Immediately, they stopped Li Zhouzhou from leaving. Wang Ergou’s mother couldn’t stop him, so she hurriedly said to his wife, “Go and stop him quickly. This is all your fault.”

　　Wang Ergou’s father said he didn’t want any compensation or money.

　　”Wang Ergou is talking nonsense and ruining the reputation of my Zhou Zhou family. He doesn’t ask the village chief to come out and explain things clearly, and he thinks my Li family is easy to bully.” Gu Zhao refused to give up and said, “You can stop it today, but can you stop it tomorrow?”

　　Wang Ergou’s mother blocked the gate and refused to let Li Zhouzhou leave. She also asked his wife to persuade Li Zhouzhou, but Gu Zhao was looking for trouble. Wang Ergou on the ground saw that he was serious, so he stood up angrily, his legs and feet were not weak at all, and came up to grab Gu Zhao’s clothes.

　　When Li Zhouzhou saw this, he hurried back to help his husband.

　　”You punched me and really hurt me. Do you believe me if I ask your family for another tael of silver?” Gu Zhao said calmly.

　　Li Zhouzhou stood in front of his husband, clenching his fists in anger, “Husband, please don’t stay here. Let’s go home first and call dad to come with us, and then call the village chief.”

　　Seeing this, Wang Ergou’s parents burst into tears and beat their daughter-in-law Wang Xue, saying that Wang Xue was heartless and had no conscience. Our Wang family saved your life. If we had known it would be so cold, we should have let you freeze to death. We also passed on the tofu-making skills to you. This is how you repay our Wang family…

　　Finally, Wang Xue had a wooden face and was about to kneel down in front of Li Zhouzhou. However, just as he bent his legs, Li Zhouzhou quickly blocked it.

　　”Uncle Wang, this is none of your business.”

　　”Zhou Zhou, please let Wang Ergou go this time.” Wang Xue couldn’t even cry, his eyes were blank.

　　Li Zhouzhou looked at his husband. He was angry, anxious and furious, but he didn’t know what to say.

　　Uncle Wang was pitiful, and everyone in the village knew it. But they didn’t say anything later, because no one cared. It was like this every time. Once, Wang Ergou beat Uncle Wang so hard that he couldn’t get out of bed. The villagers said they would ask the village chief to come, but Wang Ergou’s parents scolded them back, saying that what did our Wang family’s affairs have to do with you? Ergou beat his own wife, so why are you making a fuss?

　　Uncle Wang, who was lying on the bed, didn’t care.

　　No one can control it since then.

　　”If I don’t pursue the matter today, what should I do if Wang Ergou continues to plot against my Zhou Zhou in the village someday? Since we are going to sue the authorities, we might as well just get it over with. Sooner or later, he will go to jail anyway.”

　　”I won’t say any more. Ergou was just drunk and said that. I didn’t mean anything else.”

　　”Yes, they are brothers, what can happen?”

　　Wang Xue pleaded, but even Wang Ergou was cowardly and said he would not tell anyone. Gu Zhao nodded reluctantly and said, “If I hear any rumors about what happened tonight in the village, they must have come from your family. I will sue Wang Ergou and the Wang family.”

　　Let’s leave it at that.

　　Gu Zhao took Zhou Zhou out, but turned back when he thought of something. The two old men from the Wang family were talking about Wang Xue, and when they saw Gu Zhao and Li Zhou Zhou coming back, they were so scared that they dared not say a word.

　　”Where’s the plaster?” Gu Zhao asked.

　　I almost forgot that Zhou Zhou came to Wang’s house to look for gypsum. Now he’s in trouble. I guess Zhou Zhou won’t go to Uncle Wang’s house to buy tofu for some time in the future.

　　he definitely doesn’t want Uncle Wang to be caught between his parents-in-law.

　　Li Zhouzhou remembered and brought it over from the kitchen windowsill. Gu Zhao, with the help of the Wang family’s oil lamp and the moonlight, could roughly see that there was white water-like condensation in the bowl. He put some with his finger and tasted it.

　　Not at all.

　　Come to think of it, how could food be made using industrial gypsum powder?

　　I have worked in vain tonight.

　　Gu Zhao put down the bowl and said, “No, let’s go back.” Then he took Zhou Zhou’s hand and walked out of the Wang family’s yard. Before they had gone far, they heard the voices of Wang Ergou’s parents cursing inside. Of course, they were cursing the Li family and Wang Xue, saying that Wang Xue was a troublemaker, and also the voice of Wang Ergou.

　　”They cursed behind his back but didn’t dare to say it to his face. Wang Ergou was afraid of authorities.” Li Zhouzhou said in a depressed tone. He said that this was what he wanted, but he was actually worried about Uncle Wang.

　　”If only I could have come over tomorrow.”

　　Gu Zhao knew Zhou Zhou would blame himself, and said, “Wang Ergou must come back tonight. If he comes back to ask for money, will he scold Uncle Wang? If he asks for a tael of silver and Uncle Wang doesn’t give it to him, he might even beat and scold him, right?”

　　”If you hadn’t come tonight, would Uncle Wang have suffered less? The real cause of Uncle Wang’s plight was Wang Ergou’s family.”

　　If Uncle Wang, who abandoned his baby in the snow, knew that he would be living like this more than 30 years later, he would definitely think that it would be better for him to freeze to death and beg the Wang family not to save his life.