Fang Qiuhong returned and immediately brought her husband to the Li family.
After hearing her intentions, Mother Li grabbed a broom and chased them away.
After driving the couple out the gate, she stood with her hands on her hips and yelled at them.
"Pah! If you're so capable, go pick it up yourself. You know the ropes."
"My family spent money on check-ups, diapers, formula, and new clothes to make him into a handsome child."
"You want to pick the fruits? You have some nerve! Let me tell you."
Mother Li pointed at the villagers watching the commotion. "The baby I picked is destined to be with my family. No one should have any ulterior motives."
"No one should try to bully the child, or I won't let you off!"
The villagers were stunned by her yelling.
How had Li Minniang become so fiery after going out? Even more so than Li Min.
Ouyang Meihua brought her eldest son back. As soon as they entered the village, she heard some big news.
She quickly pulled her eldest son towards the end of the village.
Upon hearing her mother-in-law's shouts, she immediately used her internal energy.
"Mother, who's bullying you?"
Hearing Ouyang Meihua's voice, the villagers quickly retreated. This one wasn't just fiery, but also fierce.
Upon seeing her eldest daughter-in-law, Mother Li's expression changed instantly, replaced by a gentle smile.
"Meihua and Yanyan are back? Come in and see the baby I picked, he's so handsome."
Li Weiyan, who had become very sturdy from practicing martial arts, looked at his new younger brother and asked, "Grandma, where are Brother and the other brother?"
"They're over at the courtyard."
Li Weiyan turned and ran. "I'm going to see them. This little brother is too young. I'll play with him when he's older."
Ouyang Meihua saw the baby and didn't suspect anything. "The baby is indeed growing well. His eyes look so clever! How could his parents bear to abandon him?"
Mother Li leaned into her eldest daughter-in-law's ear and quietly told her the truth.
Ouyang Meihua almost jumped. "Really?"
"Of course, it's true."
Ouyang Meihua grinned sinisterly. "Hehe, there's nothing that Great Hero Tian wouldn't dare to do."
Mother Li warned her eldest daughter-in-law. "You need to keep your mouth shut. I'm telling you, I want you to keep an eye on the child when he plays in the village, don't let him get bullied."
Ouyang Meihua patted her chest. "Mother, don't worry. Anyone who enters our Li family is one of us. If anyone dares to bully the child, I'll twist their head off."
Mother Li was helpless about her eldest daughter-in-law's violence. "Just beat them up."
Ouyang Meihua "..."
Her threats were feigned, but her mother-in-law's actions were genuine.
How had her mother-in-law changed in just a year?
However, she liked it.
Li Zhengguo and Tian Jing completed the adoption procedures and then went to the police station to apply for household registration.
When they returned with the application form for the village committee to issue an opinion and stamp it, the village chief told them that Fang Qiuhong intended to adopt the baby they had found.
"Heh."
Tian Jing sneered. She dared to pull this trick on her?
"Zheng Ge, when you submit the materials to the police station tomorrow, you can mention that Fang Qiuhong and Lin Erlai abandoned a disabled infant."
"Mmm."
Li Zhengguo's voice was cold. His own son, to be adopted by someone else? Was that possible?
Village Chief Ou looked bewildered. "Is abandoning an infant illegal?"
Tian Jing certainly hoped it was illegal, but abandonment had not yet been written into the law.
"It depends on the circumstances. If they abandoned him in the wilderness, that's directly harming a life. If it's worse, maybe..."
Village Chief Ou understood the unsaid words.
While Fang Qiuhong was desperately trying to figure out how to adopt that handsome boy, police officers from the station came to their house for tea.
Fang Qiuhong and Lin Erlai denied it, saying the baby was ruined by the hospital and they buried him.
The police asked which hospital, and they would verify.
Fang Qiuhong and her husband then changed their story, saying the baby was stolen at the station.
The police asked which station? They would verify.
The theft of an infant would have surely caused a commotion, and the station staff would remember. Moreover, if the parents didn't report the theft, it would be even more memorable.
Fang Qiuhong got angry. "Why are you endless? My child, I'll report it if I want to, and I won't if I don't. Do you have any say in this?"
The police nodded. "We do. We suspect you intentionally murdered your child. You'll have to come to the police station with us."
"I'm not going! I'm not going! My own child, flesh and blood from my body, I have the right to dispose of him."
Fang Qiuhong's reaction further aroused the police's suspicion. They forcibly handcuffed the couple and dragged them away.
Six-year-old Lin Hua'er, carrying her younger sister Lin Duo'er, looked for her second uncle.
Looking at the timid and skinny, pitiful Lin Hua'er, Lin Guangde sighed.
"Just stay at second uncle's house."
"Mmm."
...
When little Ranran's household registration was finally settled, Fang Qiuhong was granted a suspended sentence.
She and her husband were both sentenced to three years, but because her daughter was young and needed care,
she was given a suspended sentence.
Lin Erlai went directly to prison.
Fang Qiuhong, holding her little daughter, arrogantly sprayed Tian Jing at the Li family's doorstep.
"What else can you do? Bring it on, I can take it."
Tian Jing leaned against the yard gate, looking at the thin, small baby in her arms.
"Fang Qiuhong, has your daughter Lin Duo'er turned one year old yet?"
Tian Jing's casual way of chatting made Fang Qiuhong a bit confused. "What? Do you want to see her first birthday celebration?"
"Not yet, right?"
"Of course, otherwise, why would I be on a suspended sentence?"
"Looking at your Duo'er, I thought she was only half a year old."
"She grows slowly. There are still more than half a month left. I'll invite you then, you must remember to give a red envelope."
Tian Jing nodded. "Mmm, mmm, don't worry."
Fang Qiuhong met a soft nail and went home with her little daughter.
The villagers, however, felt disheartened because Fang Qiuhong didn't even seem to mourn for her husband.
Upon deeper reflection, it was Fang Qiuhong who had caused trouble for the male child.
The village quieted down, and Sister Niu came to the Li family.
"Tian Jing, we've paid your grain tax. The remaining grain is all piled up with Meihua."
"Thank you for your hard work, Sister Niu. Sister Meihua has already told me. Zheng Ge and I have decided that you will handle the autumn harvest as before. After paying the grain tax, all the remaining grain will belong to you."
"Because the seeds and this year's hard work all belong to you, we will just take the wheat."
This statement greatly frightened Sister Niu. "How can that be? The land is yours, I'm just helping out..."
"No, you're wrong."
Tian Jing interrupted Sister Niu. "The land is ours, but the hard-working people are you, and the seeds are yours. My taking the wheat is equivalent to rent for the land."
"If you don't agree, then I'll return all the wheat to you, and the wheat seeds and corn seeds will offset each other. We will handle the autumn harvest, and the autumn grain will belong to us."
Calculated this way, Sister Niu seemed to be getting the better deal.
"No, we'll handle the autumn harvest and give you another four hundred catties of corn, one hundred catties per mu."
"Okay, four hundred catties of wet corn."
Tian Jing stopped Sister Niu from saying more. "Let's not argue anymore. Do we need to haggle over every pound?"
This statement defeated Sister Niu. After discussing the main business, she asked gossipingly. "You're just letting Fang Qiuhong go like this?"
Tian Jing lied without batting an eye. "Not letting her go, what else can I do? Did she offend you?"
Sister Niu said dismissively. "She offended more than just you and me. She offended all the villagers. Everyone was waiting to see her fate, but who knew that Lin Erlai went in, and she came out."
Tian Jing chuckled. "Heh, just a flea."
Sister Niu pressed. "Do you have any backup plans?"
"Wait and see."