Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 59 Jingshan Zhiyu_1

Chapter 59: Chapter 59 Jingshan Zhiyu_1

Gougou nodded dully.

Nanzhi got up, patted the mud off herself, wiped away her tears, then reached out to Gougou and said, "Gougou, let’s go, we’re going home."

Hand in hand with his mother, Gougou waved goodbye to Doudou and the others before the mother and son headed home.

"Auntie, will Gougou get a beating?" Shen Miaomiao, noticing that Nanzhi looked quite distressed, asked worryingly.

"Well..." Ms. Liu glanced at the departing figures of Nanzhi and Gougou, also uncertain.

By all accounts, Nanzhi was gentle and probably wouldn’t hit Gougou, but seeing how scared she had been, looking as though she had lost her soul, it seemed Gougou wouldn’t escape a beating.

"Grandma, I was wrong!" Doudou pleaded with tears in his eyes as his ear was being twisted.

"You little rascal, tell me the truth, where did you take your brothers and sisters to play?" Ms. Liu was not fooled by Doudou’s act and continued to twist his ear as she questioned him.

"Grandma, we were catching cicada monkeys," Duoduo said, raising the cicada monkey in his hand, his little face smeared with mud.

"Grandma, stop twisting brother’s ear," Niuniu chimed in, pleading as well when she saw her own brother making faces at her.

"Why were you catching cicada monkeys?" Shen Miaomiao, intrigued by the cicada monkey in Duoduo’s hand, asked. Her brother used to catch cicada monkeys and fried them for her to eat, which were delicious.

But weren’t cicada monkeys usually caught at night? Now that it was daylight, why had these children thought to catch cicada monkeys?

"Brother Shi Tou said cicada monkeys are delicious!"

Upon hearing the name Shi Tou, both Ms. Liu and Shen Miaomiao exchanged glances.

Shi Tou?

Could it be Li Tian Family’s Shi Tou?

After returning home with Nanzhi, Gougou kept his head down.

His mother had just cried, all because of him.

"Mom, I’m sorry," Gougou said in a small voice, staring at his own toes.

"Gougou."

Nanzhi rubbed her swollen eyes and then led Gougou to sit down in the backyard.

"Mom, I know I was wrong."

"Then tell Mom, where did you go with Doudou and the others?" Nanzhi asked softly, looking into the little guy’s eyes.

"We went to catch cicada monkeys," Gougou said, pulling a couple out from his embrace.

Seeing the cicadas clamoring in Gougou’s hands, Nanzhi felt her scalp tingle and, resisting the urge to swat them away, asked shakily, "What did you catch cicada monkeys for?"

Gougou, noticing his mother’s fear of the creatures in his hands yet not wanting to discard them, hurriedly tucked them back into his embrace before speaking, "Brother Shi Tou said eating cicada monkeys helps you grow flesh. He took us to catch them."

He wanted to grow up quickly, to be tall like his uncles.

"How about Mom gives you a proper name?" Nanzhi tried to ignore the chirping from Gougou’s embrace and proposed.

"But Gougou has a name. Gougou is called Gougou," he said, tilting his head, confused.

His name was Gougou.

Nanzhi’s expression was complicated. Actually, she thought the name Gougou was quite good. Traditionally, it was common to have a humble name to ensure easier upbringing, and children usually got a formal name from the head of the family at ten years of age. If not at ten, then at least by the age of seven; otherwise, it was said to overshadow their fortune. So she never really gave much thought to this matter.

But after what had happened, she felt it might be good to officially give Gougou a proper name.

Otherwise, if one day she couldn’t find Gougou again, calling out ’Gougou’ might result in several children responding.

"Gougou, that’s your nickname. How about Mom gives you a proper name?" Nanzhi said as she wiped a speck of mud from Gougou’s face.

"Does Mom have a proper name?" Gougou looked at Nanzhi and asked, figuring if Mom had one, then he would want one too.

