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

After the start of spring, the weather gets warmer day by day.

The grass on the hillside was dazzlingly green, and the wind carried a fresh scent of soil and tender shoots.

Gu Niannian could no longer wear her tattered old cotton-padded jacket, which was covered in gray and black cotton wadding.

Looking at her daughter's flushed face, Gu Yanqiu felt both pain and guilt.

He gritted his teeth, added the work points he had saved for half a month to a few small bills he earned from repairing machines, and...

I went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought two feet of the cheapest floral fabric.

The fabric is light blue with tiny white flowers printed on it; it feels slightly rough to the touch.

But in Niannian's eyes, it was even more beautiful than the clouds in the sky.

Aunt Wang is skilled with her hands and knows that the father and daughter have a hard life, so she took over the work without saying a word.

I stayed up all night by the dim light of an oil lamp.

The next morning, a brand new jacket was delivered to Niannian.

"Hurry up and try it on, see how handsome our Niannian looks in it!" Aunt Wang said with a big smile.

Niannian carefully took off her old cotton-padded coat and put on a new jacket.

The size was just right, and the blue background with white flowers made her already delicate face look even fairer.

She stood in the courtyard, like a happy little butterfly, circling once, twice, three times... the hem of her jacket fluttering gently in the wind.

She felt as if she had become a little flower blooming in spring.

Gu Yanqiu leaned against the door frame, looking at the unprecedentedly bright smile on her daughter's face. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she felt that all the hardships she had endured were worth it.

"It's really beautiful," he praised sincerely, his voice slightly choked with emotion.

This was the first time since he separated from his family that he had been able to buy his daughter something decent with his own money.

This little jacket is more than just a piece of clothing; it represents hope and proof of a new life.

That evening, Niannian was reluctant to take it off, and it was only after Gu Yanqiu persuaded her that she finally changed.

The next morning, Niannian washed the jacket clean by hand, spread it out with two bamboo poles, and hung it on the clothesline in the yard.

When the sunlight shines on it, the blue background and white flowers seem to sparkle.

But when Niannian came out of the house at noon to water the vegetable garden, she found that the clothesline was empty.

My new jacket is gone.

The wind blew by, and only the lone hemp rope swayed gently.

Nian Nian's heart suddenly sank.

She searched every corner of the courtyard—behind the stove, in the woodpile, under the water vat… but found nothing.

She didn't cry; her little face was tense.

Finally, she found her new jacket in the corner of the courtyard wall, behind the manure pile next to her uncle's outhouse, a place almost no one went to.

Or rather, it used to be her new jacket.

The blue and white floral blouse that held all her joy and anticipation now lay quietly in the filthy ashes.

The top was cut three times with scissors.

One knife was in the chest, one in the sleeve, and another that cut from the hem all the way to the collar.

A perfectly intact garment has been turned into a pile of useless scraps of cloth.

The jagged cuts conveyed a sense of vengeful cruelty and satisfaction.

Niannian squatted down, stretched out her little hand, wanting to pick it up, but was afraid of getting her hands dirty.

She just squatted there quietly, looking at the pile of rags, her small body casting a lonely shadow in the sunlight.

She still didn't cry.

But the glimmer of light that had just ignited in his eyes seemed to have been extinguished in an instant.

She picked up the scraps of cloth one by one, gathered them in the corner of her clothes, and went back into the house without saying a word.

In the evening, Gu Yanqiu returned from work at the brick kiln, covered in sweat and mud, but with a smile on his face.

"Niannian, look what goodies Daddy brought you!"

He took out something wrapped in oil paper from his pocket, opened it, and found two steaming white steamed buns.

The foreman secretly slipped this to him because he saw that he was willing to work hard.

He couldn't bear to eat any of them, so he tucked them into his pocket and brought them back.

But he didn't see his daughter rush over; he only saw Niannian sitting on a small stool, holding a pile of blue and white scraps of cloth in her arms, staring blankly without moving.

Gu Yanqiu's smile froze instantly.

He rushed over, taking three steps at a time, and when he saw the familiar yet unfamiliar pile of things in his daughter's arms...

An uncontrollable rage, like a volcanic eruption, shot from his chest straight to the top of his head!

His fist clenched tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand, and his knuckles cracking from the force.

He didn't ask a single question.

He walked into the yard, squatted down, and carefully examined the marks on the ground.

