With Zhou Xiaomei’s support, Huzi finally steadied himself. When he looked up, he saw his mother turning to leave.
“Mom…” He staggered after Cai Shufen and grabbed her by the hem of her clothes.
“Let go!” Cai Shufen glared at him and violently shook his hand off.
Huzi stumbled and fell hard onto the ground, then immediately began to wail.
“Cry, cry, cry! That’s all you know how to do. Your father doesn’t want us anymore. He doesn’t want you either, do you understand? And you still have the nerve to cry? You’re just like your damn father—not a single one of you is any good.”
Looking at Huzi’s face, which was nearly identical to Zhao Tiezhu’s, only made the anger in her heart burn hotter. When she had married Zhao Tiezhu, she had been a pure, unmarried girl. Why should she have let that bastard sleep with her for so many years and even bear a son for the Zhao family, only for him to demand a divorce now without showing the slightest bit of affection? She had served him for all those years, yet apparently she still meant less to him than a dead woman. How could she not feel wronged?
The more Cai Shufen thought about it, the angrier she became. Suddenly, she sat down on the ground and began screaming and sobbing.
“Ahhh! Zhao Tiezhu, you bastard! I’m going to kill you!”
She cursed nonstop while viciously yanking at her own hair, looking exactly like a madwoman.
Sitting on the ground, Huzi stared at Cai Shufen in terror. He was so frightened that he stopped crying and froze in place, his hands and feet trembling uncontrollably. Then a warm stream began to trickle down inside his quilted pants…
Cai Shufen had barely entered the village when several sharp-eyed aunties spotted her and hurried over to watch the spectacle.
Now that everyone saw what she was like, they were startled as well.
The aunties whispered among themselves.
“Has she gone crazy? Who treats her own child like that?”
“Exactly. Could she have caught the same madness as the second daughter of Wang Cui'e’s family at the east end of the village?”
“Tsk, tsk… Could this be karma? Just look at poor Huzi.”
“Most likely she was driven crazy by Zhao Tiezhu asking for a divorce. I heard that at the hospital she even took off her pants and tried to sleep with Tiezhu…”
Xiao Mandong had also been frightened by Cai Shufen’s behavior. She hurriedly pushed Xi Ran into the courtyard and shut the gate, keeping that madwoman from seeing Xi Ran and possibly harming her.
Zhou Xiaomei was so frightened that she could not speak for quite some time.
One of the onlookers finally came to her senses and quickly pulled Huzi aside to keep Cai Shufen from hurting him again.
Without drawing attention to herself, Xiao Mandong stepped forward and accurately inserted a silver needle into the side of Cai Shufen’s neck. Cai Shufen’s body immediately went limp. Xiao Mandong then inserted needles into several of her other major acupoints.
Before long, she removed the needles. Cai Shufen slowly opened her eyes. The madness that had filled them moments ago was gone, and her gaze was much clearer.
She felt utterly drained. When she tried to stand, she nearly fell over. She was now completely different from the woman who had just been ranting and raving.
The sight left everyone around them stunned.
“My goodness, what just happened?”
“Can Doctor Xiao treat madness?”
Cai Shufen ignored the surrounding comments. She rubbed her temples vigorously, then turned and started to leave.
Not knowing where she found the courage, Zhou Xiaomei grabbed Cai Shufen by the sleeve.
“Cai… Cai Shufen, stop right there. Take your son with you.” She was frightened by Cai Shufen’s deranged state, but Huzi absolutely could not be left behind.
Cai Shufen was weak, but her words were as vicious as ever.
“Don’t you like looking after other people’s children? Huzi is Zhao Tiezhu’s son too, so I’m giving him to you. I don’t want him anymore. Are you satisfied?”
She smoothed down her hair, which she had torn into a mess, wearing an expression that said she had nothing left to lose.
“Are you sick in the head? He’s your son, yet you refuse to look after him and expect me to do it? Do I have ‘sucker’ written on my forehead?” Zhou Xiaomei had never seen anyone as shameless as Cai Shufen.
