Chapter 9: Joining Forces to Bully the Eldest Sister

The Jiang Family.

At the entrance, there was a dense crowd of villagers, packed tightly, all craning their necks, eager to hear every word.

“Is it true that Zhou Kang is really getting a divorce from Jiang Shulan?”

“Absolutely, this was directly passed on by the brigade leader’s wife; it can’t be false!”

“I heard Jiang’s eldest son-in-law even quit his teaching job and had Jiang Zhi take over. He’s so ruthless, not keeping a good job for his own family. It seems he’s determined to sever ties with Jiang Er’s family.”

“What about his wife and son? If Zhou Kang is going to abandon his wife like other city-educated youth returning home, won’t Lin Meiru have to chop him up with a knife?”

“That kid is clever; he’s already sent someone to report to the police station in town. This time, Jiang Er is definitely going to get in trouble—ah, Lin Meiru! You’re back?!”

The scene suddenly fell silent as if the pause button had been pressed, with the sound of a pin dropping audible.

The villagers looked at the mother and daughter on the outside, their expressions a bit awkward and guilty, with a hint of sympathy.

Everyone had automatically made way, and Lin Meiru walked forward at a measured pace, surprisingly calm, with no emotion on her face.

Jiang An’an knew this was the calm before the storm; her mother had reached a boiling point and could explode at any moment.

As the last one to enter the yard, she closed the door behind her, cutting off all curious gazes.

The standoff in the yard had reached a boiling point.

On the left, Jiang’s eldest daughter was sitting on the steps, holding her youngest son and wiping her tears. On the right, Uncle Jiang’s family was watching coldly.

Meanwhile, Jiang Degui was chasing Zhou Kang around the yard with a broom, occasionally interrupted by Uncle Jiang’s seemingly advising but actually provoking remarks.

“Don’t hit him anymore, your son-in-law has already called the police.”

“He’s determined to return to the city; he can’t possibly refund the train ticket, right?”

“Bah! Dare to abandon my daughter, I must break both his legs today, even if I have to spend two or three months in jail for it.” Jiang Degui struck harder, raising the broom to hit Zhou Kang on the back.

Zhou Kang stumbled, nearly falling flat on his face, his eyes filled with hatred. No matter how he provoked the old man, the other party was too cunning to fall for it.

The broom, made of sorghum stalks, hurt when it hit but left no marks on the skin. The old man always aimed for tougher spots, especially the buttocks. It wasn’t like he could go to the hospital and drop his pants for a doctor to check, right?

But in order to get a divorce and return to the city, just as Zhou Kang was about to crash into the wall in desperation, a sharp voice suddenly called out: “Stop it! Jiang Degui, don’t let scum like him dirty your hands!”

Jiang Degui quickly dropped the broom.

Uncle Jiang’s family: “…”

Zhou Kang: “…”

Zhou Kang felt a lump in his throat, even tasting rust in his mouth. He had clearly timed everything, so why had Lin Meiru, that fierce woman, returned early?

Was he going to take a beating for nothing?

“Mom!”

“Zhou Kang wants to divorce me.”

Jiang Shulan, silently shedding tears, seemed to find her support and suddenly rushed forward to tightly embrace Lin Meiru, crying loudly.

Each time she thought about her husband about to abandon her and their two children, Jiang Shulan felt like the sky was falling.

Lin Meiru gently patted her back, her fierce gaze fixed on Zhou Kang: “If he dares to divorce, I’ll break his legs and see where he can go!”

Zhou Kang: … This is why he wanted to get rid of his mother-in-law! Because she meant what she said; she really dared to break his legs!

The original plan was foolproof; after the divorce, they would consummate the marriage, and he would go to the city to hide for a couple of days. No matter how capable Lin Meiru was, she wouldn’t be able to do anything to him.

But now…

Zhou Kang suddenly felt an inexplicable pain in his legs. His gaze fell on the bicycle, and he realized: “Jiang Yongrong told you?”

In an instant, he was filled with hatred: idiot!!

