Half a month later, Fang Qiuhong held a grand抓周 ceremony for her youngest daughter.
Only Tian Jing, Le Xia, and Ouyang Meihua were willing to accept her invitation; no one else showed up.
Despite that, Fang Qiuhong went ahead with the ceremony.
She bought a chicken and picked a lot of vegetables from the collective plot outside the yard, feigning enthusiasm.
She loudly ordered Lin Hua'er to do this and that.
The frail Lin Hua'er quickly carried out her tasks with her head down.
At half-past eleven, Tian Jing and Ouyang Meihua arrived on time, and Le Xia joined them shortly after.
Le Xia didn't understand why Sister Ouyang and Heroine Tian were attending Lin Duo'er's抓周, but she listened to Sister Ouyang.
So, after Heroine Tian and Ouyang Meihua presented their red envelopes, she followed suit and gave the red envelope that Sister Ouyang had prepared for her.
After receiving the red envelopes, Fang Qiuhong's attitude softened considerably.
She beckoned her guests, "Eat, eat."
However, the half-cooked chicken and several plates of dry, stir-fried vegetables on the table made it impossible for the guests to start eating.
Fang Qiuhong's eyes darted around, and she yelled at her elder daughter, "Lin Hua'er, is this the food you made? I think you're asking for a beating."
Lin Hua'er dropped her chopsticks, her body trembling. "Mom, I..."
"What do you mean 'I'? You made the food like this, trying to ruin your sister's抓周, didn't you?"
Lin Hua'er frantically shook her head. "No, I didn't, I didn't."
"I think you did it on purpose."
Fang Qiuhong raised her hand to slap Lin Hua'er, but Ouyang Meihua caught her wrist.
"Fang Qiuhong, are you trying to embarrass us by hitting your child in front of guests? If you want us to leave, just say so."
Tian Jing, meanwhile, pulled the frail Lin Hua'er aside and called out, "Zheng Ge, come in."
As Tian Jing's voice faded, Li Zhengguo walked in.
Behind him were Lin Guangde and the two police officers who had taken Fang Qiuhong away that day.
Seeing the police officers, Fang Qiuhong felt a twinge of guilt. "Why are you here again?"
"We're here to take you away, to serve your sentence in prison."
Fang Qiuhong didn't believe it. "Impossible, my three years are all to be served outside prison."
"Of the three conditions for serving your sentence outside prison, the only one you qualify for is being pregnant or breastfeeding an infant, and the breastfeeding period for an infant is until they are one year old. Today is your youngest daughter's抓周, isn't it? Come with us."
Fang Qiuhong immediately looked at Tian Jing. "You? It's you again, isn't it?"
Tian Jing nodded. "Yes, it's me again. Weren't you arrogantly telling me to use my abilities? Are you ready for it now?"
"Now, you can enjoy it properly. By the way, Yang Yilin, who helped you arrange to serve your sentence outside, has also been sent to prison."
"Three years ago, if he hadn't tried to pry information from you, how could your mother have made you drink those strange potions? How could you have given birth to a disabled son? Right?"
"And it would have been impossible for me to send you and Lin Er Lai to prison, right?"
"Whether it was causing your son's disability or the source of your imprisonment, it was all your uncle, Yang Yilin."
"Look, I've avenged you. Don't thank me too much. I'm someone who, when I do good deeds, usually lets the parties involved know."
"Oh, and the evidence of your long-term abuse of your two daughters has also been reported by Lin Guangde."
"Your attempts to garner sympathy will be useless. Lin Guangde will file for the revocation of your guardianship."
"I also heard that Lin Er Lai, who is in prison, is applying for a divorce from you."
"I'll kill you!"
Fang Qiuhong, like a madwoman, raised her youngest daughter in her arms and hurled her towards Tian Jing.
"It's all you, it's all your doing, it's all your fault."
One police officer grabbed Fang Qiuhong, while another reached out to catch the baby girl who was falling towards the table.
The baby girl seemed to bounce off something and landed in Tian Jing's arms.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Tian Jing, however, sighed and handed the baby girl, who weighed very little, to Lin Guangde.
