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

The grain distribution meeting after the autumn harvest is the most lively day of the year in Chengjiawan.

The men, women, and children in the team all carried small stools and sat around the threshing ground, their faces beaming with the joy of a bountiful harvest.

The air was filled with the fresh scent of new grain and the aroma of tobacco.

The brigade accountant was holding an abacus, calculating the work points and grain allotted to each household with a rapid-fire rhythm.

Cheng Tiezhu sat behind the table at the very front, drinking strong tea from a large mug.

Looking at the simple, smiling faces of the commune members, I felt particularly happy.

However, this joyful and peaceful atmosphere was soon shattered by a discordant voice.

"Secretary Cheng! I...I have something to say!"

Gu Yanchun stood up and walked up to Cheng Tiezhu in full view of everyone.

He rubbed his hands together, looking troubled yet with an undeniable air of "justice."

"Secretary Cheng, it's like this. My mother... as you know, she was seriously ill a while ago and is very weak."

"My second younger brother, Gu Yanqiu, is doing very well now and making a lot of money in the county. But my mother's food rations are still based on the old standards of the production team."

"I was thinking, could we... deduct a portion from the grain allocated under Yanqiu's name, as... as a gift from him to my mother?"

The moment those words were spoken, the entire room fell silent.

The commune members whispered among themselves, discussing the matter animatedly.

In rural areas, it is considered a matter of course for sons to give their parents more food, which is considered "filial piety."

Gu Yanchun's request didn't seem unreasonable.

Some elderly people even nodded in agreement.

"That makes sense. When the elderly get sick, the son should do more to help them."

"Yanqiu is a worker now, earning twenty-two yuan a month. What's a few dozen more kilograms of grain to his mother?"

Cheng Tiezhu's brows furrowed tightly.

He glanced at the back of the crowd, where Gu Yanqiu stood calmly with her daughter.

When the family divided their property, it was clearly written in black and white that Gu Yanqiu would give Wang Guifang thirty catties of grain and five mao (0.5 yuan) every month.

He gave it to me on time and in the correct amount every month, without fail.

Now that Gu Yanchun has jumped out and is demanding an additional deduction, it's obvious that he's jealous of Gu Yanqiu's comfortable life and wants to take advantage of her!

"Yanchun, you signed the family division agreement yourself and put your fingerprint on it."

Cheng Tiezhu's voice was deep.

"Yanqiu has already fulfilled her support obligations as agreed. It's unreasonable for you to deduct extra from her now."

"You can't say that, Secretary Cheng!"

Sun Xiufen also squeezed out of the crowd, shouting in a shrill voice, "That's my mother-in-law! Yanqiu's biological mother! What's wrong with giving her a little more? What kind of son calculates so much with his own mother? This is unfilial!"

Once the label of "unfilial piety" was attached, the prevailing opinion immediately shifted.

Many people started pointing and gossiping about Gu Yanqiu.

Gu Yanqiu's face turned bright red.

He wanted to argue, but he was tongue-tied and couldn't utter a single word in front of so many people.

He could only clench his fists tightly, letting those words cut into his body like knives.

Just then, a crisp sound rang out throughout the entire threshing ground.

"Grandpa Cheng, may I say a few words?"

Everyone was stunned and looked in the direction of the sound.

Gu Niannian walked out from behind her father.

Despite her small stature, she stood confidently among a group of adults.

Holding the blue-covered ledger in her hand, she walked to Cheng Tiezhu's desk.

"This is my family's account book."

Gu Niannian opened the notebook, her little finger pointing to the densely packed notes, and read them aloud clearly, word by word:

"It has been ten months and seven days since the family separated."

"According to the family division agreement, Dad should give Grandma thirty catties of coarse grains and fifty cents every month."

"Ten months, a total of 300 catties of coarse grains, five yuan."

"But what we actually gave them was: in January, thirty catties of cornmeal, five cents, plus half a catty of lard. In February, thirty catties of sorghum rice, five cents, plus a bag of brown sugar..."

Gu Niannian read it down stroke by stroke.

The time, place, items, and quantity are all remembered clearly, without the slightest error.

"...In September, thirty catties of wheat flour cost five mao (0.5 yuan)."

Grandma was sick, and Dad sent an extra five yuan for medical expenses, ten jin of rice, and two jin of rock sugar.

"To date, Dad has given Grandma a total of 320 catties of grain, including 50 catties of wheat flour and 10 catties of rice."

They gave me eleven yuan and fifty cents, along with some lard, brown sugar, and rock sugar.

"For every transaction, there is a record of the time the item was delivered and the person who received it."

After reading it, Gu Niannian closed the ledger, raised her head, and looked straight at Gu Yanchun, whose face had turned liver-colored.

"Uncle."

She called out in a clear, crisp voice.

"My family's accounts are settled."

"Now, can you calculate your household's?"

"How much grain and money did you give to Grandma each year?"

The entire venue was deathly silent.

All eyes were focused on Gu Yanchun and Sun Xiufen's faces, like searchlights.

Gu Yanchun's lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word.

How much did he pay?

Taking advantage of living together, he would secretly deduct from his mother's food rations every month, claiming it was for her safekeeping, but in reality, the money went into his own family's granary!

Compared to Gu Yanqiu's clear and detailed account, which even included extra filial piety, he was simply an orphan!

Sun Xiufen wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground!

Cheng Tiezhu felt extremely pleased as he watched this dramatic scene unfold before him!

He slammed his hand on the table, making a loud bang!

"alright!"

"Who is filial, who is not, who is scheming against the elderly, and who is genuinely caring for them—this account is now crystal clear!"

He stood up, pointed at Gu Yanchun's nose, and shouted angrily, "Gu Yanchun! How dare you say your brother is unfilial? I think the most unfilial person is you!"

"Whoever is owed compensation, and whoever is owed a debt, should be made perfectly clear!"

"Meeting adjourned! Everyone collect your own food!"

After saying that, he didn't even glance at the disheveled Gu Yanchun and his wife, and strode away.

The commune members burst into laughter, watching Gu Yanchun and Sun Xiufen as if they were watching a monkey show, and then happily lined up to receive their grain.

Gu Yanchun and Sun Xiufen stood there, feeling as if the gazes of the entire village were like knives, cutting their faces until they bled.

Gu Niannian closed the ledger and carefully put it back in her father's pocket, her face calm and composed.

It was as if she wasn't the one who had just stirred up a storm with an account book in front of the whole village.

Looking at her daughter, Gu Yanqiu felt both proud and heartbroken.

He knew that although his daughter's public humiliation today was satisfying,

But this also meant that my uncle's family was completely pushed to the brink of a desperate struggle.

Will Gu Yanchun and Sun Xiufen, whose faces have been exposed in public, let it go?

What even more insane and unscrupulous methods will they use to retaliate against the father and daughter?