Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 27 Dream_1

Chapter 27: Chapter 27 Dream_1

For several days in a row, Nanzhi went to East Mountain to pick chestnuts in the morning, and in the afternoon she would take Gougou to fish in the river.

At first, it was just her and Gougou fishing in the river, but gradually more women joined them.

Although they didn’t know if River Clams were tasty, the sight of Nanzhi and Gougou searching for them every day stirred up their cravings.

"Sister Nanzhi, Sister Nanzhi, how do you eat these River Clams?"

The speaker was Shen Miaomiao, Aunt Guihua’s daughter, who, since reaching the age of maturity, had always been kept indoors by Aunt Guihua, not going out much. Now, she had left home merely to gather more chestnuts, but ended up sticking closely to Nanzhi once she saw her.

Seeing Nanzhi take off her shoes and stockings to enter the river, she cared not for Aunt Guihua’s frowning face and followed her into the water.

Looking at the girl’s joyful demeanor, Nanzhi couldn’t help but sigh. Half a month ago, she herself had been a maiden in the bloom of youth, but in the blink of an eye, she became a mother. She sighed and said, "Take them home, remove the dirty parts, and stir-fry them with hot peppers. There’s a piece of flesh inside called the foot, which you can boil, dry, and save for later. It tastes good when you add it to soup."

Hearing they could be preserved, Shen Miaomiao’s eyes narrowed with pleasure, and she sincerely complimented, "Sister Nanzhi, you’re so amazing."

"Mommy, Mommy, I caught a little fish!"

As Nanzhi looked up upon hearing this, she saw Gougou running towards her, naked as the day he was born, with a fish held tightly in his small hands.

Watching Gougou stumble as he ran, Nanzhi feared he might fall. Just as she was about to go to him, he pounced on her with his full embrace, causing her to fall and sit down in the river.

"..."

Gougou didn’t seem to think he had done anything wrong, merely passing the fish to Nanzhi with a giggling smile, "Mommy, Mommy, look, a fish."

"Gougou, come on, get up, or your mommy’s going to spank your little bottom," Ms. Liu chided with a laugh from the side.

"Gougou is really impressive."

"Isn’t that the truth? The boy is lucky. Look how much more he finds than you do in a day."

The women teased each other, and for a while, bursts of laughter spread from the edge of the village.

However, at the Li Family’s, every brow was furrowed.

Ever since Old Mr. Li divorced Ms. Wang, the atmosphere in the Li household had been gloomy. The day before yesterday, Old Mr. Li had divided the family.

Throughout the years, the family had saved up thirty-seven taels of silver. When Ms. Wang left, she took twenty taels with her, leaving only seventeen silver taels and the family’s five acres of land behind. When the division of the family was announced, Ms. Wu was the first to object.

After the division, she and Li Tian wouldn’t have a single moment to slack off. Nonetheless, Old Mr. Li didn’t provide an opportunity for further discussion, swiftly finalizing the division with Li Liang, Li Zheng, and the clan elder present.

Early today, Ms. Liao noticed that her father-in-law wasn’t well, with a persistent fever and delirious rants. The village doctor, after examining him, declared that the infection in his right leg couldn’t be delayed any longer. To save his life, the leg had to be amputated.

At that, the family sat together again, and even the usually reticent Ms. Wu shut her mouth.

In the end, they opted to save his life, and Old Mr. Li became the first and only man in Lihua Village to lack a leg.

"Dad, don’t blame me." Li Liang knelt on the ground, his dark face filled with remorse.

He had failed in his filial duty, letting his father lose a leg—a grave matter.

Looking at his son kneeling before him, Old Mr. Li spoke with a hoarse voice. After struggling for a while, he managed to utter three words: "Get up now."

After the village doctor left, the expense of the amputation amounted to three taels of silver.

"Look at that, it’s all fate," Old Mr. Li said with a laugh as he lay in bed, gazing out the window.

It’s all fate.

The sun was about to set when Nanzhi finally took Gougou ashore. The women whose families had men had already left an hour ago, rushing back to prepare dinner.

Before leaving, Aunt Guihua called Shen Miaomiao, who managed to sweet-talk her way into heading home first.

Seeing that Nanzhi was about to leave, Shen Miaomiao quickly followed and asked, "Sister Nanzhi, are you heading home now?"

