Chapter Thirty-Eight

On the ride home, Zhang Yang sat in the passenger seat, animatedly telling his dad about everything that had happened over the past few days. Zhang Shijing listened attentively, chatting with his son now and then.

He didn't ask his son why he'd run away from home, as if it had just been a short trip.

But whenever Zhang Shijing turned the conversation to his wife, Lü Yao, Zhang Yang refused to say a word. His resistance was unmistakable.

Zhang Shijing felt helpless. In the back seat, Lü Yao rested a hand on her abdomen, not minding the way her stepson treated her—or, more accurately, she was already used to it.

In that family, no one welcomed her except Zhang Shijing.

When they reached home, Zhang Shijing got out and thanked Dong Zhenghao again, then went inside with his son and wife.

Dong Zhenghao watched Zhang Shijing and his son walking ahead, with Mrs. Zhang trailing behind, and shook his head.

Back in the home they'd been away from for four days, Dong Qi hadn't even had time to feel happy before the front door shut and he saw his dad raising a feather duster that had somehow appeared in the entryway.

He swore that before he'd left, their house definitely hadn't had one of those!

That was true. But during the four days he'd been gone, his two sisters had ordered four feather dusters, just in case they didn't have enough.

"Running away from home, huh? You've gotten pretty bold!" Dong Zhenghao charged at Dong Qi, feather duster raised.

"Dad, Dad, I was wrong! I'll never do it again!"

Faced with the threat of physical punishment, Dong Qi immediately backed down. He was especially sincere in admitting his mistake.

Over the past few days away from home, he'd learned one thing: you absolutely mustn't offend whoever controls the household finances.

He'd been too young and naïve before, with no idea how hard life could be.

Dong Zhenghao looked at Dong Qi in confusion. His son was actually apologizing?

"I've already found you a tutor. Lessons start tomorrow." Dong Zhenghao put aside his plans for corporal punishment for the moment and spoke to his son, feather duster in hand.

"Got it." Dong Qi lowered his head gloomily, thinking that he'd never get past this.

Math—was that even a subject for human beings?

"I don't expect you to be good at it, but at the very least, you can't do worse than your two sisters!"

"Dad, you're asking a bit much of him. With an IQ that can only get him eleven points, the passing mark is a little high for him." Liu Mumu leaned over the upstairs railing and made a sarcastic remark.

Dong Qi couldn't hold back and roared, "Liu Mumu!"

His dad immediately whacked him. "What are you yelling for? Is your sister wrong?"

"No." Dong Qi shut his mouth, feeling aggrieved.

Liu Mumu leaned on the stair railing, chin propped on both hands. She was a little bored. She'd thought the kid would come back from his trip ready to blow up, but who knew he'd come back all well-behaved?

On his first night back home, Dong Qi had another nightmare. He dreamed he was taking a math test, and every paper got eleven points. When he got home, his dad was waiting by the door with a feather duster, ready to beat him.

Between taking exams and getting beaten, he spent the whole night exhausted and miserable.

When he got up the next morning, he saw that his parents both looked as if they hadn't slept well. His mom kept yawning over breakfast.

"Mom, did you sleep badly last night?" Dong Qi asked tentatively.

Jiang Li shot a quick glance at Dong Zhenghao, who was looking down at his porridge. She'd dreamed that Old Dong's ex-wife had come back and that he'd remarried her, kicking Jiang Li and the two children out of the house.

But she definitely couldn't say that in front of the kids. Jiang Li shook her head at her son. "It's nothing. I just had a little trouble sleeping."

Insomnia was better than nightmares. Dong Qi felt relieved.

He figured that since his mom hadn't had a nightmare, the problem probably wasn't with him.

Things at the Dong family's home seemed normal enough.

But next door, the Zhang family had been in an uproar since early morning.

Lü Yao got up early and prepared breakfast for the whole family, but even after eight, her mother-in-law still hadn't come downstairs to eat.

