Chapter 45

Taking Advantage of Someone’s Illness to Take Their Life

Wang Danü thought Old Lady Xu would agree.

However, she didn’t know that Old Lady Xu was someone who didn’t follow the usual rules. “Why get angry? The child earned a little money, and it’s not easy. Let her keep it; she’ll feel accomplished.”

Wang Danü: “…”

Damn, she shouldn’t have asked.

Unable to calm down, Wang Danü glared angrily at Xu Xiaoyao. “Five yuan, give it to me.”

Xu Xiaoyao stubbornly replied, “I don’t have it. I said the monthly salary was five yuan, but I didn’t say I’d give you five yuan. You misunderstood.

I can give you one yuan at most. If you think it’s too little, you can return it. I won’t mind.”

Wang Danü was so furious that the veins on her forehead bulged, and her chest heaved with anger. She pointed at Xu Xiaoyao, “Unfilial girl, unfilial girl, I shouldn’t have had you!”

Xu Xiaoyao was tired of hearing this kind of thing. She felt no emotion and even responded with a flat expression, “It’s as if I wanted you to give birth to me. If you’re so capable, why don’t you just stuff me back in!”

Wang Danü, fuming with anger, stormed off.

As soon as she entered the yard, Xu Xiaobao ran up to her. “Mom, did you get the money?”

Wang Danü, face long and exhausted, replied weakly, “Don’t ask, it’s annoying.”

Xu Xiaobao immediately realized things hadn’t gone well. “What did that troublemaker say?”

Wang Danü replied, “She said she’d only give me one yuan a month.”

Xu Xiaobao froze. “Wasn’t it five yuan? Is she trying to scam me?”

Wang Danü didn’t understand the meaning at first, but after a moment, she looked at Xu Xiaobao in confusion. “Scam? Isn’t that not the right term?”

Xu Xiaobao shrugged nonchalantly. “Who cares how you say it, it means the same thing.”

Wang Danü: “…”

With this level of understanding, how did she even get into middle school?

Xu Xiaobao asked again, “What about the meat tickets? I heard from people in the village that workers get meat tickets every month.”

Wang Danü slapped her forehead. “Oh no, I completely forgot about that.”

Saying this, Wang Danü quickly turned and ran to Xu’s house.

However, she wasn’t lucky enough. She arrived a little too late.

By the time she got there, Xu Xiaoyao had already returned to town.

Wang Danü’s face turned green. That brat, coming back to the village without even entering the house—acting like a wild person.

She asked Xu Jiajia, “Did Five Yao bring the meat tickets back?”

Xu Jiajia smiled brightly and in the gentlest tone said something that made Wang Danü’s heart ache, “It was agreed from the start that the meat tickets would go to me.”

Actually, it was because Xu Xiaoyao had eaten at the canteen and didn’t need the meat tickets.

Wang Danü: “…”

The young ones today sure know how to make people angry.

…

The next afternoon.

Xu Jianguo also brought back the welfare items from the factory.

The mechanical factory’s welfare was much better than the sugar factory’s.

There was forty pounds of grain, one pound of oil, thirty pounds of coal, and five apples.

Old Lady Xu was ecstatic. “No wonder everyone wants to be a worker. This welfare is amazing.

Forty pounds of grain can last for quite a while.”

At this point, Old Lady Xu couldn’t help but praise Xu Jiajia. “My child is really something, always gets things right with one shot.”

Xu Jianguo proudly said, “She’s my daughter!”

Old Lady Xu shot him a glare. “How did you have her? Did you give birth with your butt?”

Xu Jianguo: “…”

Xu Jiajia chuckled at this amusing scene.

Her laughter sounded like wind chimes in the spring, clear and pleasant.

Chen Ji, who had just stepped into the yard, was infected by her smile.

Oh my god.

Sis looks so beautiful when she smiles!

When Old Lady Xu saw that Chen Ji had arrived, she invited him to sit. “Have you eaten yet?”

Chen Ji looked away and smiled. “I’ve already eaten.”

