The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

When Zheng Daniu saw Lin Shuying being bullied, he would occasionally step in. He then used this as an excuse to approach her frequently. When Lin Shuying ignored him, he had people spread rumors about the two of them. Eventually, everyone thought she was a woman of loose morals. As a result, many men started harassing her, and the women would curse her name. In the end, Lin Shuying had no choice but to marry Zheng Daniu.

Gu’er sighed as she listened to Lin Shan’s story. That was an era that was hard to imagine, an era that one could never truly comprehend without having lived through it.

Lin Shuying was from the city—pretty, with a gentle temperament. But to end up in such a remote mountain valley, married to a man like that... Her heart must have ached with a bitterness she couldn’t share with anyone.

Later, Lin Shuying gave birth to Zheng Zhongshan. Once she had a child, her heart finally settled. Forgetting everything else, she resolved to live a good life for her son’s sake.

Even though Zheng Daniu had his many faults, he was, after all, the child’s father. So, Lin Shuying endured.

Later, when Lin Shan returned to the city, he used his connections to arrange for Lin Shuying’s transfer back. Lin Shuying was overjoyed when she found out. She had always dreamed of returning to the city where her child could get a good education, and she wouldn’t have to spend her days in that mountain valley, living the life she had been forced to endure.

But when she told Zheng Daniu the news, he flatly refused. He said his family had lived there for generations, and he had no intention of following her to the Northeast, a place he claimed was cold enough to freeze a man to death. He told her to give up the idea. Even if she wanted to go back, he wouldn’t allow it—and he absolutely would not let her take their son, who he declared was "a seed of the Zheng family."

Lin Shuying couldn’t bear to leave her child. She cried for days and finally decided to stay.

Even though she stayed, Zheng Daniu still didn’t trust her. Once, when Zhongshan fell ill, she tried to take him to see a doctor. But Zheng Daniu accused her of using it as an excuse to run back to the Northeast with their son. He locked both her and Zhongshan in their room. No matter how she cried, screamed, and pleaded, he refused to open the door. Her parents-in-law, also believing she was not the type of woman to settle down, stood outside the door cursing her, calling her a jinx, and refused to let her out.

Her calls to heaven and earth went unanswered. By the time Zheng Daniu finally opened the door two days later, Zheng Zhongshan had already passed out, and Lin Shuying had cried her voice hoarse. It was because his illness was left untreated that one time that Zhongshan’s health remained poor ever since.

But not only did Zheng Daniu feel no remorse, he turned his fists on Lin Shuying. He blamed her for ruining their son’s health, screaming that she was a curse sent by the heavens to destroy their family.

Later, giving birth to Xinghua took a toll on Lin Shuying’s body, leaving her unable to have more children. After that, Zheng Daniu’s abuse worsened, extending to the children as well. Zhongshan was sickly, but every time she took him to a doctor, Zheng Daniu would greet her return with a barrage of curses and, sometimes, his fists. He’d rant that Zheng Zhongshan wouldn’t live another two years, so spending money on him was a waste. He called his own son a useless cripple who could never marry and carry on the Zheng family line. If Lin Shan hadn’t been secretly supporting them, Zhongshan might not have survived at all. Lin Shuying cried countless times, but for her two children, she endured everything in silence, never revealing the truth of her situation to Lin Shan. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Then, two years ago, Zheng Daniu got involved with a widow in their village named Chang Juhua. She was thirty years old and had a six-year-old daughter. Her husband had died, leaving her to raise her child alone.

Chang Juhua had a poor reputation and was known for being promiscuous. It didn’t take long for her and Zheng Daniu to get together.

At first, Lin Shuying tried to talk some sense into him. But Zheng Daniu shot back that since she was barren and Zheng Zhongshan wouldn’t live much longer, he, Zheng Daniu, would be left without an heir if he didn’t find another woman.

Zheng Daniu eventually moved the widow, Chang Juhua, into their house. He declared that she would give him a son—a healthy son, not a chronically ill boy like Zheng Zhongshan or a worthless girl like Zheng Xinghua. He needed to secure an heir for the Zheng Daniu line, and he would do it by living with two wives. He then ordered Lin Shuying to wait on Chang Juhua.

Lin Shuying refused. She saw it as the ultimate humiliation. But Zheng Daniu threatened her: if she didn’t agree, he would marry Xinghua off to any man he chose, be he blind or crippled, and from then on, he wouldn’t care if Zheng Zhongshan lived or died.

Xinghua was just a teenager; how could Lin Shuying let her be married off to a blind or crippled man? And Zhongshan was her very life; how could she abandon him to his fate? And so, swallowing the bitter humiliation, Lin Shuying agreed.

Zheng Zhongshan and Xinghua were dead set against it and urged her to contact Lin Shan. But how could she even begin to tell him? He was too far away to be of any real help. Zheng Daniu forbade her from visiting her family, and whenever she tried to write a letter or make a phone call to Lin Shan, he stood over her, watching her every move.

Once, when she got into an argument with Chang Juhua, Zheng Daniu struck her without a moment’s hesitation. Zhongshan, trying to defend his mother, started shouting at his father, only to be beaten himself. A chill settled deep in Lin Shuying’s heart, but there was nothing she could do.

For Gu’er’s wedding this time, she said she wanted to come back. At first, Zheng Daniu refused. She argued that if she didn’t go, Lin Shan would surely get suspicious and might even come looking for them. Zheng Daniu thought about it and then allowed her to come back alone, knowing she would never abandon Zhongshan and Xinghua.

How could Lin Shuying leave her two children at home? Who knew what might happen? But she also knew she couldn’t change Zheng Daniu’s mind. So she went to see Chang Juhua.

Chang Juhua was already four months pregnant. Lin Shuying went to her and said that if Chang Juhua helped her take the children to her family home, she might not come back. If that happened, the house would belong to Chang Juhua, who would finally have a proper standing, and her son would become the sole heir of the Zheng Family.

Then Lin Shuying presented the alternative: if Chang Juhua didn’t help, then all hope would be lost. She would be driven to desperation, find some rat poison, and kill both Zheng Daniu and Chang Juhua. She was prepared to pay for their lives with her own. At least then, Zhongshan and Xinghua would be free, and no one could ever torment them again.

Chang Juhua saw the dead-serious look in Lin Shuying’s eyes. She valued her own life; she wanted to live, not die. She figured it would be for the best if Lin Shuying and her two children never returned. That way, everything the Zheng family owned would be hers, with no one to get in her way. So, she agreed. She spent two days convincing Zheng Daniu, even complaining that her stomach felt unwell and wondering aloud if Zheng Zhongshan’s presence was jinxing the baby.

Zheng Daniu, doting on Chang Juhua and the "seed" in her womb, finally relented and let Lin Shuying take the two children back home. However, he forbade them from taking anything with them and gave them no money, ordering them to return immediately after the wedding.

So, Lin Shuying brought her two children back and told Lin Shan everything. She had no other options left; she couldn’t endure that life any longer. Her existence there was a living hell, but she had two children she could not abandon. She had decided before she even left that she would not go back. She refused to hand her children over to a father like that. But she couldn’t escape on her own. Her only hope was that Lin Shan would help her.

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