Chapter 198: Moral Kidnapping

Chapter 198: Chapter 198: Moral Kidnapping

Seeing her fall silent, Song Yao turned to leave.

But He Wei blocked her, stretching her arm straight across the hallway.

Song Yao: "Huh??"

"I’m going to start yelling."

Song Yao didn’t even bat an eye.

"I... I have real business with you!"

He Wei quickly changed her tune, her shoulders hunching instinctively.

"Are we that familiar with each other?"

Song Yao retorted.

He Wei immediately raised a hand and pointed upstairs.

"That apartment! The one you’re living in now!"

Song Yao tilted her head.

"Oh? And is your name on the deed?"

He Wei’s face flushed crimson, the veins on her neck throbbing.

"It was supposed to be ours!"

"Supposed to be, but it’s not."

Song Yao gave a slight shrug, her hands hanging loosely at her sides.

He Wei: "..."

She was so angry her fingers trembled.

’How can such a young girl have a mouth like a steel tack, with every word piercing right to the bone? She’s definitely not one to be trifled with.’

"No! It’s wrong for you people to be occupying it!"

She said this self-righteously, her chin lifted as she stared straight into Song Yao’s eyes.

Song Yao: "Huh?"

"I have a lot of kids, my house is crowded. What a waste for your big place to be so empty. Giving it to us would be putting it to good use."

"There are just two of you, one working and one waiting to give birth. What do you need all that space for?"

Song Yao: "Huh??"

She patted her round belly.

"I’ve got this giant ball sticking out right here. Are you blind?"

"I think your eyesight is failing you!"

He Wei narrowed her eyes and gestured in front of her face.

"Your balcony window is right opposite my kitchen. Every day when I cook, I have to stare at your diapers hanging out to dry—red ones, blue ones. When the wind blows, they even flutter over in my direction. You really haven’t noticed? Or are you too busy counting your future children to even clean your windows?"

"Besides, you have to raise a kid for years after they’re born! When they’re little, one bed is enough for them to roll around in. What do you need such a big house for?"

Song Yao looked down and touched her side, her fingertips lightly tracing a crease on her coarse cotton clothes.

"Before they’re three, they can’t even wear their pants properly. Before five, they can’t even hold a bowl steady. What’s the difference where they sleep? Lay a mat on the floor, fan them in the summer, give them a thick quilt in the winter, and they’ll still grow up big, tall, and sharp-witted."

"Let’s do this."

He Wei took half a step forward.

"Let’s swap apartments! I’ll even give you some money!"

She placed her right hand over her heart, her tone slowing a little.

"I just asked property management this morning. Unit 201 in Building 3 next door is vacant. You move over there, and I’ll give you five hundred, straight up. We can sign the agreement now, and you can have the cash this afternoon."

"You just got a new refrigerator, right? Money must be tight. And now you’re pregnant. In a couple of months, you’ll stop working, your income will dry up, and things will get tough. Swap apartments, and I’ll give you five hundred bucks! That’s enough for plenty of diapers and formula, right?"

She pulled a piece of paper, folded in three, from her pants pocket. Unfurling a corner, she revealed several lines of densely packed numbers.

"I’ve done the math. A pack of diapers is twenty-eight sixty. You use six a day, so that’s five hundred twenty-seven a month. A small can of formula is three hundred ten, and you’ll go through that in three weeks. Then there are bottles, bibs, baby shampoo... Five hundred isn’t much, but it’s enough to get you through three months."

"Besides, the two apartments have the exact same layout. There’s only a few square meters difference in size. You’ll be just as comfortable if you move over!"

She spoke as if she were negotiating a business deal, even breaking down the costs for her.

"The floor slabs are the same thickness, the soundproofing is the same, and the plumbing routes haven’t been changed."

Song Yao didn’t rush to argue. She just stared at her and asked.

"If the apartments are so similar, why are you going to all this trouble to swap?"

She tugged up the old knitted cuff draped over her arm, revealing a small, sallow-looking section of her wrist.