After speaking, he handed a net bag to Old Lady Xu. “Granny, this is the welfare from the factory today. I’m giving it to you as a token of respect.”

Old Lady Xu was speechless. “You don’t even have a job. Where did this welfare come from? You’re using your father’s things to curry favor?”

Chen Ji’s eyes flashed slightly, and he awkwardly rubbed his nose. “Granny, there are so many workers in my family, and they get a lot of things. How could we possibly eat it all?”

Old Lady Xu sighed. “Chen Ji, I appreciate your kindness, but I can’t accept this.”

If it was from him personally, she would take it.

But if it was from the elders in his family, she definitely couldn’t accept it.

Young people don’t understand such matters, but she couldn’t afford to ignore it.

Chen Ji looked at her with a wronged expression. “Granny, you think I don’t have a job?”

Old Lady Xu couldn’t stand seeing him look so pitiful. She covered her heart and explained, “No, don’t misunderstand. I’m just worried your parents might mind.”

As soon as she said this, Chen Ji immediately dropped the pitiful expression and flashed a grin. “Granny, don’t worry. This is from my father, and he told me to bring it. You don’t have to worry about what they might say.”

Old Lady Xu was stunned, watching his quick change in expression. “…”

This kid must perform at home a lot, huh?

In the end, Old Lady Xu accepted it.

However, she returned the favor by sending him the only piece of cured meat in the house.

As soon as Chen Ji reached the fork in the road leading into town, he was stopped by Xu Xin. “Comrade Chen Ji, I really need to talk to you. It’s about your future.”

Chen Ji smiled broadly, his big mouth showing all his teeth. “My future? What does it have to do with you?

Are you just trying to stir up trouble?”

Xu Xin was afraid that Chen Ji would do the same thing as last time and counter her, so she quickly spoke up. “Comrade Chen Ji, you’re going to go into business, make money…”

Chen Ji didn’t fall for it. Without waiting for her to finish, he immediately interrupted, “Someone, this lady’s doing private business.”

Xu Xin was furious but had no way to deal with him. Seeing no one else chasing her, she ran off like she was escaping.

Chen Ji looked at her fleeing figure with a smug expression. “Hmph, ugly troublemaker, let’s see if you dare stop me next time!”

Song Ran, who was sending a relative off, happened to pass by the fork in the road and saw this scene.

His face showed disbelief, discomfort, and anger.

When Chen Ji was about to leave, he saw Song Ran as well and opened his mouth, silently saying, “Tsk, that hat on your head looks great!”

Song Ran was wearing a green hat today.

It was bright and eye-catching.

If Xu Jiajia were there, she would definitely say, “If you want life to go smoothly, you have to wear a bit of green on your head.”

…

Friday.

Liu Kui came to Xu’s house and briefly mentioned the matter about Song Hanyong: “All the big fish behind Song Hanyong have been caught. The reason we were able to find them so quickly is thanks to Uncle Xu and Comrade Xu Jiajia. I’ve already applied for a reward, and when the time comes, I’ll personally deliver it with my colleagues.”

Xu Jianguo was pleasantly surprised: “No, no need, we’re just serving the people.”

Liu Kui said sternly, “It’s the least we can do, you don’t need to decline.”

Xu Jianguo had no choice but to accept: “Alright, Officer Liu, have you eaten?”

Liu Kui, seeing the respectful attitude from Xu Jianguo, couldn’t help but twitch his lips: “I ate before I came. Uncle Xu, from now on, just call me Xiao Liu. The ‘Officer Liu’ sounds too distant.”

Xu Jianguo, remembering Liu Kui’s relationship with Shen Yuebai, nodded and said, “Okay—”

…

That night.

The starry sky sparkled like diamonds on the dark velvet canvas, casting a mysterious glow.

Xu Jiajia was sound asleep when suddenly Gua Gua’s voice rang out.

[Host, Host, wake up, someone is trying to set your house on fire.]

Xu Jiajia was immediately startled awake, took a flashlight from under her pillow, put on her robe, and knocked on Xu Laotai’s door.

The elderly woman, who had light sleep due to her age, woke up immediately after just one knock: “Who is it?”

