"Don't bully me too much. Xingxing is my own daughter. I won't let you sell her. Anyone who dares to mess around, don't blame me for doing something wrong." Old Zhou slammed his axe hard on the protruding stool in front of him, showing that he supported his wife.
Waaah, Uncle Zhou is protecting her so much, from now on Uncle Zhou will be her real father.
"Boss, you..." Old Zhou wanted to say something more.
The village chief spoke up at this point, "That's enough, Uncle Zhou. The eldest son and Guihua have both said they want to adopt Xingxing as their own daughter. Xingxing is a very sensible child. It's not easy for her to live as a little girl. Why are you making things difficult for her?"
The village chief tentatively suggested, "More than a month has passed and no one has come looking for her. I guess something might have happened to her family. Why don't we let Guihua and her husband officially adopt Xingxing and register the child's household registration?"
Zhou Laosan wanted to object, but Zhao Guihua and Zhou Laoda spoke up faster, saying at the same time, "We agree. From now on, Xingxing is our own daughter. Tomorrow, her father and I will go to register her household."
"What kind of household registration are you going to set up? It's such a mess outside, do you two dare to go out? Zhao Guihua, let me tell you, don't let your lust for your daughter harm my older brother." Zhou Laosan was furious and objected without thinking.
Zhou Laoda glanced at him and said, word by word, "Our family affairs are none of your business. I cherish this girl, and your sister-in-law's opinion is my opinion."
Zhou Laosan: "..." He was furious.
The village chief thought for a moment and came up with an idea: "Since we can't go out for the time being, let Xingxing kowtow three times to Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua and offer them a cup of tea. Once the ceremony is complete, she will be considered Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua's daughter."
The ancients held this ceremony in great awe, just like a marriage ceremony. After bowing to each other and kowtowing three times, they were considered husband and wife, and no one dared to say that it didn't count.
“That’s settled then. Everyone’s watching today. If anyone dares to say that Xingxing isn’t our daughter, I’ll fight them to the death.” Zhao Guihua carried Xingxing in one arm and pulled Zhou Laoda into the main room with the other.
He then instructed Zhou Dafu, "Dafu, go inside and get a cushion; we need to formally bow."
The cushions were for kneeling and kowtowing to the stars. After the cushions were placed, Zhao Guihua and Zhou Laoda sat in the main seats, their hands on their knees, waiting with serious expressions.
Xingxing understood what was going on. She knelt on the cushion and said in a clear, childlike voice, "Father and Mother, please accept my bow."
She then kowtowed three times.
"Oh dear, get up quickly, my little darling." Zhao Guihua covered her forehead and tried to stand up, but suddenly felt dizzy.
Old Zhou isn't much better off. After receiving three bows from his daughter, he suddenly felt dizzy. What's going on?
"Mom and Dad, are you alright?" Xingxing quickly stood up and ran to them.
Huh, the symptoms I was feeling earlier have disappeared, as if the dizziness was just an illusion.
Zhao Guihua and her husband didn't think much of it, assuming that they were just feeling unwell because they had been working too hard lately, and that it wasn't a big problem and they would recover after resting in the afternoon.
"It's alright, it's alright, Mom and Dad are fine," Zhao Guihua smiled so wide her mouth almost reached her ears. After thinking for a moment, she added, "Xingxing is your nickname. How about we give you a formal name, Zhou Linglong?"
She could say the name "Linglong" without thinking because she had already thought of it; she had heard it from a storyteller in the prefectural city.
The storyteller told a tale about a daughter from a wealthy family named Linglong. She was born as beautiful as a fairy, intelligent and charming, and most importantly, she had a good life. The heroine in the picture book had a good life and eventually became an empress, ruling the world.
Zhao Guihua didn't want Xingxing to become an empress; she just hoped that her daughter would have a smooth and peaceful life, free from disasters and hardships until old age. The name Linglong suited her daughter perfectly, and she hoped it would bring Xingxing more good fortune.
"Thank you, Mother. Xingxing likes this name." Actually, she didn't know the meaning behind the name Linglong, but she liked any name her mother gave her.
"Alright, the ceremony is over. Everyone, go home after you've had your fun and take a nap. Don't let it interfere with your work this afternoon." The village chief waved his hand and walked towards the door first.
Zhao Guihua gave Old Zhou a wink, and the latter quickly followed her and whispered, "Village Chief, we owe you a lot for today. Guihua and I have become sworn sisters, which is a joyous occasion. Please stay for a meal."
"I've already eaten. We're all from the same village, so why bother with formalities? I like Xingxing too, and I'm happy for her if she's doing well. That's enough. I didn't do anything special, just a few words." In the end, the village chief didn't invite them to stay for dinner.
Seeing that he couldn't get any benefits and no one in the village was willing to help him, Zhou Laosan could only leave in resentment.
"Hmph, if they don't leave, I'll teach them a lesson." Zhao Guihua spat at Zhou Laosan's family.
"Eldest sister, you need to tone it down. No matter what, the third brother is still your brother-in-law. Do you have to treat him like an enemy? This is getting more and more outrageous," Old Zhou scolded, pointing at Zhao Guihua.
"That depends on whether they respect me as their sister-in-law. It's always the third brother who starts trouble. As long as he doesn't cause trouble, I definitely won't go looking for trouble with him." She had seen through her parents' favoritism and didn't expect them to be able to distinguish right from wrong.
Old Zhou hesitated, but his eldest daughter-in-law became increasingly sharp-tongued, refusing to back down once she was in the right. His words as her father-in-law were no longer effective.
"I heard your family caught a lot of loaches and eels. Your mother and I haven't eaten meat for quite some time. Could you bring us some eels to eat?" Old Man Zhou said this to Zhou Laoda.
"Didn't Zhou Laosan and Zhou Laosi arrest quite a few people? Why don't you go ask them for more? Wouldn't it be more convenient for you to live together? I have five boys, and we don't even have enough to eat for ourselves." They wanted to plunder their house again? No way.
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