Chapter 3: The Fierce Old Lady

“Murder?”

The moment that word was said, the crowd began murmuring. The way they looked at Zhang Wenliang instantly changed.

“Zhizhi, was it him who pushed you?”

Wang Guifang lost control. She raised her hatchet and was ready to charge.

The two Su brothers also stood up like two enraged gods, tall and intimidating as they glared fiercely at Zhang Wenliang.

“You sickly wretch, what nonsense are you spouting? I’ll tear your mouth apart!”

But as soon as he saw the hatchet in Wang Guifang’s hand, Zhang Wenliang’s legs started trembling.

“You, you…”

Su Nianzhi “weakly” stood up from behind Wang Guifang. “Zhang Wenliang, weren’t you the one who asked me to meet you by the river five days ago?”

Zhang Wenliang frowned. “Yes.”

“And weren’t you the one who personally told me you wanted to break off the engagement?”

“Yes, because I don’t love you. I love Jiajia. I didn’t want to waste your time!”

Zhang Wenliang’s expression of fake sincerity actually made quite a few young girls in the crowd envious. They were practically wishing they were Lu Jiajia themselves.

“Brother Liang~”

Lu Jiajia bit her lip, looking all fragile and innocent.

“Zhizhi, love shouldn’t be forced!”

Su Nianzhi felt like vomiting. Her brows furrowed coldly—she was naturally beautiful, and even in illness, her looks were stunning.

Zhang Wenliang couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. If she loved him so deeply, then even if they got married, maybe he could still have something going on with her.

As he imagined Su Nianzhi looking like this under him, a strange tightness clenched his entire body.

But who was Su Nianzhi?

She had seen countless filthy stares like his in the apocalypse. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to gouge out Zhang Wenliang’s eyes.

She asked sternly, “Didn’t you say I couldn’t have children?”

Zhang Wenliang instinctively felt something was off, but the words still came out. “It’s true you can’t have kids.”

Su Nianzhi’s whole body began to sway. “Zhang Wenliang, you said I was infertile, that I was a burden—weren’t you pushing me to die?”

Zhang Wenliang wanted to explain, but for some reason, he found himself speechless.

“I got emotional and came to argue with you, but you pushed me, and that’s how I fell into the river.”

“But then you told everyone I jumped in myself.”

“I was going to let it go. After all, I’m the one with the weak body. But now it turns out the reason you broke off the engagement was because you were already messing around with Zhang Shanshan!”

“Zhang Wenliang! If this isn’t attempted murder, then what is?!”

Su Nianzhi said all of this in one breath, trembling and panting by the end.

Her calm, clear voice carried real weight.

In just a few sentences, she had wiped away all the gossip and stains recently stuck to her name.

The villagers might not be well-educated, but they’d seen all kinds of shady stuff.

After a little thought, they realized Zhang Wenliang’s family had crossed a serious line.

Back when the engagement was made, Old Master Su had exchanged his life for it—he had saved Zhang Wenliang’s father, Zhang Shangen, from a wolf pack and died in the process.

The Zhang family had sworn they would take care of the Su family’s sickly daughter.

And now you want to break off the engagement? Fine. But to push the girl toward death? That’s not just heartless—that’s evil to the bone.

Could someone like that really go to college and bring glory back to the village?

The crowd fell silent.

Zhang Wenliang had no idea why he had just lost the ability to speak. Panic surged within him.

“Su Nianzhi, I didn’t—I was just…”

Before he could finish, Su Nianzhi suddenly collapsed backward.

Pfft! She spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Zhizhi!”

Wang Guifang panicked. Tears streamed down her face.

“Eldest! Second! Beat him to death!”

The two Su brothers, looking like wrathful guardians of hell, grabbed Zhang Wenliang by the collar.

“Brother…”

Su Nianzhi weakly spoke to stop them. In the drama, this was the part where the brothers got arrested by the police.

“Don’t hit him…”

The Su brothers’ eyes turned red with rage. Was their sister still thinking about that scumbag?

They were at a loss.

“Brother, lowering ourselves to deal with trash like him isn’t worth it.”
If anyone was going to beat him, she would do it herself later.

He still had some rough days ahead of him.

“All right! Su girl, what do you want to do?”

At that moment, an old man with a cane walked forward from the crowd, supported by another man.

It was Zhang Wenliang’s father—Zhang Shangen.

Su Nianzhi rolled her eyes internally.

What a rotten family.

In the drama, it was mentioned early on that Zhang Shangen had been vicious from a young age—torturing cats and dogs, and as he grew older, harassing girls.

All that came straight from his own memories.

So this man was a pervert.

He lusted after his own daughter-in-law.

But that wasn’t her concern.

She looked at Zhang Shangen, who appeared honest but had a dark gleam in his eyes.

Weakly, she said, “I didn’t do anything wrong. Why are you all treating me like this? Mom, let’s just go to the police…”

Zhang Shangen stared directly at her. “Su girl, we’ll compensate you thirty yuan. Let’s just call it settled.”

“What? Thirty yuan?”

Sun Daniu blurted out in shock, but seeing Zhang Shangen’s warning look, she swallowed the rest and could only fume quietly at the Su family—muttering nonstop.

“Mom, let’s just report it…”

“How much do you want?”

Su Nianzhi’s eyes darted as she pinched her mother’s arm gently.

A mother-daughter bond was something else.

Wang Guifang suddenly understood, and snapped, “Everyone in the village knows Zhizhi needs ginseng just to stay alive. At least three hundred, maybe five hundred. If you don’t pay up, Zhang Wenliang can go rot in jail.”

“You little b*tch! Three hundred yuan? You might as well go die! Even if we sold every bone in your body, you wouldn’t be worth that much!”

“Mom, let’s go re—”

“Fine! Three hundred yuan!”

The whole village was stunned. Three hundred yuan?!

Some were amazed at how rich the Zhangs were. Others admired the Su family’s boldness.

“Bring the money!”

Zhang Shangen had originally planned to wriggle out of this privately. He hadn’t expected Su Nianzhi to be so sharp.

He exchanged a look with Old Lady Sun.

Soon after, the trembling old woman handed over thirty big unity bills (ten-yuan notes) to Su Nianzhi.

“You little slut, here’s your coffin money.”

SLAP! Wang Guifang slapped her across the face.

“That’s for your foul mouth.”

“You eat sh*t or something?”

With slaps flying from both sides, Sun Daniu’s face swelled up immediately.

She was no match for the battle-hardened Wang Guifang—she even lost a few teeth.

No one dared to intervene. Didn’t they see the hatchet lying beside her?

The screams were like those of a pig being slaughtered—everyone’s scalp went numb from the sound.

It had been a long time since anyone saw Wang Guifang in action. But once she started, she was like a nuclear bomb.

Only when she’d had her fill did she clap her hands, turn around, and instantly change from raging tigress to loving mother.

Completely ignoring everyone else.

“Zhizhi, let’s go home. If anyone dares mess with us again, I’ll kill them.”

A crowd looked at the mud-covered, swollen-faced Sun Daniu lying on the ground like a pig’s head:
…Who would dare?

Just as Su Nianzhi turned to leave, she suddenly felt something strange burrow toward her body.

Her instincts kicked in—she reflexively counterattacked with her psychic powers.

Whatever it was… vanished.

Confused, Su Nianzhi’s eyes narrowed.

What was that just now?