Return to the Countryside

The man frowned slightly and watched her limping back for several seconds. Only after she disappeared around the corner did he turn and enter the hospital.

Author's note:

Thank you all for your support. This is a story about raising a baby, farming, and falling in love. There will be some overlap with the original book, but not much in the early stages.

A true farming novel. If you spot any plot holes or setting issues, feel free to point them out, darlings. Love you all~

Chapter 2: Return to the Countryside

Xu Han had thought giving birth would be agonizing and had prepared herself for unbearable pain. Yet it was easier than she had imagined. It hurt, but after only an hour in the delivery room, the little future villain came bawling into the world.

Mother and son were safe.

Completely drained, Xu Han looked at the wrinkled little thing in the nurse's arms and thought amid the chaos in her mind, This deranged big villain was just an ordinary naked baby when he came into the world. There was no sky darkened by crows or any other ominous sign.

He was just a little ugly.

Xu Han did not change the child's name. He was still called Gu Siqiao—the villain's original name, whose meaning was self-evident.

But hearing that name always reminded her that he was a villain. It was too depressing, making it impossible for her to properly raise him, so Xu Han gave him the nickname Koukou.

The pain of childbirth was temporary; the pain of raising a child was like a slow-acting poison that wore a person down. The worst part of it all was confinement after birth—tedious, exhausting, and boring.

And Grandma Qiao said that if she wanted to build up her health, she had to observe confinement for forty days...

Xu Han simply spent that month or so carefully considering her future.

Gu Yanqing had thrown Qiao Wanqing a check for two hundred thousand yuan, which Qiao Wanqing had nearly squandered away. Only fifty thousand yuan remained for formula, and that could not be touched.

Qiao Wanqing had no other savings, so she had to find work in order to support the child and Grandma Qiao.

She had only just graduated from university in her previous life, majoring in Bioengineering, which was practically useless. To find work in that field, she would have needed to take postgraduate entrance exams, so finding a job would probably be difficult.

She actually knew how to do many things, but she was not particularly skilled at any of them. She could only wait and see if something suitable came up.

Looking at the little thing swaddled in blankets, Xu Han sighed. "What should I do? Should I dump you on your dad, or dump you on your dad?"

She did not have the financial means to raise Koukou, and she still had a long road ahead of her. With a child, it would not be easy to marry again. The best choice was to send Koukou to Gu Yanqing.

But according to the book's setting, Gu Yanqing should not have been in this city right now. She probably would not be able to contact him.

And compared to his ugly appearance at birth, Koukou, who was almost a month old, had become fair, chubby, and incredibly adorable. His round little face was especially endearing.

Perhaps her maternal hormones were at work. Even though she knew he would grow into a crazed big villain in the future, Xu Han could not stop the motherly love flooding her heart—he was just too cute. If she gave him to Gu Yanqing, she would be a little reluctant to let him go.

Koukou had just finished feeding. He stared ahead with his round little eyes wide open, his tiny fists clenched tightly, and no one knew what he was thinking.

"You're a big villain. Why did you have to grow up so cute?"

Xu Han could not help reaching out and poking his soft little cheek. The little fellow slowly turned his eyes toward her and continued staring expressionlessly.

He was too cute! Xu Han could not resist lowering her head to kiss his cheek.

"Qingqing," Grandma Qiao said hesitantly as she entered the room just then. "Could I borrow your phone to make a call? Just for a few words."

After nearly a month together, seeing that Xu Han had shown a good attitude and improved herself, Grandma Qiao was finally no longer quite so afraid of her. Still, she habitually acted weak around her.

There was no landline installed at home, and Grandma Qiao did not have a phone. If she wanted to make a call, she had to borrow Xu Han's.

"Of course," Xu Han said. She unlocked the phone, thoughtfully switched to the dial screen, and only then handed it over. "Do you need me to dial it for you?"

"That would be good," Grandma Qiao said awkwardly. "Your phones are too advanced. I'm afraid I might break it."

Xu Han smiled. "How could it break that easily? What's the number?"

"This one." Grandma Qiao handed her a slip of paper.

Since Xu Han held the baby in one arm and the phone in the other, Grandma Qiao held the paper with the copied number up before her. Xu Han saw the three crookedly written characters: Li Lianhua.

In Qiao Wanqing's memories, this was Aunt Li from next door. As she dialed, Xu Han casually asked, "Why did you suddenly think of calling Aunt Li? Is something going on at home?"

"No, nothing. We planted some rice at home, and it's time to harvest it. Since I can't go back, I wanted Aunt Li's family to harvest and dry it, so it doesn't go to waste."

"Oh."

Xu Han nodded, dialed Aunt Li's number, and handed the phone to Grandma Qiao.

Qiao Wanqing did not have a deep impression of her hometown. She vaguely remembered it as a place of beautiful mountains and clear waters. Their house had been large, with a row of rooms and a spacious courtyard, where they raised all kinds of chickens, ducks, geese, and dogs. It had been especially lively.

Xu Han suspected she might be some distant relative of Tao Yuanming, because she had a mysterious yearning and fascination with rural pastoral life.

Speaking of which, although she had not been well-off in her previous life, she had always lived in the city. She used to love watching videos on platforms like Weibo and Bilibili of people making food in the countryside.

Food

She dreamed of having a courtyard planted with flowers, grass, melons, fruits, and vegetables, raising some poultry and livestock, working at sunrise and resting at sunset. That leisurely life would be wonderful.

And the place in Qiao Wanqing's memories was clearly that kind of undeveloped, pristine land, with beautiful mountains and rivers. It perfectly matched the place she had always longed for.

"What if I go back to my hometown and farm?" The thought suddenly came to Xu Han.

She did not know whether the fate lines set for the people in the book could be forcibly changed, or what consequences changing them might bring. But if she had to become a mistress or a kept woman, she would rather defy fate just once. No matter what punishment she suffered, it would be better than doing that sort of thing.

Rankings

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Transmigrated into a Book

Sweet Romance

Sweetness Is Justice