The Mute Wife Who Brings Prosperity-Chapter 491 - 458: Parental Responsibility (Part 2)
Second Lang’s wife was extremely angry, leading her to lose control of her emotions.
Song Qi was left dazed from the blows, and soon a metallic taste filled her mouth. She reached up to hold her burning cheek, not reacting for quite some time.
Feeling a brief numbness in her right hand, Second Lang’s wife realized she had used too much force and hurriedly stepped forward.
"Er... Qi Qi, are you alright?"
As she spoke, she reached out to support her.
Song Qi forcefully shook off Second Lang’s wife’s hand, "Go away!"
"Qi Qi..."
Song Qi raised her eyes to the dimly lit long street, which matched her current mood and inexplicable chill, "You’ve hit me more than once or twice, so why the fake sympathy afterwards?"
Second Lang’s wife didn’t understand why she had become like this and reached out to pull her again, "It’s dark, it’s not safe for a young girl like you to be out. Come home with mom, and we can talk about it there."
Song Qi’s face was full of mockery, "Earlier you were afraid of bothering her, insisting on pulling me outside to feel the cold, but now you’re not worried about your eldest daughter?"
Once she finished speaking, Song Qi ignored her mother’s reaction and started walking forward.
...
Wen Wan has been particularly sleepy lately, wanting to sleep as soon as she finishes eating, even when Jinbao asks her to accompany him for a walk, she declines.
Seeing Wen Wan really lacked energy, Song Wei let her lay down in the inner room while he took their son out.
Wen Wan drank a cup of bird’s nest soup, and as soon as she lay down on the bed, she had a premonition.
Yun Cai came in to collect the empty bowl and immediately noticed Wen Wan’s pale face, quickly asking, "Madam, what’s wrong?"
Wen Wan raised her hand to wipe the cold sweat off her forehead and asked her, "Has my husband gone out?"
Yun Cai nodded, "The master just went out for a walk on the street with the little young master."
"Hurry and get him back, say I have an urgent matter."
Yun Cai detected the urgency in the mistress’s tone and became anxious as well, "Madam, are you feeling unwell? Should I call the doctor first?"
"Don’t bother with the doctor." The sudden incident made Wen Wan’s attitude somewhat forceful, "Just find my husband, hurry up!"
While speaking, she lifted the blanket and sat up.
The little maid was frightened by her and didn’t dare to say another word, grabbing the empty bowl and rushing out.
Although the father and son had just gone out, the night market had already started, and the streets were bustling, making it difficult to find them quickly.
About the time it takes to burn incense passed, and Yun Cai finally brought them back.
Song Wei sent Jinbao back to his own room and went to Wen Wan at once.
Upon entering, he saw her sitting dazedly on the Arhat Bed, causing Song Wei to slow his steps and stand in front of her, "On the way back, I asked Yun Cai, she said you’re not unwell. Did you have some bad premonitions?"
Wen Wan raised her head at his voice, her gaze meeting his gentle one, finally finding a place to ground her turbulent emotions.
"It’s Er Ya."
The premonition’s image was too bloody, causing Wen Wan’s voice to shake in fear, "I saw her commit suicide, jumping from the top of that abandoned tower."
Not only that, before her death, she spent money to bribe over twenty beggars to spread rumors everywhere about Minister Song’s niece Song Jiao having a suitor, ruining Song Jiao and Liang Jun’s engagement.
Upon hearing Song Wei play such tricks on the newly minted Advanced Scholar, those who wanted to capture Liang Jun as a son-in-law turned their blame on him.
Besides the rumors, Er Ya also left a blood-written letter, writing that she accidentally discovered Song Jiao’s secret, and Song Jiao, for the sake of silencing her, conspired with the family to drive her to desperation.
After Wen Wan finished speaking, she felt very chaotic inside.
First, because she was pregnant, the image of Er Ya falling and becoming mangled was too visually shocking, making it difficult to calm down in a short time.
Second, she felt sorry for Song Qi.
Despite having such a bright future, she always fixated on a word or a small matter, refusing to spare others, ultimately not even sparing herself, ending her life abruptly at merely over ten years of age.
Seeing Wen Wan in obvious distress, Song Wei softly held her and comforted, "Don’t be afraid, there is still time, and with us around, that child won’t die."
Wen Wan took a deep breath, but her chest remained tight, as a mother, the last thing she wanted was such an image, even if the child belonged to someone else.
After a while, Wen Wan lifted her head from Song Wei’s embrace, "Three days from now is when she will commit suicide, we must find a way to stop it."
