Chapter 11

By the time the village cadres arrived, the Zhao and Cui families had been fighting for quite a while.

Everyone was injured to some extent.

The Zhao family’s courtyard was a complete mess.

Broken and battered.

Even the main gate was about to fall off.

As soon as the brigade leader rushed over, he shouted for them to stop, but Zhao Huizhou’s father, Zhao Chun, completely ignored him.

Ever since Zhao Huizhou became a cadre, Zhao Chun had been harboring some ambitions.

He felt that the brigade leader position should be his.

So, he constantly opposed him.

The brigade leader told him to stop, but he deliberately threw in a couple more punches.

Of course, the Cui family members who were being beaten couldn’t just take it lying down. “Oh, so you got in two punches while I wasn’t looking? Fine, I’ll give you four in return!”

The brigade leader’s face turned dark as he struggled to contain his frustration. After a long moment, he finally turned to the onlookers and shouted, “Get in there and break them up! You all just love watching the drama, huh? Do you even care about the brigade anymore?”

The villagers didn’t have a cadre in their family, so what else could they say?

They reluctantly stepped in to break up the fight.

It had been half a year since anything this exciting had happened how could they not watch for a little longer?

One villager who tried to intervene ended up taking a punch. He was a hot-tempered guy, so his eyes turned red with rage, and he was about to fight back, but the brigade leader’s sharp shout suppressed him.

An old lady got scratched by Zhao’s wife and, being just as cunning, yanked out a small tuft of her hair in revenge.

Zhao’s wife howled, “Lin Erli! You still want to fight, huh? I’ll go all out with you!”

The brigade leader: ……

He could stop the two families from brawling, but he couldn’t stop their cursing.

Zhao’s wife pointed at Lin Ergu and sneered, “Your family’s idiot? Even if you paid us, we wouldn’t take her! Lin Erli, I’m telling you right now in front of the whole village if you think you can scam my son, forget it!”

“As for Cui Cuihua’s baby, whoever the father is, it’s not my son! My Huizhou has been studying at school the whole time. His colleagues can vouch for him. If you keep spreading nonsense, I’ll tear your mouth apart!”

Lin Ergu was determined to pin this on the Zhao family now.

She righteously retorted, “You heartless old hag! You came to my house first, talking about how good Cuihua was, wanting to marry her to your Huizhou!”

“I was originally against it, but you convinced me! Otherwise, why would I have embarrassed myself by going to my brother’s house to break off an engagement?”

“You made me lose face! My niece even threatened to starve herself! I felt sorry for the child, so I turned your Zhao family down. And then you turned around and tricked Cuihua into saying those things….”

“Old Zhao woman, listen up! Our Lin family is not to be messed with! You’re not going to get away with bullying us!”

“If you don’t give the two children a proper explanation today, this isn’t over!”

After saying that, she turned to look for Lin Dahua in the crowd.

“Dahua, come here. Today, we siblings will make this heartless old woman give us a clear answer!”

The villagers’ eyes lit up one by one.

They all knew what was really going on.

Lin Erli could pretend to be all innocent, but back then, she was obviously eager to push for this marriage herself.

Now that things had gone south, she was just panicking because she didn’t get what she wanted.

And that old Zhao woman? One moment, she wanted Cui Cuihua as her daughter-in-law, and the next, she despised her.

What exactly did she want?

And Lin Dahua after all this, was he still siding with his sister?

Everyone stared curiously at Lin Dahua.

Wang Lanfeng’s face didn’t look good. She wasn’t stupid.

Her second sister wasn’t trying to demand justice she was forcing both families to settle the engagement on the spot.

Even now, she was still trying to use them.

Lin Dahua met his sister’s gaze across the crowd, not understanding how their sibling bond had come to this.

The older people got, the more they valued old relationships.

Especially those tied by blood.

Their father was gone. Their mother had passed. Even their eldest sister hadn’t survived the famine years.

Now, it was just the two of them left in the Lin family.

It shouldn’t be like this…

Lin Dahua’s eyes turned red. He turned to his wife and children and said, “Let’s go.”

Then, he squeezed through the crowd and left.

His back was hunched. His head drooped.

He looked so desolate.

Wang Lanfeng saw his trembling hands and felt a mix of emotions. She glared at Lin Ergu and said angrily, “Second Sister, he’s your only brother!”

Lin Ergu’s eyes flickered for a second, but she quickly regained her fierce demeanor. “He’s the one who disowned me first!”

All for some girl he was abandoning his own sister.

“Second Aunt, so your daughter is precious, but other people’s daughters are just weeds?” Lin Qing sneered. She then turned to Zhao’s wife and said, “I don’t care what mess you and the Cui family have. If Zhao Huizhou wants to break off our engagement, he has to do it himself!”

“He begged for this marriage on his knees. If he wants out, he’ll have to kneel again and admit in front of everyone that he’s doing it because he likes someone else!”

“If he says it, I’ll agree to break off the engagement.”

Shen City,

The Cheng Family.

Cheng Luo took advantage of some free time to visit his second uncle’s house to see his grandmother.

As soon as he entered, he bumped into his second aunt.

She chuckled, “We were just talking about you with your grandma, and here you are.”

“Is that Xiao Luo?” Inside, Grandma Cheng’s voice was hoarse but full of anticipation.

“Grandma, I’m back.” Cheng Luo answered her first, then looked at his second aunt. “Grandma’s voice doesn’t sound right?”

“She’s getting old and catches colds easily. She hasn’t been feeling well since this morning, so she’s been resting in bed.”

If it were before, she would’ve already gone out for her morning stroll.

Cheng Luo, worried, hurried inside to check on her, but his second aunt held him back.

She whispered, “Your dad’s birthday is in a few days. Your grandma cried secretly the night before last. She’s old now, so she can’t handle stress.”

“Her biggest concern right now is your marriage. She’s probably going to bring it up again, so just be prepared.”

“Speaking of which, have you found someone yet?”

Cheng Luo was stunned for a moment and shook his head.

His second aunt, Yu Xianghong, gave him a long look, baffled. “No introductions at your workplace?”

Cheng Luo frowned. There were, but…

He didn’t want to find someone from his workplace.

“How about… Second Aunt helps you look again?”

Yu Xianghong’s eyes widened. “Again? I’ve introduced you to four girls already! Three were scared off, and one ran away crying!”

“How did I scare them?” Cheng Luo was exasperated. “I just sat there and did nothing.”

That was the truth.

He really hadn’t done anything.