Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

That sharp shout silenced the chaotic scene instantly, bringing it to a deathly stillness.

Zhao Shanlin was still intimidated by the village officials, and subconsciously loosened his grip on Zhao Xiaoyu's hand slightly.

Li Cuihua visibly choked for a moment, quickly suppressing her earlier shrewish outburst, and forced a pained yet aggrieved smile before speaking:

"Director Xiulan, don't listen to this brat's nonsense!"

"This is just a family matter for the Zhao family! It's just our daughter being a bit temperamental and throwing a tantrum; it's not worth bothering you."

Zhao Shanlin, also panting heavily, added with a dark face, "That's right, Director. This is my own sister. Her family has been trying to persuade her to get married, but she won't listen and insists on coming out here to embarrass herself. We'll take care of our own family matters!"

Wang Xiulan interrupted him rudely, standing in the snow, her gaze like a knife scraping from Zhao Shanlin's face to Li Cuihua's:

"Housework?"

"Pushing a young woman into a snowdrift in the street, and you call that a family matter? A nearly forty-year-old bachelor chasing after someone and beating them, and you call that a family matter? Your behavior is no different from bandits kidnapping brides in the old society!"

Upon hearing these words, Li Cuihua's face flushed red and then turned pale. She opened her mouth, still trying to salvage the situation: "Director Xiulan, you can't say that... It's not as scary as you make it sound. I'm her own mother, would I harm her?"

Whether you're going to harm her or not, you know the answer in your heart!

Wang Xiulan sneered, "It's the new China now! Women hold up half the sky! You treat young, unmarried women like livestock, openly priced and forced to go abroad. Don't you have any respect for the law?!"

At this point, Li Cuihua's feigned innocence finally began to crumble.

But Zhao Laizi didn't buy into that at all.

He clutched his still-bleeding hand, his face terrifyingly grim, and took a sudden half-step forward, roaring with his neck stiff:

"Director, I don't care what you mean by law or no law! The Zhao family took eighty yuan from me, and that's settled!"

"I've already brought cigarettes and candy to her door, arranged a meeting with her, and given her the full dowry! Now that she's making a scene, you think you can just brush it all off with a few words?"

Zhao Laizi raised his uninjured hand, pointed sharply forward, and spittle flew from his mouth:

"Fine! You don't have to come with me! Just give me my money back!"

"Eighty yuan! Not a penny less, give it back to me in full today, in front of the whole village!"

Upon hearing this, Li Cuihua's expression immediately changed.

Her eyes darted around for a moment, then, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she suddenly let out a shrill scream:

"What are you spitting out?! There's no reason to spit out a dowry that's already been given inside the house!"

"You gave the money willingly, and you went to her door to find her yourself. Now that things have turned out like this, who can you blame?!"

She spoke faster and faster, more and more urgently, as if raising her voice would cover up this messy debt. "Besides, this money has already been spent! Does the third brother not need money for medicine? Does the family not need money when we're struggling to make ends meet?! You want us to take it? What are we supposed to take it from?!"

Upon hearing the word "spent," Zhao Laizi's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and the fat on his face trembled.

"Spend money?! Li Cuihua, you dare tell me that money is wasted?!"

"I emptied my pockets to scrape together this money, and now you're telling me I've spent it?!"

He lunged forward, ignoring his bleeding hands, like a mad dog whose eyes had gone red from being trampled: "Fine! You won't come with me, and you won't give me my money either, huh? This isn't going to end well for anyone!"

Li Cuihua also lost her temper completely, and with her hands on her hips, she started arguing back:

"What are you yelling about?! Once the money enters the Zhao family's door, it belongs to the Zhao family! My daughter has caused such a scene today, and you still have the nerve to demand money?!"

"You're talking nonsense!"

Zhao Laizi was so angry he jumped up and down. "I don't care if she makes a scene or not, I want her! Today, either she comes with me, or she gives me back my money!"

"I can't get it out!" Li Cuihua was desperate, her neck stiffening. "If you want the person, go and catch them yourself. I won't give you a single penny!"

The situation became completely frozen.

Zhao Laizi was taken aback at first, and then his already ugly face suddenly turned so gloomy that it looked like it could drip black water.

He clutched his still-bleeding hand, stared at Li Cuihua, and suddenly grinned.

"Fine. Fine. So the Zhao family is ganging up on me, trying to make a fool of me?"

He spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground, abruptly turned his head, pointed at Wang Xiulan, and his voice suddenly rose, revealing a roguishness rotten to the core:

"Director Wang! Aren't you going to protect her? Fine!"

