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Fenglan and Manman hadn’t eaten anything for a whole day. After walking for over two hours to get home, they were starving and quickly finished the noodles.
Wu Zhiqiu told Chun Ni to take Fengchun and the others to sleep.
She, Li Mancang, and the second son were thinking about what to do the next day!
With all the commotion in the house, Li Fengchun and the third son seemed completely oblivious, either genuinely unaware or simply unwilling to get involved in family matters.
Wu Zhiqiu didn’t have time to deal with their lack of conscience.
She was contemplating how to reclaim the house. Even if they confronted the Yu family, the other party wouldn’t easily back down. They would likely continue to harass the widow and orphan.
“Mom, here’s the plan: tomorrow morning, I’ll call the military unit where my brother-in-law served. If he died in the line of duty and they can provide a substantial compensation, they definitely won’t allow the Yu family to bully my sister and Manman! If the military intervenes, Uncle Yu will think twice before trying to take the house!” The second son pondered for a moment before suggesting a plan.
Wu Zhiqiu nodded; this approach was much better than being reckless.
“Then I’ll go to the armed forces and local government offices tomorrow to report the situation. The government must have special provisions for the widows of martyrs! Having the government step in is a hundred times better than us doing it ourselves!”
“Let’s do this! We won’t let the widow of a martyr be bullied! The military and the relevant departments won’t allow the family of a martyr to be treated this way!” The second son clenched his fists, feeling deeply for his sister.
Li Mancang sat there smoking, feeling incredibly troubled. What a wonderful son-in-law he had; how could he be gone? What would happen to the widow and orphan now?
“Stop smoking. Fenglan has us to rely on; what’s there to be afraid of?” Wu Zhiqiu scolded him, not in the best of moods.
“Right, Dad, our sister still has us; it’s alright!”
Li Mancang wiped his eyes and gave a soft grunt.
Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Wu Zhiqiu, Li Mancang, the second son, and Fenglan with Manman all set out.
Chun Ni stayed behind to look after the children but got up to boil a few eggs for everyone.
The armed forces’ gates were tightly closed, and there was a guard at the entrance.
At this time, it was early winter, and it was very cold outside; their faces were red from the chill.
The second son approached the guard and explained the situation.
The guard was quite nice. Hearing about their circumstances, he was filled with righteous indignation and quickly let the family in to get warm.
The guard took the second son inside to make a phone call.
The second son called the military unit. Upon hearing the news, the leaders were furious; this was a slap in the face to their unit!
Just yesterday, they had returned the ashes of the martyr, and now the family was being kicked out! The unit felt humiliated.
The soldiers who had delivered the ashes hadn’t left yet, and they planned to find out who had the audacity to bully the family of a martyr! Although the martyr was gone, the military was still here! The family of a martyr would always have support!
The guard also called the leaders of the armed forces, and soon the military personnel arrived; the local authorities had to take a stance on this matter!
In less than half an hour, the comrades of Yu Jianmin who had delivered the ashes, along with leaders from the local armed forces and women’s federation, arrived.
“Sister-in-law, I’m sorry; it’s our fault for not protecting you!” Yu Jianmin’s comrades bowed deeply to Fenglan and Manman.
“How can this be blamed on you? We had no idea that my brother-in-law’s family was like this!” Fenglan quickly helped the soldiers up.
“It was our oversight for moving too quickly and not ensuring the safety of you, the widow and orphan!” The soldiers felt an immense sense of guilt. To have a widow and orphan thrown out in the middle of the night was unacceptable; if anything had happened, they would never forgive themselves!
“It’s really not your fault! It’s my brother-in-law’s family that had ill intentions; we didn’t expect this from them!”
“We in the armed forces were just about to visit the martyr’s family. We didn’t expect this to happen! Anyone who dares to touch the family of a martyr will pay the most painful price!” The leader of the armed forces said through clenched teeth.
This was a time for strict enforcement, and they were going to take this incident as an example to deter anyone from bullying the family of a martyr in the future!
A group of people got into several vehicles and rushed to Fenglan’s home.
At that moment, the Yu family was gathered at home, and Uncle Yu was proudly recounting how he had kicked Fenglan and her daughter out.
One of the men got out of the car just in time to hear this, and everyone’s faces darkened.
Noticing the group and Fenglan in the crowd, someone quickly pulled Uncle Yu. “Big Brother, people are coming!”
Uncle Yu was in the middle of a triumphant story. He was the hero of the Yu family’s estate, and being interrupted like this was very irritating.
“What’s going on? Who’s here? No need to make a fuss!” he shouted, pointing forward.
Uncle Yu then saw the soldiers from yesterday and a group of leaders looking at him with disdain.
His legs weakened. This was a family matter! How could Fenglan dare to report them to the authorities? But it was alright; it was their family property, and surely the authorities wouldn’t be unreasonable!
Uncle Yu reassured himself and approached with a smile.
The leader of the armed forces waved his hand, and several militia members quickly stepped forward, pinning Uncle Yu to the ground.
The onlookers at the entrance stepped back in shock at the scene unfolding before them. They had said it was inappropriate to kick out a widow and orphan just after a martyr’s death! Now, this was justified.
“What are you doing? You can’t just arrest people like this!” Uncle Yu shouted as his face was pressed to the ground.
In the courtyard, Uncle Yu’s wife and children heard the commotion and rushed out to see what was happening, only to find Uncle Yu being restrained.
“Stay back! If you dare to interfere, we’ll arrest you too!” the militia members shouted at Uncle Yu’s wife and children.
Uncle Yu’s wife was so frightened she sat down on the ground.
“Oh my God! We’re just simple peasants! You can’t just take people away!” Uncle Yu’s wife beat her thighs, starting to act like a spoiled child.
“You’re peasants? Is that house behind you really yours? You’re suspected of occupying a martyr’s estate and assaulting the martyr’s widow. We’re taking you all in for investigation!” The leader of the armed forces said sternly. He had only wanted to capture Uncle Yu, but since this woman dared to act shamelessly, he decided to take them all in.
Now Uncle Yu’s wife realized why they were arresting her husband. She saw Fenglan standing in the crowd.
“You shameless woman! You dared to complain about your uncle; you wretched thing!” Uncle Yu’s wife rushed toward Fenglan.
The second son stood next to his sister and kicked Uncle Yu’s wife to the ground.
Wu Zhiqiu rolled up her sleeves and quickly approached Uncle Yu’s wife, delivering several hard slaps. “How dare you bully our daughter! Do you think we have no one? You really are blind!”
Uncle Yu’s wife was stunned by the blows, stars in her eyes, and she shouted as she got up, ready to fight Wu Zhiqiu. Her claws were already aimed at Wu Zhiqiu!
Fenglan wouldn’t let her mother suffer, rushing over to her mother’s side, grabbing her sister-in-law’s hair and pulling hard.
Manman, afraid her mother would be at a disadvantage, waved her tiny fists and joined the fray.
Wu Zhiqiu swung her arm fiercely, venting all the pent-up anger from the previous night.
Li Mancang and the second son watched, their fists clenched in solidarity with Wu Zhiqiu. They couldn’t intervene against Uncle Yu since he was being held down by the militia, but they cheered silently for their mother and wife, urging her on!