The Husband I Snatched Is Not Right!-Chapter 271 - 268: Shelter

Someone asked, "Bought?"

Zhou Family’s Daughter-in-law: "Buy what?"

She revealed,

"Back then, Xiang Si brought someone back, it was during a famine year, every household couldn’t feed themselves. Where’s the money?"

Another famine year.

Yu Tingwan instinctively furrowed her brows.

Standing at the main entrance, Wei Zhao’s expression remained indifferent, yet he narrowed his eyes.

Zhou Family’s Daughter-in-law glanced around, then whispered: "Picked up."

"Picked up from the side of Ze County."

"When Xiang Si brought her back at that time, you didn’t see her, she was in a sorry state, but the clothes she wore were bright and neat."

Yu Tingwan’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

From what Zhou Family’s Daughter-in-law just said, it could be seen that the woman was definitely not from an ordinary farming household.

Yu Tingwan pressed her lips: "All these years, didn’t her family come looking for her?"

"What family?"

Zhou Family’s Daughter-in-law: "During the famine, there were plenty of people who threw away their daughters to save on grain, and many got lost while fleeing. When times got better, there was no sign of this mad woman visiting her family, nor did any relatives come by."

"Either they abandoned her, or most likely they couldn’t survive the famine and died."

"Xiang Si was old enough to be her father. But bringing her back, giving her food, that was her blessing."

Those who experienced the famine nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, people were so hungry back then they were driven to cannibalism just to survive."

"Without Xiang Si, she would have died long ago."

"Besides, finding someone isn’t that easy."

"Even if they truly found her, Xiang Si wouldn’t bear to send her back, right? Bringing her back, isn’t it just for lacking a wife to warm the bed? If it were me, even if they came looking, I’d hide her."

Yu Tingwan felt increasingly uneasy as she listened.

But sometimes, that’s just human nature.

"I remember, nobles in the Capital had lost a child back then, they almost turned Ze County upside down, even came to us."

Someone strained to recall.

"Yes, yes, yes, someone even came to my house to inquire."

"I know! It was a high ranking official, now the current Grand Tutor. He lost his daughter. I heard she was only a few days old."

"Only those with power and influence could find their child afterwards, ordinary people wouldn’t have that ability."

The real child, Yu Tingwan stood by, listening emotionlessly.

Seeing the woman’s frailness, shivering and barely able to speak, clearly in a state of confusion, a flash of pity crossed Yu Tingwan’s eyes. Enduring the discomfort in her legs, she slowly moved forward, intending to give her outer garment as protection against the cold.

"Better not approach."

Someone stopped her.

"It’d be bad if she went mad and hurt you."

Yu Tingwan replied calmly, "She won’t."

Last time, the woman knocked over a stall and was held down by the stall owner who scolded her fiercely, but she only shivered and tried to run away without any intention of retaliating.

Even if she did.

Did they really think Wei Zhao behind her was just for show?

She moved closer.

The woman trembled more violently.

Yu Tingwan bent down, removed her outer garment, and draped it over her.

The girl’s approach bore no malice, the woman did not react, only her lips moved silently in a faint murmur.

"Child."

"Child."

Someone said, "Listen, even though she’s mad, she knows she has a child."

"That’s not right."

Zhou Family’s Daughter-in-law pouted, "She ignores her son and daughter when she sees them. Anyone would think she’s calling someone else."

She tried to recall something.

Suddenly, she slapped her thigh, "Now that you mention it, I remember, Xiang Si brought her back the same days that noble family lost their child."

The famine lasted for many years.

But this mad woman stayed in Xiang Si’s house...

"It’s been seventeen years, right?"

"Back then, she would chase after anyone holding a child and snatch it."

"I thought she really liked them. But after the mad woman gave birth, she neither looked at her son nor daughter, just cried and made a fuss, saying they’re not supposed to look like this."

Everyone paid it no mind. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Including Zhou Family’s Daughter-in-law who mentioned it in passing as a joke.

After all, she was a madwoman.

It was nothing out of the ordinary.

But Yu Tingwan’s eyelids twitched intensely.

Not just her, even Wei Zhao had a curious gaze fixed on the woman.

Just then, Xiang Si finally showed up.

He came running.

"Why are you wandering off again!"

Xiang Si was sweating and berated her.

Frustrated to no end, he raised his hand intending to hit the woman, but as his hand was about to fall, he withdrew it.

Grinding his teeth, he pulled her up.

The woman stood dumbfounded.

Xiang Si said helplessly, "Da Lang, help your mother back. If your little sister doesn’t see anyone at home, she’ll probably start crying again."

He was calling his son.

The son had come along with Xiang Si. But his look at the woman showed no pity, only disgust.

Ignoring the presence of outsiders.

"I told you, don’t mind her! Why doesn’t dad listen?"

"Everyone knows my mother is mad, I’m embarrassed to go out. I’m sixteen and no one wants to arrange a meeting with me."

"Shouldn’t have come looking for her!"

"Just let her die out there."

The woman still showed no reaction.

Zhou Family’s Daughter-in-law felt a chill hearing this.

"You child."

"If something happened to her, you’d be without a mother."

"No matter how bad your mother is, she gave birth to you."

Xiang Family’s eldest son, Da Lang, kept a cold face.

"She didn’t want to give birth to me."

"Auntie doesn’t know, she didn’t recognize me even when she was lucid."

"Da Lang!"

Xiang Si’s face darkened.

The expression on Xiang Family’s Da Lang was one of defiance.

"I didn’t say anything wrong."

Xiang Si looked at the outer garment on the woman, prepared to take it off.

"Whoever kindly gave this?"

Yu Tingwan didn’t respond, suddenly she asked, "What’s her name?"

Xiang Si froze.

Yu Tingwan: "How old is she?"

Xiang Si maintained his usual friendly, honest demeanor.

"Uh...?"

He quickly apologized to those gathered.

"Really sorry about this."

"Did this wake everyone up at this hour?"

"I went to set up my stall today, told Da Lang to stay home and watch his sister. I worried that my wife would be restless, so I took her with me, but while tending to business, lost track of her, and she just..."

"Thought she’d gone back, but when I returned, she was gone. Luckily, I found her."

Zhou Family’s Daughter-in-law was almost moved to tears.

Yu Tingwan maintained a blank expression: "As her husband, you don’t even know her name and age?"

Her tone was mild: "Doesn’t sound right, does it?"

Yu Tingwan: "No need to explain how hard it was for you, your difficulty is your own making, it’s unrelated to us, no one owes you."

She stepped forward, blocking their path.

"Without a registered residence, no matchmaking or betrothal means she’s not your wife. Without identity, surely she didn’t get registered with the Government Office."

"Human trafficking is a crime that lands you in jail, didn’t you know?"

Xiang Si’s face suddenly darkened.

"Mind your own business!"

"She entered your house seventeen years ago, but the child is sixteen, pregnancy is nine months."

Yu Tingwan: "I’m afraid that night, you forced her."

"Don’t say it was out of pity, lost with nowhere to go. Not trafficking, not selling, you gave food and drink."

Yu Tingwan sneered coldly, speaking clearly with deliberation.

"You harbored her out of the goodness of your heart for seventeen years."