Chapter 49: A Group Fight and Ungratefulness

Liu Aihua had lived in Xiaodatian Village for decades and considered herself fearless. She wasn’t intimidated by facing a crowd alone. “What’s it to you? Have you cleaned up your own mess? Don’t meddle in other people’s business! I advise you to stop wasting your time here. While the Widow Liu is still away, go home and tighten your belts and keep your husbands in check!”

Her words became increasingly outrageous. The women present, both those who had helped and those who hadn’t, were furious. They started to scold her, and before anyone knew it, the verbal fight escalated into a brawl. The situation quickly spiraled out of control.

Liu Aihua was known for her fierce temper and was a frequent fighter. She wasn’t afraid of being surrounded by six or seven women. She pulled hair, kicked with underhanded moves, and attacked wherever she could.

Most women in the village knew how to fight. Even the shy young girls could hold their own when needed. Now, fueled by anger towards Liu Aihua, they fought back with no mercy. No matter how strong Liu Aihua was, she couldn’t fight off everyone at once and suffered several blows.

Lin Yue also joined in, kicking Liu Aihua hard a few times. She was strong, and if she hadn’t restrained herself, she could have seriously injured Liu Aihua.

The reason why the women were so agitated was because of the four new brick houses built by the Widow Liu’s family. Many of those bricks were bought with money extorted from the men in the village.

Recently, fearing floods, she had taken her son to the county and stayed at the home of an old man she was involved with.

This old man was said to be wealthy and influential. He not only gave her a lot of money but also sent her son to study in the county.

The Widow Liu was almost fifty years old, but she still dressed up flamboyantly. A few years ago, she had tried to seduce the principal of Donglin Village, Xu, and had behaved herself for a while.

But it didn’t work out, and in recent years, she had become even more reckless, doing whatever she wanted without regard for others.

Liu Aihua was notoriously fierce and kept her husband under her thumb. She was confident that Wang Tiejun and the Widow Liu weren’t involved, which is why she dared to provoke everyone today.

When the village chief and the secretary arrived with others, the scene was chaotic.

Some men tried to separate the women, but their wives took the opportunity to vent their anger, scratching and pinching them, leaving their arms covered in wounds.

Zhang Zhiqiang was furious. This wasn’t the first time Liu Aihua had caused trouble. “Stop it! Anyone who continues to fight will have their work points deducted!”

The threat of work points deduction finally calmed everyone down.

Seeing that everyone else had stopped, Liu Aihua seized the opportunity and lunged at Lin Yue, trying to scratch her face.

Lin Yue sensed danger and grabbed her wrist, but she lost control of her strength. There was a “crack,” and Liu Aihua’s wrist snapped.

She let out a pig-like scream that made everyone present shudder.

Lin Yue quickly released Liu Aihua’s hand and looked at Zhang Zhiqiang and the others innocently.

Zhang Zhiqiang was extremely frustrated. He put his hand on his head and sighed, “Liu Aihua, you’re a real pain in the neck! You can’t go a day without causing trouble, can you? Wang Baodong! Don’t hide anymore, come here and help your mother to see Dr. Liu! What’s going on here? And you all, go home! It’s getting late, don’t you need to eat? Those who need to cook, cook, those who need to work, work!”

Liu Aihua’s wrist was broken, and she was in excruciating pain. When she heard Zhang Zhiqiang telling everyone to disperse, she immediately protested, “Village Chief, why are you letting them go? Lin Yue pulled out my vegetables without permission and broke my arm. You want to protect her and let it go? That’s impossible! If you don’t give me justice today, I’ll stay here and not leave!”

At that moment, Zhang Yuandong’s voice came from outside the crowd, “What justice do you want? You came to our doorstep to cause trouble and slander my wife, and you still want justice?”

Lin Yue saw that Zhang Yuandong had arrived and felt like she had found her protector. “Don’t try to frame me. You were the one who wanted to hit me, and I accidentally hurt you while trying to avoid you! If I hadn’t dodged quickly, you would have scratched my face!”

Many people had witnessed the scene. Liu Aihua was already unpopular, and now she had offended everyone, so no one was willing to stand up for her.

She sat on the ground and threw a tantrum, “I don’t care, you have to pay! Pay for my vegetables and my arm!”

Wang Baodong was terrified when he saw Zhang Yuandong arrive, his legs were weak, and he couldn’t stand straight.

However, his family was used to bullying people in the village, and his mother had suffered such a great loss in front of so many people. For the sake of face, they couldn’t let it go easily.

He tried to control his body so that his legs wouldn’t shake too obviously. He pretended to be tough and shouted, “My mother’s arm was broken by you, so you have to pay! Otherwise, otherwise, we’ll go to… “

“The commune will sue you!” This was the first time Lin Yue had hit someone so hard. Although Liu Aihua was truly despicable, and Lin Yue was acting in self-defense, she still felt guilty.

