Li Jin suddenly looked up, his sharp eyes fixed on Li Xiangdong. "Do you know who Shi Longlong is?"

Li Xiangdong looked directly at Li Jin without dodging or avoiding the question, "Didn't you want Fourth Sister to arrange a marriage for Uncle, marrying him to Shi Longlong from Wulipu?"

Li Jin was speechless for a moment.

Li Xiangdong walked up to Li Jin, squatted down, and grasped his father's hands with both of his.

My father's hands, weathered by time, were covered with prominent veins and calluses.

“Dad, I saw Uncle going shopping with Shi Fengfeng in the county. I also overheard Grandma talking to you. Grandma said that if you don’t let Fourth Sister arrange a marriage for Uncle, she will go to the village entrance and say that you are unfilial, and then drink pesticide to commit suicide. Let’s see how you can be the village chief! She wants you to live forever in the rumors that drove your old mother to her death. She not only wants you to be unable to hold an official position in the future, but she also wants you to be unable to be a human being.”

Li Xiangdong's words successfully made Li Jin's hands tremble.

His mother forced him to sacrifice his own daughter, or else she would make him an unfilial and heartless beast!

"Dad, listen to me, don't agree to Grandma's request yet. Delay it for a while, and I'll handle this."

Li Xiangdong spoke with an unprecedented calmness.

"What are you going to do?" Zhao Sufang asked in alarm.

Her second son was stubborn, had a bad temper, and loved to fight from a young age.

When they get really angry, they can beat someone to death.

Even now, some gossipy women are secretly spreading rumors that Li Xiangdong is destined for prison sooner or later.

"Mom, don't worry, I won't go and fight with Shi Longlong."

Li Xiangdong seemed to have seen through Zhao Sufang's thoughts.

Fists are useless. As long as you can't kill Shi Longlong, Fourth Sister will marry him.

"Father, you must promise me, give me some time, I will resolve this matter."

"This is not only about Fourth Sister's lifelong happiness, but also about your reputation, Father."

"Just imagine, if you had your own brother's older brother as your son-in-law, what would people think of you! How chaotic such a family would be, and how muddle-headed the parents of such a family would be!"

Li Xiangdong knew that his father would immediately realize the seriousness of the matter if someone attacked him for being a Party member, arranging his children's marriages, and forcing his daughter to find a new wife for his brother.

Someone could use this one weakness to make him lose his position as the pumping station manager.

"I will never stand by and watch my fourth sister marry Shi Longlong!"

As Li Xiangdong turned to leave, he happened to see his fourth sister standing at the door, tears streaming down her face.

In the afternoon, Li Jin went to Li Wanshi's house. After saying something, Li Wanshi stopped coming to force him to marry her three times a day.

As a result, Shi Longlong, for some unknown reason, started going to the county brick kiln to ambush Li Zhen all day long.

Li Zhen ignored him, so he went around telling the workers at the brick kiln that this was his soon-to-be wife and invited everyone to his wedding banquet.

If no one paid attention to him once or twice, but Shi Longlong went there many times, people inevitably started whispering and gossiping about him.

"Could this really be Li Zhen's boyfriend? I've never heard of her getting married!"

"Li Zhen is only seventeen this year, no way! Even if she really wants to get married, she wouldn't choose someone so old, ugly, and disabled, would she?"

"That's hard to say. I heard Li Zhen has an older brother who's three years older than her. Maybe the two families are exchanging wives! Although exchanging wives is less common now, and everyone says marriage is free, look at how many brothers can't find wives because they've exchanged sisters!"

"Yes! As long as their brothers can get married, they don't care who they marry!" This statement was met with a sigh.

"If this guy is so ugly, how can his sisters be good-looking?"

"I don't know if his sisters are pretty or not, but Li Zhen's life is probably over. Look at this guy, he's just a complete scoundrel."

"Yeah! Those little eyes of theirs are so shifty, they lecherously sizing up and down the women in our factory. Ugh!"

"He sized you up? Why don't you tell your husband to gouge his eyes out!"

"Sister Wang, what are you saying! He's not even married yet!"

"Haha, you two are such a perfect match! Little Sun, don't be shy. He's a dignified commune cadre, and he always comes to pick you up from get off work. He's so considerate to you. How could your parents not agree?" Sister Wang teased Little Sun, seeing her face flushed.

"Sister Wang, really! She was talking about Li Zhen, and now she's bringing up me again!"

The group of people were laughing and gossiping, and the rumors reached Li Zhen's ears. Li Zhen didn't say anything, but just worked hard.

Li Zhen didn't tell anyone that Shi Longlong had been waiting for her at the brick kiln for several days.

One time, when Li Zhen was working the night shift, Li Xiangdong was worried and went to pick up his sister. He happened to see Shi Longlong leering at Li Zhen, following her at a distance, and whistling when no one was around.

Upon seeing Shi Longlong, Li Xiangdong felt all the resentment he had harbored for decades surge up. He hadn't even had a chance to deal with him yet, but who knew that Shi Longlong would be so reckless as to come closer to him!

Li Xiangdong's eyes darted around. Although killing Shi Longlong was unrealistic, beating him up was definitely necessary.

Even if this scoundrel doesn't dare to do anything truly disgusting or outrageous to Fourth Sister Li Zhen, he's still like a toad jumping on a toad's foot—it doesn't bite, but it disgusts people.

Let's give Shi Longlong a good spanking later and see if he still has the guts to chase after Fourth Sister tomorrow.

Li Xiangdong flexed his wrists, his sharp eyes sweeping over Shi Longlong behind him.

Shi Longlong felt someone glance at him. He touched his arm. It was a hot day and there was no wind. Why did he suddenly feel a chill on the back of his neck and get goosebumps all over his body?

"Fourth Sister, how many more night shifts do you have to work this month? You get off work at nine o'clock every day, and it's already dark."

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