Chapter 93: Failing to Steal the Chicken and Losing the Rice

With a turn of her eyes, she continued, “Besides, she’s been lying on my third son’s bed all afternoon. It wouldn’t look good if word got out.”

Zhao Pulin was so enraged that the veins on his arms bulged, his fists clenched tight, wanting to strike this old woman. The two sides were deadlocked for a moment.

Zhao Pulin said, “If Auntie from the Mao family doesn’t release her, then I’ll have to involve the police. My wife realizes her mistake too. At worst, she’ll spend a few months inside. But today, my daughter must be taken away.”

The elderly woman from the Mao family retorted, “You’re not afraid, and neither am I. If this blows up, your daughter won’t have it easy either. I heard you still have four unmarried daughters at home. Haha, they’ll all end up old maids, and that’ll be quite a joke.”

In the end, the village branch secretary and the captain from Beipo Village intervened to help resolve the matter. Zhao’s family was at fault initially, so they compensated the Mao family with thirty yuan. Originally, the Mao family demanded fifty yuan, but Gao Suhua adamantly refused.

Finally, Zhao Pulin insisted on only thirty yuan, or else they would go through official channels, as he had resolved to see it through.

Eventually, Zhao’s family returned the original one hundred yuan and added another thirty yuan out of their own pocket to settle the matter. Not having so much cash on hand, the village branch secretary assigned a few young members of the Mao family to accompany them to collect the money.

The elderly woman from the Mao family, though grumbling outwardly, was secretly pleased upon receiving the money, thinking it wouldn’t be bad if such incidents happened more often.

When Zhao’s family returned to the village, most villagers had already settled down for the night, so it didn’t cause much of a stir.

After the people from Beipo Village took the money and left, Zhao Pulin closed the door and immediately started beating Gao Suhua with punches and kicks. This was the first time Zhao Pulin had been so violent towards Gao Suhua. Gao Suhua was in great pain but dared not make a sound, fearing that the neighbors would hear and spread rumors the next day.

Zhao Changlin saw that enough was enough and pulled his brother away, saying, “Enough! We still have work tomorrow. If the villagers catch wind of this, it’ll only stir up trouble. Let’s bury this incident today.”

Many people in Beipo Village witnessed this incident. Although the village branch secretary and the captain tried to keep it from spreading, such things were bound to come to light sooner or later. It would be best to settle Xiaomei’s marriage as soon as possible.

Anyway, those people didn’t see Xiaomei’s face. With so many daughters in the Zhao family, even if rumors spread, they wouldn’t know which one it was. For now, this is how it has to be.”

“Furthermore, from now on, you all better drop those crooked thoughts. Today, you tried to scheme against Luo Qiao, but not only did she escape unscathed, she didn’t even get involved in any trouble. That girl is not simple. In the future, stop provoking her.

Since we didn’t originally intend to acknowledge her and she’s not from our Zhao family, don’t harbor any mean thoughts. Otherwise, you’ll embarrass the entire Zhao family.”

Gao Suhua gritted her teeth and said, “Are we just going to let this slide? She schemed against Xiaomei and made us pay thirty yuan. I can’t swallow this anger.”

Zhao Pulin coldly snorted, “What else can you do if you’re unwilling? Dare to make a fuss about this? Today at noon, she was seated with the captain’s second daughter-in-law. In the afternoon, she went to work as usual without showing any signs of deviation. You still find it not scandalous enough, wanting the whole village to know? Will you still be able to go out and face people?

How many times have I told you, stop harboring such crooked thoughts? Now look, your failed attempt to benefit from a stolen chicken nearly ruined our own daughter. Are you satisfied now?”