Cheng Su really hadn’t guessed wrong; Mother Qi was indeed already on her way.
When Mother Qi received the phone call from Qi Fenglian, hearing that the grandson she had been longing for day and night was gone, she was stunned as if struck by lightning.
She returned home in a daze. Father Qi was fixing a plough, and seeing her flustered look, as if she were soulless, he asked, "What happened?"
Mother Qi sat down on the courtyard bench with a thud and muttered, "Something big has happened, something very big!"
"What has happened?" Father Qi paused in his work and looked at her intently, standing up.
Mother Qi looked at him blankly and said, "It’s Lianlian..."
"What happened to Fenglian?" Father Qi asked anxiously, "Did she argue with the Jisheng officials?"
Mother Qi shook her head and suddenly cried out with a slap on her thigh, "It’s not Lianlian, it’s the daughter-in-law. Our grandson is gone. Oh my, what a sin!"
Gone? Gone how?
Father Qi was even more confused. What grandson, which grandson was gone?
"Hey, stop just crying and start explaining. What do you mean our grandson is gone? You’re going to drive me insane! At least make yourself clear!" Father Qi was frantic. With only half the story, how could he understand the meaning?
"Fenglian just told me on the phone, the daughter-in-law from Taiguo was pregnant, but she miscarried, miscarried," Mother Qi sobbed.
This...
Father Qi’s face turned slightly pale, "How could this happen? Weren’t the couple planning to have children in a couple of years? How did she miscarriage?"
Mother Qi paused in her crying, looking away guiltily and sidestepping the question, she said, "No, I must go to Qing City. I have to ask them how they let my grandson slip away!"
"Mother-in-law, Father-in-law," outside the courtyard, Cheng Su’s mother lifted the basket and shouted, "My husband and I went up the mountain and picked some bamboo shoots. Here’s some for you to try."
Father Qi hurried over to open the door and let in Mother Cheng.
"These shoots are very fresh, specially picked the plump white ones for you, should last a few meals. Huh, what’s wrong with you two?" Mother Cheng said, noticing something off in their expressions.
Mother Qi, a bit annoyed, said, "What bamboo shoots? I just got a call from my daughter Fenglian, saying the daughter-in-law from Taiguo miscarried. I was just about to go there!"
The daughter-in-law from Taiguo miscarried? Wasn’t that Cheng Su?
Mother Cheng’s face dramatically changed, the basket in her hand dropping to the ground, scattering bamboo shoots everywhere.
"How could this be?" she murmured in disbelief.
"Who knows what she did to herself, to lose a perfectly fine grandson like that?" Mother Qi wiped away a tear, her heart aching as if it were about to break.
Her grandson, the one she had been eagerly awaiting, was gone before she ever met him. It would have been better if they hadn’t even told her, saving her this crushing disappointment!
Mother Qi pounded her chest, feeling a true heartache.
Father Qi was the first to regain his composure and said, "Let’s not talk about what could have been or not now. Our daughter-in-law over there probably needs someone to take care of her. If you want to go over, just go quickly. Don’t worry about the house, I’m here. What’s most important is to take good care of the daughter-in-law from Taiguo."
Pah! To take care of her? My precious grandson is gone!
Mother Qi felt a surge of anger inside but held back from speaking out loud because Cheng Su’s mother was still there. She had to swallow her words.
"Mother-in-law, wait for me, I’ll go too, I must go!" Mother Cheng came to her senses.
"Alright, let’s all go and see the child," Father Qi said before Mother Qi could respond.
Mother Cheng nodded mechanically, stumbling out of the Qi family door and rushing towards her home to gather a few pieces of clothing.