"If you don't come back with the money today, I'm not leaving! Tomorrow morning I'll grab a rope and hang myself from the doorframe of your house, Wang Xiulan's!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd erupted in an uproar.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Zhao Laizi, stop playing these damn tricks!"

"You even hanged yourself in front of someone's official's door! Are you even human?!"

But Zhao Laizi completely ignored the insults and instead became more and more agitated, his eyes filled with the madness of someone driven to desperation:

"So what?! I'm all alone, and I only have one worthless life!"

"I'm almost forty, and I finally managed to get married. Anyone who tries to ruin this marriage, I'll fight them to the bitter end!"

He pointed at the surrounding villagers, like a mad dog biting anyone in sight: "Wherever Zhao Xiaoyu is, that's where I, Zhao Laizi, will be! Wherever you lead her, I'll follow! Whichever family dares to take her in, I'll live at their doorstep! I'll eat your food during the day and sleep on your kang (heated brick bed) at night! I want to see which family is so desperate that they dare to mess with a childless man like me!"

As soon as these extremely vicious and vulgar words were uttered, the faces of the villagers who had been filled with righteous indignation just moments before all changed, and they subconsciously took half a step back.

Seeing that Zhao Laizi had completely intimidated everyone, Li Cuihua panicked, her eyes darting around. She quickly seized the opportunity, slapping her thigh and wailing:

"Director Xiulan, you saw it yourself, it's not that I'm being unreasonable! The money's already been spent, I'm just a widow, how could I possibly conjure up another eighty yuan for him!"

She cried pitifully, but her eyes were fixed on Zhao Xiaoyu on the ground, wishing she could strangle this troublemaker on the spot: "This brat came to collect her debt! If she hadn't run away, none of this would have happened! If she hadn't made such a scene in the street, would Lai Zi be in such a hurry?!"

Wang Xiulan stood in the snow, her face growing increasingly somber.

Having served as the women's director for so many years, this was the first time she had found it so challenging.

She did manage to protect people today. But what happened afterward?

Sending Zhao Xiaoyu back to Old Zhao's house would be like sending a lamb to the slaughter; sooner or later, Li Cuihua would tie her up and send her away.

But if you take him back to your own home or the brigade headquarters, Zhao Laizi, that widow, really dares to hang himself with a rope and cause trouble every day.

Thinking of this, Wang Xiulan's temples throbbed, and for the first time, her heart sank.

And in that brief instant—

Zhao Xiaoyu, who was hiding behind her, seemed to suddenly understand something.

She had been gripping Wang Xiulan's sleeve tightly, but now, her hand, which was frozen purple, slowly loosened its grip.

Looking at the faces of her family members, Zhao Xiaoyu felt the last bit of warmth in her chest suddenly dissipate completely.

So that doesn't work either.

Even after all this fuss, it still didn't work.

The next second, she turned around abruptly and crashed headfirst into the old elm tree at the village entrance!

"Bang--!"

Zhao Xiaoyu's forehead was cut open on the spot, and blood immediately flowed down her face.

The crowd, who were just watching the commotion, cursing, and arguing, suddenly felt as if an icy hand had gripped their throats tightly.

Even Li Cuihua was stunned for a moment.

Zhao Laizi's fierce expression froze. He stood there, clutching his bleeding hand, as if he hadn't reacted at all.

Only Wang Xiulan's expression changed instantly.

Without a second thought, she rushed over and grabbed the collapsing Zhao Xiaoyu, her voice cracking.

"Quick! Give me a hand!"

"Don't let her hit it again!"

Her shout woke up the two old women who had come with her.

The two people rushed over, one to support Zhao Xiaoyu's shoulder and the other to press down her struggling hands.

Blood streamed down Zhao Xiaoyu's face, staining half of her face red. She seemed to have been drained of all her energy, and her body slumped down, still sobbing intermittently.

"I won't marry..."

"I won't marry him..."

"Just let me die..."

Upon hearing this, someone in the crowd finally gasped.

"They were driven to the point of crashing into a tree..."

"Does this person really not want to live anymore?"

"The Zhao family is really pushing someone to their death!"

Only then did Li Cuihua seem to suddenly come to her senses. Her eyes darted around, and she immediately rushed forward, slapping her thigh and wailing:

"Oh my goodness!"

"This brat is trying to drive her own mother to her death!"

"I raised her with so much care and hardship, and now she's trying to kill herself in front of the whole village, smearing my reputation! How am I supposed to live?!"

She was crying loudly, but she was still secretly moving forward, clearly unwilling to give up and trying to pull the person towards her.

