sight. She rushed forward, pushed Ning Xin to the ground, and picked up the trembling Ning Wan.
"Wan'er, don't be afraid, Mother is here. Don't be afraid, Wan'er, good Wan'er, my dear Wan'er, my Wan'er has suffered."
Jiang Yuwei held Ning Wan, who was soaking wet and trembling, in her arms, gently patting her back and softly comforting her. Before she knew it, Ning Wan's tears had already started flowing uncontrollably.
She had never cried in her past life when she was misunderstood by her own parents, punched by her own brother, or had her food stolen by strangers. But today, she was crying like this for Ning Wan. She felt quite useless.
Seeing Jiang Yuwei so protective of Ning Wan and so rude to her, Ning Xin burst into tears, feeling wronged.
"Mother, Mother, Auntie hit me. Waaaaah..."
Hearing her daughter crying her heart out in the courtyard, Mrs. Sun didn't care about the mushy food still cooking in the pot; she grabbed a spatula and rushed out.
Seeing Ning Xin sitting on the ground crying loudly, Madam Sun rushed out and picked her up.
Staring at Jiang Yuwei with hostility, he shouted:
"How could you, an old woman, be so cruel as to hit our Xin'er? Our Xin'er is so pampered. How could you be so vicious?"
Jiang Yuwei steadied herself and looked coldly at Madam Sun, saying:
"You're not deaf, are you? You didn't hear Ning Xin bullying Ning Wan like that in the yard, but now that your daughter has only cried once, you're rushing out to confront her?"
Knowing he was in the wrong, Sun stammered:
"That's just kids playing around, how can you take it seriously? Besides, Ning Wan is fine, isn't she? I don't think she's resisting at all, maybe she's having a lot of fun playing with our Xin'er."
Hearing Sun's shameless remarks, Jiang Yuwei decided to stop. She gently put Ning Wan down, smiled at Ning Zhao with her eyes, and then suddenly turned around and rushed towards Sun.
Before Sun could react, he grabbed her hair tightly and made to push her into the basin of cold water. Sun was still holding Ningxin in her arms and dared not let go easily, so she couldn't free her hands to resist. She could only scream in fright:
"Hey, hey, let go of me! What are you doing? Are you crazy?!"
Jiang Yuwei didn't care about anything else. All she could think about was the miserable sight of Ning Wan being held down in the water. With that thought, she tightened her grip and pressed Sun's head firmly into the basin of cold water.
At this moment, Sun could no longer care about the child in her arms. She loosened her grip on the child and struggled desperately, but unfortunately, Sun was usually lazy and rarely did farm work, so her strength was naturally no match for Jiang Yuwei.
Ning Xin had never seen such a scene before, and was then violently thrown by her own mother, so she naturally burst into tears.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yuwei didn't stop pressing down on Sun's head, desperately trying to prevent her from making a sound.
When Chen Guixiang entered the house after digging for wild vegetables, the scene before her shocked her. The yard was a mess. She rushed forward and forcefully pulled at Jiang Yuwei's hand that was holding down Sun's arm, her voice sharp and agitated:
"What a terrible thing! You wretched bastard, are you trying to kill someone? How are we supposed to live like this?!"
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei's lips curled into a cold smile. She easily released her grip and retorted sarcastically:
"Mother, what are you saying? My sister-in-law and I were just joking around. Ningxin was just joking around with Wan'er like that too. Look, my sister-in-law is perfectly fine now. What could possibly be wrong?"
Jiang Yuwei clapped her hands lightly, stood up gracefully, and winked at Ning Zhao and Ning Wan, who were standing there dumbfounded, with a hint of mischief in her eyes.
Ignoring Sun Shi, who was still kneeling on the ground, coughing awkwardly with her mouth full of water, Jiang Yuwei walked straight to Ning Wan. She gently embraced Ning Wan, smiling as she said:
"Look at our Wan'er, she's played so much that her clothes are all wet. Come on, let Mommy take you to change your clothes. Don't be so naughty next time."
Ning Wan stared at Jiang Yuwei for a while, then gave her a pure and innocent smile. This was the first time Jiang Yuwei had seen Ning Wan smile; the smile was like the spring sunshine, warm and bright. Jiang Yuwei felt her heart melt at that moment.
Jiang Yuwei carried Ning Wan in one arm and pulled Ning Zhao into the house with the other. She found Ning Wan's old clothes from yesterday and helped her put them on. She took Ning Wan's wet clothes to the kitchen and put them on a pot lid to dry. While drying the clothes, she suddenly heard several strangers in the yard.
"Is anyone home? Is this Ning Huaizhi's home?"
Jiang Yuwei frowned. Ning Huaizhi? Who was that? The name seemed somewhat familiar. Just as she was thinking about it, she heard Old Man Ning run into the courtyard and respectfully say:
"What business do you gentlemen have with Ning Huaizhi?"
One of the male voices spoke impatiently:
"Is this really Ning Huaizhi's home?"
Old Ning didn't know the other party's purpose, but he didn't dare to lie. After all, they lived in the same village, and he could easily find out that this was Ning Huaizhi's home by asking around.
So he nervously began to speak:
"Sir, please calm down. This is indeed Ning Huaizhi's home, but he hasn't returned for many years. He must have died on the battlefield long ago, so..."
Before Old Man Ning could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a rough male voice:
"Stop talking nonsense! Since this is General Ning's house, get out of the way! Oh, and go fetch a doctor, quickly!"
As the burly man spoke, he pulled Old Man Ning aside and gestured to the people behind him to carry a person on horseback into the house.
When Old Man Ning saw the man on the soldier's back, his expression changed immediately. He hurriedly followed the strong man's instructions and went to fetch Uncle Ning, the village's barefoot doctor.
Jiang Yuwei, who was drying clothes in the kitchen, witnessed everything and was shocked. Ning Huaizhi? General Ning? Could he be…
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