“And get this straight: I’m not looking after Zhao Tiezhu’s child. I’m looking after Sister Zhiqiu’s child. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Zhao Tiezhu.”
“But if you were to die, maybe I’d give him something to eat out of pity. After all, I’m not as much of a beast as you are. I could never stand by and watch a child starve.”
The mention of starvation made Zhou Xiaomei forget her fear. Her teeth clenched with hatred.
Back then, her mother had wanted to find a bride for her younger brother. Without telling anyone in the Zhou family, she had planned to exchange Zhou Xiaomei through a marriage arrangement. Xia Zhiqiu discovered what was happening and reported it to the police, which led to Zhou Xiaomei’s maternal uncle being arrested.
Her mother had hated her bitterly ever since. At the time, Granny Zhou had been at her eldest uncle’s home helping look after the children, and her mother had refused to give Zhou Xiaomei any food. It was Xia Zhiqiu who secretly slipped her things to eat. Otherwise, Zhou Xiaomei did not know whether she would have survived to this day.
Now that Xia Zhiqiu was gone and had left Xi Ran behind, how could Zhou Xiaomei allow her child to go hungry? Even if it was only to repay her debt of gratitude, she would never abandon Xi Ran.
As for Zhao Xiaohu, what did he have to do with her? Besides, Cai Shufen had abused Xi Ran. Although Huzi was still young and looked pitiful now, he had never shown the slightest mercy when bullying Xi Ran. If he had not been just a child, Zhou Xiaomei would have liked to beat him herself.
Cai Shufen used all her remaining strength to wrench her sleeve free from Zhou Xiaomei’s grasp.
“Zhou Xiaomei, do you think I don’t know what’s going on between you and Zhao Tiezhu? Would you treat someone else’s child so well for no reason? Not even a ghost would believe that.”
“Before you got divorced, you ran back here every few days, traveling twenty li from your in-laws’ home just to bring food and give it to that little wretch. Dare you say you have nothing to do with her?”
“Just look at her eyes and brows. They even resemble yours. Did you secretly have this child with Zhao Tiezhu before you were married, then pin the blame on a dead woman?”
Over the past few days, Cai Shufen had convinced herself that this must be the truth. She refused to believe that anyone could be so kind to another person’s child without an ulterior motive.
“Go spout that filthy nonsense somewhere else! Just because you’re immoral, you think everyone in the world is like you?”
Zhou Xiaomei was trembling with rage. Could this be something a normal person would even think of? Before she married, she had worked in the fields every single day. How could anyone have been pregnant without showing a belly?
Cai Shufen had simply opened her mouth and started spewing nonsense. There really was something wrong with her mind.
One of the aunties could no longer stand listening.
“Everyone says Tiezhu wants to divorce you. With a vicious troublemaker like you, keeping you around would only bring disaster.”
Another auntie curled her lips.
“Isn’t that the truth? You accuse people of anything the moment you open your mouth. Go back to the Cai family’s village and stop causing trouble here.”
By now, Cai Shufen had recovered somewhat. She planted her hands on her hips and pointed at the aunt who had spoken.
“What the hell do you know? Yesterday, right after Zhao Tiezhu was discharged from the hospital, that little slut went to our house. She stayed inside for ages before coming out. Tell me, what could the two of them have been doing in there? I’m not making this up—Aunt Liu saw it with her own eyes.”
“Since she’s gotten together with Zhao Tiezhu, she can look after both children. Am I wrong to do this?”
She had run into Aunt Liu today and heard that Zhou Xiaomei and Zhao Tiezhu had stayed inside the house together for quite some time the day before. It was her mother who had suggested that she bring the child back.
If Cai Shufen had not only just gotten out of the police station and been afraid to make a move, she would have slapped Zhou Xiaomei long ago. Aunt Liu had also repeatedly warned her not to give her away, which was why Cai Shufen had managed to keep her mouth shut until now.
“Smack!” Granny Zhou slapped Cai Shufen squarely across the face.
“I’ve lived my whole life and this is the first time I’ve ever hit anyone. How did Cai Village manage to raise a disgrace like you?”
