Chapter 331 – Meeting Wei Rou Again
Xie Ting’an took charge of this matter, and Xu Jinning informed her family about it.
“Xiao Xie is a kind-hearted good kid,” Zhang Ailian and Xu Aiguo praised.
Although they hadn’t met their future son-in-law yet, their impression of Xie Ting’an was very positive.
This time, Xu Xiangdong didn’t make any more sarcastic remarks. Although he definitely didn’t like the idea of someone taking away his younger sister, upon hearing about this matter, his hostility diminished considerably.
In fact, since both parents and Ningning approved of Xie Ting’an, he also approved of him for the most part.
Although he was reluctant to see his younger sister marry in the future, he still hoped for her happiness.
But he couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t accept that this young man had quietly taken away his sister without him knowing.
So, when that young man arrived, he would definitely give him a serious warning.
If he dared to mistreat his sister in the future, even if he was in the capital, even if he was in Qinghe Production Brigade, despite the distance, as her older brother along with Xiaobei, they would definitely go and settle the score!
*
Meanwhile, upon her return, Xu Fanghua didn’t expect to encounter Wei Rou once again.
As for Wei Rou, Xu Fanghua didn’t deliberately inquire about her, nor did she care about Wei Rou’s affairs after cutting ties with her long ago.
However, after returning, due to the shocking nature of Wei Rou’s family affairs, discussions about it were inevitable, and she couldn’t help but hear about it.
She learned that not only had Wei Rou’s parents passed away, but her younger siblings had been adopted by relatives, and even the Yang family side now had no one left.
Later, it was just Wei Rou and her child living together.
But she heard that recently, Wei Rou and her child seemed to have disappeared.
It was as if they had vanished without a trace.
After all, they were two living individuals from the Dahe Production Brigade, and there were organized efforts to search for them.
But they were not found.
At that time, various rumors and gossip began to circulate.
Some believed Wei Rou had taken her child and gone off to seek death.
Some believed she had taken her child and run away.
There were also rumors that she had offended someone, resulting in both her and her child being killed.
…
In any case, there were all kinds of speculations.
However, unexpectedly, some time later, Wei Rou returned. She came back with her child and resettled in the Yang family.
But people noticed that Wei Rou seemed mentally unstable.
At times, she appeared nervous and talked to herself.
It seemed like she had gone mad. Besides basic self-care and taking care of her child, her behavior in other aspects seemed abnormal.
She was disheveled and seemed unkempt, as if she hadn’t cleaned up in a long time.
When asked about things, she couldn’t provide coherent or clear responses.
Some ill-intentioned individuals saw Wei Rou in this state and started to take advantage of her.
Some ruffians tried to take advantage of her, thinking they could succeed, but were fiercely taught a lesson by Wei Rou, who suddenly went berserk. In the end, they had to leave in disgrace.
There were also people who, seeing Wei Rou like this, tried to find various excuses to seize the Yang family’s house and drive Wei Rou and her child out.
Whenever someone tried this, Wei Rou would also go crazy.
Not only did she go berserk at their doorstep, but she also went to their homes, smashing things.
Unfortunately, since Wei Rou was considered mad, they couldn’t do anything about her.
In the end, they could only count themselves unlucky and give up on the idea of taking over the Yang family’s house.
Today, Xu Fanghua had come to the Dahe Production Brigade with her sister-in-law Wen Yulan, who had just finished her confinement period, to pick up some things from her maternal family’s home.
But unexpectedly, they suddenly encountered Wei Rou.
Wei Rou’s clothes and hair were disheveled, and she looked quite messy all over. If it weren’t for her sister-in-law pointing her out, Xu Fanghua might not have recognized her at this moment.
Xu Fanghua felt a bit surreal. Knowing that Wei Rou used to be very fond of beauty and even had some cleanliness habits, always keeping herself tidy and neat.
As she glanced over, Wei Rou was sitting on a large rock, seemingly playing with a grasshopper made of grass in her hand, amusing a thin, slightly malnourished boy who appeared to be just over two years old.
That must be Wei Rou’s child.
The boy, dressed in drab clothes with unkempt hair and a face smeared with something dirty, looked visibly undernourished, his thin frame almost skeletal except for his large eyes.
It was heart-wrenching to see.
Yet, under Wei Rou’s playful antics with the grasshopper, he giggled.
“Wei Rou has gone mad, but at least she still knows how to care for herself and her child. Though if the child grows up like this, who knows how long he’ll survive.”
“If Wei Rou’s condition can hold, it’s bearable. But if her madness deepens, the child will suffer.”
Wen Yulan commented as Xu Fanghua looked over.
“Some say, those who are pitiful must have something to blame.”
“They also say how both the Wei and Yang families have perished, leaving only her siblings to die and Wei Rou herself.”
“Even those siblings of hers, sent away to be raised by others, surely didn’t live well.”
“Some speculate that Wei Rou might have caused their deaths. Her siblings’ miserable lives were due to their parents’ absence; otherwise, it wouldn’t have turned out this way.”
“They say it’s Heaven’s punishment for Wei Rou.”
Xu Fanghua only glanced in Wei Rou’s direction briefly before withdrawing her gaze and saying to Wen Yulan, “Sister-in-law, are the things packed? Let’s go back.”
“Yes, they’re all set.”
Xu Fanghua didn’t linger any longer and left with her sister-in-law.
It was unclear whether it was Xu Fanghua’s imagination, but she felt that as she turned away, Wei Rou seemed to glance in her direction. Yet, when Xu Fanghua looked back, there was nothing there.
Wei Rou remained seated on the rock, holding her child, who blocked Xu Fanghua’s view of Wei Rou’s expression at that moment.
*
At night, when it was quiet and dark in the countryside, without electric lights, people preferred not to waste kerosene lamps or candles, so they went to bed early.
Moonlight cast two vague shadows—one tall, one short.
They seemed to be carrying something and placed it at the Yang family’s doorstep. They paused for a moment before leaving.
After some time passed, the door of the Yang family’s house opened.
Moonlight illuminated Wei Rou’s face.
She held a stick in her hand and first scanned the surroundings. Finding no one, she then bent down and noticed the package at the door. She brought the contents inside before closing the door again.
As Wei Rou carried the bundle into the house, her two-year-old son, who had been sleeping, woke up.
Rubbing his belly, he looked at Wei Rou with his large eyes.
“Mom, water.”
Wei Rou knew her child was hungry, but there was no money or food at home. In the middle of the night, all she could offer him was water.
But water couldn’t satisfy hunger.
“Wait a moment, Mom will get something.”
Saying this, Wei Rou opened the bundle. She was curious about its contents and who had left it at their door.
When she opened the bundle and saw what was inside, Wei Rou was stunned for a moment. Then her eyes welled up with tears, and they streamed down her face…
