The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

“I go out to work every day, get up early in the morning and go to bed early at night. Why do I do this? Why do I want to go out in the dead of winter? It’s all to earn more money.”

"You're so ungrateful. When you were spending the money I earned, you didn't look down on me at all, but now you're finding fault with me in every way. You are a man, that's true, but have you forgotten that there's a child in your bed? What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't want to develop feelings for you? But what about you? You've never cared about me. I'm the only one working hard for this family. What have you done?"

Sun Tao sneered, "I haven't contributed to this family? I sit all day long, my mind filled with nothing but studying. Who have I been working for? Haven't I tried? If it weren't for my status as a scholar, how could you go out and show off? How could you have agreed to marry me?"

"Is this why you go out to find other women?" Lin Guixiang shouted, then continued, "You're a scholar, and you're already messing around with other women before you've even done anything. Aren't you scholars the most concerned about your reputation? I... umm."

Hearing the commotion, Du Mingxian took a few steps to the door and saw Sun Tao violently pulling Lin Guixiang into the room with one hand and tightly covering her mouth with the other to prevent her from speaking.

As she watched the person being dragged into the room, she soon heard faint sounds of pounding coming from Lin Guixiang's room.

Her heart skipped a beat, and just as she was wondering whether she should go out, she saw Ling Silang walk in from outside. "Just woke up? Have you eaten anything?"

"I just woke up and heard them arguing over there."

"Hmm." Ling Silang lowered his voice again and said, "Sun Tao should make his move now."

It is generally considered shameful for a man to lay a hand on a woman.

"That Sun Tao is a real scoundrel."

"He must have gone out to find other women and was caught red-handed by Lin Guixiang. This could also be the reason why Lin Guixiang sold the child."

"But that's no excuse for him to take action. Now that he's back, as his neighbors, shouldn't we ask him if he wants to report it to the authorities or if he needs our help?"

Ling Silang understood Du Mingxian's meaning, "Then I'll go ask."

"it is good."

After leaving the house, Ling Silang walked directly to Sun Tao's door, while Du Mingxian stood outside watching.

Ling Silang went to check the door, and Du Mingxian heard that the muffled sound coming from the room was gone.

A moment later, Sun Tao opened the door and saw Ling Silang. His smile became more genuine. "Brother Ling, is there something you need?"

"Your child wasn't lost. They came over to see if there was anything we could help with when they saw you come back?"

Sun Tao was quite pleased to hear this. "Thank you, but I just got back and haven't heard about the situation yet, so I can't make up my mind right now."

"Okay, be sure to let me know if you need anything. We're neighbors, so helping each other out is no big deal. Besides, Mrs. Sun and my wife worked together for a while, so we have a history."

This was meant as a reminder.

Sun Tao understood, and gave an awkward laugh, "Okay, I'll definitely trouble Brother Ling if I need anything."

"Well, since things have come to this, it's best to report it to the authorities. The government can handle it faster than we can. Besides, losing a child is a big deal. Who knows what kind of heinous things the kidnapper might do?"

Sun Tao hurriedly nodded, "Okay, okay, I'll ask my wife first, and then I'll contact Brother Ling if needed."

"That's good, I'll head back now." Seeing that it was almost time, Ling Silang turned and left.

Sun Tao's face was very unpleasant. What was going on? Someone ran over to remind him that Lin Guixiang, that bitch, still knew people in the yard?

Watching Ling Silang's retreating figure, Sun Tao concealed the disgust in his eyes, turned around, and closed the door.

When Ling Silang returned, the two went into the house together, and he asked, "I'll cook."

"Let's go together, I'm just killing time anyway." Du Mingxian had slept enough, and she was indeed bored.

The two started preparing to cook, one washing the vegetables and the other chopping them.

Du Mingxian said, "These two probably won't report it to the authorities. Lin Guixiang is afraid that the investigation will turn to him, and Sun Tao is also afraid that the authorities will find out about his improper behavior, which will make it difficult for him to participate in the imperial examinations, and that would be troublesome."

"Well, given their personalities, they're very likely to do nothing and just quietly search for the child in private," Ling Silang guessed. "Sun Tao seems to be the child's biological father, but he doesn't seem to be in any hurry at all."

Du Mingxian sneered, "So what? Sun Tao is still young. A young scholar who has passed the imperial examination is already better than many others. When he passes the higher examination, he will become an official. He can have any woman he wants. Why is he still so fixated on the child he had with his ex-wife?"

"Sun Tao might be secretly delighted, finally getting rid of a burden."

Du Mingxian didn't say anything more, but she felt sorry for the child. But then she thought that whether the child was sold or not, it didn't seem to make much difference.

Sun Tao is not a good father. He may have other women in the future. With women around, he will never lack children. This child is essentially living under someone else's roof.

Life might not be much better than if it were sold.

"Never mind, let's eat."

They still gave Guo Chen some food during the meal.

That evening, Guo Chen was able to move again and even came over to verbally thank the two of them, saying that without them, he might not have made it through this ordeal.

That night, Du Mingxian was sleeping when she dreamed about the child—the child from Sun Tao's family who had been sold by Lin Guixiang.

This time, she dreamed that the child was forcibly taken away. The child cried, looked back at her, and reached out as if asking for help. His eyes were full of pleading, and he was unwilling to leave.

The feeling was so real that Du Mingxian felt like she couldn't breathe and was jolted awake.

She had just woken up when Ling Silang woke up too. He quickly pulled her into his arms, asking, "Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yes, I dreamed about Sun Tao's child."

Ling Silang knew that she couldn't bear it, especially since she had seen that the child had been sold. "If you really feel bad about it, why don't we go and buy the child back and send him to the estate?"

“The children in the village won’t be needed anytime soon. It will be several more years before they grow up, and their appearance will change as well. We won’t know anything about it then, and even if Sun Tao knows, he won’t say anything.”

Du Mingxian thought for a long time before saying, "I'd better ask the child first. If he's willing to come back, I'll bring him back. If he's willing to come to the manor with me, I'll send him there directly."

Ling Silang agreed, "That's good too. The child doesn't look young, so he should be able to make his own decisions without any problems."

"Yes, that's what I think."

The two talked for a while, and Ling Silang hugged Du Mingxian and patted her gently, "Sleep well, we'll talk about everything after you wake up."

"Ah."