HPDBC Chapter 220
Chapter 220
Later, when natural disasters struck, their family was also affected. They had originally been staying in their hometown, but the calamity made it impossible for them to remain there.
The whole family began to move south, along with many others. The elderly and children were the first to suffer.
Some bodies couldn't even be buried and were left where they fell. Others walked on, numbed, in wave after wave of people.
Wang Xiaoping was deeply concerned for her eldest grandson. Seeing her daughter-in-law walking closely with other men, she urged her son to discipline her.
Unfortunately, her son was only focused on moving forward, not wanting to waste any energy on other matters.
Wang Xiaoping couldn't stand it, believing her daughter-in-law was trading her body for food. She didn't share her secretly stashed food with her daughter-in-law, but she also couldn't bear to see others giving her food.UppTodated from
By this point, there were even those who resorted to cannibalism when hungry on the road, and trading bodies or children for food was commonplace.
Finally, one day, Wang Xiaoping couldn't find her son, but her daughter-in-law was still within sight. She panicked and started urging her daughter-in-law to search for him.
Hungry and exhausted, her daughter-in-law didn't want to search. Wang Xiaoping began to fight with her, hurling vulgar insults.
At this moment, her eldest grandson started to help his own mother. The daughter-in-law held the child in her arms and smugly revealed the truth.
Wang Xiaoping watched the mother and son continue walking forward, while she collapsed to the ground. She couldn't believe that the grandson she had raised from infancy wasn't actually her own flesh and blood.
She thought her daughter-in-law must be lying, but who would smear themselves like that? Unless it was true.
She was going mad. If her grandson wasn't her son's biological child, what would happen to her son?
At this moment, she saw her husband catching up with her son. It turned out they had gone to find food.
Wang Xiaoping felt as if struck by lightning. She hugged her son and repeated what her daughter-in-law had said. Now, both father and son fell silent.
Zhang Jiale held his mother's hand and looked at her seriously: "I knew I couldn't have children even before I lived with her."
Before they planned to live together, his then-prospective wife had asked if he was infertile.
Now, with the truth exposed due to the conflict between his wife and mother, Zhang Jiale felt his parents' judgment should also come to light.
This might be for the best.
His father quickly calmed down. He inquired about the process of finding a sperm donor back then, and upon learning that everything had been part of his son's plan, he said no more.
As for Wang Xiaoping, she hadn't spoken much to anyone, always moving forward in silence.
She couldn't process it all at once, always thinking that when peace returned to the world, she could find an Old Gentleman to divine for her or seek an old doctor for some medicine. Perhaps there might still be a chance to turn things around.
But in the current situation, she had no options. If her son really couldn't father children, at least the current grandson was still their family's boy, certainly enough to continue the family line.
But she also knew she couldn't swallow her pride, and no one was giving her a way out. She had been silent for too long, long enough for her husband and child to think she couldn't accept it.
Wang Xiaoping prayed countless times in her heart, hoping that heaven wouldn't be so cruel, that any retribution would fall on her instead of her son.
As she thought about it, she wondered if it was because of her own sins that her son couldn't have children.
The little grandson, after all, had been raised by his grandparents. When his parents seemed to be back to normal, he felt the arguments were over and would still be close to his grandparents.
However, his grandmother seemed to have changed, never smiling at him anymore. He didn't understand why.
Those who could accept it remained as before, while those who couldn't accept it now lived in a daze. Wang Xiaoping imagined countless possibilities, wanting to help her son out of his predicament.
But at present, even survival had become a problem. Though Wang Xiaoping had thought of solutions, she had no means to implement them.
After enduring numerous hardships, Wang Xiaoping finally arrived in the south with her family. But before anyone had a chance to catch their breath, Wang Xiaoping died.
Whether it was due to the unfamiliar environment or because she had been barely clinging to life, Wang Xiaoping fell gravely ill as soon as they arrived. Zhang Jiale desperately searched for an experienced doctor who could treat her. However, Wang Xiaoping insisted that the doctor check her son's pulse first.
In the end, as the Old Gentleman shook his head, Wang Xiaoping's last breath never came, and she passed away just like that.
For Zhang Jiale, this became an immense shadow looming over his life. Every time he thought of his mother, he felt as if he had been the cause of her death.