Volume 1, Chapter 20: No Choice!

“Throw her away!”

“Throw her away with Liu Qiaohui?”

“That’s right! Throw them away together!”

The biting winter wind struck the young men’s faces, cold enough to sting.

The village chief walked off with his hands clasped behind his back, leaving the young men standing there awkwardly, exchanging uneasy glances.

“Heizi, what do you think we should do?”

“What else can we do? If you don’t want your whole family to survive, go ahead and refuse him. The grain that keeps our village alive is all in that old bastard’s hands. If we dare disobey him, do you think your family will still have anything to eat?”

“But… but this is heartless! The baby’s still alive, and that widow is still breathing! We’re really going to throw them away just like that?”

Heizi fell silent, torn by indecision. After struggling with himself for a long while, he finally gritted his teeth.

“Throw them away! If we don’t, our families will die!”

Ye Ling had watched with her own eyes as Liu Qiaohui was lifted onto the cart. Though Ye Ling was now being held in someone else’s arms, she knew perfectly well what awaited her.

She had been given another life. If she died, then so be it.

But Liu Qiaohui had been driven to this point because of her—truly driven to ruin, with her family destroyed.

For her!

Was it worth it?

The cart jolted and swayed along the road. Ye Ling could tell how unwilling these men were.

But what could they do?

In times like these, who wasn’t struggling simply to stay alive?

The already gloomy sky suddenly began shedding great flakes of snow. Heizi, moved by a final flicker of kindness, removed his own thin jacket and covered Liu Qiaohui’s face, which was already being buried beneath the snow. Then, with no other choice, he let out a long sigh.

“Widow Liu, don’t blame us when you get there. We can’t afford to offend him—we can only do as he says. If you have to blame someone, blame the village chief!”

All of them turned their heads almost unconsciously and looked up at the snow swirling through the sky.

The snow fell heavily. They had walked for barely ten minutes, yet their footprints were already stamped deep into the white road.

The cart wheels creaked as they crushed the snow. But suddenly, amid the silent road where only that creaking could be heard, another sound arose.

Others might not have recognized it.

But Ye Ling heard it with absolute clarity.

A car!

It was a car!

The sound of tires rolling over snow drew steadily closer. Roads were narrow in those days, and when the vehicle approached, Heizi and the others were forced almost entirely onto the roadside. They knew that anyone who could ride in a private car was certainly no ordinary person.

“Young man, could you move aside for a moment?”

The voice drifted into Ye Ling’s ears.

Her eyes, which she had nearly closed in despair, flew open.

No one knew that voice better than she did.

It was… the county magistrate!

The upright-looking county magistrate—the very man Ye Ling could never believe would ignore her and Liu Qiaohui.

“Young man, sorry about this. Move aside for a moment! In weather like this, where are you headed? Do you need a hand? You’re holding a baby, and what are you carrying on the cart?”

Heizi froze. His broad body instantly blocked Liu Qiaohui from view.

“Nothing! No need, brother. Thank you, but we’re fine!”

“Really no need?”

“Really no need! You go on ahead!”

County Magistrate Gao smiled faintly, then waved to the driver.

The car, which had stopped, began rolling forward again. With the freezing wind biting her and snowflakes blowing straight into her mouth, Ye Ling let out a sudden, piercing cry without giving it any thought.

The car had gone only a few yards before the screech of its brakes stretched across the snowy road.

Then it stopped.

Heizi and the others exchanged glances, unsure why the car had halted. But instinctively, Heizi covered Ye Ling’s mouth and stared motionless at the vehicle.

The car door opened slowly. Wearing a traditional tunic, County Magistrate Gao stepped back through the falling snow, one measured step after another.

When he reached Heizi, the sharpness in his eyes made the young man deeply uncomfortable.

“Who is on the cart? Which village are you from?”

Pressed by that commanding presence, Heizi’s eyes instinctively darted away.

“She’s my… my sister-in-law. She… she’s dead! We’re taking her to bury her!”

The instant he said it, Heizi regretted it.

Whether someone was dead or alive was easy enough to determine.

Sure enough, the next moment, a pair of hands swiftly pulled away the coat covering Liu Qiaohui’s face. After staring at her in surprise for a heartbeat, County Magistrate Gao quickly pressed a finger beneath her nose.

“You just said… you were going to bury her?”

Ye Ling was swiftly taken from Heizi’s arms and gathered into the county magistrate’s embrace.

“And what were you planning to do with this baby?”

Heizi panicked—completely panicked. His fear only deepened when another man stepped out of the car and introduced himself before taking his place beside County Magistrate Gao.

“County Magistrate, no! We’re from Yushan Village. This… this was all the village chief’s order! He told us to throw Sister-in-law Liu into the place where dead people are discarded. And this baby—he told us to throw her away too! It wasn’t our idea, Magistrate! If we didn’t do it, he’d cut off our grain!”

County Magistrate Gao’s expression turned grim.

But the face of the man standing behind him looked even worse.

Gao Qiqiang.

Ye Ling’s heart finally settled.

But she was truly too exhausted. As for what happened afterward, she knew nothing at all.

She only knew that when she opened her eyes again, she was lying in Liu Qiaohui’s arms. Liu Qiaohui’s face was flushed as she looked down at her, no longer pale and lifeless as before.

“Waaah… waaah…”

Ye Ling had no idea how else to express the excitement surging through her. All she could do was cry.

“Oh, oh, oh… don’t cry, little one. Don’t cry.”

“The baby’s awake?”

The moment Ye Ling heard the voice, she knew it belonged to County Magistrate Gao. Her little eyes glistened with tears as she stared eagerly in his direction.

“She’s awake. Magistrate Gao, thank you. If it weren’t for you, I—”

“Hey, don’t thank me. If you want to thank anyone, thank your daughter. If I hadn’t heard her cry, I truly wouldn’t have gotten out of the car.” County Magistrate Gao sat down on the hospital bench and smiled. “You owe your good fortune to this little girl.”

Those words were especially pleasing to Liu Qiaohui’s ears.

“How are you feeling now?”

“Thank you, Magistrate Gao. I’m fine now.”

“Truly fine?”

“Truly fine!”

“That won’t do. I just spoke with the doctor. You still need to stay in the hospital for a few more days.”

At the mention of staying in the hospital, Liu Qiaohui felt reluctant. What worried her most now was her house, and whether she could return to Yushan Village. She had not seen little Zhangzi in a long time either, and she had no idea how Sister-in-law Xu was looking after him.

“Magistrate Gao, I—”

“I know what you want to say.”

County Magistrate Gao rose from the bench and playfully touched Ye Ling’s wide-open eyes. The child was extraordinarily beautiful. He kept feeling that she resembled someone, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember who.

After glancing at Liu Qiaohui, he continued the subject.

“Comrade Liu Qiaohui, put your mind at ease and stay here properly. Tomorrow, I’ll make a trip to Yushan Village. I promise I’ll give you an explanation.”

Tomorrow arrived quickly.

Whether it was Liu Qiaohui in the hospital or Ye Ling, who lay in Liu Qiaohui’s arms happily drinking formula, both of them looked forward to that day with eager anticipation.