"It's inappropriate to trespass on someone's property without their permission," she said, crossing her arms and coldly observing Gao Xiao'e and several men with red armbands on their sleeves in the courtyard.
Several men turned around with serious expressions, and when they saw her face clearly, they were shocked. Two of the younger men couldn't help but blush.
The older man had a serious expression. He looked her up and down and asked Gao Xiao'e, "Is this your daughter?"
Gao Xiao'e said angrily, "Yes."
The middle-aged man then arrogantly looked at Yang Qingheng: "We received a complaint from your mother saying that you were unfilial for not helping your father when he was dying. Is that true?"
These days, those in red armbands wield great power, and Yang Qingheng wasn't foolish enough to confront them head-on. She nodded and said, "No."
“How could you not?” Gao Xiao’e said aggressively. “Your father is dying, and you, as his daughter, are unwilling to donate even one kidney to him. He has been hospitalized for over a month, and you haven’t even visited him. What is this if not unfilial?”
Upon hearing this, the expressions on the faces of the several red armband members were not good, and their gazes toward Yang Qingheng became increasingly strange.
"She's my own daughter, yet she acts so cold-bloodedly. If everyone acted like you, wouldn't the country be in chaos? It seems I need to take her back and give her a good talking to."
Several men were about to grab Yang Qingheng as they spoke.
Yang Qingheng frowned, stepped aside, and looked at the group with her cool eyes, which inexplicably inspired a sense of trust in them: "Brothers, don't believe her one-sided story. Go and ask around in the village. I'm not the kind of unfilial person."
“Yes,” Sister Sun strode in from outside, “She’s known in our village for her filial piety. She’s the best to her mother-in-law. Every family with a mother-in-law would envy her.”
“That’s right, brothers, don’t listen to this person’s nonsense. When Yang Qingheng got married, her family gave her several hundred yuan as a bride price. They came to her door to beg for money time and time again. We neighbors all saw it.” Several women knew that Yang Qingheng knew Director Zhou and wanted to curry favor with her.
Seeing that everyone was speaking up for Yang Qingheng, the red armband members realized that they were indeed a bit prejudiced, actually coming here to arrest people based solely on Gao Xiao'e's words.
When Gao Xiao'e saw that those who used to hate Yang Qingheng were now speaking up for her, she stared in disbelief, her eyes widening. Seeing that even the red armband-wearing women had stopped speaking up for her, she burst into tears and sat down on the ground, heartbroken.
"Yang Qingheng, you ungrateful wretch! I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to give birth to such a thing as you. Your father has such severe uremia and is about to die, but you just won't give him a kidney transplant. The doctors have already said that he can live with just one kidney. You just want your father to die."
Everyone is sensitive to the word "death," and upon hearing this, they hesitated.
Those who are older and have children immediately put themselves in Yang Qingheng's shoes, thinking that when they get old and sick, their children might be as selfish as Yang Qingheng, and they instantly became angry.
“Yang Qingheng, this is your fault. I think you should think about it carefully. Although your father wasn’t good to you in the past, he was the one who gave you life. Are you willing to watch him die?”
An older woman was earnestly trying to persuade him.
A man in his fifties wearing a red armband also disagreed: "Comrade Yang Qingheng, what kind of thinking is this? Next week you'll be going to be criticized and denounced along with all those speculators in Xishan Town!"
I never expected that old woman had this in mind; she was eyeing my kidneys.
When Sister-in-law Sun heard the words "criticism and struggle session," she was startled and pulled Yang Qingheng behind her, saying, "Brother, let's talk this out. Why did we have to talk about criticism and struggle sessions?"
She had witnessed similar things when playing cards before. People were covered in rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs, some were being beaten, and others were drinking wastewater. Just thinking about it made her legs tremble.
If Qingheng went to that kind of place, she would either die or be half-dead.
Yang Qingheng looked at Xiao'e, who was sobbing and crying on the ground with snot and tears streaming down her face, and sneered inwardly.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she plopped down on the ground, her shoulders twitching. She sobbed softly, looking refined and delicate, but inexplicably pitiful, which made Gao Xiao'e next to her seem like she was putting on an act due to excessive exertion.
"Mom, it's not that I don't want to give it, it's that I'm afraid I won't be able to keep the baby in my belly if I do," Yang Qingheng said, trembling as she raised her head. "The doctor said that if I abort this baby, I'm afraid I'll never have a child in my life. You also said that a kidney transplant won't have any impact. Please let my brother go. I beg you."
She clung tightly to Gao Xiao'e's leg, screaming herself hoarse.
Sister-in-law Sun was stunned, and her eyes reddened. She quickly put her arm around her shoulder and helped her up, saying, "Oh dear, if you can't keep the baby, how will you live in this family?"
In those feudal times, being unable to have children was a major taboo. At best, one would be disliked by their husband's family; at worst, they might be forced into a divorce.
The group immediately fell silent.
Thinking about how he had just forced a pregnant woman to donate a kidney, he wanted to slap himself hard.
They're worse than animals.
Several red armband wearers were also moved by her crying, and frowned as they scrutinized Gao Xiao'e: "You have another son at home, why didn't you say so?"
Gao Xiao'e felt guilty, but when she heard that they actually wanted her son to have a kidney transplant, her face instantly darkened: "Our Xiao Cheng is here to carry on the family line, how can he be missing a kidney? What if he can't have children?"
Upon hearing the words "carrying on the family line," Yang Qingheng almost burst out laughing. She covered her face, pretending to wipe away tears, and suppressed her laughter before speaking: "Mom, you don't need to worry about that. I asked the doctor, and a person only needs one kidney to live. Xiao Cheng can still carry on the family line even with only one kidney. Tell him to rest assured and get treatment..."
"You're talking nonsense! He's a quack!" Gao Xiao'e was so angry that she jumped up and down, rushing over as if she wanted to tear her mouth apart.
That bitch, how dare she harm her son!
The red-armband-wearing officers, used to being domineering, were instantly enraged when they saw someone daring to make a move right under their noses. They grabbed Gao Xiao'e's hand and pinned her to the ground.
"You dare to lay a hand on a pregnant woman? You're completely lawless!"
Looking at Gao Xiao'e's disheveled appearance, Yang Qingheng couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile.
Gao Xiao'e begged for mercy repeatedly, assuring them that she would not act impulsively again, and only then did the men release her.
She stood up and saw the mocking look in Yang Qingheng's eyes. She was so angry that her eyes darted around, and a plan came to her mind.
"You can't donate a kidney to your dad, but you should at least give him some money for nutrition. And when your brother donates a kidney, you should also give him some compensation."
The woman in red armbands nodded: "That makes sense, what do you think?" She turned to look at Yang Qingheng.
Yang Qingheng squinted: "Big brother, you don't know this, my parents have come to our house to beg for money quite a few times before, and they have borrowed at least two hundred yuan from us. Now my mother-in-law has just finished surgery in the hospital, and we have borrowed money from all our relatives. People chase us away when they see us, so where are we going to get money for her?"
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