Lin Guangde, holding his grandniece, also sighed.
A few days earlier, when Hua'er brought Duo'er to stay, Le Xia had discovered multiple bruises on both children while bathing them.
After seeing them, he was so angry that he immediately went to visit Lin Er Lai in prison and berated his nephew for being foolish, saying that Fang Qiuhong was the cause of all the trouble.
In the end, it was his nephew who was imprisoned.
Finally, he demanded that his nephew divorce Fang Qiuhong, otherwise, he would absolutely not intervene in how Fang Qiuhong tortured Hua'er and Duo'er.
His nephew agreed, but he felt deeply distressed. He had gone to great lengths to have a normal child, only for a normal child to be tormented here.
Fang Qiuhong was taken away again. As the villagers watched the spectacle, they couldn't help but feel a sense of fear.
This Tian Jing was too ruthless; she had sent anyone she disliked to prison.
Sister-in-law Niu watched with a sense of satisfaction.
Hearing the villagers' murmurs, she spat at them.
"Pah! Talking without knowing the trouble you're in, aren't you? Don't you hate her? Aren't your wives' wombs all being scrutinized by her?"
"I think she's gone mad. If she can't have a son, then no one else should have one either."
"Since you pity her, I'll ask Tian Jing to help her get a reduced sentence so she can get out early and keep you company?"
The villagers scattered like birds and beasts.
Sister-in-law Niu shouted at their retreating backs, "Don't run away, come back and keep talking."
The villagers ran even faster.
Ouyang Meihua patted Sister-in-law Niu's shoulder. "Not bad, not bad, you've got my style."
Sister-in-law Niu brushed her hand away. "Pah! No respect. Speaking of which, have you eaten?"
"Eaten what? She took the red envelopes and then turned on us, threatening to beat the child on the spot. Isn't that driving us away?"
"Wouldn't that be letting her off too easily?"
"How is that possible? There was still red paper rolled inside the red paper."
"Ah?" Sister-in-law Niu was stunned, then chuckled. "Hahaha, she didn't open it to check?"
"No."
Ouyang Meihua shook her head. "But I saw her feel the thickness. Perhaps because it was so thick, she was just daydreaming."
"And if she'd opened it on the spot, she would have had to pretend to decline, wouldn't she? How awkward would that be?"
Sister-in-law Niu doubled over with laughter. "Hahaha, right, right. The thicker it is, the more embarrassed she'd be to open it in person, unless she genuinely didn't want to take advantage. Right?"
"Tian Jing said the same thing, so the three of us put in quite a bit. It felt like at least five large denomination bills. Oh, I can't talk to you anymore, I need to go home and eat."
...
The village quieted down again.
Tian Jing and Li Zhengguo planned to go to the capital to transfer the property deed.
As for registering a company, that could wait until they built an office building later.
It was more appropriate to keep the real estate under private ownership.
Li's mother was at home taking care of Ranran.
The couple planned to take Haohao with them.
However, before going to the capital, Tian Jing found Da Mai. "You're eighteen now, and I see he's not seeing anyone. What are your thoughts?"
Da Mai, now a young lady, was as decisive as ever. "My aunt and mom are right. I do have a hero complex about him. I don't have any feelings for him anymore."
"However, I'd like to go to the capital with you to see the place. I've never been out before. I yearn for it, but I'm worried about being a burden to the family."
Tian Jing naturally agreed, believing that seeing the outside world would broaden her horizons. "That's perfect. You can help us watch the kids. Ask Xiao Mai if she wants to go?"
Xiao Mai didn't want to go; she was afraid of big cities. She stayed home to cook for her parents and younger brother.
They agreed to depart in two days, and Li Zhengguo went to buy sleeper train tickets.
Tian Jing quietly went up the mountain to dig up her jars.
She took out the gold bars she had obtained from the Tian family and reburied the jars that only contained a gold lock and a gold key.
Carrying the Wu family's jar and another small empty jar, she went to find Xiao Song.