“So, what do you want to do? Let me make it clear, it was your mother who wanted to hit me, and I was acting in self-defense. So many people saw it, even if you sue to the city, you won’t win.”

Liu Aihua was truly a tiger. If it were an ordinary person, their arm would be broken and they wouldn’t be able to speak. But she was still cursing, and she didn’t seem to care much about her injury. She was only concerned about her vegetables.

She pulled her son, who was about to speak, and said, “You have to pay! At least ten yuan! And you pulled out all the vegetables we planted, you have to compensate us and plant vegetables for us for another year, right there in that yard!”

Lin Yue understood the compensation, although ten yuan was a bit excessive, it was still reasonable. But when she heard the latter part of her demand, she was so angry that she wanted to charge at her and fight again.

Zhang Zhiqiang frowned deeply and reminded her, “Liu Aihua, hurry up and go see Dr. Liu about your arm. If you keep dawdling, your arm will be useless! This house was indeed bought by Yuandong and his wife, so stop making a fuss.”

Liu Aihua was very bold and fearless. “I spit! You old geezer, you think I’m a three-year-old child? I tell you, I’m not falling for your trick! I’ve been planting vegetables here for years, how can you sell it to someone else? I finally got this land, it’s mine!”

This kind of unreasonable person was unique in the village.

Zhang Zhiqiang was so angry that his veins were popping, but before he could say anything, a voice came from the crowd, “Village Chief, Liu Aihua has a point, how can this little grey family live here? You have to explain it to us.

Last time, during the flood, my house was also flooded, and now it’s uninhabitable. If we talk about hardship, who can compare to our family? Our brigade can’t be biased, just because they are police officers, you give them benefits, and you don’t care about the lives of us poor people!”

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, and saw Zhang Zhixiang and his family standing in the crowd. It was Zhang Zhixiang who was speaking.

Zhang Zhiqiang scolded, “What are you stirring up? Didn’t I just say that Yuandong and his wife bought this house with money? They paid 120 yuan in cash, and it’s already been transferred! If you want to exchange houses, go ahead. There are still many empty houses in the village. Which one do you want? Pay for it, and I’ll transfer it to you!”

Zhang Zhixiang’s wife, Zhang Sanniang, was unhappy, “It’s not like that. Little Grey has so much money because he’s rich! He’s been a soldier for so many years, everyone knows he’s become an official. Now he’s back and he’s a policeman, his family has so much money that it’s countless. It’s only natural for him to pay. We are different, we are so poor, the brigade can’t just ignore us, leaving us without a place to live!”

Lin Yue was truly amazed, “So you’re saying the poorer you are, the more right you have? You’re a bandit, you think whatever you want, you think your poverty is someone else’s fault? No one owes you anything!”

Zhang Yuandong grabbed her arm, signaling her to stop talking.

In this era, being poor was indeed a privilege. The poorer you were, the redder you were.

Zhang Zhiqiang laughed angrily, “Your family has four able-bodied men, two children, and you get grain rations every year, just based on the number of people, you get a lot.

Your family is poor because you are lazy! Although poor and lower-middle peasants are glorious, you are not glorious if you don’t work! Don’t give me this nonsense. Are you a five-guaranteed household? If not, don’t expect the team to support you! Also, have you forgotten who saved your grandson? Be conscientious, don’t be like Zhang Shouyu!”

As soon as he mentioned Zhang Shouyu, Zhang Zhixiang and his family dared not speak.

Liu Branch Secretary’s face turned black instantly.

Aunt Su went to visit every day, and Aunt Zhou was able to walk now. She was clamoring to break off relations with her son.

Zhang Shouyu and his wife were afraid of being labeled as evil, so they refused to agree, only willing to separate.

Aunt Zhou was now yelling in the street every day, exposing how they had abused her when she was bedridden.

That family was a real headache, and Liu Branch Secretary was losing face.

He didn’t want to talk about this topic, so he turned to Liu Aihua, “I said, you’ve had enough! You’re really unreasonable. Look at you, such a small matter, you’ve made the whole village restless. Calling you a pain in the neck is not wrong at all!”

Liu Aihua’s family had no roots in this village, so he wasn’t afraid of offending them. He was also feeling frustrated these days, and he needed to vent his anger.

Liu Aihua was fierce and fearless in the face of the village chief and branch secretary. She was about to start cursing again, when she heard Zhang Zhiqiang say, “Alright, go away! Anyone who continues to make trouble will have their whole family’s work points deducted!”

The threat of work points deduction quickly dispersed everyone.

Liu Aihua didn’t dare to continue making a fuss, and let her son help her leave.

Before leaving, she glared at Lin Yue and said viciously, “You wait for me, this isn’t over!”

Zhang Zhiqiang turned around and glared at her, “You go home and wait too. The team will go to your house to investigate the situation these days!”