Spring River Chasing the Moon

1997, Haicheng, Chunjiang Town, Luo Family Courtyard.

"Grandma, I'm done eating. I'm going to Xiaomei's house to play for a while."

Five-year-old Luo Youyou tried hard to stand on tiptoe to put the dishes and chopsticks on the kitchen stove, then turned her head and looked up at her grandmother Yang Qian and said.

At this moment, Yang Qian opposite didn't even raise her head, but just said "hmm" nonchalantly.

She was busy clearing the table and didn't pay any attention to her granddaughter. Of course, she didn't notice Luo Youyou's different condition or the strange look he gave her.

Luo Youyou understood that Yang Qian would never pay attention to her. She ran around the village like a wild child every day, and Yang Qian never took her seriously.

"This is perfect. I don't have to worry about Yang Qian interfering with my future plans." Luo Youyou tried hard to suppress the anger in his heart and walked out of the kitchen.

The big black dog in the yard was still chasing the free-range hens. The chaotic scene was so real that the raised dust blinded Luo Youyou. She rubbed her eyes with her little hands and looked at everything in front of her indifferently.

These hens were specially bought by Yang Qian, who spent nearly half a month's salary of Luo Youyou's father. She fed them the best feed every day and kept them in a pen just to have fresh eggs to eat.

But Luo Youyou rarely has the chance to eat eggs, because these are prepared by Yang Qian for her favorite grandson, Luo Xin, who is also Luo Youyou's cousin.

Uncle Luo Youyou and his family live in the company dormitory in town on weekdays and only return to the village during holidays.

My cousin Luo Xin is already attending primary school in town, so naturally he only goes home with his parents on weekends.

Yang Qian also made up a high-sounding excuse, saying that Luo Xin needed eggs to supplement his brain while studying, and that Luo Youyou could also eat eggs when he started to study. But the former Luo Youyou actually believed her lies.

And now, Luo Youyou curled the corner of her mouth sarcastically. She no longer wanted to argue about how much Yang Qian favored her uncle's family, because she had more important things to do.

After leaving her own yard, Luo Youyou turned her head and looked at the dilapidated yard where she had lived for more than 20 years in her previous life, her eyes dim.

Such emotions should not appear in a five-year-old child. She was reborn when she was twenty-seven years old.

In their previous life, their family conditions were not bad. Their father Luo Zhong received a monthly allowance from the army, and their mother Chen Lili taught at a school. Such jobs were already very good, but Yang Qian asked her father for money every now and then, and the money was used to subsidize her uncle's family. Her father was honest and loyal all his life, and always thought that the family should not care so much.

Luo Youyou also understands that a family should live in harmony. She can understand that as a son, her father hopes to get a little favor from his mother. Therefore, Luo Youyou always tries to be the best and most obedient in front of Yang Qian, hoping to get her approval.

After growing up, Luo Youyou worked hard to make money for his family to live a better life. Due to the high intensity of work and the double pressure of mental and physical stress, Luo Youyou suffered a sudden myocardial infarction while working overtime drawing and died despite rescue efforts.

Perhaps God took pity on her misfortune, and Luo Youyou's soul did not leave immediately after her death. Instead, it wandered around the small town, watching her parents crying all day long. Luo Youyou wanted to get close to them and tried to catch them but was powerless.

Wandering aimlessly for half a year, Yang Qian fell and hit her head hard on the stone slab. She was treated for a long time but was not released from the intensive care unit. On her deathbed, she grabbed the corner of Luo Youyou's grandfather's clothes and said she wanted to tell him something.

Everyone left the ward, leaving only Grandpa Luo Jiasheng standing by the bed in silence. Soul Luo Youyou had been staying in the hospital with Yang Qian because she was injured. At this moment, she was also very curious about what grandma wanted to say to grandpa, so she "secretly" stood by the bed.

Grandma pointed with trembling hands at the clothes she had taken off when she was rescued. Luo Jiasheng followed her instructions, took out a jade pendant of absolutely top-quality quality from the pocket of her clothes, and put it in her hand.

