However, the events that occurred in the black market back then still present many obstacles, so the two only briefly discussed the matter and did not elaborate further.

However, there was one thing that Pi Changling was very concerned about: "Was that woman I met last time really our squad leader's sister?"

Li Xiangdong nodded, "Yes."

Pi Changling's hands trembled slightly, and his voice unconsciously rose an octave, "It really is! It really is! That's wonderful!"

Li Xiangdong could see his excitement, and recounted how Chun Shuwei and Chunhua had recognized each other, "However, Commander Shuwei has other missions, and Aunt Chunhua is still in our village."

Pi Changling's eyes darkened. He picked up a piece of potato with his chopsticks and instructed Li Xiangdong, "Take good care of the squad leader's sister."

Chewing on the large, tasteless chunks of potato, Li Xiangdong swallowed with difficulty. "I know... Okay, stop... Ugh... It's too awful."

Pi Changling paused in his hand as he was putting food on the plate, then pointed incredulously at the small iron bowl glistening with oil. "This is potatoes stewed in lard! And you say it tastes bad?"

Li Xiangdong sighed, thinking to himself, "You haven't eaten anything good either."

"I'll bring you a deer tomorrow. It's almost Chinese New Year, so have something good to eat."

Pi Changling ate very quickly, devouring a whole iron basin of potatoes and three bowls of buckwheat noodles in a flash. Li Xiangdong didn't like the canteen food, so he barely finished the rice in his bowl before putting down his chopsticks.

When the two returned, Mai Zi's mother was still kneeling on the ground, begging Officer Wu to settle the matter privately.

Pi Changling's sharp gaze swept over, and he asked in a deep voice, "What are you doing?"

Xiao Wu quickly explained, "Chief, this woman insists on settling this privately, but the boss doesn't agree!"

Before Pi Changling could speak, Li Xiangdong sneered, "You think you can just settle this privately like that? How dare you!"

Pi Changling frowned slightly. "Injuring someone with a knife and robbing them is already a public prosecution case."

Seeing how familiar Li Xiangdong and Pi Changling seemed, and Pi Changling's obvious support for Li Xiangdong, Mai Zi's father felt a sudden pang of unease and a flood of thoughts rushed through his mind.

From being wrongfully sentenced to prison to being bullied by prison guards and fellow inmates, he remembered everything his brother had told him at the bar.

As a worldly man, Wheat's father made a decision immediately.

"Scarface! I'll agree to let Mai divorce her husband and marry you if I get your brother to drop the case!"

Scarface was stunned. "Wh-what..."

No one expected that before any of their methods could be used, Wheat's father would propose this condition himself.

Zhou Hongsong and Li Xiangdong exchanged a glance, then looked at Scarface together.

Scarface swallowed hard, looking back longingly, "Brother..."

Zhou Hongsong walked up to Mai Zi's father and said, "Okay, no problem!"

Wheat's father felt relieved.

“However, let Mai Zi and Zhang Guihe divorce now. I will withdraw the case as soon as they get their marriage certificate.”

"you!"

"What, were your words just a delaying tactic?"

Wheat's father shook his head dejectedly and said to his wife, "Big Tree's mother, go to the village and find Wheat. Tell her to go and get a divorce from Guihe right away."

Zhang Guilan originally thought her father-in-law was lying to get them released, but who would have thought it would actually lead to her brother and sister-in-law getting a divorce!

She screamed shrilly, "You're not allowed to go! If you make my brother get a divorce, I'll divorce Ding Dashu right now!"

Mai Zi's parents usually doted on their daughter-in-law, but now, at this critical juncture of life and death, they couldn't tolerate her acting recklessly.

Wheat's father said in a deep voice, "Once you've entered the Ding family, you'll be a ghost of the Ding family even in death. Want a divorce? Try it!"

Having seen her father-in-law's fierce face so often directed at Mai Zi, she was terrified when that face was now turned towards her.

Mai Zi's mother was very efficient. Although Zhang Guihe struggled and disagreed, Deng Xianglin and Gao Dacheng, being tall and strong, each supported one side of him and carried him to the Civil Affairs Bureau.

Scarface was beaming with joy. As soon as Maizi came out with her divorce certificate, he immediately and seamlessly got her a marriage certificate.

Zhou Hongsong looked at the grinning Scarface speechlessly. "Is it really necessary to be in such a hurry? Look, the staff are pecking at you two from behind."

"I'll just keep cricketing, bro! Things can get complicated in the long run!"

Scarface was overjoyed when his long-cherished wish came true. He was so happy that he didn't care that anyone else was there and picked up Wheat and kissed her.

Wheat's cheeks flushed red, and she quickly pushed away Scarface, who was grinning foolishly.

As for Zhang Guihe, whose face had turned green, he was like a stray dog ​​on the roadside; nobody paid him any attention!

With the marriage certificate in hand, Zhou Hongsong went to the police station as promised to withdraw the case. Mai Zi's father, his face ashen, dragged his silly-looking son home. Mai Zi's mother, however, had completely changed her shrewish demeanor from before, and approached Scarface with a grin, saying, "Son-in-law, when other people get married, they give three turns and one ring to their wives. You're a rich man now, so you should at least give three turns and one ring, plus two hundred yuan, right?"

Seeing her mother's state, Mai Zi was utterly ashamed and angrily questioned, "You can't sell me off once? Do you have to sell me off twice?"

Zhou Hongsong stepped forward and shoved her aside, saying, "What are you dreaming about? Three turns and one sound? If you want these things, you might as well get a divorce and find another man."

Wheat Mother wasn't angry even though she was humiliated; she just kept wrapping the scar around her neck.

Over the years, she's come to realize that this scarred man is actually quite soft-hearted.

Sure enough, Scarface felt bad about being pestered, so he pulled out a wad of ten-yuan notes from his pocket, didn't even count them, and stuffed them into her hand, saying, "Don't come to our house again, this money will settle things once and for all!"

Wheat Mother spat and counted the banknotes in her hand one by one, ignoring Scarface's words.

Zhang Guilan helped Zhang Guihe as they watched a group of people escort Maizi away, and the siblings' spirits plummeted.

"Brother, what are we going to do now?!"

"Go back first, I'll find a way."

"Why!"

Zhang Guilan wiped away her tears with a sorrowful expression, looked at her brother's legs, and asked, "It's such a long way, can you walk back?"

Zhang Guihe looked at his legs with disappointment and shook his head.

Zhang Guilan could only call out to her mother-in-law, "Give me some money, I need to hire a car to go back!"

Mai Zi's mother was reluctant to give it to him, but then her eyes lit up, and she pulled out two cents from her pocket. "Daughter-in-law, you'll never find a more generous mother-in-law than me!"

It just so happens that she was tired from walking, so it's perfect that we can take a car back together!

————

Since Mai Zi became pregnant, Scarface remembered Li Xiangdong and Zhou Hongsong's instructions. He also accidentally discovered Zhang Guihe picking up a bottle of dichlorvos pesticide that had been thrown away. Scarface was terrified that Zhang Guihe would poison Mai Zi and kill her. So he persuaded Mai Zi to move to the deer farm.

Therefore, not much of Mai Zi's belongings remained at Zhang Guihe's house; they were gradually moved to the deer farm over the past six months.

My daughter, Xiaoya, doesn't know about her parents' divorce yet. I was so busy just now that I didn't see her anywhere.