“What did you do to Yongrong? Give me back my bicycle!” Aunt Jiang screamed and rushed over to grab the bicycle.

Before she could touch it, a wooden stick came crashing down with a whoosh. Luckily, she pulled her hand back in time; otherwise, her fingers would have been broken.

She looked up and was instantly filled with rage.

It was that little brat, Jiang An’an!

“My eldest sister hasn’t divorced Zhou Kang yet; this bicycle is marital property, and Zhou Kang can’t decide alone,” Jiang An’an said with a sweet smile. “If Fourth Cousin takes it without asking, it’s considered theft, right? He could get sentenced to two or three years.”

Aunt Jiang’s eyes widened: “You little brat, stop trying to scare me.”

Her words were strong, but she didn’t dare to make a move to snatch it.

After all, she had just suffered a loss last time.

Seeing her own mother repeatedly getting the short end of the stick, Jiang Zhizhi couldn’t help but speak up: “Eldest Brother-in-law, you should say something; that bicycle was clearly a gift from you to Fourth Brother.”

Jiang An’an clicked her tongue: “I almost forgot about you.”

Jiang Zhizhi shivered involuntarily.

“I won’t hold the last marriage exchange against you, but this time you’re colluding with my brother-in-law to bully my eldest sister. With your poor character, do you even deserve to be a teacher?”

Jiang Zhizhi retorted: “Divorce is free now; my family helps with reason, not with kinship.”

“Is reason just a bicycle? A job opportunity?” Jiang An’an hit the nail on the head, almost openly calling her shameless.

Jiang Zhizhi’s face turned red, and she stubbornly defended herself: “The job opportunity was assigned by the brigade…”

“Bullshit!” Lin Meiru couldn’t listen any longer and interrupted her: “The Luo family’s daughter also graduated from high school; what does Luo Jiawang want? Does he want your grades to be worse than his daughter’s? Does he want you to be uglier than An’an?”

“……” Jiang Zhizhi was left speechless on the spot.

This mother-daughter pair was more disgusting than the other!

“Even if Zhou Kang resigns, that job should belong to my family. If you want to take it, fine, just give my family half of the points!”

The crowd erupted in an uproar.

Uncle Jiang had long anticipated that Lin Meiru would make a huge demand, but he didn’t expect her to ask for half the points right off the bat, which meant his family had worked hard just to serve her.

“You’re dreaming!” Aunt Jiang was extremely pained, “Why should I? I won’t give it to you, and what can you do about it?”

Lin Meiru looked arrogant: “Then let the brigade leader vote on it.”

Everyone knew how Zhou Kang got that job. The people present were well aware. Back then, Lin Meiru had cursed loudly in front of all her competitors’ houses every day; who would dare to compete after that?

“Fifty pounds of sweet potatoes, five grain tickets.” Uncle Jiang clenched his teeth, feeling as if he was being cut.

“Plus two meat tickets, three cloth tickets, and an old hen.” Lin Meiru had been eyeing the old hen next door for a long time, having heard that it could lay two eggs a day. One could be given to An’an to nourish her health, and the other could be shared between the old couple.

She had never thought about getting the job back; being a teacher was high in points but hard work. She couldn’t bear to let her delicate little daughter suffer through that. Instead, she might as well take the opportunity to extort a hefty sum!

“No way…”

“Deal!”

Uncle Jiang, enduring the pain, made the decision, then changed his tone: “Since the job has been allocated, don’t make things difficult for Zhou Kang; let him go.”

Hearing this, Jiang An’an lifted her head, feeling no worry at all.

Even if Zhou Kang promised many incentives to get Uncle Jiang’s family to help him, unfortunately, his calculations were flawed. Lin Meiru had been dominating the village for many years, and even with Grandma Jiang holding filial piety over her, she couldn’t take advantage of her second daughter-in-law.

Moreover, Zhou Kang had no moral or logical ground to stand on!

But speaking of which…

Mediating a divorce?

Damn! Wasn’t this just going back to her old line of work?