"What, now you want others to be lenient with you?"

"If you want to be beggars, go now, and I'll find someone to take your picture right away to record this happy and joyful moment for me."

Seeing that Xie Mingzhu remained unmoved no matter what, the four became somewhat anxious.

He Caixia gritted her teeth in anger.

“We are your elders, after all. Even if we didn’t treat you well in the past, we still raised you to adulthood, didn’t we?”

"If it weren't for the two of us, you would have been dead somewhere long ago. We have done you a favor, after all. You will be punished by heaven for repaying kindness with enmity!"

"yes."

Song Yongfu echoed this sentiment.

“Our village is most wary of filial impiety. Aren’t you afraid that if something happens to either of us, and we die from anger because of you, we’ll come after you in the dead of night to take our lives?”

"If all else fails, just tell us how many times the two of us need to kowtow to you, and we'll do it right now! Even if we're half-dead from kowtowing, we'll finish it, okay?"

As they talked, the two of them began banging their heads against the ground again and again.

Huang Meiling and Xie Wenyuan had never seen anything like this before.

Xie Mingzhu smiled.

Having lived in the village for so many years, how could she not understand what the two of them meant?

They were truly at their wits' end, so they resorted to pressuring her with the supernatural tales circulating in the village.

There's an old saying that elders who kowtow to younger generations will shorten their lifespan, and the people of Duanqiao Village are particularly superstitious about this.

Therefore, when elders kneel down and kowtow to younger people, the younger people are often left helpless and can only quickly help them up.

but……

Xie Mingzhu gave a cold laugh.

"This trick might work on others, but it didn't work on me."

The idea of ​​shortening one's lifespan is, frankly speaking, an attempt to emphasize the so-called order of seniority, filial piety, and to prevent younger generations from disrespecting their elders.

However, as these stories were passed down, the ignorant villagers began to believe them to be true.

Filial piety has been distorted and no one follows it anymore, yet this mysterious rumor has been taken as truth.

Others might believe it, but Xie Mingzhu didn't.

If there really is any divine retribution, it should first fall upon people like Song Yongfu, He Caixia, Cui Lanhua, and Zhou Dazhu.

But after waiting for so many years, she never saw any divine retribution. Instead, suffering came one after another to her, a person who had never done anything evil and who was kind-hearted.

Xie Mingzhu didn't even bother to glance at them, letting them kowtow on the ground as they did, and walked straight past them towards Lu Qunli without any expression.

“Officer Lu, there’s one more thing I forgot to mention. Later, you should focus your investigation on Cui Lanhua and Zhou Dazhu’s pillows. They often hide money in them.”

"Also, there's that big cabinet on their bed; it has hidden compartments. Please search it carefully."

"By the way, please make sure to search Song Yongfu's house thoroughly."

"As far as I know, they have been swindling and stealing over the years, secretly saving a lot of money for their son, all of which was intended for Song Yaozu to use to get married."

Please search carefully and confiscate everything without missing a single item. That way, you can use some of it to compensate Zhu Chunhong.

To avoid Song Yongfu and He Caixia from feigning poverty and claiming they can't afford to pay when it comes time to seek compensation.

Zhu Chunhong was utterly incredulous upon hearing this.

She thought that Song Yaozu's family really didn't have the money to marry him off, so he used such despicable means to bring her home directly, ruin her body, and force her into marriage, so that he could get a wife for free without spending a penny on dowry.

Now I realize that their family wasn't really poor, but simply wicked.

He clearly had enough money to get married, yet he still resorted to such despicable means to ruin a girl's reputation and life.

"Shameless! Your whole family is shameless!"

Enraged, Zhu Chunhong rushed forward and kicked Song Yongfu and He Caixia twice.

Song Yongfu glared in, intending to retaliate, but Zhu Chunzhu reacted quickly, shielding her sister behind her and delivering another solid kick to Song Yongfu's chest.

Song Yongfu was kicked to the ground, lying on his back like a giant turtle kicking his legs in the air. He struggled for a long time but couldn't get up.

Before long, police officers came out of the Song and Zhou families one after another.

All the valuables in their house were also moved out.

Song Yongfu and Zhou Dazhu watched from the side, their eyes bloodshot with rage, practically going crazy.

"My money! The money I've saved for so many years, money meant for my son's wedding!"

“My bicycle—I just bought it from town, and I haven’t even had a chance to ride it yet! You can’t just take it away like this!”

"That's my radio, my favorite radio!!"

Song Yongfu and Zhou Dazhu's voices rose and fell as they watched helplessly as their belongings were taken away one by one. Their hearts were breaking, and tears streamed down their faces like a broken faucet.

The villagers watching felt incredibly pleased to see the two families so heartbroken.

Some people even spotted their own belongings among the things that were moved out of Song Yongfu's house.

"Great! I was wondering why my big sled was just sitting there in the field and then suddenly disappeared. Turns out it was stolen by you!"

"And my winnowing basket, it's brand new, I haven't even used it once yet. There are a few bamboo strips that I specially added when I was weaving it, it's obviously mine! I never thought they would steal it too."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!