The Thirty-Eighth Chapter

On the way back, Zhang Yang sat in the passenger seat, excitedly telling his dad about his experiences over the past few days. Zhang Shijing listened attentively, occasionally chatting with his son.

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

But whenever Zhang Shijing brought up his wife, Lü Yao, Zhang Yang refused to say a word, his resistance very obvious.

Zhang Shijing felt a bit helpless. Lü Yao, sitting in the back, placed a hand on her lower abdomen. She didn't mind her stepson's attitude; more accurately, she was used to it.

In this house, no one welcomed her except Zhang Shijing.

When they arrived at the doorstep, Zhang Shijing got out of the car and thanked Dong Zhenghao again before taking his son and wife into the house.

Dong Zhenghao watched the Zhang father and son walk ahead, with Mrs. Zhang trailing behind, and shook his head.

Back in the home he had been away from for four days, as soon as the door closed, Dong Qi, before he could even feel happy, saw his dad raise a feather duster that had appeared at the entrance out of nowhere.

He swore that before he left home, there was definitely no such thing in their house!

Yes, but his two older sisters had ordered four feather dusters during his four days away, just in case they weren't enough.

"Ran away from home, got some nerve!" Dong Zhenghao, holding the feather duster, menacingly approached Dong Qi.

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

Faced with the threat of violence, Dong Qi immediately backed down, showing a very good attitude of admitting fault.

During the days he was away from home, he had realized a truth: one must never offend the person who holds the purse strings of the household.

He had been too young before, unaware of the hardships of the world.

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

"I've found a tutor for you; they'll start tomorrow," Dong Zhenghao temporarily abandoned the idea of corporal punishment and said to his son, holding the feather duster.

"Got it," Dong Qi dejectedly lowered his head, thinking he couldn't get past this hurdle.

Math, was that something humans were meant to learn?

"I'm not expecting you to do great, but at least you can't be worse than your two older sisters!"

"Dad, that's asking too much of him. With an IQ that can only score eleven points, the passing line is a bit high for him," Liu Mumu said sarcastically from upstairs.

Dong Qi couldn't help but roar, "Liu Mumu!"

Then he got hit by his dad, "What are you yelling about? Is there something wrong with what your sister said?"

"No problem," Dong Qi resentfully shut his mouth.

Liu Mumu leaned against the banister, resting her chin on her hands, feeling a bit bored. She had expected this kid to explode when he returned, but he had actually become obedient.

On the first night back home, Dong Qi had another nightmare. He dreamt he was taking a math test, scoring eleven points on every paper. When he returned home, his dad was waiting at the door with a feather duster to beat him.

Having to study and get beaten, he felt exhausted and mentally drained that night.

The next morning, he found that both his dad and mom looked like they hadn't slept well. His mom kept yawning during breakfast.

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

Jiang Li quickly glanced at Dong Zhenghao, who was lowering his head and drinking porridge. She had dreamt that Old Dong's ex-wife had returned, and Old Dong was remarrying her. She and their two children were being kicked out of the house.

But she definitely couldn't say this in front of the children. Jiang Li shook her head at her son, "It's nothing, just a bit of insomnia."

Insomnia was better than nightmares, Dong Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

He secretly thought that since his mom wasn't having nightmares, it probably wasn't his fault.

Everything seemed normal on the Dong family's side.

However, the Zhang family next door was in an uproar early in the morning.

Lü Yao got up early and prepared breakfast for the whole family, but it was past eight o'clock, and her mother-in-law still hadn't come down to eat.

She went to knock on the door but received no answer. Worried that something had happened to her mother-in-law, she had to call her husband to open the door with a key.

When they opened the door, they discovered that her mother-in-law had somehow rolled under the bed. She might have hit her head and had been unconscious for who knows how long.

The whole family lost their appetite and quickly called for an ambulance to take her to the hospital.

What happened next door naturally didn't escape the Dong family's notice. By the afternoon, the Zhang family members returned one after another. Zhang Shijing stayed at the hospital to accompany Old Mrs. Zhang. He first sent his son and wife back, along with Zhang Shijing's younger sister, Zhang Xueqi.

Back home, Lü Yao said to Zhang Xueqi, "Xiao Qi, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Let me make you something to eat?"

"No need," Zhang Xueqi gave a cold glance at her current sister-in-law. "You rest, I'll go next door."

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

Zhang Yang didn't even look at her and went upstairs, slamming the door shut with a bang.

Soon, Zhang Xueqi left. Only Lü Yao remained alone in the empty living room on the first floor.

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

Zhang Xueqi had a good relationship with Jiang Li. Although she didn't live there after getting married, the two occasionally met up to go shopping.

Jiang Li naturally welcomed Zhang Xueqi's visit.

After they sat down, Jiang Li couldn't help but inquire about Old Mrs. Zhang's condition. "I saw an ambulance at your house this morning. Is Aunt Zhang feeling unwell?"

Speaking of this, Zhang Xueqi found it both funny and exasperating. "Don't mention it. My mom had a nightmare last night. She dreamt she was paralyzed in bed and being abused by my sister-in-law. She was so scared that she fell out of bed and fainted."

Jiang Li couldn't help but laugh, "They say you dream about what you think about during the day. Aunt Zhang is worried about this? Your sister-in-law seems like a decent person, how could she possibly mistreat her?"

Speaking of which, the smile on Zhang Xueqi's face faded slightly, "You're wrong about that. The more harmless people seem, the more you can't judge a book by its cover. You only see how my mother treats Lü Yao poorly, but have you ever thought about how she got into our family?"