"Heading home now. Auntie, you should head back soon too," Gougou hurriedly said to Shen Miaomiao. This auntie kept following mommy, and mommy wasn’t paying attention to him.

Shen Miaomiao didn’t notice Gougou’s attitude towards her changing; she just waved to Nanzhi, "Then I’m leaving, Sister Nanzhi. Let’s go fish in the river together again tomorrow."

Nanzhi was about to nod subconsciously, but Gougou tugged at her clothes and they entered their yard.

"Gougou, you weren’t well-behaved today, you were impolite," Nanzhi said, somewhat reproachfully looking at Gougou. She always felt that Gougou was somewhat resistant to Shen Miaomiao.

"Gougou is sorry, Mommy isn’t angry," Gougou said, hanging his head in a guilty manner, occasionally glancing up at Nanzhi with his pitiful look that made her feel somewhat helpless.

"Mommy isn’t angry anymore, so Gougou, be good, and don’t act like this when you see your auntie tomorrow."

Gougou nodded his head, "Okay."

Dinner was simple, just porridge cooked and a dish of shredded potatoes.

Mother and son sat at the small table in the backyard, huffing and puffing as they finished their meal before starting to "busy themselves."

Ever since Nanzhi decided to store dried river clams, Gougou had an additional task—turning over the dried meat in the winnowing basket.

Gougou always took the tasks assigned by his mom very seriously and would sit on a little stool to turn the clam meat every day after dinner.

Meanwhile, Nanzhi was dealing with the river clams by the well. Perhaps Gougou truly was a little lucky star, for every time they went down to the river, he always managed to catch a few fish, and even the river clams he found were bigger than those the other children found.

After a few days, their winnowing basket at home was nearly full.

The large river clam in the wooden basin suddenly shook, looking around with some confusion. Finding nothing amiss, it uneasily continued its rest.

After changing the water for the fish in the wooden bucket and settling the last winnowing basket of clam meat, Nanzhi stretched her back and took Gougou back to their room.

It was now the beginning of the seventh lunar month, with one month left before the autumn harvest. There was not the slightest sign of rain in the sky.

Today, Nanzhi had also noticed that the water in the river at the end of the village had grown shallower. She feared that if it didn’t rain soon, the river would dry up completely.

Aside from the occasional chirp of insects and the rare cool breeze, the night was quiet.

The other families in Lihua Village slept particularly well that night, but Nanzhi and Gougou did not.

Gougou was young and, though energetic during the day, after playing, he would fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Only after tucking Gougou in did Nanzhi close her eyes.

In her dream, it was pitch black, as though she was enveloped by a mass of ink, with not a single ray of light, no matter how hard she ran.

She called out for her grandmother, for Gougou, but there was no response.

Finally, she stopped calling and just blindly ran forward, not knowing how long she had been running until it felt like she hit a wall, a strange wall that was soft and sucked her right in.

On the other side of the wall was Lihua Village, with the sun hanging low in the sky, casting a crimson hue across the sky.

Smoke curled up from the houses in the village, and she and Gougou were sitting on a stone bench at the village entrance, doing something, unclear what, until a group of men carrying hoes approached, and Gougou excitedly shouted that daddy was back.

She seemed happy too, smiling as she ran towards the man in the green clothes.

Through the wall, Nanzhi watched the scene and was stunned.

If Gougou was calling that man Daddy, then who was she?

Who was she?

Right, she was a student at A University, Lin Nanzhi.

But suddenly, outside the wall, the scenery of Lihua Village changed; gone were the plumes of cooking smoke, the Nanzhi who was there just moments ago, and the man in the green clothes; only Gougou was left standing at the entrance of the village, crying frantically.

"Gougou! Gougou!"

Nanzhi desperately banged against the wall, but the Gougou on the other side seemed unable to hear, continuing to cry out for Mommy.

The next moment, the earth began to tremble, and all around the village was the sound of tiles and bricks falling to the ground and breaking.

In an instant, the house at the entrance of the village had already collapsed halfway.

Watching Gougou’s tiny figure fall to the ground, Nanzhi, in a panic, was about to smash her head against the wall when she suddenly woke up.

Beads of sweat on her forehead reminded her.

She was still in Lihua Village, still the young widow Lin Nanzhi of Lihua Village.