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Chapter 775: Chapter 765: Having the Heart to Eat People
The conversation between the two of them was somewhat vague, but it seemed that the woman on the ground was likely a loose woman, involved with other men, but no one knew the specifics of her entanglements—that would require further questioning.
How could Shen Yingxue possibly air her dirty laundry for them under the sunlight? She could only give vague responses through sobs such as "I didn’t do it" and "it wasn’t me."
Everyone had surrounded her and questioned her for a long time without prying out anything of substance, and they began to lose interest.
"Oh my, it’s already past five, I have to go back and cook for the kids," said a military spouse, as if she just realized the time and promptly left.
Afterward, everyone else also found it pointless to stay. One claimed they had errands; another said they needed to pick up their children. All of them buzzed away.
Shen Yingxue sensed that things were going south and looked up for Li Xianghe, but she was nowhere to be seen. Left with no choice, she grabbed the military spouse who had pitied her earlier, lifted her tear-stained face, and pleaded, "Sister, please have mercy on me. If you don’t help me, I truly have no way out. I might as well die; if I die, all will be settled."
The military spouse was at a loss; she did pity her but was powerless to help. Her own home only had two rooms and a living room, filled with family members—a total of five people. How could they take in an outsider? And money was tight for her too; what could she do?
"Don’t be like this, look, I’m just a housewife without any special skills. Why don’t you sit here a bit longer? Maybe Xiaoshen will come down in a bit."
Shen Yunfang had finished cooking and checked her watch—the children should have been let out from school by now. Worried that Shen Yingxue was still downstairs, pestering her two kids and frightening them, she took off her apron and peeked over the balcony to look down.
Downstairs, there was no sign of Shen Yingxue; however, from a distance, she saw a group of children running in this direction.
"Mommy, Mommy, I’m here!" Manman called out as she ran home, having spotted her mother peering from the balcony right away.
Shen Yunfang smiled and waved at her daughter from upstairs, "Hurry up and come here. Mom made your favorite dishes."
The siblings shouted excitedly and rushed upstairs.
After dinner, the children were doing their homework in the house, and Shen Yunfang, alone with a spade, went to tend to her allocated plot of land.
Being a military spouse had its drawbacks; sometimes, when you needed your man the most, he was out on a mission. You couldn’t neglect the farmland, so women had to bear the extra hardship.
On her way there, Shen Yunfang heard all sorts of gossip. After she went upstairs, the onlookers had dispersed since it was no longer interesting, but Shen Yingxue clung to the military spouse who had shown her a little kindness and made a scene all the way to the woman’s home.
When Shen Yunfang was heading to her plot, people were saying that Shen Yingxue hadn’t entered the woman’s household but was sitting outside crying. However, by the time Shen Yunfang returned home with the spade, she heard people saying that Shen Yingxue had already made her way into the house.
Shen Yunfang inwardly lit a candle for the kindness of the military spouse named Xiangcui, hoping she hadn’t invited a wolf into her home. But now that Shen Yingxue had entered the military housing complex, Shen Yunfang knew she needed to remind her own children to be cautious around there.
The next morning, just like any other day, the two children finished breakfast, slung their backpacks on, and thudded down the stairs to join their friends on the way to school.
As Shen Yunfang was putting on her shoes, ready to head to work as well, she suddenly heard her daughter Manman’s piercing scream from downstairs, "Mommy!" 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
A feeling of dread washed over Shen Yunfang. She had one shoe left to put on but ran downstairs regardless.
As she dashed out of the corridor, Shen Yunfang saw her own son, Pangpang, sitting on the side of Mahu Road with his face covered in blood, wearing an expression that was on the verge of tears. Next to him, Manman was crying out loud while using her small hands to pat her brother’s head, likely trying to stop the bleeding.
Standing beside them, Shen Yingxue looked terrified. Upon seeing Shen Yunfang coming down, she stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and explained, "Yunfang, it wasn’t intentional, I really didn’t know what happened. I just wanted to talk to the kid, but then just a light push and he hit himself; it really wasn’t my fault."
Shen Yunfang reacted by slapping her across the face, "Shut your mouth. If anything happens to my son, even the slightest bit, I’ll make you pay with your life," she said menacingly.
This wasn’t an empty threat; Shen Yunfang really felt this way at that moment.
"Could someone please call the police for me, have this person arrested? I need to take my child to the hospital first," Shen Yunfang said as she strode over to her son, scooped him up, and ran towards the military hospital, with a sobbing Manman following close behind.
"Sister-in-law, the child is heavy, let me carry him." Several soldiers nearby, seeing the situation, immediately offered their help.
"No need, I can carry him," Shen Yunfang said, refusing to let anyone else take her child. She had the strength she needed. "Son, how do you feel, are you dizzy, where does it hurt? Tell Mommy, and don’t you fall asleep," she implored. Shen Yunfang had no medical training, but seeing her son wasn’t unconscious and just had a lot of blood on his face, she remembered something she’d heard on television: if a child went to sleep in this state, they might never wake up again. So, even as she wept, she kept talking to her son, afraid that he might fall asleep.
"Ah, don’t let her get away, she’s a murderer," a military wife shouted as she turned her head and saw the woman who had pushed the child trying to flee.
It was a busy time of day, and several soldiers were among the onlookers who had gathered. Shen Yingxue couldn’t possibly have escaped.
She was swiftly apprehended and detained.
The military hospital wasn’t far, located right next to the elementary school. Shen Yunfang ran with her child for a few minutes and arrived there.
"Doctor He, Doctor He, come quickly, a child is injured!" Camp Commander Zhao, who had run over, started calling for help as soon as he entered the infirmary. "Sister-in-law, this way."
He was a subordinate of Li Hongjun, the commander of the second battalion and third company; his wife was Gan Xiuying.
Doctor He, whom he’d been calling, quickly came out from inside. He, too, was startled to see a child with a face full of blood, "Here, put the child down here."
What followed was disinfection, wound assessment, and the like.
The final conclusion was that despite the blood all over his face making it seem serious, the injury was just a two-centimeter-long gash on the forehead.
"The cut isn’t too deep, and since the child is young and has a strong healing capability, we don’t need to stitch it up right now. If you parents are worried, you can take him to the hospital for further examination to see if there’s any concussion or anything like that," Doctor He said responsibly. His clinic was only equipped for simple treatments and administering IVs; he didn’t have any major medical equipment.
Shen Yunfang thanked the doctor. Hearing him say it was nothing serious, her heart was somewhat eased.
"Camp Commander Zhao, I’m really sorry to trouble you for so long. I want to take the child to a bigger hospital for a check-up. Could you please take Manman to school for me?" The little girl had been clinging to her clothes the whole time, refusing to leave her side, and now that Shen Yunfang needed to take Pangpang to the hospital, it would be too much for her to handle both children at once.
"Sister-in-law, it’s inconvenient for you to go to the hospital alone with the child. Let me accompany you. The elementary school is just next door; I can take Manman there straight away," he offered.
Shen Yunfang was frazzled and realized that Camp Commander Zhao was right; handling her child on her own while doing things like paying fees would indeed be very troublesome, so she accepted his kind offer.
