Chapter 23: The beating was too light.

Liu Xiangyang was so angry that his eyes turned red, and he slapped Shen Hongmei across the face again.

"Brother!" Liu Xuejun, who was inside the house, rushed out upon hearing the commotion and grabbed him. "Let's talk this out, don't resort to violence!"

Liu Xiangyang shoved him away, pointed at Shen Hongmei, and roared, "Even if I, Liu Xiangyang, am poor my whole life, I will never sell my sister! Where did you get this meat from? Give it back to me intact! If you can't handle this, don't come back!"

After saying that, he took the pancakes that Liu Zhixia had made at noon from the kitchen, and went out to the fields without looking back.

Shen Hongmei covered her burning face and directed all her resentment at Liu Zhixia: "It's all your fault! Go and return this meat yourself!"

She pushed the meat towards Liu Zhixia with a self-righteous air.

She's the sister-in-law, so the younger sister-in-law should listen to her.

Besides, she was so worried about her sister-in-law's marriage that she was slapped twice. Shouldn't Liu Zhixia share the burden with her?

Liu Zhixia didn't even glance at the piece of meat, her eyes icy: "I advise you to go by yourself right away. Otherwise, when your parents come back, let's see how you explain yourself."

"You heartless bastard! I'm doing this all for your own good!" Shen Hongmei exclaimed in exasperation.

"Is that so?" Liu Zhixia sneered. "Isn't it for my brother's squad leader? Too bad, my brother doesn't appreciate it."

After saying that, she pulled Liu Xuejun, picked up Erbao, turned around and went back into the house, leaving Shen Hongmei alone in the yard.

Seeing that she really didn't care, Shen Hongmei got angry and cursed a few times in the yard, then scolded her crying son. In the end, she could only bite the bullet and take the hot potato out of the house.

Inside the room, after hearing what had happened, Liu Xuejun slammed his fist on the table in anger.

"Brother, you did the right thing! I think you didn't hit her hard enough! She just promised Mother she wouldn't interfere in your marriage, and now she's causing trouble! Sister, we can't always be so passive; we have to take the initiative!"

Liu Zhixia crossed her arms, a cold glint in her eyes: "I didn't expect my sister-in-law to cause trouble so quickly. But as soon as he delivered the things, the rumors spread throughout the entire brigade. I don't believe that no one helped."

"They've already made their move, we have to respond!" Liu Xuejun rubbed his hands together, eager to get started.

“Fine,” Liu Zhixia said with a cold smile, “I know what to do.”

She leaned close to Liu Xuejun's ear and whispered her plan.

Liu Xuejun's eyes lit up more and more as he listened: "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"

Without saying a word, he grabbed a kitchen knife and rushed out.

Liu Zhixia dropped her child off next door and rushed to her own vegetable garden, shouting to her family members working there, "Dad! Mom! Something terrible has happened! Xuejun must have heard something, he's gone to settle scores with Lu Huaiyuan with a kitchen knife!"

"What!"

The people working in the fields were all stunned.

They were still working hard in the fields and hadn't heard the rumors about the bride price.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shouren and Zhang Xiuying dropped their hoes and ran towards the village. Liu Xiangyang followed with a dark expression, and many kind-hearted villagers, fearing something might happen, also went after them.

A group of people happened to stop the "aggressive" Liu Xuejun halfway.

Zhang Xiuying snatched the knife from his hand, both angry and frightened: "You brat! Don't you care about your future? You dare to kill someone?"

Liu Xuejun looked aggrieved: "Mom! That bastard bullied my sister, I'm going to settle the score with him!"

"You insolent wretch!" Liu Shouren slapped him across the face. "You don't even use your brain when you do things!"

Liu Zhixia quickly stepped forward to stop them: "Father, Mother, don't be angry, nothing has happened yet!"