She knocked on the door but got no answer. Worried that something had happened to her mother-in-law, she had no choice but to ask her husband to unlock the door.

Once they opened it, they found that her mother-in-law had somehow rolled under the bed. She might have hit her head, and no one knew how long she'd been unconscious.

No one was in the mood to eat. They hurriedly called an ambulance and sent her to the hospital.

Of course, nothing that happened next door could escape the Dong family's notice. It wasn't until the afternoon that the Zhangs began returning home. Zhang Shijing stayed at the hospital to keep Zhang Shijing's mother company, and first brought his son and wife home. His younger sister, Zhang Xueqi, came back with them.

When they got home, Lü Yao said to Zhang Xueqi, "Xueqi, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Shall I make you something?"

"No need." Zhang Xueqi gave her sister-in-law a cool look. "You should rest. I'm going next door."

"What about Yangyang?" Lü Yao asked Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang didn't even look at her. He went straight upstairs and slammed his door shut.

Zhang Xueqi left soon after. The spacious living room on the first floor was left with only Lü Yao in it.

She sat on the sofa, gently stroking her abdomen, and sighed after a while.

Zhang Xueqi and Jiang Li got along well. Although Zhang Xueqi had moved away after getting married, they still occasionally met up to go shopping.

Jiang Li was naturally happy to have Zhang Xueqi over.

After they sat down, Jiang Li couldn't help asking about Zhang Shijing's mother. "I saw an ambulance at your place this morning. Was Aunt Zhang feeling unwell?"

Zhang Xueqi couldn't help laughing wryly as she explained. "Don't even ask. My mom had a nightmare last night. She dreamed she was paralyzed in bed and being mistreated by my sister-in-law. She was so frightened that she fell out of bed and passed out."

Jiang Li couldn't help laughing either. "They say your dreams reflect your thoughts. Why would Aunt Zhang worry about that? Your sister-in-law seems like a decent person. How could she possibly mistreat her?"

At that, some of the smile faded from Zhang Xueqi's face. "Then you're wrong. The more harmless someone seems, the more you can't judge them by appearances. You've only seen how badly my mom treats Lü Yao. Have you ever wondered how she ended up in our family?"

Thanks to Zhang Xueqi, Jiang Li knew quite a bit about the Zhang family. "Aunt Zhang resents her because she married into your family just two months after your previous sister-in-law passed away?"

They were all adults. Jiang Li didn't believe anyone could find true love just two months after their wife died. The two had probably been involved before that. But these things took two to tango. It wasn't fair to blame only Lü Yao, was it?

"That's not all." Zhang Xueqi gave a soft snort. "Do you know how my previous sister-in-law met with that accident? This woman sent her some things. My sister-in-law was so distressed that she fell down the stairs."

"That happened?" Jiang Li was astonished.

"Of course. My mom doted on my previous sister-in-law the most. If my brother hadn't insisted on marrying this woman, she never would have gotten into our family."

While Zhang Xueqi was sticking up for her brother's first wife, Zhang Shijing's mother was arguing with her son in the hospital.

The cause, naturally, was Lü Yao.

Remembering the previous night's dream, Zhang Shijing's mother felt even more strongly that she couldn't let Lü Yao continue living with them. She simply told her son, "I found a place to rent a few days ago. Have Lü Yao move out in a few days."

Zhang Shijing frowned. "Mom, Lü Yao is my wife. How could I make her move out on her own?"

"I'm your mother, too! Just look at what our family's become since she married in. Yangyang used to be so obedient, and she made him so angry he ran away from home. Now I've hit my head, too. It's all because of her!"

Zhang Shijing didn't know what to say. His son and wife didn't get along, and if he insisted she move out, his son would run away from home. How could that be her fault?

As for his mom hitting her head, that was even more ridiculous. It wasn't as if Lü Yao had pushed her out of bed.

