Chapter 130: Wretched Girl, Die a Horrible Death!

Since Zhou Zhijian had already laid everything out so clearly, Li Jinhua no longer bothered to hide anything. After all, deep down, she never believed she had done anything wrong.

That was her grandson—her only grandson!

Li Jinhua cried and complained bitterly…

“Your poor father died so early, and back then life was so hard. I was just a woman raising a half-grown boy all by myself—how was I supposed to survive? I had no choice… I really had no choice but to find a man to rely on…”

“Zhijian, you’re my son, and Zhiqiang is also my son. You’re both pieces of flesh that fell from my own body. You’re doing well now in the army, all successful and respectable, but Zhiqiang is still in the village—he can’t even fill his stomach. Can you really stand by and watch your younger brother suffer like that? Are you just going to let them starve to death? It’s not that your mother’s playing favorites—I just want both of my sons to be doing well. As the older brother, isn’t it your duty to take care of your younger brother?”

“…This is all your wife’s fault! She’s so useless, she can’t even give birth to a grandson! I don’t ask for much—I just want a grandson! If she could give me a grandson, why would I have to rely on your younger brother? If you want to blame someone, blame your wife—it’s all her fault for having a useless womb!”

“My son, don’t be mad. I know earning money isn’t easy for you, but you have to help your brother. At worst… I won’t ask for that much anymore! Just a little less, how about that? Five… eight yuan a month! Just eight! I swear I won’t ask for more. You two are brothers, after all—just treat it as helping out your own flesh and blood.”

Even at this point, Li Jinhua was still scheming against Zhou Zhijian, trying to secure a stream of money for her younger son.

Little did she know, every single “little brother” that came out of her mouth was like a steel needle stabbing deeper into Zhou Zhijian’s heart.

His expression turned stone cold. He had never felt such rage and absurdity in his life.

He was nearly thirty years old now, and it was only at this moment that he found out he had a half-brother—a child his mother had conceived through betrayal, after cheating on his father.

Thinking of this—

Zhou Zhijian clenched both fists tightly, and then—

Clang!

In a fit of fury, he swept the enamel cup beside him off the table. Tea splashed across the floor, and the crashing of the cup echoed harshly through the room.

“Waaahhh!”

From the other room came the startled, wailing cries of the baby who had been feeding—it had been frightened by the noise.

Wang Chunling walked over and shut the door to block the sound. She no longer needed to hear more—she already knew where Zhou Zhijian stood on this matter.

This foolishly filial man had finally been pushed to the edge by his own stupidity.

“Zhijian…” Li Jinhua looked at her son, trembling with fear. This was the first time in her life that she had seen her gentle, bookish son erupt in such fury.

Zhou Zhijian stood up, face dark as iron, and stared down at Li Jinhua, his voice low and heavy with restrained anger. “Fine. Eight yuan. Eight it is.”

Hearing him agree, Li Jinhua thought he had come to his senses. She was overjoyed. “Zhijian, it’s wonderful that you’ve agreed! After all, you’re real brothers. Now that you’re helping Zhiqiang, he’ll surely help you in the future too. Maybe—maybe Zhiqiang’s son could even call you ‘Dad’—”

“Mom.”

Zhou Zhijian couldn’t listen to another word. He cut her off flatly, “Leave the compound. Go back.”

Li Jinhua froze.

Her head buzzed and she stared at Zhou Zhijian in wide-eyed shock. After the initial daze wore off, she cried out in disbelief.

“What do you mean? You’re kicking me out? You want to kick me out?! Zhou Zhijian, I’m your mother! And you want to kick me out? Are you even still my son?!”

Zhou Zhijian looked at her coldly, expressionless, and said quietly, “Don’t you still have another son?”

“You… you… has your conscience been eaten by a dog?! You would actually drive your own mother out of the house?!”
Li Jinhua exploded with rage, shouting uncontrollably.

But this time, Zhou Zhijian would no longer be shackled by the chains of filial piety and morality.

“Go back to the village. I’ll send you eight yuan a month.
Whether you keep it for yourself or give it to your younger son—that’s up to you.”

“I won’t go back! I absolutely won’t! I’m staying here! Even if I die, I’ll die here!”

Li Jinhua had long grown used to the comfortable life in the military compound—how could she possibly go back to the countryside and be a poor, toiling peasant again?

Zhou Zhijian didn’t argue further. He simply said:

“If you refuse to go, then we’ll all be thrown out together.”

Li Jinhua didn’t understand what he meant and asked:

“Why? Son, you’re doing just fine in the army—how could you be thrown out?”

“Fine? Heh.”

Zhou Zhijian let out a cold laugh, his eyes filled with scorn as he looked at her.

“Mom, you didn’t let Chunling give birth, nearly causing her to die from a difficult labor.
If it hadn’t been for Comrade Jiang’s medical skills, she would’ve died. And I, your son, would’ve been tried for manslaughter.”

“And you selling your own granddaughter—
You think just because you won’t admit it, the higher-ups won’t find out? That it won’t be investigated?
It’s only because of the New Year holiday that the organization’s decision was delayed.”

“And today… today you caused another huge scene.
No one in the entire compound wants you around anymore!
You think you can still stay?”

Earlier, Song Hongmei had already spoken to Zhou Zhijian—her message was clear:

If he couldn’t even handle his own family affairs, he was unfit to be a company commander.

And Song Hongmei wasn’t just the women’s director in the compound—she was also the political commissar Zhao’s wife. Her attitude represented his attitude.

Zhou Zhijian had no more room to retreat.

He gave his final words to Li Jinhua:

“Mom, it’s either you leave alone, or we all get kicked out together.
It’s your choice.”

With that,
Zhou Zhijian pushed open the door and walked out, not wanting to stay even one more second in that suffocating environment.

After he left, Li Jinhua sat there in a daze for a long, long time, muttering to herself over and over:

“How did it come to this… how did it end up like this…”

Then, her body gave out and she collapsed onto the floor, sitting with a thud as she slapped the ground and cried out:

“Oh Heaven! Are you trying to drive me to death?!”

In the end, Li Jinhua had only one option:
She had to leave on her own.

If she dragged down Zhou Zhijian with her—if he was discharged and sent back to farm life—she wouldn’t even get the eight yuan a month.

As the saying goes:

“As long as the green hills remain, there’s no fear of running out of firewood.”

Even Li Jinhua wasn’t stupid enough to miss the point:
She had to protect Zhou Zhijian. Only if he remained in the army could she secure her own financial support for the rest of her life.

“…Oh Heaven, how am I supposed to live once I go back… Bastards…
Damn all of them… That wretched girl… It must be that girl stirring up trouble…
Son… Everything I did was for your good… for you…
You little brat… May you die a terrible death… May you die a terrible death…”

That night, Li Jinhua’s wailing and curses continued for a long, long time.

Everyone who passed by her house could hear at least a few of her vicious curses aimed at Chu Yue.