Thanks to Zhang Xueqi, Jiang Li knew quite a bit about the Zhang family's affairs. "Aunt Zhang, you mind that she married in just two months after your previous sister-in-law passed away?"

They were all adults. Jiang Li simply didn't believe anyone could find true love two months after their wife's death. The two of them were likely already involved before that. But it takes two to tango. The Zhang family had no reason to blame Lü Yao entirely, right?

"It's not just that," Zhang Xueqi snorted. "Do you know how my previous sister-in-law had her accident? It was this woman who sent her some things. My sister-in-law was stimulated at the time and fell from the upstairs."

"There was such a thing?" Jiang Li was surprised.

"Of course. My mother doted on my previous sister-in-law the most. If my brother hadn't insisted on marrying this woman, how could she have entered our family?"

Here, Zhang Xueqi was speaking up for her previous sister-in-law. In the hospital, however, Old Mrs. Zhang was arguing with her son.

The cause was naturally Lü Yao.

Old Mrs. Zhang recalled her dream from last night and felt even more strongly that Lü Yao couldn't stay at home. She simply said to her son, "I found someone to rent a place a few days ago. Have Lü Yao move out in a few days."

Zhang Shijing frowned, "Mom, Lü Yao is my wife. How can I let her move out alone?"

"I'm still your mother. Tell me, since she married into our family, what has she turned our home into? Yangyang, who was originally obedient and well-behaved, was angered by her and ran away from home. Now I've hit my head, and it's all because of her!"

Zhang Shijing didn't know what to say. His son's relationship with his wife was bad, and he insisted she move out, or he would run away from home. Could he blame her for that?

As for his mother hitting her head, that was even more ridiculous. It wasn't like Lü Yao pushed his mother off the bed.

But sometimes, reasoning was useless, because the person in front of him was his mother.

Zhang Shijing finally said helplessly, "Mom, Yao Yao is pregnant. She's four months along. I didn't tell you before."

"What?" Old Mrs. Zhang sat up directly from the bed, surprise flashing in her eyes. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Zhang Shijing smiled, "Someone checked. It's a girl."

He had wanted a daughter for a long time and was filled with anticipation for this child.

He didn't notice that Old Mrs. Zhang's expression clearly soured when she heard it was a girl. However, she didn't mention having Lü Yao move out to live alone anymore.

Old Mrs. Zhang stayed in the hospital for two days. After confirming she was fine, she returned home.

That same night after returning home, she started having nightmares again.

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

Zhang Xueqi rushed into the room to comfort Old Mrs. Zhang, only to hear her mother muttering incessantly, "The child... the child..."

After finally coaxing the old woman to sleep, Zhang Xueqi left a light on in the room and walked out. With a serious expression, she asked her brother, "Mom keeps muttering about a child. What child is it?"

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

"That's it? Then why was Mom so scared awake?" Zhang Xueqi clearly didn't believe him.

"How would I know?"

Zhang Shijing was also helpless. Earlier, Zhang Xueqi had kept asking the old woman what she dreamed about, but she only mentioned the child. Yet, after his mother learned of Lü Yao's pregnancy, her attitude had improved considerably.

Because of Old Mrs. Zhang's nightmares, no one in the family slept well.

The next day, Zhang Xueqi came to the Dong family again.

Jiang Li hadn't been feeling well these past few days and hadn't slept soundly at night. Hearing someone knock on the door, she didn't feel like getting up. Liu Mumu got up to open the door.

Seeing Jiang Li's stepdaughter, Zhang Xueqi was stunned for a moment before nodding at her.

This time, Zhang Xueqi came to find Jiang Li to ask for her help.

"You want me to help you find a master?" Jiang Li looked at Liu Mumu first after hearing Zhang Xueqi's request.

Then she shifted her gaze and asked curiously, "Your family doesn't believe in this stuff, so why are you suddenly looking for a master?"

Zhang Xueqi said helplessly, "My sister-in-law is pregnant, and my mother has been having nightmares for the past few days, saying that the child is haunting her in her dreams. She insists that the child is harming her. I was thinking of finding someone to divine it, just to put her mind at ease."

Actually, she hadn't said half of it. Her mother was also pressuring her sister-in-law to have an abortion, and they were still arguing at home with her brother.

Although Zhang Xueqi didn't particularly like this sister-in-law, it was still a child, four months old. They couldn't abort the child for such a ridiculous reason.

Jiang Li said hesitantly, "I do know a master, but I need to ask them first before I can give you an answer."

"Alright, please ask the master for me. I'm truly out of options." The old woman in the family was untouchable, and even her brother couldn't do anything.

After seeing Zhang Xueqi off, Jiang Li looked intently at Liu Mumu.

"What do you want to ask?" Liu Mumu looked down at her phone, not looking at Jiang Li.

"Is Old Mrs. Zhang's condition really being harmed by the unborn child?" Ever since she personally witnessed how terrifying Liu Mumu's destiny was, Jiang Li dared not say that such things were absolutely impossible.

"Even if a child is meant to harm their family, it can only do so after being born. The child hasn't even fully developed, how could it have such power?"

"Then why has Old Mrs. Zhang been having nightmares?"

Liu Mumu turned her head to look at Jiang Li, "High psychological pressure, or..."

"Or what?"

"Or, she simply doesn't want the child."

The only one who was truly fated to harm her family was herself.