Chapter 390: The Last Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back

Chapter 390 The Last Straw That Broke the Camel's Back

The villagers watching couldn’t help but feel a lump in their throats.

Some who’d assumed the dead man wasn’t a local instantly understood something when they saw the village chief summon the Liu family.

Such a cruel fate—

Old Man Liu knelt by the body and was about to lift the covering cloth when Old Lady Liu stopped him.

"Don’t! It can’t be our A-Yi. Just yesterday—just yesterday—I was talking to A-Yi, and he said he would change for the better." As she spoke, Old Lady Liu’s lips began to tremble.

Suddenly, she recalled her son’s demeanor during their conversation the day before, and the more she thought about it, the more something felt off.

The way he had spoken to her seemed almost like a farewell.

Gritting her teeth, Old Lady Liu suddenly stepped forward and slowly lifted the cloth covering the body.

After seeing just a sliver of the forehead, she immediately covered it back up.

She’d seen it—the scar on his temple, unmistakably A-Yi’s.

When Liu Yi was small, and she had no one to help mind him, she had to juggle farm work while looking after him.

At that time, Liu Yi was still tiny, still wobbling when he walked. Once, while running toward her, he had tripped and fallen, his temple striking a sharp rock.

It took stitches to close the gash, leaving behind a scar.

That’s why Liu Yi wore his bangs long enough to cover that spot.

But now, with his hair soaked and pushed back by the water, the scar was exposed.

Old Lady Liu suddenly felt all strength leave her body, slumping to the ground like a sack of grain.

She tried to scream, but her voice had vanished.

The villagers, seeing her reaction, immediately understood—this was indeed Liu Yi.

Most folks in the village thought well of Liu Yi. He was good-looking, a hard worker, always quick with a smile.

Whenever someone in the village needed help, he would jump in to help, never a word of complaint.

But recently, rumors had begun circulating—no one could say where they’d begun—claiming that Liu Yi liked men. No matter how fond people were of him, that kind of deviance—it wasn’t natural—was bound to shock them.

In any era, in any place, folks gave his kind a wide berth.

Yet no one had intended to drive Liu Yi to his death. Most just clucked their tongues and whispered about him, wondering what kind of man goes after other men.

But why... why’d he go and throw himself in the river?

Truthfully, while the rumors about Liu Yi had spread, not many put stock in it, and the gossip had remained within a small circle—though there was no telling if it might have escalated.

Even Wu Yanhua hadn’t heard until yesterday when she went out of her way to ask around.

The idea that Liu Yi liked men seemed to have originated from within his own family—who else would’ve dreamed it up?

The village chief watched, his old face wet with tears. Liu Yi was a child he had watched grow up—how could it come to this?

No one doubted Liu Yi had done this to himself, because even if he had accidentally fallen into the river, the water near the bank was shallow. You’d have to wade out deep before the bottom dropped away.

Only someone resolved to die would have stayed down like that.

The young man fetching clothes for Fu Tinghua hurried back and saw Old Man Liu and Old Lady Liu sitting beside the body, weeping.

Wordlessly, he passed the coat to Fu Tinghua and then stood quietly to the side, watching the sorrowful scene before him.

It was heartbreaking—Liu Yi’s life had ended at just 26.

Wu Yanhua and her third daughter-in-law, Chen Sufen, were preparing lunch for the family when suddenly the eldest daughter-in-law, Zhang Xiaohua, rushed in and said, "Mom, the Lius’ youngest son is dead."

Hearing the commotion, Fu Yanju also came out of her room. She’d been digging up a coat for her daughter, Chen Waner, as it was too cold today and the child wasn’t dressed warmly enough.

"Gone? What do you mean?" Wu Yanhua still didn’t understand.

Yesterday, she had heard the shocking news that Liu Yi liked men, and she was still reeling from it.

But thinking about it, since not many people were talking about it, it was probably unverified.

Wu Yanhua hadn’t fully believed it, so after returning home, she’d kept it to herself, not daring to bring it up.

She still had a good impression of Liu Yi, that young man.

After coming back yesterday, she had carefully recalled the scene when she had just seen Liu Yi. The longer she thought, the less sense it made that a boy about the same age as her son could possibly like men.

Ridiculous—someone must’ve been stirring up trouble.

When she saw Liu Yi yesterday, she shouldn’t have looked at him with that strange expression. Liu Yi had clearly picked up on her unease, and his expression had clearly darkened.

After returning home, Wu Yanhua had reflected on that moment with Liu Yi and regretted it more and more.

So now, when she heard her eldest daughter-in-law say that Liu Yi was gone, she couldn’t process it at first.

"Mom, Liu Yi jumped into the river last night. The whole village is over at the Lius’ place helping out. How could someone so good just...?"

Zhang Xiaohua’s voice broke, too upset to continue.

This was someone they saw regularly—if not every day, then at least three or four times a week.

He was fine yesterday—now he’s just gone. Everyone was heartbroken for him.

When Wu Yanhua finally understood her daughter-in-law’s words, her legs buckled, and she sank to the floor.

"Mom, Mom, what’s wrong?" Chen Sufen, who was beside her, quickly supported her.

Remembering the scene from last night when she had seen Liu Yi, Wu Yanhua opened her mouth but couldn’t utter a word.

"How... how could he do that?" Wu Yanhua looked up at her daughter-in-law and asked.

Zhang Xiaohua was surprised by how hard the news hit her mother-in-law.

"I don’t know. I just saw him the day before yesterday, smiling and greeting me. What could’ve driven him to this?" Zhang Xiaohua was also baffled.

Old Lady Liu had come to discuss the marriage between Fu Yanju and Liu Yi with Wu Yanhua, but apart from Su He and her husband, Fu Dajun, and Fu Yanju herself, the rest of the Fu family was in the dark.

So they wouldn’t connect this incident with Fu Yanju.

Luckily, the village didn’t know either, or else folks might’ve jumped to the wrong conclusion that Liu Yi had jumped into the river because he didn’t want to marry Fu Yanju.

But now wasn’t the time to think about such things—the dead deserve respect.

Guilt washed over Wu Yanhua. Yesterday, she shouldn’t have looked away when talking to him, even though she hadn’t meant to discriminate or reject him.

Just yesterday, a bright young man had been right there, greeting her, and now he was gone. Wu Yanhua was eaten up with regret.

If only she’d faced him properly yesterday.

She should’ve reached out to him, shown him some care, and spoken more with him. Maybe he wouldn’t have given up.