Ji Qinghe knew this family was shameless, but seeing such brazen behavior in front of him made him tremble with rage. He pointed a shaking finger at Zhu Caihua and then looked towards the women’s federation comrades who had come with Su Cheng.

“Comrade Wu, you’ve seen the situation, how can I possibly trust them with my granddaughter?”

“We agreed back then that I would give the compensation to my daughter-in-law so she could raise the child well, and now, not even two months later, she remarries and abandons the child at her mother’s home to suffer. Can’t I sue them for abandonment and abuse?”

“What abandonment and abuse? I said it doesn’t exist! What do you think? Just because you called a couple of people here, you can bully the Liu family?”

“It’s a joke, you should inquire about the Liu family’s reputation in this area!”

Before the women’s federation members could speak, Zhu Caihua’s expression changed slightly, and she said fiercely, then shouted loudly into the house:

“^[1]“Dà wázi, èr wázi, sān wázi” means Big kid, second kid, third kidDa Wazi, Er Wazi, San Wazi… don’t hide and slack off any longer, someone is bullying you now, come out and beat them up, tie them up, and then go find your uncle and fifth uncle to come back and collect compensation!”

With Zhu Caihua’s shout, four or five half-grown children rushed out of the house.

These kids were tall, the oldest about fifteen or sixteen, the youngest twelve or thirteen, already looking somewhat like young adults, each holding a stick with fierce expressions.

“Who dares to bully my grandma? I’ll kill him!”

The leader, Liu Dawa, shouted fiercely. Seeing Ji Qinghe and Su Cheng across from Zhu Caihua, he glared at them and swung his stick toward them.

Su Cheng twisted his hand, snatched the stick from him, and kicked him down to the ground. Seeing their older brother get beaten, the other two little rascals rushed forward with their sticks.

These Liu kids had done nothing but fight since they were little, never studying, and were known for their brutal methods. The adults in the village usually avoided them, but today they met Su Cheng, and in just a few moves, they were taken down.

“If you dare to hurt my grandson, I’ll take your life today!”

Zhu Caihua had never seen her precious grandchildren beaten to the ground before, and she felt heartbroken. Her entire old face twisted with rage, she turned and rushed back into the house, pulling out a homemade gun to aim at Su Cheng and the others.

“Be careful!”

No one expected this situation, even Su Cheng’s expression changed. He shouted and quickly pulled several people aside to dodge.

The wildly fired shots didn’t discriminate and grazed his arm. Seizing the opportunity, the previously knocked-down Liu Dawa grabbed the stick on the ground and swung it back at Su Cheng. With his attention on Ji Qinghe and the others he brought, Su Cheng had no time to dodge and got hit on the shoulder as well.

He held firm, raised his hand to twist the stick in Erwa’s hand, and struck him down to the ground. He then swung the stick toward Grandma Zhu, forcing her to abandon her aim and dodge away.

Taking advantage of this moment, Su Cheng rushed over a few steps to snatch the gun from the old woman’s hands and pinned her down.

Grandma Zhu had been domineering for many years and didn’t act like a rural woman at all. Even now, she still struggled and yelled:

“You bunch of scoundrels! Dare to come and bully me while my son and daughter-in-law are away? Just wait until my son comes back, I’ll have them kill you!”

Meanwhile, the several grandsons who had been knocked down looked at their grandmother being restrained and erupted in rebellion, rushing toward Su Cheng, including the youngest child, who was about six years old.

Su Cheng didn’t take them seriously. He quickly sidestepped and went under the eaves to grab two ropes for tying corn to tie them.

“Someone’s been killed! Murder!”

The kids who had been playing together were from the village, and they had never encountered such a situation, each one frightened and screaming.

People lived near the Liu family, and since it was cold and still morning, everyone was huddled inside their homes.

When the commotion started at the Liu family, they were wary and didn’t even dare to peek outside. Now, hearing the children’s screams, they couldn’t sit still and quickly came out, soon alarming the village committee, who all rushed over.

Seeing several Liu children, along with Grandma Zhu bound on the ground, and the homemade gun that had fallen there, everyone was shocked into silence.

The Liu family usually acted domineeringly, and the villagers feared them. Apart from the little kids who had to acknowledge them as big brothers and play with them, everyone usually avoided the Liu family. This was the first time they had seen the Liu family in such a state, and they couldn’t help but feel satisfaction.

However, the Liu family wasn’t just a few people, Zhu Caihua had five sons, along with many grandsons still in the town.

If they simply watched Grandma Zhu get bullied without helping, the five Liu brothers would definitely burn their houses down when they returned.

The villagers were scared, and the village committee was also afraid, so they quickly turned their ire on Su Cheng and Ji Qinghe:

“Who are you to come to Liujia village to bully people!”

“We are from the Women’s Federation.” Beside them, Wu Heqiong steadied her trembling legs and stepped forward to speak.

Wu Heqiong hadn’t anticipated such a scene today. She was here partly due to Su Cheng’s request but mainly to see for herself if any children were truly suffering.

She knew the situation with this family and understood their arrogance, but their audacity—an old woman daring to wield a wooden gun and indiscriminately shoot people—was simply unacceptable in this day and age.