Xu Jiajia replied, “Grandma, it’s me, someone is setting a fire outside.”

Without waiting for a response, Xu Jiajia rushed to the next room and woke up Xu Jianguo.

When Xu Jianguo heard about the fire, a look of fury flashed in his eyes: “Go out through the back door, I’ll see who’s doing this evil deed.”

Xu Jiajia helped Xu Laotai and looked at Xu Jianguo: “Dad, be careful.”

Xu Jianguo patted his chest confidently: “Don’t worry, your dad is tough!”

Xu Laotai kicked him in annoyance: “Use your head, don’t be so reckless.”

Xu Jianguo quickly stood straight: “Yes, yes…”

Xu Jiajia opened the back door.

A shadow was sneaking around, moving dry straw.

Xu Jiajia instructed Xu Laotai to stay in a safe place, then quietly approached the shadow and kicked it in the back.

The shadow let out an “Ow!” and knelt to the ground.

Taking advantage of the situation, Xu Jiajia locked the person’s throat and subdued him swiftly.

The person, in pain, contorted his face: “Let go of me, let go.”

The voice made Xu Jiajia instantly recognize the person: “Wang Bo.”

Her aunt’s ex-husband.

The two had divorced recently, and he had been detained for a few days due to domestic violence.

Wang Bo recognized Xu Jiajia’s voice as well. His eyes filled with rage as he spat out obscene words, “Bitch, slut, filthy whore…”

Xu Jiajia slapped Wang Bo across the face: “Keep cursing. Let’s see if your mouth is faster, or my hand is.”

Wang Bo hated Xu Jiajia deeply. If it weren’t for her exposing him, he wouldn’t have fallen into such disgrace: “Bitch, if you have the guts, kill me!”

One life for another, it would be worth it.

Xu Jiajia wasn’t stupid and certainly wouldn’t do what he wanted. She slapped him again: “Do you think too highly of yourself? With your filthy life, do you think you can compare with me?”

Xu Jiajia stepped on his back and shouted into the darkness: “Dad, did you find the person setting the fire?”

Xu Jianguo replied, “No, I didn’t see anyone. Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

Xu Jiajia: “I’ve caught someone here, bring a rope.”

Xu Jianguo found a rope and followed the sound to Xu Jiajia.

When he saw the person, his anger flared, and he kicked Wang Bo hard in the groin: “Damn it, you’ve got guts, huh? Coming to my house to set fire? I’ll kick you to death, you wicked bastard!”

“Ahh, ahhh…” Wang Bo’s screams echoed through the night, startling the birds in the trees.

After kicking Wang Bo, Xu Jianguo punched him several more times.

Wang Bo was left immobile, bleeding from his mouth.

At this moment, Wang Bo regretted it.

Not because he regretted starting the fire, but because he regretted not setting Xu’s house on fire earlier.

Xu Jianguo saw that Wang Bo had calmed down, so he tied him up with a rope and locked him in the wood shed.

After all this, Xu Jianguo clapped his hands and said grimly: “This bastard is vengeful. Luckily, Jiajia noticed in time, or we would’ve had a serious problem.”

There was dry straw all around the house.

Once ignited, the flames would spread quickly.

Xu Jiajia: “…”

[It wasn’t me who noticed, it was Gua Gua.]

But it wasn’t something she could say out loud, so Xu Jiajia could only lie: “I got up during the night and noticed something was wrong, so I woke you up.”

Xu Jianguo gave Xu Jiajia a meaningful look: “Good timing, well done.”

Xu Laotai smiled knowingly: “Pretty good, that’s why it’s all because of you!”

Xu Jiajia: “…”

She felt like they knew something!

…

The next morning.

Xu Jianguo took Wang Bo to the police station.

He told Liu Kui about Wang Bo’s actions.

Liu Kui frowned after hearing it: “You go to work first, I’ll go to the scene.”

Xu Jianguo nodded: “Okay—”

After Xu Jianguo left, Liu Kui entered the temporary detention area.

He opened the door.

And was greeted by a disgusting sight.