Chapter 232 Losing all face

Look at how Zhou Anguo treated me, and you want to learn from him? Do you want to be like him, beating your wife and bullying the weak? You better behave yourself!

Just then, a timid voice came from the alley entrance, tinged with hesitation and uncertainty: "Aunt Zhao? Sister Chen?"

The two stopped talking and turned around to see Yun Rui and Zhao Fangyi had arrived.

Yun Rui walked hurriedly, her forehead still damp with sweat, clearly in a rush; Zhao Fangyi followed closely behind, his face as dark as a cloud, his eyes fixed on the injury on Zhao Lin's face.

When Yunrui saw the bruises on Zhao Lin's face, she immediately exploded: "A man who hits a woman is simply a piece of trash! People like that are a disgrace to the world! Aunt Zhao, don't be afraid, my dad will go and get justice for you! He's a retired cadre from the neighborhood committee, who wouldn't give him some respect?"

As she spoke, she clenched her fists so tightly that her nails almost dug into her palms, and her voice rose so high that it almost cracked.

Zhao Fangyi stood at the back, wanting to glance at Shen Cuifen, but afraid of upsetting her, he quickly lowered his gaze as soon as he looked over.

His lips trembled slightly, and he opened his mouth several times, but his throat seemed to be blocked by something, and the sound was stuck in his mouth. In the end, he still couldn't ask the question.

He could only lower his head and wring his hands, his mind in turmoil, hating himself for his powerlessness and angered by Zhou Chenglong's utter depravity.

Yunrui rolled her eyes and spat in a low voice, "Didn't you beg me to come along? We agreed to come together to rescue people, but now that they're here, you're pretending to be mute? I just can't do anything with you!"

Although her tone was sharp, she couldn't hide her concern for Zhao Fangyi.

She quickly turned to Shen Cuifen and asked in a gentler tone, "Sister Shen, are you hurt? Does anything hurt? Say something, don't try to tough it out!"

Shen Cuifen slowly loosened her grip, her knuckles turning white from the force, and fine beads of sweat still clinging to her forehead.

She shook her head gently, her voice as soft as a leaf in the wind: "I just got kicked in the back, there's a bruise, and it's burning hot, but... it's nothing serious. I'll be fine after a couple of days of rest."

Yun Rui and Zhao Fangyi gasped, exclaiming in unison, "You're pregnant..."

"That's his lifeline!"

Yunrui's eyes were red, and her voice was trembling, "What would have happened to the child if that kick had been any harder? How could you be so stupid as a mother? Didn't you know to dodge?"

Shen Cuifen bit her lip and didn't say anything. She just put her hands in front of her lower abdomen as if she were protecting some most precious treasure.

Yunrui patted her chest and said decisively, "Aunt Zhao, Sister Chen, come stay with me at my house for a few days! My parents will definitely agree! Let's see if Uncle Zhou dares to come and cause trouble again! If he dares to come, my dad will call the police!"

She grew angrier as she spoke, her chest heaving as if she could already see Zhou Chenglong being taken away in a police car.

Zhao Lin held Shen Cuifen's hand and gently advised, "Why don't you go stay for a few days? The child is the priority. Don't suffer here. Come back after things have calmed down."

Her eyes were slightly red as she spoke, but she forced herself not to cry, afraid that if she cried, Shen Cuifen would be even more upset.

Shen Cuifen bit her lip, her face pale, but her eyes were firm.

She spoke each word as if squeezing it out from the bottom of her heart: "Mother, I'm not going anywhere. You're all alone at home, and I'm pregnant. How can I leave you? You're suffering, and I have to stay with you. Besides, there's still no news of Jian Guo and Li Guo, not even a trace. You're waiting for them every day, how can I leave?"

With each word she spoke, her voice grew softer, yet every word carried immense weight, striking the heart with its power.

Knowing he couldn't persuade her otherwise, Zhao Lin could only sigh. He turned to Yun Rui and the others, nodding to them, "Thank you. It's a blessing for our child to have friends like you. Uncle Zhou has taken leave and won't be back this week, but we can manage. Don't worry."

She spoke casually, but her hands behind her back trembled slightly.

Zhao Fangyi clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking, his voice so low it was almost inaudible: "Aunt Zhao, don't tell me you can handle it. We're neighbors, and we're family. If you need anything, just call me, and I'll be right there. Even in the middle of the night, I'll climb over the wall!"

He spoke with unwavering resolve, his eyes gleaming with a fierce determination rarely seen in a young man.

Zhao Lin thanked them, saw the two off, and walked heavily back into the house.

As soon as she closed the door, she leaned against the wall, raised her hand to wipe her face, and wiped away the moisture from the corner of her eyes.

She forced a smile, her voice hoarse: "Alright, alright, stop crying. I'm fine, really fine. I'll never let this happen again. I'm no longer the Zhao Lin who let everyone beat and scold me."

She said this as if she were speaking to Shen Cuifen, but also as if she were speaking to herself.

Zhou Chenglong spent over twenty yuan to buy a carton of premium cigarettes, polishing the cigarette box until it shone, as if he were going to enshrine it.

He humbly begged his classmate, who was a policeman, to help him, bowing and scraping, with a forced smile, afraid that the policeman might send him to jail if he was unhappy.

He then secretly rummaged through his son Zhou Nuli's pillow, dug out fifty yuan that he had hidden for a long time, and stuffed it into his pocket with trembling hands.

When he got home, he didn't say a word, turned around and stuffed the money into his wife's hand, his eyes darting around like a thief, and no one dared to mention what had happened.

He knew in his heart that the money was ill-gotten, but in order to settle things, he could only look after the immediate problem.

As soon as the Zhou couple entered the house, they saw Zhou Xiuli huddled in the corner on a small stool, her head down and her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes, like a frightened little bird.

The two of them felt a tightness in their chests, and their tempers flared up instantly.

Mr. Zhou slammed the door shut and pointed at her nose, yelling, "Useless! I've raised you for nothing! You stay at home all day, never do any work, never find a partner, you're a disgrace to the Zhou family!"

Zhou's mother chimed in, her voice shrill: "Look at the neighbor's daughter, her child is old enough to run errands! And you? You're twenty-three, still eating my food, living in my room, and you don't even have a man in sight! How long do you plan to stay holed up like this?"

They hurled vicious insults at her, each one more hurtful than the last, but from beginning to end, no one asked her even once, "Are you feeling alright?"

Turning around, they started arranging blind dates, flipping through their contacts and calling them one by one, eager to marry her off as soon as possible and get rid of this "burden".

Zhou Xiuli had no choice but to bite the bullet and go on the blind date.

Most of the men who came were street vendors, some selling stinky tofu, some driving tricycles, dressed sloppily, and full of slick talk.

They all look crooked and awkward, with crooked mouths and squinty eyes, and they walk with a limp. None of them are pleasing to the eye.

She kept her head down, holding the teacup in her hand, not taking a sip for a long time, wanting only to end this torment as soon as possible.

A few of them were decent-looking, well-dressed, and spoke politely, but when it came to work and income, they stammered.

Some said they were temporary workers in the factory, while others said they had just been laid off and were penniless, unable to even afford a decent meal.

Zhou Xiuli sat there, her heart sinking deeper and deeper, as if she had fallen into an ice cave, feeling numb with cold.

Her family had seen her go on seven or eight blind dates, each one ending in failure, and then matchmaker Aunt Li came to their door again.