Chapter 174 The child is still young; we must spare his life.

She scoffed inwardly. These things were given to her voluntarily, and she wasn't about to offer them back.

Shi Tou waved goodbye to Shu Ying with reluctance, "Goodbye, Auntie."

Shu Ying squatted down, straightened his clothes, and waved goodbye.

When Little Stone met Shu Ying's gaze, he wasn't so afraid anymore. But as soon as he turned around, he was glared at by Lü Jie, who gripped his hand tightly, pinching his little wrist until it ached.

Stone lowered his head, feeling a little sad. It would have been better if he had stayed in the sandpit; at least she wouldn't have come looking for him. Who knows, his stepmother might already hate his aunt and other female relatives.

He was eagerly anticipating the weekend to pass quickly so that he could go back to school on Monday. Normally, all he had to do at school was go home for dinner and sleep.

As long as he minimizes his contact with Lü Jie, he has no other worries besides not having enough to eat.

Stone counted on his fingers, silently comforting himself.

Once they were a little further away, Lü Jie flung his hand away, seemingly feeling extremely unlucky, and she cursed in a low voice.

“Didn’t I let you eat at home? You’re so ill-mannered, just like your short-lived mother! Have I mistreated you? I see you’ve already learned some crooked thoughts at such a young age. Your father is away from home all year round. If I don’t discipline you properly, I don’t know what you’ll become.”

Shi Tou stumbled and almost fell to the ground. He stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do. Lü Jie, worried about being seen, pinched the flesh inside his arm with one hand and walked him home.

"It's not shameful enough. You eat whatever anyone gives you. Don't you know they're just feeding beggars? Shameless bastards."

Shu Ying felt something was off. She stared intently at the receding stone, but couldn't find anything unusual.

Zhang Hongxia sighed, her needle and thread moving back and forth on the insole. In no time, she had embroidered the two characters "Peace".

“Shitou’s father, Xiao Xueyi, is not often at home, and the widow is a newcomer, so she may have heard some gossip. She has nowhere to vent her anger, so she can only take it out on the child. You said a few words to her just now, and she looked smiling, but who knows how unhappy she was inside.”

Who here doesn't know how pitiful the stone is?

But no one could stand up for him; at most, they could offer him some private assistance or leave him extra food.

If he really clashes with Lü Jie, Shi Tou will be caught in the middle and put in a difficult position.

The child is still so young; we must leave him a way to survive.

Shu Ying felt a pang of self-reproach. She shouldn't have been so reckless. She had originally wanted to vent her anger, but in her haste, she forgot about Shi Tou's current predicament.

“I just can’t control my mouth. Sister-in-law, even if she’s not his biological mother, you can’t treat a child like that. Does Shitou’s father know? This is his only child. No matter how busy he is with work, he can’t neglect his child.”

It's already pitiful enough that the child's biological mother is gone, but as his only family member, she still has a responsibility to him after giving birth to him.

Liu Xiulan sat back down on the bench, shaking her head helplessly: "Everyone says that having a stepmother means having a stepfather. Maybe they know it, maybe they don't, but who dares to say these things outright? People say it takes a hundred years of cultivation to share a boat ride and a thousand years to share a pillow. If you say something out of turn and cause trouble in their family, or if they don't appreciate it, aren't you just meddling in other people's business?"

Everyone knows the truth perfectly well; who doesn't have a scale in their heart?

If a well-intentioned suggestion leads to trouble, wouldn't that be like shooting yourself in the foot?

It's just that they're not their own children, so everyone turns a blind eye.

Xiao Xueyi is not often at home. Whether he knows about this matter or not, it is ultimately a matter between the two of them. Why should these outsiders get involved?

Shu Ying felt a lump in her throat. Liu Xiulan sat in the shade, looking at the Shi family's house not far away, and sighed, "That widow has a bad temper. When Xiao Xueyi isn't home, she becomes suspicious. I heard that people in her village look down on this widow. Actually, when she first came, the people in the compound felt the same way."

As she spoke, she glanced around to make sure no one was there before lowering her voice and saying, "When she first arrived, Zhao Lijuan and Li Chunyan said a lot of bad things about her. They've been here for a while now, and everyone here knows them. Their words were so harsh that they reached Lü Jie's ears, which she naturally didn't like. But what could she do? She could only take it out on the child."

Zhang Hongxia also stopped what she was doing. She and Lü Jie were from the same town but not the same village, but Zhang Hongxia had heard of her reputation back in the countryside.

“Li Chunyan always said that the man Lü Jie remarried had a higher military rank than her and Zhao Lijuan’s husband, and that she was after something from him. She also said that in the countryside, Lü Jie used some means, and even more outrageous things, she brought up the fact that she hadn’t gotten pregnant for so long.”

Shu Ying frowned deeply; there were bound to be a few bad people among the crowd.

She originally thought that Li Chunyan and the others simply disliked her, but she didn't expect that there were so many other people they couldn't stand.

Zhang Hongxia vividly recounted Li Chunyan's sarcastic remarks about Lü Jie: "Once, the two of them confronted each other face to face. Li Chunyan brazenly spread rumors, saying that the hens in their village didn't lay eggs and had to be killed and eaten early. She said that she had been married for so long but couldn't have children, and she didn't know how she had damaged her health. There's always gossip around a widow's door. Over time, more and more people spread these rumors. Lü Jie didn't like her, but the two adults couldn't fight. So when she went home, the one who suffered was naturally turned to stone."

Shu Ying felt a mix of emotions. Lü Jie was certainly pitiful, but she shouldn't have taken all her anger out on a child.

"Sister-in-law, it just so happens that your two families live relatively close to the Shi family. I'm worried about what might happen to the child, so I'd appreciate it if you two could take care of him normally. If anything unexpected happens, I'd appreciate it if you could come and let me know."