Yang Qian clutched the jade pendant, tears streaming down her face as she panted, "His father, I've done something I regret the most in my life... Luo Zhong... Luo Zhong isn't our child. It was me who switched the two children, so... God punished me by not even knowing what my biological son looks like. I really want to... see my son..."

Having said this, Yang Qian was obviously very excited, and her breathing became chaotic and rapid.

Luo Youyou was so shocked that she couldn't think. What did it mean to switch two children? If the father is not her grandparents' child, then whose child is it?

At the same time, Luo Youyou’s grandfather Luo Jiasheng was also shocked and speechless.

"You, what nonsense are you talking about!" Luo Jiasheng's voice became louder, but suddenly he remembered that the children were outside, so he lowered his voice and asked Yang Qian anxiously: "Do you know what you are talking about? Tell me clearly, what's going on?"

Yang Qian calmed down and slowly began to recall that year.

"Back then, you were still in the army, and I was pregnant with our third child. This time, unlike the previous ones, I felt very uncomfortable every day because of various reactions. Under such circumstances, I still had to take care of the first and second children."

"Every time I ask you to go home for a few days, you always say you'll wait until next time. But now that I'm about to give birth, you still don't have time to come back."

"I'm all alone in the hospital, no one cares about me, and your mother won't come either. Everyone in the hospital looks at me with pity, curiosity, and even weirdness... But God is so unfair. The pregnant woman in the bed next to me, her husband brings all kinds of delicious food and fun things to make his wife happy every day. This is her third child, and her condition is even better than mine, but her husband still treats her like it's her first time, being so cautious."

"Later, I overheard the nurses talking about him. It turned out that he was a big shot from South City. He came here to work and asked his wife to take a few days off. Unexpectedly, his wife was going to give birth early, so he couldn't make it back and had to stay in this rural hospital."

"We're both women, so why is there such a huge gap between her and me? I was completely overwhelmed by jealousy that day, especially since we gave birth to boys at almost the same time. I was left alone in the hospital ward, helpless, and the man didn't even care about the child. He only cared about accompanying his wife. A terrible thought emerged in my mind, growing stronger and stronger."

"So, while no one was paying attention and the father of the child was focused on the pregnant woman, I changed the clothes and brands of the two children."

"This jade pendant was the one the child was wearing at the time. I originally wanted to put the jade pendant on our child, but I was already crazy and greedy at the time, so I tore the red string apart and placed the broken red string next to our child's neck, pretending that the string was pulled by the child. The family might think the jade pendant was lost or picked up by someone else."

"Then I took the jade pendant and the child home."

"That child is Luo Zhong."

After saying the last sentence, Yang Qian seemed to have completed the last thing. She used all her strength to hand the jade pendant to Luo Jiasheng, and whispered softly: "I really want to see our son."

Gradually lost his breath.

The ward suddenly fell silent, leaving only Luo Jiasheng's deep breathing. He tightened his grip on the jade pendant.

After a long time, Luo Jiasheng came back to his senses. He looked at the jade pendant and touched it unconsciously. After a while, he put the jade pendant into his pocket, walked to the door of the ward with a serious expression, and opened it.

Slowly said: "Come in, you... Mom is gone..."

After saying this, everyone rushed into the ward, and crying sounds began to come out intermittently from the ward.

Luo Jiasheng looked at Luo Zhong who was crying silently. Although this youngest son did not look like him or Yang Qian, he was the child who was most similar to him in terms of personality.

Luo Jiasheng hesitated, not knowing whether he should tell him the truth.

After listening to the whole thing, Luo Youyou was shocked by Yang Qian's shamelessness.

For his own selfish desires, he stole his father's life, and in the end he did not feel any apology to his father. He just wanted to see his biological son.

No wonder even though they have three children, it is always their father who compromises and suffers, while their aunt and uncle take advantage, especially their uncle's family.

She took away all of my father's allowances and benefits in the army under various pretexts, calling them safekeeping, and then used them to subsidize my uncle's family.

No wonder she never liked me and thought she was biased towards boys.

No wonder my father was not allowed to leave Haicheng. It was because I was afraid that he would meet my parents.