Upon hearing He Ming’s words, He Yuan hurried home immediately.
On the way, He Ming explained the whole story from beginning to end.
He Yuan listened with a deepening frown. Li Cuihua again.
When he arrived home, he saw that Ji Shuyu had already been helped by Wang Shufen and He Junshan to lie down in the main room.
“Shuyu?”
“Let’s get her to the clinic first.”
He Junshan made the decisive call. He Yuan quickly carried Ji Shuyu on his back and rushed her to the clinic.
At the clinic, the doctor’s brow furrowed deeply upon learning Ji Shuyu was pregnant.
Ji Shuyu kept her eyes closed, having exchanged for several items in the points space.
She had to make this performance convincing.
Before, she thought she could make do and get by, that she couldn’t cause a split right after arriving.
If word got out, her reputation on this island would be completely ruined.
If this were modern times, Ji Shuyu wouldn’t care about any of this.
To hell with what people think. But in this era, gossip could literally drown a person.
In a different place, she had to adapt her methods.
She wasn’t stupid enough to confront them head-on.
Before long, the doctor came out, his expression grave.
“What kind of family members are you? It’s a good thing the pregnant woman protected her belly. It’s nothing serious, she just needs to rest and recover.”
“She’s in the early stages now. Even a minor bump can be fatal. Be more careful in the future.”
Hearing this, He Yuan nodded repeatedly. Watching Ji Shuyu being wheeled out, his heart clenched.
He Min, who had returned from school and heard about the incident, quickly came to the clinic with her second sister-in-law, Su Wenjuan.
“Second Sister-in-law, Minmin, please help me look after Shuyu.”
Upon He Yuan’s request, they both nodded. He Yuan then took Wang Shufen back home.
As soon as they arrived, He Qiang, seeing the cold fury emanating from He Yuan, hid in terror behind his mother.
“Come here. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
He stood not far away, his cold gaze fixed on He Qiang.
He Qiang was already afraid of his third uncle.
When Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, and Dad threatened to spank him, it might just be talk. But if Third Uncle said he would spank him, he absolutely meant it.
“Mom, I… I don’t want to go.”
He Qiang clutched Li Cuihua’s clothes, not even daring to look at He Yuan again.
Seeing her son so frightened, Li Cuihua’s anger surged.
She pulled He Qiang behind her and started shouting at He Yuan.
“He Yuan, what are you doing? Qiangzi is just a child! Is it necessary to scare him like this? And it’s not entirely Qiangzi’s fault. Who knew she’d be so fragile?”
Hearing this, He Yuan’s face darkened further. He stared fixedly at Li Cuihua.
“A child? How old is he? And you’re still shielding him after what he did? Shuyu is pregnant. If something really happened, could you bear the responsibility?”
“Why couldn’t I bear it?”
Li Cuihua retorted, stiffening her neck. “It was just a little fall! Didn’t the doctor say she’s fine? Why are you making such a big deal out of it?”
“Besides, maybe she fell on her own. What kind of skill is it to pin the blame on our Qiangzi?”
Seeing Li Cuihua’s utter unreasonableness, He Yuan couldn’t be bothered to argue with her further.
He simply held up his hand and counted to three.
“He Qiang, if you’re a man, stand up and face me.”
He Yuan had participated in the offshore defense battles, and combined with his years as a soldier, the aura he emitted was too much for a child like He Qiang to handle.
Everyone looked at He Yuan, knowing he was truly furious.
He Qiang, even more afraid, refused to come out, only muttering that he didn’t know.
He Yuan said nothing more. He stepped forward and effortlessly pulled He Qiang out from behind Li Cuihua.
Before Li Cuihua could say a word, He Yuan kicked He Qiang’s leg, forcing him to his knees.
“Your aunt is pregnant. Why did you push her?”
Kneeling on the cobblestones, his legs in pain, He Qiang cried uncontrollably, gasping for breath.
Li Cuihua moved to intervene, but a sharp look from He Yuan forced her back.
“She… she was talking bad about my mom.”
“What did she say about your mom? Did you take the cured meat or not?”
Pressed by He Yuan, He Qiang tearfully confessed everything.
It turned out that last night, He Jiang’s coworker had given them a piece of cured meat. Li Cuihua left it on the table and told He Qiang to put it away in the small kitchen.
He Qiang couldn’t resist and secretly cut off a piece to eat himself, hiding the rest.
When Li Cuihua woke up the next day, she thought the cured meat had been taken from the table.
That’s why she made such a fuss and accused Ji Shuyu.
She felt that as the eldest sister-in-law, before Ji Shuyu arrived, she had always held a senior position in the family.
Who would have thought that as soon as Ji Shuyu arrived, she would put her in her place and make life difficult for her?
Li Cuihua couldn’t swallow this anger. Thinking that if she was having a hard time, she would make sure Ji Shuyu didn’t have it easy either.
He Qiang listened to Li Cuihua constantly complain about how terrible Ji Shuyu was and heard her grumble that Ji Shuyu had taken her room. Of course, he was holding a grudge.
After He Qiang finished sobbing out the whole story, the courtyard fell into dead silence.
Li Cuihua’s face flushed red as if she had been slapped hard after hearing her son’s confession.
But her ability to talk back was always top-notch. She stiffened her neck and shouted,
“So what if Qiangzi ate some? That cured meat was ours to begin with! If she didn’t take it, why was she afraid to let me check her room? She was making insinuations! What’s wrong with my son standing up for me?”
“Standing up for you?”
He Yuan sneered, looking at Li Cuihua.
“Pushing a pregnant woman is standing up for you? Sister-in-law, you’re a mother yourself. If someone had pushed you like that when you were pregnant with Qiangzi, how would you have felt?”
Li Cuihua opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but was left speechless.
He Yuan didn’t give her a chance to catch her breath, turning his gaze back to He Qiang.
The child was still kneeling on the cobblestones, his knees already red and sore from the hard surface. His crying had gradually subsided, leaving only hiccupping sobs.
“He Qiang, making mistakes isn’t terrible. What’s terrible is not daring to admit them and shifting the blame onto others. For what happened today, you must apologize to your aunt.”
“As for Sister-in-law’s earlier shouting about splitting the household, I think it’s a good idea. Let’s live separately, so no one gets in anyone’s way.”
He Qiang buried his head even lower, tears pattering onto the ground.
Li Cuihua’s heart ached for her son. Just as she was about to speak, He Junshan silenced her with a look.
“Dad…”
Li Cuihua called out plaintively.
He Junshan said sternly, “He Yuan is right. An apology is necessary. Qiangzi, if you make a mistake, you must admit it. That’s the rule.”
“I didn’t want to split the household before because I was afraid it would damage the bond between the brothers. But now it seems it’s better to separate.”
“He Ming, go call your uncle back. Tell him we’re splitting the household and he needs to come home.”
He looked at Li Cuihua and shook his head. They say a virtuous wife brings prosperity to three generations, while a foolish woman ruins a family.
Back then, Li Cuihua seemed just spirited and not this difficult to get along with.
Who would have thought she’d become like this?
Splitting up earlier is better for everyone.
“Dad? It’s all because of Ji Shuyu! If she hadn’t come to our family, we’d still be living in peace! I won’t agree to splitting up, I won’t!”
Seeing that He Junshan was determined, Li Cuihua started making a fuss again, now refusing to split the household.
“Sister-in-law, you were the one who suggested splitting up just now.”
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