The child's maternal grandmother was panting heavily as she chased after the child and whipped him repeatedly.

"What? He still doesn't agree to go see his grandma?"

A stylish man dressed in a batwing shirt and bell-bottoms walked up to the child's mother, took the sunflower seeds from her hand, and asked her a question while eating them.

"That stubborn brat absolutely refuses to go see his grandma."

“I told you, what’s wrong with you? I’ve found out that your tuition and living expenses are paid by your grandma and your third uncle. Go and beg them now, they’ll definitely treat you well. Your grandma is rich now!”

"No, you're just after my grandma's money. I won't go after them."

The child bit his lip hard as he was whipped several more times.

“This child needs to be properly educated, but please don’t beat him to death. We still need him to establish a connection with his grandmother.”

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

The child's maternal grandmother was hitting, running, and talking all at the same time.

Lin Li was furious watching from outside. She wanted to step in immediately, but then she realized that she had just hung up the phone with the village chief and it didn't make logical sense for her to appear here now.

Suppressing the fire in his heart, he immediately returned to the courtyard house and called the village chief.

"Hello!"

"Village chief? It's me, Lin Li."

"Aunt Lin?"

The village chief asked in surprise, "Didn't they just hang up the phone not long ago? Why is she calling again?"

“Village chief, I’ve thought about what you said for a long time. It’s not right for the child to stay at his maternal grandmother’s house if he’s constantly being beaten. Could you please make a trip for me and bring the child back to the village? I’ll come back as soon as possible to deal with this matter.”

Lin Li finished speaking in one breath, repeatedly emphasizing that the village chief should go to the child's maternal grandmother's house immediately to bring him back.

Although the village chief was completely confused, he still agreed to Lin Li's request.

After hanging up the phone, I went straight to the child's maternal grandmother's house.

Before I even reached the gate of the courtyard, I saw a large group of neighbors gathered outside.

"Stop hitting him! You'll kill the child if you keep hitting him like that."

"That's right, she beats her child every day for no reason, and she's even the biological mother and grandmother!"

"Not only did they beat the child, they also refused to feed him. It's utterly inhumane!"

...

The village chief felt a pang of anxiety upon hearing what the crowd was saying.

Has something happened?

He pushed his way in, shouting as he did so, "The child's grandmother asked me to check on the child. Could you all please let me through?"

Upon hearing the village chief's words, the neighbors automatically made way for him.

"Are you the village chief of the child's father's village? Please save the child, they're about to beat him to death."

The village chief squeezed in and saw the child lying on the ground, barely alive. His grandmother was sitting on a stool, holding a whip and panting heavily.

Looking at the child, whose flesh was mangled and bloody, the village chief let out a sob.

Eight-year-old Lin Hu lay on the ground like a crumpled rag, dark red blood seeping from under his dusty clothes.

The child's left eye was swollen shut, leaving only a bloody slit, and his right cheek was bruised and purple with three finger marks, indicating he had been slapped hard.

Dried blood foam still clung to the corners of his mouth, and his breathing produced a hissing sound like a bellows.

The village chief staggered forward, his rough hands touching the child's cold neck, the edges of the charred skin oozing pus.

The stone slab beneath the child was already soaked in blood, and winding trails of blood seeped into the soil along the cracks in the stone.

"What a terrible thing!" the village chief roared, his calloused fingers tracing the crisscrossing whip marks on Hu Zi's back.

The wounds were a mix of old and new, with the deepest layers of flesh rolled back to expose the fascia, clearly caused by repeated beatings with a thick hemp rope.

He trembled as he unbuttoned his Zhongshan suit and gently pulled the child into his arms, but when he touched the sticky liquid on his lower back, his hands were stained with dark red blood.

The village chief suddenly roared, "Go call the police! Is this something a human being would do?"

His bloodshot eyes were fixed on the three people standing in the house. Lin Hu in his arms suddenly twitched and spat out bloody saliva.

"I'll take the child to the hospital first."

After saying that, he picked up Lin Hu and ran towards the hospital.

As they passed the gate, the neighbors who were watching were startled by the child's appearance, and some of them immediately ran to the police station.

The village chief, as if possessed, hugged Huzi tightly and ran frantically towards the town hospital.

The child's limp head slumped weakly on his shoulder, and with each step he took, the still-damp scabs on the back of his neck rubbed painfully against his collarbone.

His heavy breathing, mixed with Hu Zi's faint groans, echoed through the street.

"Hold on, hold on!"

The village chief's voice was choked with sobs, and his muddy canvas shoes slipped on the gravel road, but he held his balance firmly.

The child in his arms was burning hot, like a branding iron. Blood seeping from the wound constantly soaked his front, and the sweet, metallic smell mixed with the smell of his sweat churned in his throat.

He felt his heart pounding in his throat, burning every second, and he wished he could grow wings.

As they crossed the last street, Tiger suddenly convulsed violently, bloody phlegm spilling from his throat and trickling down the village chief's neck.

He hurriedly freed one hand to support the back of the child's neck, and tremblingly felt for Hu Zi's pulse, which seemed as if it might be extinguished at any moment.

"Don't be afraid, Grandpa is here."

He whispered in the child's ear, tears welling up in his eyes and dripping onto Tiger's scabbed forehead.

Finally, they rushed into the town hospital's corridor, which reeked of disinfectant. The village chief's knees slammed heavily against the tiled floor, but he felt no pain at all.

He looked up and roared, "Help! Help people!"

Tiger in her arms had fallen into a coma, his pale face tinged with ashen, and blood still dripping from the corner of his lips.

The moment the nurse rushed over pushing the stretcher, he realized that his palm had been gripped so tightly by Hu Zi that it left deep crescent-shaped marks, and a strand of the child's blood-stained hair was embedded between his fingers.

"What a bunch of beasts!"

The village chief, his body trembling from running, stared in the direction the child had gone, his eyes red.

He struggled to his feet and ran toward the emergency room.

The village chief stood outside the emergency room, stamping his feet back and forth.

Through the glass in the door, he saw the operating lights suddenly turn on, and the doctors were busy working. Tiger's small body was swallowed up by the busy figures.

"Blood pressure continues to drop! Prepare for a blood transfusion!" came the doctor's urgent shout from the emergency room.

The village chief shuddered, pressing his forehead against the cold door, and murmured, "Tiger, you have to hold on..."

The corridor gradually filled with doctors, patients, and their families, whispering among themselves, their faces filled with shock and anger.

"Who did this? Such a young child..."

"That's too cruel! We must find them!"

"How heartbroken the child's parents would be if they saw this!"

The murmurs rose and fell, and the village chief grew increasingly angry.

This was done by the child's maternal grandmother, while the biological mother stood by and watched.

No, he had to tell Aunt Lin about this right away.