Rebirth Counterattack with Space
Chapter 99 Departure

Chapter 99: Chapter 99 Departure

Throughout the day, Lu Yun listened to the news Shitou passed about the Su Family’s various misadventures, their chickens straying and getting lost, prompting a frantic search, their pig suddenly becoming violent and attempting to break out of its pen, leaving them frazzled, and then their child falling into a puddle outside, coming home covered in mud and crying...

"Poor things," it was as if the Su Family was cursed that day, everything went wrong, and they simply couldn’t find the time to hassle Xia Yuan and the mother-daughter duo of the Lu Family.

In the end, even they began to wonder if they had offended something. In pain, they spent two yuan and also offered half a bag of paddy rice, finally secretly calling the village witch to perform a ritual to quiet things down.

When Lu Aiguo came back in the evening, he didn’t start with how their "chat" with Xie Changgen went that day. Instead, he brought news that the family would need to depart around four in the morning the next day to head to the town first.

It turned out that in the evening, Lu Aiguo’s uncle received word that the train tickets he had someone purchase for Haicheng had been secured, with the train departing at six in the morning the day after next.

As soon as Lu Aiguo got the news, he rushed back to inform everyone, and then he hurried off to make arrangements with Mr. Chen Laohou for a mule cart the next day. Because they had to leave so early, he even brought Mr. Chen a bottle of strong liquor and a pound of wild boar meat to ensure that Mr. Chen would agree to pick them up directly from their home.

After sorting out the cart, Lu Aiguo finally breathed a sigh of relief and came back home for dinner. During the meal, he didn’t bother to hide anything from Shitou and Lu Yun, taking out a handkerchief-wrapped item and passing it to Xia Yuan.

When he revealed the contents, everyone’s eyes widened -- it was two small gold bars and twenty silver Yuan coins.

"Where did these come from?" Xia Yuan asked, with a tremble in her voice as she took it and saw the gleaming gold up close.

"From my second sister. Only when they were dividing their family assets did she find out that her father-in-law had a knack for recognizing medicinal herbs. He had been quietly selling herbs and had saved quite a sum of money without even telling his sons. When they split up, her mother-in-law hid all the money and only gave her a mere three yuan and forty cents, along with a jin of Food Coupons," Lu Aiguo chuckled.

"You know what happened when she got home? Her father-in-law handed her the savings he had kept back. He originally intended to split it evenly between his two sons in the future. Sadly, her mother-in-law was too greedy, hiding the fortune and nearly causing her father-in-law to spit blood in anger," Lu Aiguo said while shaking his head in wonder.

"Now, he has probably only retained about a third of it. According to what her father-in-law said, even that third might not all go to the eldest son’s household in the future. So, wouldn’t you say my second sister has really struck it lucky?"

"But why would she give this to you? If Xie Changgen finds out, wouldn’t that cause a big fuss?" Xia Yuan suddenly asked what was on everyone’s mind, all eyes fixed on him.

"My second sister said this is only a small part of what she has. When her father-in-law handed it over, he made her promise not to tell Xie Changgen, saying it was for her and her children. Knowing we are about to start a business in Haicheng, she couldn’t help before because she had no money, but now that she does, she gave this to us especially," Lu Aiguo said, accentuating the word "gave" with a sigh, "I didn’t expect my second sister to be so generous with me. She even got angry when I hesitated to accept it, saying I wasn’t treating her like family, and if I refused, she wouldn’t accept anything from me in the future."

"Do our second uncle and his wife know?" Xia Yuan, still in shock, asked further.

"They do. But my fourth brother doesn’t; I didn’t dare to tell him. I spoke to the second uncle and his wife as soon as I got back, intending to pass it on to them, but they refused, telling me to keep it with confidence. They also said not to tell my fourth brother to prevent the story from reaching the eldest’s ears and causing trouble. The second uncle even advised against taking it out, saying it’ll be worth even more in the future," Lu Aiguo nodded.

"You keep it safe; it’s my second sister’s kind gesture, and we won’t accept her favor in vain," Lu Aiguo reassured.

"Xiaoyun, don’t tell anyone else what you’ve heard, alright?" Xia Yuan nodded as she stowed away the items and casually instructed Lu Yun.

"Mhm," Lu Yun nodded.

"You don’t need to tell her that; she’s not that silly."

Ever since returning from the mountain, Lu Aiguo had an inexplicable confidence in Lu Yun, always feeling that his daughter was not like a six-year-old who knew nothing, but rather like an adult capable of discussing matters.

"I was just saying it for the sake of it," Xia Yuan glared at him sideways.

Lu Aiguo just chuckled a few more times, not because he was happy about the unexpected windfall, but because he was even happier that his second sister was finally not so averse to him.

--

At 3:30 the next morning, the second uncle of the Lu family and his wife came over. Soon after, before it was even time, Chen Lao Hou also arrived. Everyone helped to load the big and small bags of luggage onto the carriage. In secret, Lu Yun switched the contents of the luggage bag for substitutes; with the heavy load as well as the people, she really feared the mule couldn’t bear it.

To the township, Lu’s second uncle insisted on going along as well.

By the time it was fully light, the Su family had gotten their breath back and thought to seek out Lu Aiguo and Xia Yuan to discuss the "custody rights" of Lu Yun. However, the Lu family’s courtyard of the third household was already empty.

The news of the group’s departure was not known by many in the village, and even those who knew were quite close to them, so it was unlikely that anyone would specifically go to inform the Su family.

In fact, even if the Su family knew they had gone to Haicheng, it didn’t matter much. Even if they found out, without proof from the village, they wouldn’t be able to buy train tickets or get to Haicheng. And even if they made it to that large city, it would be another matter to find Xia Yuan and Lu Yun.

Of course, as a last resort, even if they somehow managed to reach Haicheng and found Xia Yuan and Lu Yun, it would not be easy for the Su family to actually want Lu Yun’s custody.

While some people might feel that it is natural for an ex-husband’s family to want to keep their young child, and that grandparents would certainly fight for the child’s custody rights from the mother, they also believe that the grandparents would surely succeed.

But in reality, for such a scenario to occur, many prerequisites were needed. One of the most important conditions was that the mother was weak and alone and willing to give up the child’s custody rights.

Because for those people who kept the child,

either they had sufficient influence in the village and relied on the family and villagers to protect "their own" through unreasonable and overbearing means to achieve their goals,

or the mother simply abandoned the child and left on her own.