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Chapter 534: Chapter 534: Encounter Danger 5
"No, they aren’t here!" The woman shook her head, "My husband took them all back to my mother-in-law’s house. It’s not easy to care for children in the mountains, and it’s inconvenient for them. Our third child didn’t survive because this place is too remote, and we couldn’t get medical assistance on time when he fell ill one night."
Seeing that the woman spoke about her child’s death without showing any grief, Tong Yao frowned. She quickly asked, "Why don’t you move down the mountain to take care of your children? Being pregnant and alone up here is far from ideal. Giving birth by yourself is very dangerous."
"But if I don’t stay here, who would cook for them?" The woman replied matter-of-factly.
"Uhm..." Tong Yao was left speechless by her reply.
Hu Haiyun couldn’t help being curious about the woman’s experience of giving birth on her own, so he asked her, "Did you deliver your first baby on your own too?"
"Yes!" The woman seemed to take some pride in speaking about it. "I almost lost my child and myself that time. My husband wasn’t home when I suddenly went into labor. I didn’t know what to do at first, but then the baby came out on his own. I cut the umbilical cord and found out that giving birth wasn’t so scary. The second time was faster because I had experience."
The woman spoke casually about her experience, but Tong Yao and Hu Haiyun found it frightening. Giving birth at home with a midwife was already dangerous enough, let alone without anyone’s help. It was too terrifying to imagine.
Seeing the woman’s simple, rustic demeanor, Tong Yao was filled with doubts. "After your children are born, do you immediately take them down the mountain? How did you and your husband meet?"
"How can you take them down the mountain right after they’re born!" The woman found Tong Yao’s question amusing. "My first two children were taken down the mountain after they were weaned at around one year old. The third one didn’t survive. The fourth one was taken down the mountain when he was a month old because I was out of milk by then. I was trafficked and saved by my husband. I found him a good man, so I stayed with him. I’ve given him sons with every pregnancy which is me repaying him for saving me."
"What does your husband do? Why didn’t he take you home but instead leaves you in the middle of the mountain slope?" Cheng Feng asked, frowning.
Previously, he thought the woman was being forced. Now that he heard the woman willingly stayed, he wondered why the husband didn’t take her home?
Staying on the mountain to cook seems to be a far-fetched reason. If the man has a home down the mountain, what is he doing in the mountain every day?
The woman said, "We contracted for these two mountains. They have to plant trees up here."
Tong Yao, having thought of something, suddenly asked, "Sister, are you the only woman here?"
"No, my husband’s sister-in-law is also here. But she’s a mute. She can’t speak and is too young and naive. She just came to the mountain this year. She couldn’t stand life in the mountains and wanted to run home, so her husband gave her a beating. She’s locked up in the other room right now."
As the woman talked about her sister-in-law getting beaten, it sounded as if it was a common occurrence. From the way she spoke, she was blaming the sister-in-law for not being able to stand the hardship. She defended the man, implying that it was a man’s right to beat his wife. Hearing this, Hu Haiyun and Tong Yao couldn’t help but roll their eyes.
As Tong Yao was about to ask something else, they heard a man calling from outside. The woman responded loudly and headed outside.
"I suspect her sister-in-law was brought here against her will." Hu Haiyun voiced his concerns.
Cheng Feng knitted his eyebrows and said, "This woman seems to be brainwashed."
Tong Yao nodded and analyzed, "I think she doesn’t know what her husband does behind her back. You could say she either is naive or plain stupid."
She’s hypnotized herself into believing that hardship is a blessing?
"Are the children really raised by her family-in-law?" Hu Haiyun couldn’t help but be skeptical. Perhaps the man calling the shots, Taige, is in collusion with child traffickers and deliberately leaves the woman to serve as a birthing tool.
Cheng Feng raised his eyebrows, "Even cruel tigers don’t eat their young. No matter how evil these people may be, they shouldn’t harm their own children, right?"
"I’m not sure if her children are safe, but we are definitely not." Tong Yao glanced at the bowls and chopsticks on the windowsill with worry in her eyes. She had to ensure the safety of the child in her womb. It was a child she conceived after much difficulty. 𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑝𝘶𝘣.𝑐𝘰𝘮
If she loses this baby, she may never have the chance to be a mother in this life again.
Both Cheng Feng and Hu Haiyun turned to look at the windowsill. Seeing the bowls and chopsticks on the windowsill, Cheng Feng managed a wry smile, "Don’t you guys think that those three bowls of noodles look like some kind of an offering?"
At his words, Hu Haiyun and Tong Yao’s lips twitched...
In the other room, Taige, upon seeing the woman, said impatiently, "Go call Niu Wa for dinner, and watch the house. If they try to come out, call us immediately. We have wild boars here in the mountains. If they run and get hurt, we’ll have to bear the responsibility."
The woman, suspecting nothing, hurried off to carry out Taige’s instructions.
The four men quickly finished the pot of noodles. Niu Wa wiped his mouth, looking unsettled as a lascivious light flickered in his eyes.
He rubbed his hands together and started to chuckle, "Taige, that girl named Tong Yao, she looks like a fairy. I’ve never seen a girl as beautiful as her. If I could marry a woman like her, I wouldn’t mind dying the very next moment. Remember the last time you promised to find me a woman, how about making it her?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Er Lvzi, sitting next to Taige, expressed his disagreement, "Why should it be you? I don’t have a wife either."
Mangzi also agreed, "Exactly! Such a beautiful woman, why should you have her all to yourself?"
Once Niu Wa heard Mangzi echoing Er Lvzi, he couldn’t help but get agitated, he retaliated, "You already have a woman. When you wanted that woman, didn’t Taige originally promise to find me one too?"
Mangzi sneered, "That woman is a mute, and she constantly wants to run away. Every time I touch her, she leaves me with scratches all over. If you like her so much, you can have her." To be honest, after comparing with Tong Yao, he didn’t even want to glance at the mute girl anymore.
Niu Wa wasn’t happy about this. Angrily, he shot back, "Why didn’t you offer the mute girl to me before Tong Yao arrived? Why should I always get your leftovers?"
The last time, Taige favoured Mangzi and gave the mute woman to him. He didn’t say anything then and had to swallow his grievances. But now, with Tong Yao here, Mangzi wanted to snatch her too. Why was that?
"Enough with the quarrel." Taige glared at the three of them, "Is a woman really worth all this fuss? Has our brotherhood become so fragile?"
Despite feeling wronged, Niu Wa said nothing and kept his face straight.
Seeing that the three guys remained silent, Taige continued, "None of you will have her. I need her for something else."
Mangzi was a bit confused, "Taige, what use can they be to us? In my opinion, we should keep the woman and bury the man right here in the mountains to serve as fertilizer."
Er Lvzi agreed with Mangzi.
A feeling of unease fluttered in Niu Wa’s heart, he mumbled, "Taige, you wouldn’t be thinking of keeping Tong Yao for yourself, would you?"