Wang Xiulan suddenly looked up and shouted at her:

"You stand right there!"

This shout was both urgent and fierce, startling Li Cuihua.

Wang Xiulan held Zhao Xiaoyu in her arms, her face ashen and her eyes blazing with fury.

"They've pushed you to this point, and you still dare to push forward?!"

"Li Cuihua, I'm telling you this now—if she really dies here, none of your Zhao family members will escape!"

At that moment, Li Cuihua's wailing froze on her face.

Zhao Shanlin, whose eyes were still red and who seemed about to rush over and pull the person back, paused involuntarily when he saw the blood flowing down Zhao Xiaoyu's forehead.

Zhao Laizi was the first to panic, covering his hands and pushing forward.

"Director, I won't stop you from protecting people, but this matter can't be left like this!"

"Even if she won't give me the person, she should at least give me the money!"

"I gave you every penny of the bride price! Eighty yuan! Plus cigarettes and candy! You can't expect me to lose it all!"

Wang Xiulan turned her head sharply, her eyes as cold as knives.

"Shut up!"

"The person has already crashed into a tree, and you're still talking about money, money, money!"

Zhao Laizi was choked by the retort, his face turning pale and then red, but he still stubbornly insisted, shouting:

"What about my money?!"

"She won't give me anything, and she won't give me any money. Why should I suffer this loss?!"

"Wang Xiulan, you can't just protect her and ignore me, can you?!"

"Let me tell you, if you take this guy away today, you'll be responsible for everything that happens afterward!"

Wang Xiulan's eyebrows twitched as she listened, and she could barely contain her anger.

Of course she knew that such a piece of trash was capable of both words and deeds.

If we really manage to get them away from here today, Zhao Laizi will most likely stick to us like a mangy dog, causing chaos and confusion.

No matter how difficult it is, she absolutely cannot give in today.

She looked down at Zhao Xiaoyu in her arms.

The person was half-conscious, with blood all over their face.

Wang Xiulan's hesitation vanished instantly.

She gritted her teeth, suddenly raised her head, and shouted at the crowd:

"Old Zhou, go and call the barefoot doctor!"

"Hey, Mr. Ma, come lend a hand and help him up!"

"And you lot, all of you, be my witnesses!"

"Today, Zhao Xiaoyu herself said in front of the whole village that she doesn't want to! Anyone who forces her to do so is acting against a woman's will and will go to jail!"

As soon as these words were spoken, someone in the crowd finally started to move.

An elderly woman quickly responded and ran outside:

"I'll go get someone! I'll go get the barefoot doctor right now!"

Two women nearby also hurriedly squeezed in and carefully helped Zhao Xiaoyu up.

As soon as Zhao Xiaoyu's feet touched the ground, her whole body went limp and she swayed. Blood was still dripping from her forehead, and the pain made her vision go black in waves.

Wang Xiulan grabbed her and practically half-hug her, protecting her by her side. Her voice was cold and hard, leaving no room for negotiation.

"I'll take the person with me first."

"Anyone who dares to stop me today can come with me to the commune!"

Upon hearing this, Li Cuihua immediately became anxious, and her voice cracked.

"Wang Xiulan! What right do you have to take her away?!"

"This is my daughter! Even if she dies, she'll die in the Zhao family!"

"Stop acting like a big shot!"

Wang Xiulan suddenly turned around.

"On what grounds?"

"Just because you drove someone to the point of banging their head against a tree in front of the whole village today!"

"Because she'd rather kill herself than go with Zhao Laizi!"

She took a step forward, staring at Li Cuihua, her voice cold and hard.

"Li Cuihua, you're still her mother, after all!"

"Your daughter has been driven to the brink of suicide, and all you care about is money, face, and your petty family troubles?!"

"She's already injured like this, and you're still here blocking her way, still making a scene, still scheming about who will take her away?!"

"Are you even a mother?!"

This harsh remark struck Li Cuihua so hard that her lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a word.

Zhao Laizi was still not giving up, and stood to the side, gritting his teeth and covering his hand.

"Fine! You can take it!"

"But I'm telling you this: if you don't get your money, this isn't over!"

"Wherever Zhao Xiaoyu is, I, Zhao Laizi, will follow!"

"Let's see how long you can protect her!"

Wang Xiulan's temples throbbed again, but this time she ignored it completely.

She simply pulled Zhao Xiaoyu closer to her, and with a stern face, spoke to the two women beside her:

"Give me a hand."

"Get them back first."

Zhao Xiaoyu leaned almost half her body on them, stumbling and being helped forward.