Chapter 52 - 42: The Brewing Storm (Part 4)

Ye Zibian secretly helped Sun Meili. Seeing everyone chattering and asking what happened, she took the opportunity to reveal what Zhou Xue had said to insult Sun Meili, and then fully exposed the deeds of the Zhou Family. There were many people around, both men and women, all waiting here and talking noisily. Soon, news spread both openly and secretly until almost everyone knew. It was even more astonishing to see Zhou Xue being pinned down and beaten by Sun Meili, with not a single person stepping forward to break them up. It was known that Sun Meili had several brothers and grew up in the same village as her husband. Seeing that she wasn’t being slighted, even Sun Meili’s brothers and sisters-in-law did not step forward. They even intentionally or unintentionally blocked Zhou Xue’s father-in-law and his brothers. Sun Meili’s eldest sister-in-law was a fierce person. Since marrying into the family, she had treated her only sister-in-law as a sister. Upon hearing what Zhou Xue had said, she was so angry that she cursed. How was it her sister-in-law’s business that she was naked? Even when she went back to her maternal home, she had other unrelated people meddling in her business. Whose daughter-in-law meddled so much, stirring up trouble, causing her sister-in-law to want to tear her mouth apart? As a result, no one stepped forward to stop the fight, and no one stepped forward to persuade the people to leave. Everyone was in a heated discussion. Father Wang was on the side, anxiously pacing in circles. His wife often used her position as the team leader’s wife to cut corners. She had gone to the county early this morning and wasn’t home. The few sisters-in-law in the family had long been at odds with Zhou Xue, and upon hearing Sun Dashao’s scolding, had hidden far away. Father Wang was furious, shouting loudly for them to stop, but it was useless. Now, everyone was intentionally or unintentionally blocking him. After a while, a little fool came to the village, laughing and saying he wanted to see what dowry Zhou Xue had stolen from the golden baby. This stirred things up even more, and the onlookers were not afraid of making it bigger. They also caused a commotion and went to look. Some people, out of respect for Father Wang’s title as production team leader, stayed where they were, unwilling to step forward. They gathered around to watch the two fighting, secretly snickering. Sun Meili had been working for work points since she was a child, cleaning and doing chores daily, and was very capable, unafraid of hard work. Zhou Xue, on the other hand, lived a carefree life at her parents’ house, even more so than Zhou Jiao, doted on by her grandfather and spoiled by her mother, and had never worked in the fields, unable to tell wheat from chives. She was tall and strong, but Sun Meili beat her without giving her a chance to fight back. Sun Meili especially targeted vulnerable spots, certain to win. It wasn’t over yet. Sun Meili took this opportunity to vent her grudges, hitting, pinching in secret, all while recounting the numerous scandals of their family, saying that things like military mail were secretly received by their father, hidden from the golden baby. The entire family was heartless, eating and using Zhou Jiao’s things, bullying her for having no father, shamelessly bragging everywhere, without fear of retribution. She went on to say that aside from the past scandals, just this year, 28 packages alone, the golden baby hadn’t received a single thing, and the wicked woman even wore the cotton clothes and pants, sweaters, and wool trousers that the child’s grandmother made for him on her own son, uncaring and unafraid that wearing them would also be heartless. They were so shameless they nearly drained others’ bone marrow, all to nourish their entire family. Her mother, Huang Zhaodi, got a bicycle, sewing machine, and watch from her maternal home, all belonging to the golden baby, hidden by their whole shameless family, worse than bandits. They even shamelessly told the golden baby that except for the grandmother not sending money, there were no packages; 17 years of packages were secretly taken by this heartless family. Her maternal brothers were so shameless, even wearing the watch given by the grandmother, helping to hide it, and in the whole family, not one was good. Things sent by the golden baby’s aunt to her were swallowed by her mother’s eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law. The whole family had not one good person. Ye Zi was beside her, explaining to everyone in detail. Every time Sun Meili cursed, she elaborated with great detail. Those who were still at home and heard the commotion came out to watch, with more and more people gathering. Zhou Xue, seeing that after all this time, no one came up to help her, became anxious, aching and pained all over from the beating. Reflecting that Zhou Jiao was to blame, had she not spoken out, who would know these things? She wouldn’t have lost face. She cursed that wretched woman in her heart, determined to peel her skin. Yes, she had to find that wretch. It was all her fault. She thought about going to find Zhou Jiao, and with force, pushed Sun Meili away, disregarding her son, and not taking her son from the ones handing him over. She walked towards the village entrance, shouting loudly, "Zhou Jiao, you wretched bitch, I’ll kill you!" The shout was so loud that more people despised her. Some mischief-loving villagers caused an uproar and followed but called out all the way, "Zhou Xue wants to kill the golden baby! Zhou Xue wants to kill the golden baby! Hurry to Zhang Family Village, there’s going to be trouble, lives are at stake~" Zhou Xue, beaten to the state of severe pain, was not walking fast. Many villagers wanted to follow and see what would happen. Despite Zhou Xue’s loud shouts, the golden baby’s husband was Zhang Guoqing. People in the nearby ten miles didn’t dare to offend Zhang Guoqing. Would he let his little wife be beaten? Would be a joke. Seeing a big fight was about to start, everyone was eager to follow along. Over the years, everyone more or less had a sense of the Zhou family’s faults. Now they were watching to see if the soft golden baby would explode. No one cared about the Zhou Family anymore. Everyone was curious about what would happen next, secretly scolding the Zhou Family for deserving it. They had all seen the Zhou Family’s arrogance, nose in the air, and many were secretly displeased. Along the way, intentionally or not, people added some truth. Now, with the farming just done, it was already a time of leisure. Seeing so many people following, everyone thought nobody would criticize as one of many, passing through three villages, gathering more and more people, even many men joined in to watch. Along the way, villagers who had seen and heard everything from the beginning narrated the story in detail to curious acquaintances. With the increasing crowd and loud voices, more villages quickly joined in. The golden baby’s reputation was too resounding, and she married into a well-connected Zhang Guoqing. People within ten miles knew them, even city folks knew about the golden baby. In just half an hour on the small path, villagers from nearby not far had heard the news and ran over to see the crowd. Nobody returned to work; more and more men and women joined the crowd. Before they reached Zhang Family Village, some had already run to notify the Zhang Family. But it was strange that no one went to the Zhou Family Village across the river to inform them. Among the mob, everyone tacitly refrained from telling the Zhou Family. It showed the Zhou Family had failed in their dealings with people. Zhou Xue was such a fool to think of fighting; she didn’t even consider going back to her maternal family for support, but went straight to Zhang Family Village to find Zhou Jiao. Where did she get her nerve? Zhang Family Village, backed by Daqing Mountain, where generations have been hunting. Who in Old Zhang’s family doesn’t know a few tricks? Zhang Guoqing was a known figure, dominating the nearby ten miles since he was young. Even the local idlers and hooligans dared not provoke him. With his innate divine strength, he could single-handedly lift a five hundred-pound stone mill. At Zhang Family Village, with him around, nobody dared to come make trouble.