"You have seven pots of chili seedlings growing under your windowsill. Every morning when I sweep the yard, I can see your kid squatting there, plucking off the leaves. After he’s done, you replant them. You’ve replanted them three times now, haven’t you?"

He Wei’s face fell.

"I have a lot of children!"

She unclasped the hands she held in front of her body, her fingertips trembling slightly.

"My oldest is eight, my second is six, and my third just started kindergarten. I had a check-up last month, and the doctor said I’m pregnant again. A family of five squeezed into two rooms. When I’m stir-frying in the kitchen, my second kid has to hold the third and crouch by the stove to avoid the fumes."

"Hmm, you said they’re about the same size... So after my baby is born, your family will just have one more kid than mine, right?"

Song Yao nodded.

"Your family has five, mine has one. When this one is born, your family will have five, and mine will have two. A year after that, your family will have five, and mine will have three."

"My kids are already in elementary school! The one in your belly isn’t even born yet!"

He Wei’s voice grew louder, her shoulders tensing.

"I’ve saved all my oldest’s homework! Perfect scores on math tests, and his penmanship in his writing workbooks is neat as a pin. Your baby hasn’t even started kicking yet, has it? What grounds do you have to compare?"

"But he’ll have growth spurts, grow teeth, and run all over the place, too."

Song Yao said with a smile, stroking her belly.

"Besides, I plan on having more."

She placed her left hand on her lower abdomen, her right hand hanging naturally at her side.

"My due date is October fifteenth. We’ll do the one-month celebration on the twentieth of the twelfth lunar month, and on the eighteenth of the first lunar month next year, we’ll take the baby to the temple to have its head shaved. There will be exactly eleven months between each birth, no more, no less."

"I’m from the countryside. The elders in my family all believe that the more children you have, the more fortune you’ll receive."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over a small mole behind He Wei’s ear before returning to the tips of her own shoes.

"My grandma gave birth to nine and raised seven. My mom gave birth to six and raised five. Aunt Wang, from the east end of our village, had four daughters and just had her fifth last year—a boy."

She held up both hands in front of He Wei’s face, showing eight fingers.

"Eight babies! I have it all planned out. The first will lay the foundation, the second will stabilize our position. The third and fourth will expand the operation, the fifth and sixth will build up the team, and the seventh and eighth will be the grand finale. All perfectly planned."

She gave a thumbs-up.

"Eight of ’em!"

A few of the neighboring women who had been eavesdropping all sucked in a sharp breath.

They all stared at Song Yao in unison, their eyes wide, trying to figure out if this girl was joking or if she really planned to have kids until it killed her...

’Eight?’

’She must be insane.’

"Oh my, when the time comes, I’ll have to invite all you ladies for celebratory red eggs!"

Song Yao covered her mouth, laughing so hard she stomped her foot, her shoulders shaking.

"Ah? Oh, oh... yes, of course!"

The women were all stunned, agreeing woodenly as if they’d been frozen in place.

As soon as she finished speaking, she sidestepped He Wei, one hand on her lower back and the other holding a bag of groceries.

He Wei gritted her teeth, staring at Song Yao’s retreating back before spitting fiercely on the ground.

"Pah! Absolutely shameless!"

"Low-life trash! Her skin is thicker than a city wall!"

The remaining women were already scared witless. Fearing they’d get caught in the crossfire, they quickly found excuses to slip away.

In the blink of an eye, the crowd had completely dispersed.

He Wei’s chest felt tight with rage.

’She had it all planned out so perfectly.’

’Song Yao was just in her early twenties, so green and inexperienced.’

’In front of so many people, with the offer of swapping apartments and even extra money, how could the girl possibly have the nerve to say no?’

’She had even imagined how Song Yao would shyly lower her head, and she’d rehearsed her follow-up lines three times.’

’As long as Song Yao didn’t reject her outright and cause her to lose face, she could just pressure her a bit later, and the apartment would be hers, nine times out of ten.’

’Who would have thought... Just recalling the energy Song Yao had when she patted her stomach and said she planned to have eight...’