Song Wei listened and responded, "You stay at home and rest, I’ll visit my second brother’s house."
"No way!" Wen Wan firmly disagreed, "It’s very dangerous for my husband to travel alone at night, I’ll go with you."
Song Wei said, "With Wei Qian and the others there, nothing should happen."
Wen Wan pursed her lips, "Husband, don’t forget, you’re different from others."
When he’s unlucky, even ten more Wei Qian wouldn’t help.
Song Wei ultimately couldn’t persuade Wen Wan otherwise. He went into the inner room to fetch a cloak for her, then instructed Yun Cai to look after Jinbao, and the couple hurriedly left.
The road to the second house was a bit far, and Wen Wan didn’t want to idle, otherwise, whenever she had free time, her mind would be filled with the image of Er Ya falling from the tower.
She said to Song Wei, "Er Ya is extreme in temperament, and forcing her won’t work, we need to come up with a foolproof plan that can prevent her from committing suicide and change her perspective and attitude towards her family from now on."
Song Wei was silent for a while, then said, "In the end, Er Ya reaching the point of suicide is inseparable from Second Brother and Sister-in-law’s actions."
On this point, Wen Wan agreed.
Er Ya is young and lacks complete autonomy.
At an age where guidance is needed, the words and actions of parents play a crucial role.
When Song Erlang and his wife were in Ningzhou, although they didn’t commit murder or arson, they often engaged in underhanded deeds for minor gains. Naturally, their every word and deed affected their own children.
The year of the earthquake, to protect their son, Song Erlang and his wife didn’t turn back to find Sanyang, leaving Sanyang’s fate unknown.
To adults, this might seem like a choice to protect one’s son and daughter at a life or death juncture, but they failed to realize that "abandoning a daughter to save a son" taught the second daughter to be heartless and ruthless.
Even more tragically, after the earthquake, Song Erlang and his wife repented and turned over a new leaf, advancing in their thoughts and values, but forgot to help their second daughter, leaving her stranded and increasingly out of place in that family.
Feeling neglected by her biological parents and unable to fit in with them is the fundamental reason why that child went to extremes.
Although Er Ya’s behavior often annoys people, Wen Wan doesn’t like her much either, but at the same time, she feels sorry for her.
The carriage stopped outside the alleyway courtyard of Song Erlang’s house.
At this hour, most families were already resting, making the whole alleyway exceptionally quiet.
Song Wei stepped forward, and the sound of knocking soon elicited barking from dogs inside the surrounding courtyard walls.
After a while, Song Erlang’s voice came from inside, "Who is it?"
Through the door, Song Wei called out, "Second Brother."
The voice wasn’t loud, but clear enough for those inside to hear.
Recognizing who it was, Song Erlang’s movements quickened, and he soon removed the latch and opened the door.
"Third Son?" Catching a glimpse of Wen Wan standing behind Song Wei, Song Erlang’s face was even more surprised, "Why have both of you suddenly come this late at night?"
Wen Wan didn’t have the patience for pleasantries and directly asked, "Second Brother, is Second Sister-in-law and Qi Qi at home?"
"Yes," Song Erlang hesitated slightly before replying, "Come in, we’ll talk inside."
Song Wei nodded and glanced back at Wen Wan.
The couple followed Song Erlang into the main room.
Second Lang’s wife was sitting on the kang, looking somewhat troubled.
Except for her, Song Jiao and Song Qi were nowhere to be seen.
"Second Sister-in-law."
Wen Wan approached her, "Where’s Qi Qi?"
Second Lang’s wife only seemed to react then, opening her mouth before slowly widening her eyes, "Third Son? How come you’re here?"
"Second Sister-in-law, answer my question first." Wen Wan felt extremely urgent, if anything happened to Song Qi, the whole Song family would be implicated, she had no time for small talk.
"Oh, Qi Qi is sleeping in her room!" Second Lang’s wife said, "The two sisters went to the suburbs today, so they must be tired. After dinner, they kept saying they were sleepy and went to bed early."
"Qi Qi is really at home?" Wen Wan’s gaze carried suspicion.
"Would I lie about such a thing?" Second Lang’s wife tugged her lips, "If Third Sister-in-law doesn’t believe me, I’ll take you to see her."
As she spoke, Second Lang’s wife had already stood up.
Previously, Song Qi refused to come home no matter what, and because of that, they kept watching her. Later, the girl seemed to have suddenly understood things and willingly headed home. After arriving, she said nothing and went straight to her room.
The couple was afraid she’d cause trouble by running off again, so they didn’t dare sleep all night.
