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"It sounds like it's your aunt and your uncle." Seeing her confusion, Uncle Quanfu mumbled.
"Your aunt and uncle?" Lin Xiaoguai instantly widened her eyes.
Uncle Quanfu nodded, swallowed hard, and said with lingering fear, "Two old ladies and a man, really quick with their words, Mincheng's wife was completely blocked."
Uncle had died over a decade ago, so those left were none other than Aunt and Second Aunt and Uncle, right?
Lin Xiaoguai twitched the corner of her mouth as she dredged up memories related to Aunt and Second Aunt and Uncle.
She remembered when Sister Yuanyuan got married, the second year, because she had given birth to a girl, her in-laws despised her. The mother-in-law was unwilling to even care for her during her confinement, wanting to drag Yuanyuan out of bed to work in the fields just after half a month. It happened that was encountered by Aunt. That stirred up a hornet's nest. Aunt didn't even change her expression, remaining calm and submissive, but afterward rallied several nephews from her side to catch Yuanyuan's father-in-law, put him in a sack, and give him a beating, causing him to miss the opportunity to be selected as a worker by the leaders from above. Such incidents happened more than once; each time Yuanyuan suffered at her in-laws', her uncles and little aunt would face misfortune. At first, her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law did not realize what was going on, but as time passed, they caught on. It was clear to everyone what was happening, yet no one could find a single witness, and eventually, they did not dare vent their anger on Yuanyuan. Later, when Sister Tingting married, her mother-in-law liked to keep all the work points earned by the family and refused to let her son and daughter-in-law spend any. Aunt managed to play a sorrowful drama in front of villagers when her grandchild was sick, forcing the old lady to give up the money.
As for Second Aunt, with a heart straightforward to the end and a bad temper, she dared to fight to the death when enraged. It's said the stubborn is afraid of the aggressive, and the aggressive is afraid of the reckless. Even men were afraid of her. Xiao'an, I remember the year when his leg was crushed in the coal mines, and the officials were unwilling to pay to send him to the provincial city for treatment. Second Aunt, with a firewood knife in hand, threatened them with a do-or-die stance until those people dug into their own pockets to pay a heavy price.
Uncle, on the other hand, was like hot-tempered meat, unstoppable in his foolery by anyone but her own father, Lin Guoqiang. Nobody in Fengyuan Village dared to act boldly before him.
"Uncle and aunt, you should hurry back and have a look. Otherwise, it might not end well," said Uncle Quanfu. His words sounded right, but on closer listen, there's a hint of instigating interest in watching the excitement.
However, everyone present disdained Wang Zhaodi. Not to mention Lin Xiaoguai, Shen Xiu, and Luo Yufang all showed a keen interest. It was Shen Zhangming who hesitated and finally said, "It takes two or three hours to walk from the county to the village."
"It's fine, uncle. I brought the village tractor over. It won't take long to get back," Uncle Quanfu quickly said.
"Then let's go. Wife, get a coat for your granddaughter-in-law to wear," Shen Zhangming finally decided.
They arrived just at the climax of the play.
Shen Family's courtyard was filled with people, inside and out. In the open space of the yard, an old man with a lean figure but spry demeanor held up a chubby boy covered in snot and tears, his face fierce, "Is it him, the little beast that almost caused my niece to miscarry?" Lin Xiaoguai recognized him as her uncle.
"Wu wu...put me down, Grandma, save me!" The usually boisterous chubby dumpling was terrified to death.
"You, you put my grandson down now, or else, or else you won't be able to leave Yuanjiazhuang!" A sharp voice with a trembling tone tried to sound threatening but only came off as empty bluster.
Lin Xiaoguai frowned slightly; such a grating voice had been absent for a while.
"Heh..." An old but strong voice wafted through the air, and an old lady leaned on a walking stick, supported by a young man as she walked up to Wang Zhaodi, her tone casual, "Quite a big talker, do you really think everyone else is easily frightened?"
At that moment, Wang Zhaodi was in a bad spot, lying prostrate on the ground, hair in disarray, her face full of scratch marks, as an old lady with graying hair sat on her, catching her breath.
"Xiao Ping, get your mother a bowl of water. Damn, haven't had to get physical in decades, my bones aren't what they used to be," she said, then pressed down harder on Wang Zhaodi's waist.
"Yes, Mom, just wait," said the middle-aged man beside her in response, then headed towards the house. Shen Mincheng and Shen Zhu, standing there stunned, didn't dare to interject.
Lin Xiaoguai covered her face; Second Aunt was really...
"A few of you...my mother is old, you, you..." Shen Zhu began somewhat inarticulately.
Lin Xiaoguai pursed her lips. If she felt disgust and hatred toward Wang Zhaodi, then her feeling toward Shen Zhu and his wife was utter contempt.
Despite being favored by Wang Zhaodi in this family and relying on them for support in old age, they were the most inconsequential, lacking their own opinions, listening to everything Wang Zhaodi said, almost devoid of independent personality.
Wang Zhaodi, domineering herself, made every effort to find a timid daughter-in-law for her own son, allowing her to continue dominating at home.
She remembered back then, when she was being unabashedly tormented by Wang Zhaodi at the Shen family's old house, this couple did not lack sympathy or guilt, but apart from revealing it in their eyes, they did not act at all.
Favored by Wang Zhaodi to the point of becoming lawless, Shen Xiaobao constantly caused trouble, leading to other children's parents complaining to them. The couple was clearly worn out, but they didn't dare say anything. They did not dare to discipline their own child, how pitiful that was.
The three elderly people seemed not to have heard Shen Zhu's words, Lin Nianqiang fixed his fierce gaze on Shen Mincheng, "Lin Family's daughter was abused by that harpy in such a way, Shen Family must give us an explanation today!"
His eyes were fierce, his expression filled with chill.
"What Lin Family's daughter, she's just our Shen Chihua, bought for 3,000 yuan. Whether she lives or dies is in our hands. If this were the old days, she would be a servant, and even if killed, it would have nothing to do with you!" Wang Zhaodi suddenly spoke up, her tone full of malice.
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