"You dare hit my grandma, I'm going to fight you," Song Yunuan, having recovered, leapt out like a little rabbit, grabbed Old Woman Mrs. Wang's arm from behind, and started scratching her ticklish spot.
Old Woman Mrs. Wang suddenly burst into loud laughter, frightening Old Mrs. Song.
A few old ladies who had followed them hurriedly separated the two.
Old Mrs. Song hugged Song Yunuan tightly, extremely touched by her actions, thinking this little girl really knows how to behave in times of trouble.
Song Yunuan suddenly pointed toward the pigsty, "There's someone there."
At that moment, Song Liang saw it too.
Soon after, everyone else saw it as well.
In the filthy pigsty, in a corner, lay a woman in tattered clothes, covered in injuries, who at that moment, struggled to open her swollen eyes at the sound of voices, her gaze as ashen as the dead.
Song Yunuan rushed over, her heart instantly sinking.
[Ah, ah, ah, this is too cruel, Lin Zhiqing is covered in wounds, barely breathing. Her sister is coming soon, and seeing her in such a terrible state, if it were me, I would want revenge too!]
[My father is the person in charge of this village—he bears responsibility for this, and it's not at all unfair to say so because he's the Brigade Leader and also serves as the Branch Secretary.]
[The Wang family is way too arrogant.]
[Lin Qing hated this village, actually buying it at a bargain price, not only knocking down all the houses but also digging up each family's ancestral graves.]
Song Liang watched the surrounding villagers with trepidation.
Fortunately, aside from his own family, nobody else could hear.
This is terrifying.
Wiping his face, he pointed at Wang Zhuzi and demanded in a harsh tone, "What's going on here?"
[Dad, that man is a beast, and you still ask what's going on? Just have the public security officers arrest him—this is intentional injury, let him rot in jail!]
Song Liang: ...
He pointed to two public security officers in the crowd, "Come here, arrest him and take him to the commune's police station."
Xia Guilan, not minding the dirt, crouched beside Lin Jia, wanting to touch her but not daring to. Song Yunuan said, "Lin Zhiqing, hold on, we're going to take you to the hospital right away."
Xia Guilan then snapped out of it, "Right, right, right, to the hospital."
Lin Jia glanced at Song Yunuan, blinked her eyes, as if pleading for something.
Song Yunuan: "Don't worry, both your daughters are at home. We'll have them go with you."
Old Mrs. Song, with six other old ladies, kicked over Old Woman Mrs. Wang and a few daughters-in-law, and brought out two young girls who were tied together.
The public security officers also caught Wang Zhuzi.
Old Woman Mrs. Wang let out a loud cry, as if she was about to rush forward.
But just then, a child shouted loudly, "There's a car, a small car is coming..."
At the same time, the hearts of the Song family of four sank.
It was over—the situation hadn't been dealt with, and Lin Qing had arrived.
Song Yunuan, held by Old Mrs. Song's hand standing by the hedge wall, saw two jeeps driving their way.
Lin Qing alighted from the first jeep, accompanied by her fiancé, the male protagonist Su Junze.
The second jeep opened, and two men and a woman got out, each carrying something.
They were dressed sharply, bright and shiny, even wearing leather shoes on their feet.
Compared to the villagers in patched clothing and emaciated from hunger, they seemed like people from another world.
The villagers instinctively shrank back a few steps.
Lin Qing had visited once before; seeing Old Woman Mrs. Wang, she forced a smile and said, "Granny, do you recognize me? I'm Lin Jia's sister, I..."
Before she could finish speaking, her face changed dramatically when she heard a weak voice calling her name, "Qing'er, Qing'er..."
Lin Qing rolled and crawled toward the pigsty, and seeing her sister, Lin Jia, disfigured and gasping for her last breaths, she let out a piercing scream, "Sis, sis..."
She trembled, stood up, and roared madly, "Who, who did this?"
No one dared to answer.
The Wang family's house, which just a moment ago was noisy, was now eerily silent.
Summoning his courage, Song Liang said, "It was Wang Zhuzi who beat her. I have arrested him. Look, he's right there..."
Xia Guilan's face was ashen, "I just found out too, and I was thinking of taking your sister to the hospital."
Su Junze held back Lin Qing, who was about to charge over and kill someone, "Qing, don't be impulsive, getting your sister to the hospital is what matters now."
Su Junze, true to his background as a cadre's son, had impressive connections, and in no time, an ambulance from the hospital arrived.
Lin Jia was carried onto the ambulance, along with two other girls who were as skinny as skeletons.
The display frightened the Wang family.
Song Liang also did not dare to come any closer.
Song Yunuan was pulled by Old Mrs. Song and hid in the back of the crowd.
Lin Qing got onto the ambulance but suddenly got down again, and pointed fiercely at the Wang family, "You all are accomplices, all of you wait for me!"
She then addressed the onlookers, "From poor mountains come evil waters, and from those waters come vile people. Anyone who has harmed my sister, I will not let a single one off!"
And then, pointing at Song Liang, who was hiding in the back of the crowd, her tone was chilling, "And you, Brigade Leader Song, I remember you!"
A hush fell over the crowd.
Before anyone could react, the vehicle had already driven away.
Song Liang stood there, stupefied.
Had it been any other time, he wouldn't have taken such threats to heart.
But today, he felt a chilling draft on his neck.
Old Mrs. Song let go of Song Yunuan and wailed loudly as she ran toward Old Woman Wang, hitting and cursing her as she went, "You damned old hag, how dare you involve my eldest son, I, Old Mrs. Song, will set your whole family ablaze..."
"[Sigh, nothing has changed, Lin Qing still hates my father, and it seems I can only have peace for three days. Three days later, my father was arrested, and he committed suicide in the detention center. My mother went to see him and was hit and killed by a car. Ahh, in less than six months, I too was kidnapped by human traffickers, then locked in a cellar and beaten to death. What kind of hellish ending is this?]"
She did not notice that the three members of the Song family were rigid with tension.
Old Mrs. Song pushed Old Woman Wang away, her eyes somber as she stared at the villagers who had come to watch the commotion, "I remember quite a few of you bullied Lin Zhiqing, didn't you? Lin Zhiqing's sister is not someone to be trifled with; she definitely won't let any of you off, hmm. This Old Wang's family is a curse, making us bear the grudge. Living in the same village with them is such awful luck..."
Old Mrs. Song successfully stirred up hatred among the crowd.
The Wang family was suddenly surrounded.
The yard erupted into chaos.
Song Liang frowned and directed the security personnel, "First, take Wang Zhuzi to the commune's police station."
Old Mrs. Song, preoccupied, quickly led her granddaughter back home.
Behind them, the villagers' gossip spread like wildfire.
"Why should we be implicated? It's not like I told Wang Zhuzi to beat his wife."
"My home is just in the front courtyard, but we really didn't know about it."
"Yeah, Old Wang's family is just too immoral."
"Old Woman Wang is mean-spirited, bullying Lin Zhiqing for being motherless; she'll get what's coming to her."
"Is Lin Zhiqing's sister an official or something now? She seemed very formidable."
"Old Wang's family has no blessings. If they'd treated Lin Jia well, maybe they could have enjoyed a ride in a jeep too."
Old Woman Wang grabbed Song Liang, wailing, "Brigade Leader, you must stand up for me."
Song Liang, furious, shook her off. Old Woman Wang was complicit in evil, not someone to be bothered with, and he said dismissively, "We will deal with your issue later."