Sold into a ghost marriage? Four-year-old and his thuggish father go on a killing spree.

"Tear it up!"

Gu Yanqiu stared at the letter in his hand, his eyes blazing with fury.

The letter paper was the cheapest kind of hemp paper, but the handwriting on it was neat and tidy, exuding a kind of insincere politeness.

The letter was written by Song Jianguo, Nian Nian's maternal uncle.

The letter was simple; it began with a feigned greeting to Gu Yanqiu, then abruptly changed the subject...

It is said that the mother, Zhao, missed her granddaughter day and night, lost her appetite, and was almost ill.

I want to take Niannian back to the provincial capital for a few days to fulfill my responsibilities as a grandmother.

"responsibility?"

Gu Yanqiu sneered, her fingers turning white from gripping the weight so tightly.

"When she sold Niannian for a ghost marriage, why didn't she take responsibility? Now she's pretending to be a good person, what is she up to!"

With a "rip," he was about to tear the letter in two.

"etc!"

Cheng Tiezhu grabbed his hand.

There were only the three of them in the brigade headquarters office.

Niannian stood behind Gu Yanqiu, her little hands tightly gripping her father's clothes, her face deathly pale.

Every word in the letter felt like a needle piercing her heart.

Going back to Grandma's house?

That place was not home for her; it was hell.

"Yanqiu, don't act rashly."

Cheng Tiezhu's expression was very serious. He took the letter from Gu Yanqiu's hand and laid it flat on the table again.

"This letter must not be torn up. If it is, it will be as if you are telling them that you have a guilty conscience."

"Why would I feel guilty?" Gu Yanqiu's temper flared up again. "Niannian is my daughter, it's only natural!"

"Yes, in our Chengjiawan, in the eyes of those of us who have watched you two live your lives, it is only natural."

Cheng Tiezhu sighed, took out his pipe from his waist, and tapped it on the corner of the table.

"But Yanqiu, don't forget, everything must be done according to the law. Especially nowadays, city people are the best at using this as a pretext."

He paused, looked at Gu Yanqiu, and asked, word by word:

"I'm asking you, did you and Wanqing... get a marriage certificate back then?"

These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over Gu Yanqiu from head to toe.

His lips moved, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Marriage certificate.

What a distant and jarring word.

Back then, he and Song Wanqing were truly in love, and their families had even met.

But Zhao refused to agree because she thought his family was poor, and demanded an astronomical dowry.

He and Song Wanqing discussed that they should stay together first, and then go back to complete the formalities once they had saved enough money.

Who knew that this wait would last for six years.

For six years, Zhao interfered, forged letters, and forcibly separated them.

Until Song Wanqing passed away, they were never able to receive the marriage certificate that proved they were legally married.

Seeing Gu Yanqiu's face turn ashen instantly, Cheng Tiezhu knew the answer.

His heart sank.

"This is troublesome."

Cheng Tiezhu's brows furrowed into a deep frown.

"Without a marriage certificate, you are not legally married. So, Niannian... she is a 'child born out of wedlock'."

The words "children born out of wedlock" were like six knives, stabbing Gu Yanqiu's heart hard.

He instinctively hugged Niannian behind him even tighter.

Niannian's body was trembling slightly.

Although she didn't understand what "children born out of wedlock" meant, she could see a huge crisis in her father's and Grandpa Cheng's expressions.

"What...what does this have to do with anything?" Gu Yanqiu's voice was dry, like sandpaper rubbing together. "Niannian is my own child, we're connected by blood, no one can change that!"

"Bloodline is bloodline, and law is law."

Cheng Tiezhu lit his pipe and took a deep drag.

Amidst the swirling smoke, his expression grew increasingly solemn.

"According to the current Marriage Law, both parents have guardianship rights for children born out of wedlock. Now that Wanqing is gone, you, as the father, are naturally the primary guardian."

"but!"

Cheng Tiezhu then changed the subject.

