CHAPTER 335: CHAPTER 335: WHO WOULD DARE TO TAKE HER?

Song Yuantao flung open the door of the hospital room and left without lingering in the county. His liberation shoes kicked up puffs of dust as he rushed back to the Song Family Village, braving the howling cold wind and making the journey in a minimal amount of time.

"Yuantao, why have you come back? How’s Niuniu? Is everything okay? What did the doctor say?" Mrs. Song was in the middle of simmering chicken soup in the kitchen when she heard the sudden sound of the door opening in the courtyard. Poking her head out, she saw her eldest son, who was supposed to be at the county hospital, "Didn’t you say you were getting the examination report today? Is it something bad?"

"Mom, where’s dad?" Song Yuantao, with a darkened face, did not respond to Mrs. Song’s concerns about the child. Instead, he asked about Father Song’s whereabouts, his eyebrows furrowed so tightly they looked as if they could crush flies – it was quite frightening.

"Your dad went out early in the morning to cut branches. The weather has been good these past days, so he’s been stocking up on firewood before it all runs out. He’s been gone a while, should be back by now." Mrs. Song answered, staring at her son in confusion. Then she heard the courtyard gate open again and turned to look, seeing Father Song returning with a large bundle of dry tree branches on his back, "He’s back now. Yuantao was just looking for you! Leave the branches in the courtyard for now; I’ll go get you a basin of hot water to wash your face." Mrs. Song said, turning back to fetch the hot water.

Father Song glanced at his eldest son but did not hurry to ask about the urgent matter that brought Yuantao home; he assumed it must be related to his little granddaughter. In silence, he accepted the hot water from Mrs. Song and washed his face before rolling down his trouser legs and returning to the main room. Sitting in the central seat of the living room, Father Song picked up his large smoking pipe and, with downcast eyes, began to fiddle with his smoking set.

"Speak up! What is it?" Father Song, seeing that his son seemed to be holding back for a while, finally spoke up kindly.

"I want to divorce Wang Qinghua," Song Yuantao stated firmly, his posture rigid with resolve.

"What?" Father Song’s hand, holding the smoking pipe, paused as he looked up at Song Yuantao, "Yuantao, you can’t joke about this kind of thing." Seeing the seriousness in his son, Father Song reminded him after recovering from the initial shock.

"I know, my mind is made up," Song Yuantao nodded and admitted, "I can’t spend another day with that woman."

"Yuantao, what’s gotten into you? What are you saying? Even though Qinghua can’t have more children, and the kid’s illness is going to cost us a lot of money, we can’t do such heartless things! If you divorce, what will happen to Qinghua and the kids?" Mrs. Song had just walked out of the kitchen when she heard her son’s words and immediately voiced her concern, visibly unsettled.

Even though she didn’t like Wang Qinghua, who always stirred up trouble and caused headaches, divorce was a serious matter. This sudden talk of divorce, especially when the child was just born, would ruin their reputation if others found out.

"After the divorce, Niuniu stays with me, and the younger goes with her," Song Yuantao had considered his plan all the way home.

In truth, he felt the kind of fear one has after being bitten by a snake; he couldn’t shake the ten-years’ dread of the rope that once resembled the snake. If not for his rational mind, he would have wanted to take his eldest daughter Niuniu to the county hospital for a DNA test to ascertain she was indeed his biological child. He had had enough of being a cuckold, yet he thought back to Niuniu’s birth—Qinghua had been a different person then and there was no widow from Second Mrs. Song’s family around, so it was unlikely Niuniu was someone else’s child.

"What?" Mrs. Song clutched her chest in disbelief as her eyes widened. The child’s future had already been arranged?

"Mom, Wang Qinghua cheated on me. That kid is not even my daughter. Diabetes is hereditary, and I don’t even like sugar. Where would I get a daughter with diabetes?" Song Yuantao felt humiliated even mentioning this truth, but he couldn’t keep it from his parents. After all, divorce wasn’t a trivial matter, and they had to know why he had decided to pursue it.

"My goodness, Qinghua, she..." Mrs. Song’s face turned pale. As a woman, she had always been faithful to her husband, and she had never contemplated the possibility that her daughter-in-law could do something so disgraceful. "Yuantao, are you sure there hasn’t been some mistake? Qinghua might have a temper, but she doesn’t seem like someone who would do such a thing!"

Mrs. Song was kindly by nature, and she generally didn’t like to think the worst of people.

"Mom, I’m not mistaken. The tests from the hospital are in, and my blood type doesn’t match the child’s. She is definitely not my daughter. And think about how that harlot got in with Song Erpo’s family’s despicable widow—everyone in the village knows what kind of person the widow from Song Erpo’s family is. She had the audacity to fawn over her, who knows when that contemptible thought entered her head. She might have already cuckolded me back then, making me the laughingstock," Song Yuantao said, his anger flaring at the thought, which felt like a greater slap to the face than a physical blow.

His dignity as a man had been trampled by Wang Qinghua, that harlot. He regretted not having the resolve to divorce her sooner; then he wouldn’t have been soft-hearted and trapped in this current situation.

"Divorce." Father Song made a firm decision with a decisive strike of his hand.

Being cuckolded was something no man could tolerate. Father Song had been strict all his life, living as a resolute man. Now that he was faced with such a daughter-in-law and the foul deeds she had done, he didn’t hesitate to support his son’s decision. Once a woman was sullied, a couple could no longer live together. Should he wait for that woman and that child to flaunt themselves in front of him every day?

Should he really acknowledge a sick granddaughter who wasn’t even related to him? He, old Song, could not swallow such a foul insult.

"Yeah, divorce," Song Yuantao agreed without hesitation, feeling much more confident with the support of his father.

Mrs. Song opened her mouth but closed it again when she saw her husband and son had made up their minds. Additionally, thinking about how Wang Qinghua had been messing around and even had a child with another man, she found herself speechless.

After Song Yuantao resolved to divorce, he hadn’t even visited the county hospital. Wang Qinghua had stayed in the hospital with her daughter for two days; when the previously paid hospital fees were depleted, the hospital notified her that she would have to take the child home for care if she didn’t pay more. Qinghua wanted to call Song Family Village, but she didn’t dare, guessing that Song Yuantao would find out she had been unfaithful. These past two days, Qinghua had been particularly uneasy.

After much contemplation, Qinghua, biting her lip, carried her little daughter back to Song Family Village. She had made up her mind to insist that the child was Song Yuantao’s. She couldn’t believe they could discover the truth, and she absolutely could not divorce Yuantao. If the child were not Yuantao’s, the Song Family would certainly not provide for her. Was she supposed to take the child back to her own family? With a child in tow and known for infidelity within the marriage, even if she were divorced, who would have her?

Thinking thus, Wang Qinghua inexplicably began to feel guilty and afraid. Why had she ever listened to that promiscuous widow’s words!