She Became A Downfall Noble Lady-Chapter 40 - I Raised Him

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: I Raised Him

Chapter 40 -40: I Raised Him

Ye Xinyan and Nanny Jin exchanged glances, grateful that it was this outsider who had broached the subject. Look, even the kindly old Master Qi Yougui who had always looked after their family was questioning the veracity of their words, suspecting that the grandfather was using a minor incident to plot against someone else’s child.

“Great Uncle, that is exactly what we’re worried about. Fourth Aunt has been married into the Qi family for several years now, and her actions have never been exposed, which shows how deep her scheming runs. We’re just informing you, what the truth is, you’ll have to see for yourself.”

Ye Xinyan stepped forward, carefully lifting the blanket that was covering Qi Congming.

At a glance, Qi Yougui drew in a sharp breath, “This, this, this was all done by Madam Pang?”

Ye Xinyan looked up at the sky, thinking, “What a question to ask, old man. If it wasn’t Madam Pang who hit him, could it be that she, Ye Xinyan, and her grandfather had just temporarily put it there?”

Nanny Jin shook her head, “I only saw these two burn marks on the back were caused by Madam Pang; I don’t know about the other injuries. Regardless of whether it was Madam Pang, since the villagers didn’t know the child had been injured, it must have been the doing of Ye Zi’s great uncle’s family, certainly not some outsider.”

Qi Yougui’s eyes roamed up and down the child’s body several times, his anger gradually intensifying, until he finally shouted in rage, “That bastard Liang! To let some unrelated malicious woman harm his own flesh and blood like this! I’m going to find him!”

Ye Xinyan, afraid of waking the child, continuously gestured with her hands, signaling the elder to lower his voice, which did not decrease the elder’s volume.

Fortunately, Qi Congming’s small body only trembled a couple of times before continuing to sleep deeply under the soothing comfort of Nanny Jin.

Qi Younian stopped Qi Yougui, who was about to get off the kang, “Big brother, there’s no need to go find him. Yourong said he would come to pick up the child later, maybe he will arrive soon.”

After stopping Qi Yougui, Qi Younian continued, “We haven’t really visited Yourong’s home to sit around; we don’t know what kind of life this child has been living. Just from today’s observations, the child was sitting on the kang looking uneasy, and he didn’t even know how to use chopsticks and spoon when he had them in his hands. I’m afraid this child might not have had a proper meal or even been on a kang before, and we don’t know where he sleeps every night.”

When Qi Younian finished speaking, the three family members fell silent, watching Qi Yougui, waiting for him to express his opinion.

Qi Yougui coughed awkwardly and said to Qi Younian, “Younian, have you considered this carefully? This child from the third brother’s family doesn’t seem as clever as other children of his age. If he turns out to be dull and ignorant, would you still be willing to adopt him?”

Then he turned to glance at Ye Zi, “And would your granddaughter be willing to take care of him?” This granddaughter was not of Qi family’s bloodline; who knew whether she would be willing to accept and care for a foolish child.

Qi Younian waved his hand, looking quite proud, “Don’t worry about that, big brother; my Ye Zi is an exceptional child. It was Ye Zi who felt sorry for Congming and suggested adopting him. She also reminded me that the child might not be as lively as others and could potentially be developmentally delayed.”

Ye Xinyan frowned, making repeated eye signs at her grandfather, thinking it might not be good to praise one’s child too much. However, Qi Younian just chuckled at her happily.

Qi Yougui nodded in approval to Ye Xinyan. His younger brother had always been decisive and perceptive since he was little. Recognizing Ye Zi as his granddaughter was a valuable decision; she was not only intelligent and capable but also treated her uncle as if he were her own grandfather, caring for him as intimately as one would their own grandchildren. Now she was even willing to take on a foolish child without considering it a burden.

“Then let’s wait for the third brother.”

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…

According to Qi Yourong’s thoughts, it was best to pick up Qi Congming as soon as possible to avoid any complications from arising if too much time passed. However, when Nanny Jin arrived, it was basically mealtime; there had to be a decent interval before going to pick up the person.

By the time the interval was over, it was after lunch.

Qi Yourong had already severely scolded Qi Liang and his wife before the meal. Although Madam Song also complained about Qi Liang in a cascade of grievances, her words mostly expressed dissatisfaction with Madam Pang and tended to protect Qi Liang.

Qi Liang listened to his father’s reprimands with nonchalance, and heartily disagreed.

Hadn’t Madam Pang always treated the children like that? In the past, he hadn’t seen his father throw such a tantrum. Now it was just because a stranger had seen it and he felt he had lost face, that he was so furious. Was it really necessary?

Qi Yourong became angry when he saw Qi Liang rolling his eyes, not caring, and scolded, “He’s your son, if you don’t care about him who will? If he’s not doing well, people talk about you, about you as a father, do you understand? Do you really want your old dad to take the blame for you? At my age, you’d have outsiders poking my backbone?”

Madam Pang, who had been standing silently next to Qi Liang, was displeased and said with an unhappy face, “Dad, what you said is not right. Why should others poke our backbones? When I married into this family, how old was Congming? He couldn’t even walk yet, wasn’t it me who raised him? No matter what, he has grown up day by day. If one’s own child disobeys and does something wrong, can’t his parents discipline him?”

Qi Yourong, upon hearing Madam Pang talk back, immediately became enraged and pointed at her, demanding, “Is that what you call discipline? Is that what you call discipline? Who disciplines like that?”

“Then how is that not discipline?” Qi Liang, seeing his father going after his wife, was also displeased, “Dad, you know as well as I do that Congming’s head isn’t quite clear. He’s grown so much but he can’t even speak properly, and he doesn’t understand when adults tell him to do things. If it weren’t for Madam Pang’s way of disciplining him, maybe he would be a fool by now. I told you when I got married, when Madam Pang was a new bride and didn’t know how to take care of children, that Mother and you should help out. Weren’t you the one who found it troublesome and didn’t want to?”

Qi Liang’s words made Qi Yourong pause, as he did indeed remember that. Then, with impatience, he waved his hand, “Alright, alright, let’s eat first.”

After the meal, Qi Yourong fretted endlessly. Thinking about how the child was always causing trouble and had been beaten often, he feared there wouldn’t be any lack of scars. He wondered if his second brother had seen them. If the second brother had, what would he, Qi Yourong, say then?

Forget it, after all, it was their own child. If his own parents disciplined their child harshly out of anger, no outsider had the right to question it.

Right, that’s what he would say.

Qi Yourong took a long time to psych himself up before heading towards the old house in the northwest of the village.

Only after entering Qi Younian’s home did he realize that things were more troublesome than he had imagined—his hot-tempered eldest brother was actually there too!

Upon seeing the listless figure, Qi Yougui immediately wanted to explode but was held back by Qi Younian, who pointed toward the child sleeping in the corner of the kang.

Then, Qi Yougui lowered his voice and, grinding his teeth, pointed at Qi Yourong, “Youngest brother, come here.”

Qi Yourong knew that his eldest brother was angry and didn’t dare to disobey, so he slowly stepped forward a few paces, but did not sit on the kang, instead sitting down on a stool beside the cupboard.

“Big brother, you didn’t take an afternoon nap today?” Qi Yourong tentatively asked.

Qi Yougui pointed at him again and, mindful of the sleeping child, whispered fiercely, “With you causing such a mess, how can I even have the luxury to take an afternoon nap?”

Seeing that Qi Yougui was always bursting into anger was not helping, Qi Younian opened his mouth to speak, “Yourong, I called big brother here…”