Chapter 649: Dark Clouds
Tang Yuan held his mother's hand.
"Mom, I want to tell you something."
Jiang Xiaoxiao snapped out of her thoughts and gently pulled Tang Yuan, cradling him in her arms.
Tang Yuan uneasily shifted his position.
"Mom, you shouldn't hold me like this anymore. Dad said you have a little sister in your belly. Holding me like this often might hurt her."
Such a considerate big brother.
Jiang Xiaoxiao smiled, affectionately rubbed Tang Yuan's forehead, "Alright! Mom will listen to Tang Yuan, because Tang Yuan is the best big brother in our family. You'll protect your sisters in the future."
Tang Yuan's face turned red, and he blushed as he spoke.
"No, Baozi is the eldest brother. I'm the second brother. Baozi and I will protect our sisters together. If anyone dares to bully my sisters, I'll definitely beat them until they can't find their teeth."
Jiang Xiaoxiao suddenly thought of her third brother Jiang Lei.
Back then, her third brother said the same thing.
"Tang Yuan, what do you want to tell Mom?"
Jiang Xiaoxiao rarely saw her son looking a bit anxious.
Tang Yuan glanced at the driver and suddenly shut his mouth.
Jiang Xiaoxiao's heart fluttered.
Tang Yuan rarely acted like this; it seemed he must have seen something.
Today, she took Tang Yuan to the hospital to see Feng Chun. On the way, Tang Yuan wanted to tell her something. Could it be that Tang Yuan saw something unusual inside Feng Chun's body?
Last time, it was Tang Yuan who noticed the tumor inside Feng Chun's body. After returning home, Tang Yuan and Baozi truthfully explained everything to her. Could it be that Tang Yuan saw something again this time?
Hopefully, it's not the same medical issue, a condition compounded with illness, destined to be fatal.
Jiang Xiaoxiao didn't press further.
Once home, she took Tang Yuan straight to the room, closed the door securely.
"Tang Yuan, what do you want to tell Mom?"
"Mom, last time I saw that auntie's bad things inside her body, they weren't as big as my fist. But today, I saw that the thing inside her body was already bigger than my fist.
That bad thing is growing really fast."
Jiang Xiaoxiao's heart skipped a beat; turns out it really was that.
It seemed the tumor inside Feng Chun was developing very quickly. At this rate, it would soon become late-stage, and the chances of curing a late-stage tumor are very slim. Given the medical advances of the future, the current era's medical standards couldn't match, and cancer during this time was incurable.
Unless, of course, the cancer was in its early stage.
"Also, Mom, I saw something a little different on that auntie's body. There's a dark cloud on top of her head, and it's really black. I've never noticed it before when I saw her, but this time, I saw this thing over her head."
Tang Yuan's strange remarks startled Jiang Xiaoxiao.
This isn't fortune-telling; how could someone who falls ill have bad luck and therefore a dark cloud over their head?
"Did you see a dark cloud over anyone else's head?"
The hospital had plenty of patients, numbering countless; were others like this too?
If so, her son truly had a promising future.
He could become a legendary healer, capable of determining life and death in one glance.
Learning to heal was acquired, something taught after birth, with a mother like hers, a renowned physician, how could he not uphold their family reputation?
But such skill without equipment, no tests required, diagnosing at a mere glance.
Even she didn't possess such a talent.
Tang Yuan shook his head, "I didn't notice that many people, but among the people I've seen, I haven't found anyone with this thing. Oh, wait, actually there is. My second uncle, when I saw him before, he had this kind of black cloud over his head too.
But his black cloud was much heavier than this auntie's."
Tang Yuan spoke with partial understanding.
"Auntie, Auntie! Grandma says for you all to come over for dinner."
Mid-conversation, Ladi called out from outside.
Usually when Jiang Xin was busy, both children would be sent over to her parents' place.
If not for her parents' help, Jiang Xin wouldn't be able to manage everything alone. She wanted to both run her business and care for her kids; how could there be such a perfect situation?
Jiang Xiaoxiao instructed Tang Yuan, "In future, other than telling Mom and Dad, you mustn't tell anyone else about these things, understand? Especially when outsiders are around, don't say a word even if it kills you."
This was serious.
Tang Yuan nodded; he hadn't mentioned seeing the driver as an outsider today, so he remembered what Mom and Dad said. When he noticed, he just kept quiet; he was someone who kept promises.
"Coming, Ladi, we'll be there soon."
Jiang Xiaoxiao said, holding her son's hand as they walked out the door, locking the courtyard door behind them, and went home together with Zhaodi.
Ladi saw her auntie smiling and holding Tang Yuan's hand.
Compared to before, these two children were now much more cheerful and weren't as unfamiliar with people.
As they approached the doorstep, Jiang Xiaoxiao suddenly noticed a man standing against the wall of their house, silently observing the courtyard.
Jiang Xiaoxiao's eyes widened.
Qin Dazhuang.
Joyful laughter echoed from the courtyard.
"Grandma, my mom said we're grown-ups now and can help adults with a lot of things. Please let me help with something.
I also help my mom roll dough and make noodles at home. Let me do it, and I'm really good at rolling dough. Plus, when I cut the noodles, they're evenly thick. You won't believe it until you taste my noodles today."
Zhaodi's voice was insistent with Fan Xiuying.
"Alright, alright! Grandma is enjoying blessings now, enjoying blessings from future generations. Look at our Zhaodi, she can even roll dough and make noodles. In the future, your mom will be enjoying the blessing."
Fan Xiuying chuckled heartedly.
The eldest granddaughter was over eight years old now.
Despite being young, children from poor families learn responsibility early on. In their house, the two daughters themselves were young when they started learning to roll and make noodles.
Whether it was steaming buns or cutting noodles, all were skills learned by the kids at home.
Their household was ordinary; they didn't spoil the children.
Learning housework earlier would be beneficial for the children in the future.
Eventually, they'd live their own lives; it wouldn't be good if they didn't know anything.
Jiang Xiaoxiao walked up to Qin Dazhuang.
"What are you doing?"
Jiang Xiaoxiao still couldn't comprehend what had happened with Qin Dazhuang. In her past life, after her second sister passed away, Qin Dazhuang was considered a good father; both brothers-in-law were good people in her view. Otherwise, she wouldn't have helped both of her sisters.
Even when it came to Qin Dazhuang's divorce, Jiang Xiaoxiao never suspected it would happen; she couldn't fathom why her brother-in-law had turned out like this in this life.
In the past, he wouldn't lay a finger on her sister; that was absolutely impossible.
But in this life, things changed: Qin Dazhuang not only engaged in domestic violence but also learned gambling.
This was far beyond Jiang Xiaoxiao's expectations.
Qin Dazhuang shivered in fear.
Recognizing the little sister-in-law, he felt ashamed, "I'm fine, I'm fine, just came to see the kids."
He said and turned to leave.
Ladi hurriedly ran up, holding onto Qin Dazhuang tightly.
"Dad, don't leave!"
The child's eyes teared up; Qin Dazhuang couldn't bring himself to be heartless.
He knew he didn't have the face to see his in-laws, hence he stealthily came to see the kids.
He didn't want to disturb their lives.