chasing the dark

Chapter 14 The Child Is Lost
The man's family has a simple population, he is the only son in the family, his father has passed away, and he lives with his mother and daughter.This made Wu Xiufen even more relieved. She didn't have to deal with the relationship with her sister-in-law, sister-in-law, and sister-in-law. For her who came out of the mountains and had never seen the world, her life would be better.

In fact, this is indeed the case. After marriage, the family of four lives in peace.

During the busy season, she and her husband went to work in the fields, while her mother-in-law stayed at home to take care of the housework and take care of her granddaughter.In winter, the mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and children stay at home, and the men go out to do some casual work, and they can earn some money back.

In the second year after marriage, Wu Xiufen gave birth to a boy. She also reached the legal age of marriage, and happily went to get a marriage certificate with the man.

But the good times didn't last long, and the nightmare began in the winter when the son was three years old.

That day, Wu Xiufen and her mother-in-law took their two children to the town to go to the market.There is a big fair in the town every three to sixty-nine, and it is not usually very lively. Now that it is the twelfth lunar month, it is time to start preparing for the New Year. It is not an exaggeration to describe the fair as crowded.

Wu Xiufen held the small one, her mother-in-law led the big one, and the family followed the crowd through the fair, buying something they liked.

Strolling to the stalls selling clothes, adults and children stop.During the Chinese New Year, adults and children always have to buy some new clothes.Fortunately, the adults said that the child must be replaced with a new one from the inside to the outside.

In particular, her daughter is ten years old, which is the age when little girls love beauty. Wu Xiufen pointed to sweaters and coats of different designs and colors at the booth selling children's clothing, and asked the stall owner to bring them over and compare them to her daughter one by one.

After deciding on the clothes the child likes and picking out underwear, Wu Xiufen then fixed her eyes on the boy's clothes.

There are few styles of clothes for boys, and the son is young, so there is no need to ask his opinion, as long as the adults take a fancy to it.

The mother-in-law is partial to the little grandson, and has already picked a few pieces.Wu Xiufen liked it after seeing it, so she asked the stall owner to take a similar size and compare it with her son, and she decided on it.

After paying the money, Wu Xiufen was about to leave with her things when she was suddenly dumbfounded—the son who was by the side just now had disappeared!

There was a buzzing sound in Wu Xiufen's head, and she asked her mother-in-law and daughter with trembling voices.The old and the young also panicked suddenly, the mother-in-law's lips trembled, she was at a loss, and the daughter was even more confused.

The mother-in-law anxiously asked the stall owner and the surrounding customers if they had seen their grandson.The stall owner was busy looking after the business, and the customers were all focused on shopping. No one would pay attention to a three-year-old child.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and the little girl couldn't care about the things in their hands for a while, and started looking around.

The three of them wandered around in the big set like headless chickens, but the result was predictable.

Later, after being reminded, I found the market management office in Daji. The administrator helped to call the police, and broadcast on the loudspeaker, asking those who found the child to bring the child to the office.

Only then did Wu Xiufen remember to call her husband, and told him the matter in tears.

The husband rushed over in a hurry, and the police also arrived.

There was no camera installed inside Daji. After briefly inquiring about the situation, the police sent people to search for it, and called several surveillance cameras at the surrounding intersections.

There were too many people going to the market, not a few of them were holding children, and the surveillance images were not clear enough. After comparing them carefully one by one, there was a child in the arms of a man who looked a bit like it, but it was Wu Xiufen's son. Not entirely sure.

A heavy slap was slapped on Wu Xiufen's face. This was the first time her husband had slapped her since they got married.

But apart from deep self-blame and guilt, she didn't have any complaints about her husband in her heart.

This man ran away with a wife and finally had a son in his thirties.Maybe this is nothing to the people in the city, but in the countryside, no matter how many daughters you have, if you don't have a son, you are dead.So, when his son was born, the man's eyes were red, and he choked up and said that he finally had a successor.

While the police were looking for the child everywhere, Wu Xiufen and her husband were not idle. The two almost traveled all over the town and surrounding villages, but there was still no news of the child.

They washed the photos of the children and expanded the scope of their search. Even the Spring Festival was spent outside.Whenever I meet someone, I show the photo to them, and ask if I have seen this child.

Half a year later, the family's savings were exhausted, and the two returned to the small farmyard in disgrace.

During this time, the mother-in-law and daughter were not doing well. The old lady was in tears all day long, and the little girl was always in a daze, and her academic performance plummeted.

The mother-in-law sighed and advised the couple to have another child while they were young.Apart from this, there seems to be no other way to make up for the pain of losing a child.Everyone knows that the longer the time passes, the less hope of getting the child back.

Wu Xiufen's belly is still up to par, and she became pregnant in the second year.

The haze that had been hanging over the family's heart was finally diluted a bit, and the man's always stern face occasionally smiled a little.

However, fate always seems to like to play tricks on people. Three months later, the child was lost.

Over the next year or so, Wu Xiufen conceived two more, but they failed to keep them.I went to several hospitals, but nothing was wrong.

The man's temper became more and more irritable, and he opened his mouth to scold and hit him when he raised his hand.It wasn't until Wu Xiufen became pregnant again that the situation improved slightly.

This time Wu Xiufen didn't dare to be careless, and walked carefully.The mother-in-law is also taking care of it all day long, for fear of any accidents.

After seven months of trembling, Wu Xiufen showed signs of premature delivery.

The man hurriedly borrowed a car from the villagers to take him to the hospital in the town. Before he got there, Wu Xiufen passed out from the pain.

Later, after the doctor's all-out rescue, he finally saved his life and the child was born.

But the man was not even a little bit happy, because Wu Xiufen gave birth to a girl.Moreover, she had frequent miscarriages and hurt her body. This time, she walked before the gate of hell again, and she would never have children again.

As for this girl, because she was born prematurely, it is still unknown whether she will survive.

It doesn't matter to a man whether the child can live or not, but Wu Xiufen's failure to reproduce in the future can be said to be a fatal blow to him.He didn't say anything, just turned and left.

Although the mother-in-law was unhappy, she still stayed in the hospital to take care of Wu Xiufen's mother and daughter, which comforted Wu Xiufen's grief.

After staying in the hospital for half a month, Wu Xiufen can finally be discharged.

The child who was born about the same age as a kitten also survived tenaciously.

Adding someone to the family was originally a happy event, but for Wu Xiufen, it was the beginning of a nightmare.

The man's fiery temper was even worse than before.Not only that, he started to drink and gamble with some dubious people, and even beat and scolded Wu Xiufen and the children, and even a few words of persuasion from his mother would be reprimanded by him.

(End of this chapter)