But sometimes, reason didn't help, because the person in front of him was his mother.

In the end, Zhang Shijing could only say helplessly, "Mom, Yaoyao's pregnant. She's already four months along. I just hadn't told you before."

"What?" Zhang Shijing's mother sat bolt upright in bed, delight shining in her eyes. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Zhang Shijing smiled. "We had someone check. It's a girl."

He'd always wanted a daughter, and he was filled with anticipation for this child.

He didn't notice the clear displeasure on his mother's face when she heard it was a girl. Still, she didn't say another word about making Lü Yao move out and live on her own.

Zhang Shijing's mother stayed in the hospital for two days. Once they confirmed she was all right, she went home.

That night, she started having nightmares again.

This time, she didn't fall out of bed. Instead, she cried and shouted, waking the whole family.

Zhang Xueqi hurried into the room to comfort her mother, only to hear her repeating, "The baby... the baby..."

After finally getting the old woman back to sleep, Zhang Xueqi left the light on in the room and stepped outside. With a serious expression, she asked her brother, "Mom keeps saying 'the baby.' What baby?"

Zhang Shijing could only explain. "Your sister-in-law is pregnant. I told Mom a few days ago."

"That's all? Then why did Mom wake up so frightened?" Zhang Xueqi clearly didn't believe him.

"How would I know?"

Zhang Shijing was helpless, too. Zhang Xueqi had kept asking what their mother had dreamed about, but all she'd said was something about a baby. Yet after learning that Lü Yao was pregnant, their mother's attitude had clearly improved.

The whole family slept badly that night because of Zhang Shijing's mother's nightmare.

The next day, Zhang Xueqi went to the Dong family's home again.

Jiang Li hadn't been feeling well these past few days and hadn't slept soundly. When she heard someone knock, she couldn't be bothered to get up, so Liu Mumu went to answer the door.

When Zhang Xueqi saw Jiang Li's stepdaughter, she paused, then nodded to her.

This time, Zhang Xueqi had come to ask Jiang Li for help.

"You want me to help you find a master?" After hearing Zhang Xueqi's request, Jiang Li immediately glanced at Liu Mumu.

Then she looked away and asked curiously, "Doesn't your family usually refuse to believe in this sort of thing? Why are you suddenly looking for a master?"

Zhang Xueqi said helplessly, "My sister-in-law's pregnant, but my mom's been having nightmares these past few days. She says the baby keeps haunting her in her dreams, and she insists it's bringing her bad luck. I was wondering if I should find someone to tell the baby's fortune. Maybe that would put her mind at ease."

There was more she hadn't said: her mother was also pressuring her sister-in-law to have an abortion, and was still arguing with her brother about it at home.

Although Zhang Xueqi didn't much like her sister-in-law, it was still a baby, and already four months along. They couldn't terminate the pregnancy for such a ridiculous reason.

Jiang Li hesitated. "I do know a master, but I'll have to ask them first before I can give you an answer."

"All right, please ask them for me. I really don't know what else to do." The old lady in the family couldn't be reasoned with or persuaded, and even her brother was at a loss.

After seeing Zhang Xueqi out, Jiang Li fixed her gaze on Liu Mumu.

"What do you want to ask?" Liu Mumu lowered her head, fiddling with her phone, without looking at Jiang Li.

"Is Zhang Shijing's mother really being cursed by the unborn child?" Ever since she'd seen with her own eyes just how frightening Liu Mumu's fate was, Jiang Li didn't dare insist that something like this was impossible.

"Even if a child could curse a family member, it couldn't do so until after it was born. The baby hasn't even developed yet. How could it have that kind of power?"

"Then why does Zhang Shijing's mother keep having nightmares?"

Liu Mumu tilted her head toward Jiang Li. "Stress. Or..."

"Or what?"

"Or she just doesn't want that baby."

The only person with a fate hard enough to curse her family was Liu Mumu herself.