But it didn’t take long, soon night fell, and Fang Pingying’s questions were answered.
After dinner, Fang Pingying was knitting woolen shoes for Luo Dashan in her room, and Luo Honglan found it intriguing. She sat beside Fang Pingying, watching and occasionally talking about Luo Cuilan.
However, while they were talking, Zhou Yunmei’s loud voice suddenly came from the yard, "Fang Xiu, come out, you’ve really done it this time."
Then the sounds of doors opening and closing could be heard from the yard.
Fang Pingying shuddered for no reason, feeling that the trouble Zhou Yunmei was talking about was out of the ordinary, different from the usual trivial conflicts and quarrels.
So, Fang Pingying hurriedly put her work on the kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) and went out with Luo Honglan.
In the yard, Fang Xiu did not come out; it was Luo Zhiming who had emerged.
Probably they were busy trying to have a child for Zhou Yunmei, Luo Zhiming stood in the yard still fastening his trouser buttons, his clothes a mess, impatiently asking Zhou Yunmei, "Mom, what’s going on? Can’t a person get some sleep?"
Zhou Yunmei gave him a glance and yelled, "How can you still think of sleep when your wife has aborted your sister’s baby?"
"What?" Luo Zhiming was stunned and couldn’t grasp the situation.
Fang Pingying and the others just came out and, hearing this, uncontrollably asked, "Mom, what are you talking about?"
Zhou Yunmei was so angry that her eyes were red, and seeing Fang Pingying and the others, she shouted, "Good, you all come out, I’ll make it clear once and for all."
She paused for a moment, then continued, "All because Fang Xiu had beaten Cuilan a couple of days ago, today Cuilan felt uncomfortable in her stomach and went to the health clinic in town. The doctor said today that she couldn’t keep the baby and performed an abortion."
At this, Luo Honglan widened her eyes and looked at Luo Cuilan standing at the edge of the yard, asking, "Sister, did you borrow money from me yesterday to go to town for an abortion?"
"Ah?" When Luo Honglan finished speaking, Zhou Yunmei was taken aback, as if she didn’t know about this.
Luo Cuilan whispered something to her, and Zhou Yunmei nodded.
Then, Luo Cuilan glared at Luo Honglan and growled, "It’s none of your business, keep your mouth shut."
After that, she said to Luo Zhiming, "Zhiming, I didn’t want to trouble you, originally I didn’t plan on telling after coming back from the hospital this morning. But just now, mom noticed something was off with me, and I really couldn’t hide it, so I told her."
"Wait, what exactly is going on?" Luo Zhiming was truly confused by everyone, he asked with a puzzled look, "Weren’t you and Fang Xiu fighting a few days ago? How come your stomach reacted today?"
Luo Cuilan bit her lip and said, "I’ve felt a bit uncomfortable for a few days, but I didn’t dare to say it. Today I really couldn’t bear it, so I asked Jianguo to accompany me to the health clinic in town to see the doctor."
"This... doesn’t seem right," Luo Zhiming felt something was off but couldn’t pinpoint it. He hemmed and hawed for a long time without completing a sentence.
But Zhou Yunmei wouldn’t let Fang Xiu have her say, and started yelling at her without coming out of the room, "What is this ’what’? Call your daughter-in-law out! She’s killed my grandson, and I must teach her a lesson today. I’ve allowed her to be so arrogant at home, acting like nobody else matters."
Zhou Yunmei said this and, without waiting for an explanation, pushed open the door of Luo Zhiming’s bedroom and charged in.
Fang Xiu, inside the room, had also heard their conversation and, having never had children of her own and not understanding these things, really thought that she had caused Luo Cuilan’s child to miscarry, and was so scared that she covered her head with the blanket and didn’t move.
Zhou Yunmei was fuming with rage. Seeing Fang Xiu on the bed and not saying a word, she grabbed a stick from the table and began to indiscriminately hit Fang Xiu, who was under the blanket.
Although Fang Xiu was covered by a quilt, which provided some protection compared to being hit directly with the stick, the blows still hurt because Zhou Yunmei was striking too hard.
Suddenly, Fang Xiu began to cry out from beneath the blanket, "Zhiming, come quickly and hold back your mother, or she’ll really beat me to death today."
It seemed as if Fang Xiu’s voice had weakened after being muffled under the blanket and then being beaten by Zhou Yunmei.
Luo Zhiming saw that Zhou Yunmei was not holding back and, feeling distressed, quickly came to pull her away, "Mom, calm down. Now that something has happened, killing her won’t solve anything."
Fang Pingying saw Fang Xiu all wrapped up tightly in the blanket, not even leaving a place to breathe, and also came to pull the blanket off Fang Xiu, "Yes, Mom, let Xiu’er come out first. Covering her could suffocate her to death."
The house was noisy enough as it was; if they accidentally caused a death, it would be a big problem.
In this cold northern weather, the quilts on the bed were heavy. They could easily suffocate someone lying beneath them. What if Fang Xiu developed some kind of problem because of this?
"You? You’re no good thing. Even though you married into the Luo Family, your heart is always with your parents’ house." Because of Fang Pingying’s actions, Zhou Yunmei’s anger shifted to her, "That day, when Fang Xiu hit Cuilan, why didn’t I see you come out to speak fair? Now just because your sister took a few hits, you come to stop the fight so caringly?"
Fang Pingying felt that Zhou Yunmei was really unreasonable, just hurling abuse at anyone she could. What did she have to do with this, and why should she bear Zhou Yunmei’s anger?
If she (Zhou Yunmei) was in a bad mood, why didn’t she scold Luo Zhiming? After all, Luo Zhiming was still helping Fang Xiu.
So, Fang Pingying also lost her patience and simply said, "It’s still not clear who is right and who is wrong in this matter. It won’t be too late to ask and clarify things."
Luo Cuilan, guilty as a thief, heard what sounded like a hidden message in Fang Pingying’s words and preemptively started to shout, "Sister-in-law, what do you mean by that? I’ve lost the child in my belly; do you think I would joke about this?"
Although Fang Pingying was not protecting Fang Xiu, she thought Luo Cuilan blaming Fang Xiu was too immoral.
After all, they were one family. Quarreling over small matters, even over money, Fang Pingying thought, was normal.
Of course, a large family will have disputes, but scheming against someone is wrong.
Perhaps Luo Cuilan didn’t intend to blame Fang Xiu for this matter initially. It seemed like she had come up with this wicked idea this afternoon after suspecting Fang Pingying and the others and possibly discussing it with Zhang Jianguo.
Unhappy, Fang Pingying frowned at Luo Cuilan, "Nobody said you’re joking about the child, but at least we need to let the family know the whole story of what happened."
After Fang Pingying finished speaking, Fang Xiu finally climbed out from under the blanket. She suddenly jumped off the bed and pointed at Luo Cuilan, interrogating, "That’s right, the day we fought, you were quite nimble. And I deliberately avoided your stomach, so how come you suddenly miscarried?"
(To be continued. If you work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and express your support. That’s my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)