"Of course, Mom has a proper name. Mom’s proper name is Lin Nanzhi," she said with a smile.

"Then Gougou wants a proper name too!" Gougou said, his eyes seemingly sparkling as he looked at Nanzhi.

Nanzhi thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Gougou’s surname is Shen, how about we call him Shen Zhiyu from now on?"

"Sure." Gougou had no idea what was good or bad; as long as his mother liked it, he would be fine with being called Shi Tou.

Nanzhi stroked the little fellow’s head. In this world, he was the most precious thing to her.

"Mommy, Gougou..." The little guy blinked and then corrected himself, "Zhiyu is hungry!"

Nanzhi smiled and pinched his nose, "Such a good boy."

Watching his mother turn and head for the kitchen, young Shen Zhiyu’s grin almost reached his ears, and he cheerfully slipped out the door.

He had a formal name now! He wanted to go tell Brother Doudou!

Who would have known that just as he stepped outside, he would run into Shi Tou, who was covered in mud from head to toe.

"Brother Shi Tou," Shen Zhiyu waved his hand eagerly upon seeing Shi Tou.

"What’s up, Gougou." Shi Tou found it strange to see Gougou smiling so widely.

"I’m not called Gougou anymore, my mom gave me a formal name, I am called Shen Zhiyu now!"

"You have a formal name now?"

Young Shen Zhiyu nodded proudly, then waved to Shi Tou again as he headed for Old Lady Liu’s house.

Shi Tou looked at the young boy’s retreating figure with some envy, then pocketed a bunch of cicada monkeys and went home.

"Mom! I’m back!"

Ms. Wu was curled up in a corner of the courtyard, and only with great effort did she open her eyes at the sound of Shi Tou’s voice.

"Shi... Tou..."

"Hey, Mom, I caught lots of cicada monkeys, I’ll have Auntie cook them for you."

Having said that, Shi Tou ran toward Li Liang’s house.

Ms. Wu lay on the wooden board, coughing and holding back her tears from falling.

Once she got better, once she got better, she would definitely take Shi Tou and leave this place.

A few days ago, she had gone to East Mountain to pick chestnuts and ended up collapsing from heat stroke halfway through. Not a single person had gone to look for her the entire day. After returning and resting for two days without improvement, after the house was repaired, Li Tian even refused to let her inside.

No matter how much Shi Tou cried and made a fuss, it was useless; she had been sleeping outside these past few days.

Shi Tou went to catch cicada monkeys today with a bunch of kids only because he had heard adults say that eating cicada monkeys could cure heat stroke, so he bravely took a few kids to the pear tree forest.

The households in Lihua Village all received some grain and were peeling chestnuts at home following Li Zheng’s advice.

Meanwhile, hundreds of covert soldiers were quietly gathering in Dongwu Town thousands of miles away.

A man in green was bowing to the person seated at the head of the gathering.

"Stand up, just speak openly if you have something to say."

The person at the head was dressed in white, wearing a green jade crown, with eyebrows soaring into his temples and a pair of narrow eyes that held a trace of amusement.

"I wish to return to Qingyun County for a visit."

Song Lian hesitated upon hearing this, thinking it over before asking, "Qingyun County? I remember that’s your hometown."

"Yes."

Song Lian’s brows slightly furrowed, his voice not too pleased, "Now is not the time to go home for a family visit."

"I’m worried about my wife and child back home. I dreamt they met with disaster last night, and I truly can’t put my mind at ease."

"This..."

Song Lian hesitated. He never doubted Shen Wenchen’s decisions, but if Shen was to leave now, he would be like losing an arm.

"Within this month, I guarantee there will be no mishaps."

Seeing Shen Wenchen’s earnest expression, Song Lian could only nod in agreement, since Shen had spoken so definitively, there surely wouldn’t be any mistakes.

That night, six men rode out of Dongwu Town, swiftly blending into the darkness...