In spring, the soil is soft, making the footprints particularly clear.

It was the footprint of an adult woman, with a distinctive corrugated pattern on the sole of her shoe.

The footprints entered through a gap in the courtyard wall, lingered for a long time under the clothesline, and finally disappeared in the direction behind my uncle's outhouse!

Gu Yanqiu was all too familiar with this shoe print!

It's Liu Cuihua!

No one but her could do such a vicious and despicable thing to a five-year-old child!

Gu Yanqiu's eyes instantly turned red, like a wild beast that had been completely enraged.

He grabbed a carrying pole from the corner of the wall, intending to rush into the main room, drag that wicked woman out of the house, and make her kneel down and apologize to Niannian!

But he stopped after taking just one step.

He turned around and saw the small, silent figure inside the room.

Charge over, fight, and then what?

Wang Guifang would throw tantrums, and Gu Yanchun would distort the truth; in the end, it was this powerless father and daughter who suffered the most.

Liu Cuihua would even retaliate, accusing him of slander and bullying his widowed sister-in-law by taking advantage of his strength.

can not go.

We cannot use such a foolish method that would harm the enemy by eight hundred while damaging ourselves by a thousand.

Gu Yanqiu took a deep breath, then another, forcibly suppressing the anger that was about to burn away his reason.

He put down the carrying pole, went into the house, took the scraps of cloth from Niannian's arms, carefully folded them, and placed them on the table.

Then, he squatted down and gently wiped his daughter's tearless face with his large, calloused hands, which were covered in engine oil.

"Niannian, don't be afraid."

His voice was terribly hoarse.

"Dad, I have a way."

The next day, Gu Yanqiu didn't go to see anyone. Instead, she went to work as usual.

He stopped when he passed by the big locust tree at the village entrance at noon and saw Granny Wang sitting with a group of women sewing shoe soles and chatting.

He deliberately raised his voice, his face displaying just the right amount of confusion and indignation.

He said to Aunt Wang:

"Aunt Wang, how can there be such despicable people in this world!"

"You know how much my daughter Niannian cherishes her new jacket. It was stolen yesterday while she was hanging it out to dry in the yard!"

"If they stole it, so be it. If some kid really has nothing else to wear, I'll accept it!"

"But guess what?" He slapped his thigh, his face full of heartache and indignation.

"I found it this morning behind the manure pile! It had been slashed to shreds with scissors! What was this person thinking? How much must they be jealous of others' success to do something so cruel to a five-year-old child's clothes?"

"That's incredibly ruthless! So cruel! If I find out who did this, I'll skin them alive!"

His voice was loud and clear, and his words were filled with righteous indignation and emotion.

Under the big locust tree, everything fell silent instantly.

All the women who were sewing shoe soles or chatting stopped what they were doing and raised their heads in unison.

Their gazes, as if rehearsed beforehand, swept over the crowd and landed in unison on the tightly closed gate of the Gu family's main house not far away.

Under the sunlight, the door seemed to sense the scorching gaze and appeared particularly guilty.

Hiding in the house, Liu Cuihua, who was eavesdropping, felt as if those gazes were like red-hot needles piercing her back.

Her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

She knew it was over.

Gu Yanqiu didn't name names, but that made her feel even worse than if she had been named!

Now, whenever she goes out, the whole village looks at her with disdain and contempt!

She became that "vicious-hearted" and "can't stand seeing others do well" poisonous woman!

Just then, Wang Da Niang's angry voice came from outside the door again.

"What a tragedy! What a tragedy! They can't even tolerate a child's clothes! Aren't they afraid of being punished for not having children?!"

Liu Cuihua's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.

Outside the door, Gu Yanqiu listened to the crowd's discussion, his lips pursed, his expression icy.

He knew he had won this battle.

But he felt no joy whatsoever.

He looked down at his calloused hands, and only one thought crossed his mind: I'm still not strong enough.

Only by becoming strong enough can I prevent those wolves and tigers from ever daring to approach my daughter again!

He turned and walked toward the brickyard, his steps more resolute than ever before.

What he didn't know was that, after experiencing extreme fear and humiliation, Liu Cuihua's eyes were filled with an even more frantic and venomous hatred.

Gu Yanqiu! Gu Niannian!

You just wait!

I have an even more vicious backup plan, let's see how you deal with it!