RYEY – Chapter 155 Mom Abandoned Me Again

Cheng Qiao smiled, told Li Huan to lay the baby on the heated kang bed, and asked him to fetch a basin of warm water. She then unwrapped the little one’s swaddling clothes, dipped a towel into the warm water, and gently wiped her son clean.

The sweat on little Cheng Li’s body was wiped away. After he relieved himself with a hearty stream of urine, he finally closed his eyes and truly fell asleep.

From her space, Cheng Qiao found a tin of baby talcum powder. She lightly dusted Cheng Li’s armpits and other spots prone to moisture, then wrapped him up in a thin cotton towel and laid him on the inner side of the kang.

Li Huan stared unblinkingly at every move Cheng Qiao made, committing each step to memory. But when he saw the powder, he noticed the packaging was completely different from the ones sold at the supply cooperative, and curiosity stirred within him.

When Cheng Qiao saw him pick up the powder, her heart sank. As expected, Li Huan spotted the production date and expiration date printed on the tin—produced in 1991, valid until 1994.

Rubbing his eyes, Li Huan checked again carefully. Then he walked to the wall calendar and counted the numbers with his finger—July 28, 1970.

“Cheng Qiao, I didn’t study much, but can you tell me why something from twenty-one years later ended up in my hands?”

Cheng Qiao sighed. Last time, she had clearly told Li Huan she had been reborn, but he insisted on understanding it as “spirit possession.”

She asked him to shut the doors and windows tight, then solemnly recounted every detail of her past life without leaving out a single thing. Li Huan’s expression gradually grew serious.

“Qiao, no wonder you wouldn’t let me get near Xu Laidi. Turns out that poisonous woman was so vicious. I’ll kill her for sure.”

“Yes, she must die. But I feel like things have shifted since my rebirth. At least Lele didn’t marry Chen Dazhu, Xu Laidi hasn’t had children, and Wang Qin never even went down to the countryside.”

“No wonder you hate Chen Dazhu so much. If I’d known, I’d have beaten him up a few more times to vent Lele’s anger.”

Li Huan spoke with some regret. Cheng Qiao only rolled her eyes. Lele never married Chen Dazhu in this life, what’s there to vent?!

“What about our son?”

Cheng Qiao opened her mouth but finally decided to hide the truth—that their son had also been reborn. If Li Huan developed prejudice against the boy, it would be troublesome.

“Our son is very smart. A little too smart, actually. So we mustn’t talk carelessly in front of him.”

Li Huan nodded, his mind already turning toward how best to get rid of Xu Laidi. Damn it, in the last life his whole family had been destroyed by that woman. If he didn’t take revenge, he might as well stop calling himself a man.

“Wife, is that why you wanted me to study? Because you know future policies will change?”

Cheng Qiao nodded. Six years remained. She wanted Li Huan, Li Le, and herself to all walk into the sacred examination hall together and embrace a turning point in their lives.

“But when we go to the big city, what about my mother?”

“She comes with us.”

“But she doesn’t have an urban household registration. Where would she eat, where would she live?”

“You’re her son, I’m her daughter-in-law. Isn’t it our duty to care for her? Wherever we live, she’ll live too.”

“But if we live in the school dorms, my mother can’t stay there.”

“Won’t we buy a house in the city someday? People say pregnancy makes a woman stupid for three years, but it seems I’m not the stupid one—you are.”

Li Huan scratched his head awkwardly. It was true, he often felt particularly slow-witted in front of Cheng Qiao. But her words gave him motivation—he had to earn money, buy a house in the city, and give them all a better future.

Time flew quickly. In the blink of an eye, little Cheng Li’s first month had come. Looking at the plump baby with eyes like longans, Mother Li was filled with joy.

She had Li Le and Li Huan help boil hundreds of eggs, dye them red, and on the day of Cheng Li’s full month, she rode on the back of Li Huan’s bicycle as he pedaled door to door, handing out red eggs.

Xu Laidi had also finished her confinement. Looking at her son bundled in swaddling like a kitten, her disgust slowly gave way to affection. After all, he was the child born of her own body, and the boy looked almost identical to her.

Chen Tiezhu had someone deliver milk powder and eggs. Li Huan warned him that if he didn’t send them, he would personally “send” them on Chen Tiezhu’s behalf. Terrified of greater loss, Chen Tiezhu hurriedly bought expensive milk powder and had it sent over.

Don’t mistake Li Huan for kind-hearted—he was waiting for Xu Laidi’s son to grow up. When mother and son became bonded, then he would let her experience the agony of losing a child. That would be true revenge.

Holding the red egg gifted by Mother Li, Xu Laidi seethed with hatred inside, but her hands moved fast to peel the shell, stuffing the egg into her mouth impatiently.

“Cough… cough…”

She ate too fiercely and choked on the yolk. Only after gulping down a ladle of water did she manage to breathe again.

“Damn Cheng Qiao, even your egg nearly killed me! Cheng Qiao, just you wait—I won’t let you live easy.”

Cheng Qiao’s ear itched faintly, but she didn’t care. She casually scratched it, then held little Cheng Li in her arms, nursing him, talking with him, and bathing him.

As night fell, Xiangyang Village lay in silence, broken only by the chirping of insects. Everyone was asleep. Holding her slumbering son, Cheng Qiao wondered if he could enter her space.

Sure enough, with him in her arms, she appeared inside the room of her space. Cheng Qiao smiled. If her son could enter the space, that meant his safety had an extra layer of protection.

From outside came a “hiss hiss hiss.” Following her thoughts, Cheng Qiao carried her son to the black soil field. The red-headed viper lifted its head high, curiously eyeing the child in her arms.

“Little Redhead, this is my son, Cheng Li. Take a good look. From now on, his safety will be entrusted to you.”

The viper lowered its head onto the swaddle, its cold eyes fixed on the sleeping infant. Then it slithered back under the ginseng tree and coiled up to sleep.

Cheng Qiao knew the viper had now recognized her son. Feeling reassured, she returned to the comfortably warm room, laid Cheng Li on the bed, and went to take a bath.

While Cheng Li slept peacefully, a sudden shudder passed through his little body, startling him awake. Opening his eyes, he found himself in a strange place.

He dared not cry. Though only a month old, his mind was that of a three-year-old. Realizing this place was unfamiliar, he thought it best to stay quiet.

Just then, a familiar voice sounded. Cheng Li saw Cheng Qiao appear before him, dressed in a beautiful pink outfit. His tense heart instantly relaxed—only to tighten again.

Would this mother turn into the bad mother from before? The one who tried every possible way to throw him away?

The thought was too much. At last, little Cheng Li couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst into tears.