Chapter 25: Hand it over or not?
Chen Kangbo was tied tightly with several thick hemp ropes to the old locust tree in the center of the yard. His face and body were covered in wounds, and blood was still stained at the corner of his mouth. It was obvious that a fierce fight had taken place there after she left.
Old man Chen and several brothers of the Chen family stood aside, all of them with bruised faces and noses, but with a look of pride on their faces.
Sitting prominently in the main seat of the courtyard was a man—the village head, Zhou Zhengde. He sipped a cup of hot tea, a cat-and-mouse smile plastered on his hypocritical face.
"Oh, you're back?" The village head saw Feng Lan and slowly put down his teacup.
As soon as the old lady of the Chen family saw her, she pounced on her like a mad dog, pointing her finger at Feng Lan's nose and screaming, "You thief! You finally decided to come back? Where's the money? Hand over my family's money! Otherwise, I'll have the headman tie you both up and send you to the authorities today!"
Feng Lan looked at her bound husband and the group of arrogant beasts. She felt neither angry nor afraid. Instead, two lines of tears slowly flowed down her face.
"Money..." she murmured to herself, her voice mournful and filled with endless sadness and despair, as if all her strength had been drained away in an instant.
She fell to her knees with a plop and burst into tears in front of the village head and the Chen family.
“It’s gone… all the money is gone!”
Chapter 18 Whoever is arrogant is right, whoever makes trouble has food to eat
Feng Lan's kneeling and crying confused everyone in the yard.
Especially the old lady of the Chen family, she had expected Feng Lan to throw a tantrum, curse, and fight to the death, but she never expected her to collapse so easily and neatly.
"Gone? What's gone? Explain yourself to me clearly!" The old lady's heart skipped a beat, and she had a bad feeling.
Feng Lan ignored her completely and just kowtowed and cried in the direction of the village head. The crying made anyone who heard it sad and anyone who saw it cry.
"Mr. Village Head! You have to take charge of this for us! Our family's money... all our family's money is gone!"
"My poor Daya was nearly beaten to death by her own grandmother with a stick! Doctor Sun said that her bones and lungs were injured. If we had gone a little later, she would have died! Wuuwuwu..."
"The doctor said that only hundred-year-old ginseng and thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum can keep him alive! How could I, a woman, understand such things? I'll pay whatever the doctor asks! I've taken all our family savings, the hard-earned money my husband earned with his life, and…all of it to the doctor to buy medicine!"
"I've bought the medicine, but my daughter's life is still hanging in the balance. We don't have a penny left! Mr. Village Head, I'll be your slave for the rest of my life. Please lend us some money so I can take care of my daughter's funeral! Wuuwuwu..."
Her words were a mixture of truth and falsehood, a mixture of reality and fiction. She cried heartbreakingly, but her words were clear and logical, and contained a huge amount of information.
First, Daya was seriously injured and almost died, and the person responsible was her grandmother.
Second, all the money was spent to save lives.
Third, none of you can get a penny from me anymore. I still have to borrow money from you to hold the funeral!
This operation was as smooth as flowing water, directly transforming the crime of "stealing family property" into a tragic song of a filial daughter (??) who "spent all her money to save her daughter."
After hearing this, the old lady of the Chen family felt a black screen in front of her eyes, and a rage was stuck in her chest, unable to go up or down.
Money… all the money was gone? She had painstakingly saved her entire life, scraped from her son and daughter-in-law's teeth, to pave the way for her precious grandson, and just like that… it was gone?
"You... you're talking nonsense!" The old lady was so angry that she was shaking all over. She pointed at Feng Lan's nose, her lips turning purple. "Doctor Sun has so little money that he can't even buy a ginseng beard! You're kidding me! Where did you hide the money? Give it to me!"
"I didn't hide it!" Feng Lan cried even harder, wiping her face with tears and snot. "Grandma, I know you're worried about money, but money is not as important as your granddaughter! She's Kang Bo's flesh and blood, your granddaughter! How could you...how could you even give up your granddaughter's life for a little money!"
Her words seemed like an excuse, but in reality they were a stab in the heart. In front of the village head and so many people, she directly nailed the old lady to the pillar of shame for "prioritizing money over life."
"You...you...you..." Mrs. Chen was so angry that she clutched her chest, gasping for breath, unable to utter a word. For the first time in her life, she realized that her ability to throw tantrums and play tricks, which she was so proud of, was nothing compared to Feng Lan.
Not only can they cry and make a fuss, they can also put a lot of big hats on you that you can't take off!
The second brother Chen Kangzhong and the fifth brother Chen Kangshu were also anxious. They didn't care about their niece's life or death, they only cared about money!
"Sister-in-law! Stop acting here! How much money does Doctor Sun need? Hurry up and take out the money! Otherwise... otherwise no one will have a good life today!"
"That's right! Send him to the authorities! Village head, you must send him to the authorities! Stealing is stealing, and we can't let her get away with it with a few drops of cat urine!"
Village head Zhou Zhengde's face was gloomy. He was completely overwhelmed by the Chen family's mess today. First, he was caught accepting bribes, then his wife was beaten, and now Feng Lan had made such a fuss. He felt like his authority was being repeatedly rubbed against him.
"Enough!" He slammed the table, stood up, and shouted with full authority: "Feng! I'm asking you one last time, are you going to hand over the money or not?"
Feng Lan raised her tear-stained face, her eyes frighteningly clear. She slowly stopped crying, stood up, and brushed the dirt off her knees.
"Village head, I've made it very clear. All the money was spent to save my daughter. Not a penny left." Her voice was not loud, but it was filled with a kind of calmness that was like a broken jar.
"Good! Very good!" The village head laughed in anger. "Since you don't want to accept my toast, don't blame me for being rude to my neighbors! Lai Fu, Tie Zhu!"
He shouted to the outside of the door, and two burly young men walked in.
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