Liu Xuejun immediately chimed in, "Dad, I know I was wrong! But that grandson Lu Huaiyuan is going around saying he's offered a betrothal gift and accepted the dowry. Isn't that blatantly trying to ruin my sister's reputation? I'm just too angry to stand by and dowry!"

"What the hell?!" This time it was Zhang Xiuying's turn to explode. "That son of a bitch! He's gone too far! I'll kill him today!"

Zhang Xiuying roared and charged towards the Lu family with a knife in her hand.

Liu Zhixia and Liu Xuejun exchanged a glance and quickly caught up. Seeing that something serious was about to happen, the others also hurried after them.

As soon as they arrived at the Lu family's door, they saw Shen Hongmei and Lu Huaiyuan shoving each other over the piece of pork. Gu Mansheng, standing next to them, was shouting in a shrill voice, "Once you accept it, you accept it. How can you return it? Marriage is a serious matter, not a game! Now everyone knows that your family accepted the Lu family's gift and then secretly returned it. Where will the Lu family put their face?"

Even the most naive Shen Hongmei knew she'd fallen for a trap, and she was on the verge of tears: "You clearly said you came to apologize, how did it turn into a dowry? What family's dowry is just a piece of meat! If my mother-in-law finds out I sold her daughter for a piece of meat, she'll kill me!"

"Shen Hongmei!"

Zhang Xiuying's angry roar came from behind.

Shen Hongmei trembled with fright. When she turned around and saw her mother-in-law holding a knife, her hand went limp, and the flesh fell to the ground with a "thud".

"Mother-in-law..."

"What's going on!" Zhang Xiuying rushed over.

Shen Hongmei knelt down with a thud: "Mother-in-law, I was wrong! Lu Huaiyuan said he came to apologize to my younger sister and brought a piece of meat, which is why I accepted it! But in their mouths, it became a betrothal gift, saying that if my younger sister accepted the meat, she must marry him!"

Upon hearing this, the onlookers immediately erupted in uproar.

An aunt looked at Lu Huaiyuan with disdain: "So after all this time, all you gave as a betrothal gift was a piece of meat? Captain Lu's family is really cunning, trying to trick a wife with just a piece of meat?"

"That's right. This meat was hunted in the mountains by Zhixia and Lu Kai and the other two soldiers."

That afternoon, the female educated youth suddenly realized, "So that's how it is! They deliberately leaked the news so no one would know what was being sent. By the time the Liu family realized what was going on, they'd be in deep trouble! Captain Lu's family is really cunning!"

"That's right!" The people working in the fields also testified, "The Liu couple have been in the fields the whole time and haven't accepted any gifts! What right does Shen Hongmei, as a sister-in-law, have to arrange a marriage for her sister-in-law? I think Shen Hongmei is also problematic!"

Gu Mansheng panicked and stepped forward to argue, "Don't talk nonsense. I was there too. I clearly explained to Sister-in-law Liu that it was a betrothal, and she herself said that an elder sister-in-law is like a mother, and she accepted it on behalf of her younger sister! Your Liu family didn't discuss it properly, so how can you blame Captain Lu's family?"

Liu Zhixia calmly met her gaze, her voice not loud, but each word clear: "Gu Zhiqing, at this hour, instead of going to the fields to earn work points, you have the leisure to accompany Lu Huaiyuan to my house for the betrothal? And who is your status to make decisions on behalf of the Lu family elders?"

With just one sentence, everyone's attention was instantly drawn to Gu Mansheng.

Liu Xuejun immediately chimed in, mocking, "Exactly! From beginning to end, Lu Huaiyuan didn't say a word; it was all her jumping around like that. Anyone who didn't know better would think she was more anxious than anyone else about her son getting married!"

Gu Mansheng's face turned pale and then red after being rebuked, and she shut her mouth in annoyance.

Lu Huaiyuan then quickly stepped forward, shielding her behind him and adopting a protective stance.

"She was just speaking out for justice! If you have a problem, come at me, don't bully a woman!"