"The law also stipulates that if one parent dies and the other parent is genuinely unable to support the child, or is treating the child poorly,..."

Then the child's grandparents also have the right to apply for guardianship.

He pointed with his pipe at the letter on the table.

"Zhao is Niannian's maternal grandmother, and no one can deny that. Now she's using the excuse of 'missing her granddaughter' to take the child away. This is just the first step. If we don't agree, she can go to the commune and the county to make a scene."

"What kind of trouble will she cause?"

Cheng Tiezhu's gaze sharpened.

"She would say, 'You, Gu Yanqiu, are a single man living in a dilapidated house. You can't even support yourself. How can you take care of a four-and-a-half-year-old girl?'"

She would say, "You work outside every day and leave the child alone at home. That's irresponsible!"

She might even make up stories about you hitting or scolding the children!

"She dares!" Gu Yanqiu slammed his fist on the table, causing the enamel mug on the table to jump up.

"What wouldn't she dare to do?" Cheng Tiezhu retorted. "She dared to ruin her own daughter's six years of happiness, and she even dared to sell her own granddaughter to a ghost marriage. What else wouldn't she dare to do? A person like that will tell any lie to achieve her goals!"

"When the time comes, they'll send people down to investigate. They'll see you're indeed living in a dilapidated house, and your life has only just started to improve. Then they'll be crying and wailing about how much they miss their granddaughter... Yanqiu, tell me, what will you have to compete with her?"

Gu Yanqiu was completely speechless.

He felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

My hands and feet are ice cold, and even my breath feels chilly.

He always thought that as long as he worked hard and made sure Niannian was well-fed and clothed, he could protect her.

But he never expected that the other party would stab him with a knife from the place he least expected and was least able to resist.

law.

Something he had never encountered before and had never understood.

He looked down at Niannian in his arms.

The little girl buried her face in his chest, her small shoulders trembling.

She was crying.

A silent cry.

Gu Yanqiu's heart ached as if it were being torn apart.

"Uncle Cheng...then...what should we do?"

His voice carried a hint of panic and pleading that he himself was unaware of.

Cheng Tiezhu remained silent.

He was smoking a pipe, and the office was so quiet that only the hissing sound of the burning tobacco could be heard.

After a long time, he tapped his pipe on the sole of his shoe.

"Staying defiant is a bad strategy. If she really makes a scene in the county, it will be detrimental to you. When the court issues a judgment and enforces it, you won't be able to stop it."

"Then... let her take Niannian away?" Gu Yanqiu's eyes instantly reddened.

"Of course not!"

Cheng Tiezhu glared at him, "Pushing a child into a fire pit, that's what beasts do!"

He stood up and paced around the room a couple of times.

"We need to come up with a foolproof plan for this. We can't let her take the child away, but we also can't give her a reason to cause trouble at the higher-ups."

He stopped and looked at Gu Yanqiu.

"She wants to talk about the 'law'? Then let's talk about the 'law' with her. We need to prove that you are more qualified than her to be Nian Nian's guardian. We need to complete the paperwork..."

"Finish them off?" Gu Yanqiu looked bewildered. "The person is gone, how can we make up for them?"

"The person is gone, but the bond remains, and the evidence is still there!"

Cheng Tiezhu's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of something.

"Yanqiu, think carefully. Did Wanqing leave anything behind before she died? Or did she tell anyone that she wanted to entrust the child to you?"

Gu Yanqiu's mind raced.

Entrustment?

In Song Wanqing's letter, every word was filled with trust and entrustment to him.

But it was written for him; no one else has ever seen it.

Who else?

A name suddenly popped into his mind.

The woman who handed over Song Wanqing's belongings to him at the Baima Town Supply and Marketing Cooperative and also gave him fifty yuan.

Song Wanqing's coworker.

Li Huilan!

"Yes!" Gu Yanqiu's eyes lit up. "There's someone! She can prove it!"

Cheng Tiezhu pressed, "Who?!"