It could not be tolerated, absolutely could not.

Wu Heqiong felt anger and surprise, but having worked in the Women’s Federation for many years, she managed to remain composed. She took a deep breath and continued:

“We came here because this elder sought us out, saying that after her son passed away, she handed over all the compensation to her daughter-in-law, hoping she would raise the child well. Unexpectedly, her daughter-in-law used the compensation to remarry and abandoned her daughter back at her mother’s house…”

Wu Heqiong detailed the situation and then spoke of Grandma Zhu’s gun-waving incident.

“Grandma Zhu’s actions constitute an attack on government personnel, and we have evidence. We will report this to the police.”

Everyone knew Grandma Zhu was arrogant, but that she would dare to fire a gun in broad daylight was surprising even to the villagers.

Instantly, the village committee members and the villagers were too frightened to intervene. No matter how bold they were, they knew what the crime of assaulting government personnel entailed.

Hearing Wu Heqiong’s words, Zhu Caihua finally felt afraid.

She had only wanted to scare people with the gun when she saw her grandsons being beaten.

All her sons had done similar things before, as long as the situation could be resolved in the end, she was clear on that and subconsciously acted the same way.

But she never expected this group wouldn’t be intimidated and would even tie her up, if the villagers didn’t help, she would be taken away.

“If you dare to touch me, my sons won’t let you off!”

Grandma Zhu cursed this out, hoping to threaten the villagers into helping her. Hearing her mention her sons, the villagers indeed felt some fear. However, at this moment, Wu Heqiong’s anger erupted:

“No matter who it is, anyone who breaks the law must be severely punished.”

“When we arrived, the police station in town had just arrested a family running an underground casino. They also had weapons and were threatening revenge, but what good is that? If they break the law, they’ll be caught. For someone like you, with such serious offenses, you deserve to be punished!”

“What did she say? An underground casino in town? Could it be Liu Da or Liu Wu and their family?”

The Liu family was not secretive about running a casino and a mahjong hall in the village. Many households with slightly better conditions had even been half-coerced into playing at their casino.

As Wu Heqiong finished speaking, some in the crowd exchanged glances, whispering to each other.

“I don’t know, I hope it’s true. But keep your voice down, if it’s not true, you might face retaliation when they come back…”

While they were discussing this, Zhu Caihua, after snapping out of her daze, rushed over madly.

“What did you say? Are you saying my sons have been arrested?”

“Impossible! That’s impossible!”

“My sons can’t be arrested! How could they be arrested?”

Su Cheng had bound her using a technique, and as Zhu Caihua desperately lunged, she fell hard to the ground. Ignoring the pain, she continued to shout in disbelief, her yellow eyes wide open. Annoyed by her constant yelling, Su Cheng stuffed a clove of garlic into her mouth to silence her.

Nearby, several of the Liu family’s grandsons, who usually acted arrogantly, saw their normally domineering father being arrested and their grandmother in such a disgraceful state. They finally understood fear and began to cry uncontrollably.

At this point, even though the villagers were fearful and uncertain about whether the Liu family had indeed been arrested, they no longer dared to cover up or shield them.

In the end, Su Cheng threw the tied Zhu Caihua and several of Liu family’s younger members over the age of fourteen into a vehicle and took them to the police station in town.

The police station was extremely busy that day. The new chief, who had only taken office for more than six months and had been inactive, suddenly found himself handling a major case.

He had called in assistance from the county police station and the armed forces, capturing all underground gambling operations in the town. They even arrested the deputy chief of the police station and the deputy captain of the armed team for accepting bribes.

This involved various charges such as arrest, assaulting a police officer, and bribery. Today, they were overwhelmed with taking statements, and suddenly, they had another case involving an assault on Women’s Federation personnel with a makeshift firearm.

They were completely swamped, but with the county police present, they hurried to record the statements.

Once the statements were taken, Su Cheng and the others emerged from the police station. Wu Heqiong glanced at Su Cheng’s injured hand.

“You need to go to the hospital for your injury. You got hurt last night and now again today. I really don’t know what to say.”

Su Cheng looked at the wound on his arm, which had stopped bleeding. He wasn’t very concerned and said, “It’s just a minor scrape, it’s nothing. I’ll go later.”

“You should still be careful. You and Bangzi are both so reckless, it’s worrying.”

When Su Cheng was in the army here, he had the best relationship with his comrade Jiang Jianbang, having saved each other’s lives before. He had visited Jiang’s house several times, and perhaps out of gratitude, Wu Heqiong treated Su Cheng like another son and was very close to him. Seeing he didn’t care much about his injury, she couldn’t help but lightly scold him.

Then, she looked at the little girl Qingyu, who was curled up in her grandfather’s arms and had fallen asleep from fright, and sighed:

“This child has suffered so much, you can tell just by looking at her.”

“You all take her to the hospital for a full check-up. Let the doctors give the necessary reports. I’ll contact Qingyu’s mother to have her sign an agreement to give up custody.”

“When the time comes, you can come over to sign it, and then you can go home.”

