Chapter Twenty: The Eldest’s Scheme Entrusted to the Second Brother

After saying that, Meng’s mother wiped away her tears and rushed to the door of the emergency room, intending to knock.

“No, please don’t, in-laws!” Song’s mother reacted quickly and hurried forward to pull Meng’s mother back. “Don’t be so agitated. We never said we wouldn’t acknowledge the child!”

Seeing Meng’s mother determined to bang on the door, Song’s mother—usually a delicate lady unaccustomed to hard work—suddenly summoned great strength. She embraced her from behind and excitedly said, “In-laws, rest assured, we will definitely give you a satisfactory answer. This child is the eldest grandson of the Song family; we will surely recognize him!”

Song’s father also hurried forward, raising his hand to make a solemn promise. “In-laws, since the child is already here, whether he’s the eldest or the youngest, we will definitely accept this daughter-in-law. As for everything else, let’s sit down and discuss it properly, shall we?”

Listening to his parents’ solemn assurances, Song Shiyu felt dizzy, as if the world was spinning and he was about to collapse. At this moment, he wished he could return the hundred yuan to his second brother. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect that such a small sum of money would cost him his happiness for a lifetime.

His eldest brother had eloped, so why was he forced to be the heir?

Silently standing to the side, Shen Jin Xiao watched this farce unfold, his headache worsening. He stared fixedly at the door of the emergency room, feeling a suffocating heaviness in his chest.

He recalled the last time he saw Meng Shuyue in his memory, at the Song residence. She had come to say goodbye to her sister and brother-in-law. At that time, he was standing on the balcony, watching her downstairs, her face blossoming with a radiant smile, immersed in joy, exuding all the shy charm of a woman in love.

Later, feeling unwell, he thought of the Meng family’s renowned traditional medicine clinic, and quietly wore a mask to seek consultation there. At that moment, her father was absent, and she greeted him with a bright smile, saying she could also treat male ailments and asked him to sit for a pulse diagnosis.

Shen Jin Xiao had an excellent memory all his life, but for some reason, he could never remember women’s names or faces, and had harbored a lifelong aversion to women. But on that day, inexplicably, he obediently sat opposite this niece-in-law who could remember appearances, allowing her to take his pulse like a well-behaved puppy.

He still remembered that day vividly, the weather as scorching as today.

When the girl’s fair, cool fingertips touched him, he felt as if something inside his chest was churning and crying out. He had an impulse to grasp her youthful little hand in his palm.

But before he could understand this restless feeling, the girl’s words struck him like a fatal blow.

She solemnly held a brush and wrote on paper with a serious expression.

Her words left him utterly ashamed.

She touched her chin where no beard grew and frowned, saying, “Do you often feel a bloated lower abdomen and incomplete urination?”

“It’s okay. If you take the medicine I prescribed continuously for half a year, your infertility symptoms will gradually improve. Of course, if your wife comes too, I can help improve her constitution, greatly increasing your chances of conceiving.”

Finally, she handed the written prescription to him.

At that moment, Shen Jin Xiao stared at the words “infertility” on the paper as if struck by thunder.

After paying, he barely knew how he escaped from the clinic.

Later, he learned the Meng family’s clinic was famous precisely because they specialized in treating this ailment.

It was thanks to her warning that he took the matter seriously, visited several clinics, confirmed his infertility, and began following the prescription to regulate his body.

Over the past year, he had been thinking that once his health improved, he would have her take his pulse again, to prove he was a normal man.

But he never imagined that when he met her again, it would be under such circumstances.

*

In the evening, the small mansion’s main hall was packed with people.

The Song and Meng families sat together discussing the next steps.

Old Master Shen sat at the head of the table, his face beaming with joy.

He had rushed here from the countryside after receiving a call that the Meng family’s young lady was expecting.

This little old man, who usually took an hour just to use the outhouse, had made the trip in only an hour by car upon hearing news of a great-grandchild.

He had already learned the general situation before arriving and had his own plans, but still looked toward his son-in-law for his thoughts. “What is your plan?”

Song’s father glanced at the Meng couple, their faces gloomy, took a deep breath, and said, “Comrade Meng, no matter whose child is in your wife’s belly, it is a Song family seed. Whichever son you prefer, I agree!”

Song’s mother’s smile froze completely.

She looked at her elderly father sitting there with a warm expression full of approval, then turned to her husband facing the Meng family with a pleading expression, feeling a buzzing in her head, barely restraining herself from leaping up to shout angrily.

But she still suppressed her emotions and waited to see how things would unfold.

Sure enough, the Meng couple exchanged a glance and simultaneously made a bold demand: “We want the Song family’s second son...”

“You must be dreaming!”

Song’s mother sprang up from her seat, unable to maintain her composure any longer.

She had originally opposed the match between their promising second son and the Meng family, and now that the Meng girl was pregnant—whether with the firstborn’s child or the youngest’s—they wanted the second son to marry her?

How was that fair?

How could the second son face anyone in the future?

He was their only hope, their family’s pride!

When she went out to chat and have tea with other ladies, the second son was her bragging point.

She absolutely would not allow anyone to ruin the one son she could proudly show off!

Seeing her elderly father and the others staring at her in shock, Song’s mother realized her lapse in decorum.

She forced a strained smile and explained to her father, “Dad, you may not understand, but this child has nothing to do with the second son. The Meng family can’t just latch onto whichever of our sons is outstanding and force them to be the scapegoat.”

Old Master Shen’s expression darkened. He stared coldly at his pampered daughter, displeasure evident in his voice. “What do you mean? Do you want that good girl to marry your eldest son who ran off with another woman? Or to marry your youngest son who’s been caught cheating and beaten in public?”

“No matter what, we will have that Meng girl come over and find out whose child it is. If it’s the eldest’s, even if he doesn’t come home, she will be a widow in our family, and we won’t mistreat her.”

“If she refuses or says the child is the youngest’s, then all the better—she can marry the youngest. Men are naturally wild before marriage, but once married, they will take care of their families!”

Song’s mother spoke at length, her tone haughty, as if implying that the Meng girl marrying into the Song family was already a great social climb.

Meng’s father slammed the table, furious. “Your son is still alive, and you want my daughter to be a widow?”

Song’s mother didn’t back down an inch, glaring at him as she retorted, “And what else? What I said is correct. Whoever the child belongs to must take responsibility. You can’t just pick whoever is outstanding and dump responsibility on them!”

She then pointed at Shen Jin Xiao, who had been silent the whole time, and reasoned, “My younger brother is even more outstanding. Why don’t you take him and have him take responsibility for your daughter?”