Transmigrated as Cannon Fodder — I Rise to Female Lead Through Hard Work-Chapter 20: Past Experiences

The brightness in Ding Anmin’s eyes dimmed a little, "My mom is the second child, she and my uncle are twins, and my grandparents favored boys over girls a lot. My mom had an older sister, but we’ve never met her."

"My mom said that when my aunt turned eighteen, they sold her off, not married her off, sold her, just for more grain and money tickets."

"Those two just now were my uncle’s kids, they were spoiled from a young age. In the future, if you see them, avoid them. Li Xijun is a reckless person and even hits women."

"You haven’t said why you fell out with them?" Yi Roujing asked bluntly. If it was just because of Li Hongying’s elder sister, it would have happened long ago.

"Back then, mom had grievances against my grandparents because of my aunt’s matter. You might not know this, but grandpa and grandma gave a hundred yuan when mom married dad. If dad hadn’t insisted on marrying mom, she might have ended up like my aunt."

"After marrying, mom only maintained normal etiquette exchanges and rarely went back otherwise. However, in private, my grandparents still wanted mom to give them some subsidies. As long as it wasn’t too excessive, mom would also show some filial piety."

"But because of my elder brother’s matter, the two families were completely estranged." Ding Anmin’s voice grew lower and finally cut off, "Oh, it’s hard for me to tell you about this, why don’t you ask my big brother, I only found out by chance overhearing mom and dad talking."

"Does Anguo know?" Yi Roujing asked.

Ding Anmin scratched his face awkwardly; Yi Roujing could tell that Ding Anmin had already told him.

"Since everyone else knows, what does it matter if I know too? People who are older in the Dingping Team might also know. There’s no reason to hide it from me."

"Alright, alright, I’ll tell you, but don’t spread it around." Maybe because Yi Roujing had just protected her or because she was irritated by Li Xipei and Li Xijun and needed to vent, Ding Anmin blurted it all out.

"My elder brother isn’t my parents’ biological child, and a lot of people in the team know about it, but no one talks about it. Your parents know it too, so you should also know it."

"During a famine over ten years ago, my grandparents targeted my elder brother. Because he wasn’t their biological grandson and someone happened to want to buy a boy for a high price, they sold my elder brother."

Yi Roujing was really surprised, not expecting such a past event. Indeed, the perspective in books and being in the situation is different; books won’t cover everything.

"My dad directly held a knife to my uncle’s throat to find out where they sold my elder brother. After several days on the train, they finally found him."

"My elder brother wasn’t cold-hearted like this before. It was after that incident that he changed. Back then, he was only eight years old. When they found him, he was covered in wounds, and my parents were heartbroken."

"At that time, my second brother and I didn’t really understand, but I still remember the way my elder brother looked back then. I remember crying many meals over it."

"After bringing my brother back, they demanded double the money from us, but my parents didn’t have enough with them. So my grandparents made them sign a promissory note, and the amount doubled, accumulating interest."

Yi Roujing was silent for a while before continuing to ask, "Is there more?"

Ding Anmin was a bit surprised, "How did you know there’s more?"

"Your elder brother came back safely after all. Besides, with how successful he is now, they must have tried to make amends, right?" Yi Roujing analyzed, knowing that greedy and thick-skinned people wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.

"Yes, once my brother became successful, they tried to exploit his marriage. There was a girl from an official’s family who liked my brother, and my uncle and them were scheming for the connection."

"You’d think that just discussing the engagement would be enough, but they resorted to unscrupulous and hurtful tactics. My mom, in anger, went to my grandparents’ house to write a letter of severance and calculated the future piety money based on their age of a hundred, paid it all at once, and they’ve never been in contact since."

"Your parents truly care about your elder brother." Yi Roujing commented, feeling that even for one’s own child, it might be hard to go this far.

"What are you saying, they’re your parents now too." Ding Anmin glared and corrected Yi Roujing.

"You and Anguo should also be wary of those people; when a biological daughter could be sold, it’s possible they’d scheme against grandchildren if there’s profit to be made on you."

"One is handsome, the other as beautiful as a flower. Don’t go out alone often." Yi Roujing preemptively cautioned Ding Anmin.

"I know, mom already warned me and my second brother. But you should be careful yourself, despite your bad temper, you look good, don’t get tricked." Ding Anmin retorted with a hum.

"Especially beware of Li Xijun, he used to hit me and my second brother, but later my elder brother beat him so badly he was hospitalized for half a month, and he’s only been somewhat honest since."

"Alright, alright, let’s not talk about it today; let’s hurry to buy the bus tickets or we’ll miss the bus." Ding Anmin grabbed Yi Roujing and strode forward quickly.

Having seen bustling high-rise buildings and busy streets, now witnessing the simplicity of this era with the sound of ringing bicycles, the warm greetings of passersby, and cheerful conversations, Yi Roujing found a unique charm.

"What to do, what to do..."

"Oh... someone, help my sister-in-law, help my sister-in-law..."

"Her face is almost blue."

...

Not far away, a circle of people gathered, and the sound of crying came from inside. Instinctively, Yi Roujing moved forward, pulling Ding Anmin along.

"Make way, make way—" Yi Roujing squeezed through the crowd, seeing a woman in a white dress with her hands clutching her throat, squatting and bending over. Occasionally, she’d lift her head, her eyes slightly rolling back, her face a mix of red and blue. A young girl beside her was tapping her back nervously.

She’s choking, Yi Roujing noticed at once, rushing forward to pull the woman up and hugged her from behind. The clearly protruding belly made Yi Roujing pause for a moment; she was pregnant.

She placed her hands under the chest bone, one fist against it, the other hand cupping the fist, and then quickly thrust.

After six thrusts, a red candy flew out of the pregnant woman’s mouth and rolled onto the ground.

"Phew—cough, cough—"

The woman coughed harshly for a bit, took deep breaths several times, and her face slowly began to recover, no longer red and blue.

"Alright, alright." People around couldn’t help but express their relief and joy.

"Sister-in-law, are you alright?" Tears filled her face, and a young girl in a floral dress and a sweater asked worriedly.

"No, no problem." The pregnant woman gathered herself, though she still felt apprehensive.

"It’s all my fault. Brother already told me not to let sister-in-law have candy, but I bought it anyway, just because I was greedy." The young girl was extremely self-reproaching, and with the situation eased, she suddenly burst into tears, "If anything happened to sister-in-law, I wouldn’t want to live either, wah—"