Village Chief Xu's throat tightened, "In just a few days, Shuisheng and Lin... they were gone."
Lei Yuhua's original intention was not to make her mother so sad, but she did not expect that what the village chief was going to say next was this.
This chilling news made Zhou Shuhua even more heartbroken.
But she had already cried too much these past few days, and now she couldn't even cry anymore. She could only close her eyes and clench her teeth tightly.
Everyone else in the room also wore sad expressions.
The village chief also shed a few tears. He and Shuisheng were about the same age back then and had a good relationship.
He wiped his tears with his sleeve and then said.
"When my father got the news and rushed over with Qiqi, it was too late! He saw Li Guixiang and Xu Laonian, that couple, busily moving things into their house! Water tanks, cabinets, quilts, pots and pans... The Zhou family's three big brick houses were practically just empty shells!"
"Pooh!"
Aunt Zhang spat, her temper flaring up instantly.
"Those two heartless bastards! They kept babbling about what Shui Sheng and his wife said before they died: all their belongings would go to them, and Qi Ya would be their responsibility to raise! They took all the wealth Shui Sheng and Lin Mei had accumulated, except for the house, because it nominally belonged to the brigade, and they couldn't touch it..."
Lei Yuhua frowned as she listened. She had witnessed Li Guixiang's tantrum and feigned fainting at the courtyard gate earlier! She really didn't like their family!
She couldn't hold it in any longer and started pounding on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed):
"How could this be! My uncle and aunt are such good people, how could they possibly approve of Li Guixiang and her husband? Nobody in the village likes them! How could they entrust little Qiqi to their care? This...this doesn't make sense!"
Village Chief Xu wore a bitter expression, rubbing his knees vigorously with his rough hands, as if trying to wash away his pent-up frustration:
“Yu Hua, do you think we’re not puzzled? Who would believe that! But, but they’re holding a piece of paper! There are two red handprints on it, all bloody, they say it’s what Shui Sheng and his wife pressed down with their last breaths! Black and white on paper... red handprints, what do you say we do?”
That's the only one the villagers recognize.
Aunt Zhang slapped her thigh and chimed in, her face a mixture of indignation and helplessness, as she offered an explanation.
"The situation at that time... Alas! Cholera, a deadly plague! The villagers were all trying to avoid it, who would dare to come near it? Shui Sheng and his wife's house was at the foot of the mountain, a detached house, far from the village! There was really no other way, no one would listen to their cries for help! The only people we could count on were Li Guixiang and her husband!"
She took a breath, glanced at Zhou Qiqi who was standing by the window with her head down, and lowered her voice:
"Back then... that kid Xu Shu often went to play with Qi Qi. The two kids were about the same age. Maybe... maybe Shui Sheng and his wife were delirious from their illness, and seeing Xu Shu hanging around, they thought of entrusting the child to an 'acquaintance'? Or maybe,"
Aunt Zhang curled her lip, a hint of sarcasm in her expression:
"Li Guixiang and Xu Laonian's family were dirt poor back then, and they shamelessly came to the Zhou family to beg for money all the time! They borrowed rice and salt, and Shuisheng and his wife were kind-hearted and couldn't refuse, so they gave in eight out of ten times. Maybe...maybe in the end, Shuisheng and his wife were hoping that these two black-hearted people would treat Qiqi a little better out of consideration for their past 'kindness'?"
Back then, they weren't around, and they didn't know why Shui Sheng and his wife entrusted Qi Qi to Xu Laonian's family. But since the watermark had already been applied, there was nothing they could do.
She got angrier and angrier as she spoke, her finger practically jabbing into the neighbor's.
"But little did they know that this family used their money to build a new house and live a good life. For the first six months, those two scoundrels pretended to be decent people, giving Qiqi a full meal and some decent clothes to wear."
Before long, their true colors were revealed!
They treated Qiqi like a maid, making her do all the housework: feeding the chickens and pigs, fetching water, chopping firewood, washing pots and dishes!
In the dead of winter, the girl's hands were so frozen they cracked like carrots, and she still had to go through the ice holes to splash water!
Eat? Leftovers aren't even served hot!
"That little bastard Xu Shu eats the chicken yolk, that girl Xu Zao eats the egg yolk, and Qi Qi just stares longingly at the eggshell!"
Several elderly villagers nodded and sighed in agreement:
"Yes, yes, what a tragedy..."
"It hurts to see her like this, so we secretly slip her half a cornbread and a handful of fried beans. If Li Guixiang sees this, she'll not only criticize her indirectly, but behind closed doors, Qiqi will definitely get a beating!"
"There's no way around it. In terms of status, she's a member of the Xu family, and she's also Xu Shu's childhood bride..."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Shuhua trembled violently, her eyes widened to bloodshot, she gripped the mattress beneath her so tightly that her fingernails turned white, her teeth clenched so hard they made a grinding sound, and strange hoarse noises came from her throat, like a wild beast about to pounce and tear apart.
Commissar Lei's face was also ashen. He grabbed Zhou Shuhua's trembling shoulder, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged out.
Lei Yuhua had already covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls, her heart aching terribly.
Zhou Qiqi, however, kept her head down, her expression unreadable.
If happiness can be felt empathetically, then so can suffering.
The dark years of her past life inflicted indelible damage on the original owner of this body, completely shattering her spirit.
She felt extremely distressed. Her hands, resting on her knees, dug her fingertips into her palms, leaving several deep red crescent-shaped marks.
Shen Huaichuan's jawline was taut. He took a half step, and his tall shadow almost completely enveloped Zhou Qiqi.
He reached out, gently pried open her hand that was almost bleeding from being pinched, and wrapped it in his own hot, rough hand, giving it a squeeze.
"Stop pinching yourself, pinch me instead."
The atmosphere plummeted to rock bottom.
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