Su Cheng looked at Qingyu, who resembled his daughter Qiuqiu. Her experience was exactly the same as Qiuqiu’s, who was abandoned by her mother in a past life. They were both pitiful children.

He paused for a moment, nodded, and thanked Wu Heqiong, “I understand, Auntie. I’m sorry for alarming you with today’s events.”

“Don’t mention it. This is something we should manage. Even if it weren’t you looking for me today, I would have stepped in for anyone else.”

“If you say that, then I need to find a way to thank Bangzi for helping us with such a big case…”

Seeing that Su Cheng had more to say, she waved her hand, “Alright, hurry to the hospital. Use the ox cart, I’ll leave with Jianmin.”

Wu Heqiong said this, then greeted the old man in the ox cart, “Old Wang, can you help me take them to the hospital? Sorry for the trouble.”

With Wu Heqiong and her son Jiang Jianmin leaving, Su Cheng and Ji Qinghe took Qingyu onto the ox cart.

In his lifetime, Ji Qinghe had seen a lot, but the Liu family, his son-in-law’s mother’s family, had once again reshaped his understanding.

The image of Zhu Caihua randomly shooting with a wooden gun still lingered in his mind. Once he was seated again in the ox cart, he looked at his granddaughter, who was peacefully nestled in his arms, then at his injured son-in-law, and finally began to regain his senses.

But at the same time, many questions and worries filled his heart.

“Did the Liu brothers really get arrested? And you were hurt last night too? Is it serious?”

With the situation mostly settled, Su Cheng no longer hid the truth from Ji Qinghe and nodded:

“They opened three gambling dens last night, and my brother Wu, along with his wife, was keeping watch. My comrade had been monitoring them for a long time. We borrowed some personnel from the county and took them all down in one go.”

“I got hurt while chasing down Liu Laosan, he ambushed me. I’ve already treated it, so it’s nothing serious.”

“That’s good to hear, as long as it’s not serious, that’s fine.”

Ji Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that his son-in-law’s injury wasn’t serious. But he couldn’t help but think about the few domineering brothers of the Liu family. Given Zhu Caihua’s earlier frenzy, he wondered if the Liu brothers had been outside, could they have left this place alive?

“What will happen to them? How many years will they be sentenced?” Ji Qinghe’s worry resurfaced, fearing they might retaliate.

Su Cheng understood his concerns and briefly explained the outcome: “They resisted violently last night, brandishing knives and severely injuring three police officers, even taking hostages. Their actions were very serious, they won’t get away lightly. For serious charges, they’ll face heavy sentences, for lighter ones, it’s at least twenty years.”

What Su Cheng didn’t mention was that their situation coincided with a crackdown from higher authorities, and it was very likely that the entire family would end up facing harsh sentences.

As an ordinary person, Ji Qinghe was shocked by this outcome. He silently stared at Qingyu for a while before finally saying, “I suppose this is for the best.”

Qingyu was sent to the hospital for a check-up and was found to be severely malnourished, anemic, and covered in bruises and whip marks.

According to Qingyu, her mother had said she was too busy with work to take care of her and sent her to her grandmother’s house shortly after her grandfather returned home.

When her cousin from her third uncle’s family visited, she took all the beautiful clothes and shoes her mother had given her. Her cousin, a boy from her fifth uncle’s family, hated her and often beat her. When she fought back, her grandmother got angry and hurt her.

The whip marks on her body were from her fifth uncle’s cousin, who liked to ride horses…

The injury on her forehead wasn’t from falling, but from being pinned down by the boy and his friends, who hit her with stones, saying they were practicing for pig slaughter.

Qingyu also said that after she got better, she secretly ran back to town to find her mother.

But her mother had a younger brother now and was also raising a younger sister. She didn’t want her anymore, telling her to go home and listen to her grandmother.

That new sister even beat her out with a broom.

“Bastards! They’re so arrogant!”

Hearing this, Ji Qinghe’s eyes turned red, and he felt as if all the blood in his body was boiling. He regretted not kicking Zhu Caihua earlier.

They were inhuman, utterly heartless.

Qingyu was his granddaughter. If she had even an ounce of compassion, he wouldn’t feel such hatred!

What about his daughter-in-law? What did that mean?

She had just remarried and was already pregnant?

When did that happen?

How long has it been since his son died?!

At this moment, Ji Qinghe felt a deep rage.

“If I had known earlier, I would have been more forceful. I would have preferred to have Ah Qiao take the blame for abandoning his wife and child than to have divorced!”

If he had done that, perhaps his son wouldn’t have died!

He didn’t know how his son had gotten involved with such a family, but judging by the Liu family’s actions, it was clear his son must have been unwilling to enter this marriage!

What was frustrating was that he hadn’t considered going to the higher-ups, and his son hadn’t mentioned anything.

Ji Qinghe felt a mix of anger, fury, and regret, emotions swirling together until he felt utterly drained of strength, unable even to hold Qingyu. He trembled as he grasped Su Cheng’s arm:

“Ah Cheng, can you do me one more favor? Help me find a powerful lawyer, I want to take Ah Qiao home!”

This place, where his son’s youth and life had been buried, he truly didn’t want to stay for even a moment longer.

He wanted to take his son home.

Take him back!