Hongfei was momentarily flustered and hugged Xing Zhaozhao, asking worriedly, "What's wrong, Mom?"
Holding her son in her arms, Xing Zhaozhao felt a little more at ease. She quickly composed herself, wiped away her tears, looked at her son's worried face, and smiled, saying, "It's okay, Mom just missed you."
Yeah?
Hongfei looked at Xing Zhaozhao with a puzzled expression. He felt that his mother seemed a little strange today, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. So he didn't think much of it. He figured that his mother must miss him.
"Why are you in the cellar at this time?" Xing Zhaozhao asked.
"Grandma Hao is here. I thought it was about time, so I came to wait for Mom and let you know," Hongfei said.
"Grandma Hao?" Xing Zhaozhao subconsciously thought of Hao Xiuning, but after a moment of surprise, she realized that the Grandma Hao from the two worlds was not the same person.
"Aunt Hao is here? I know," she replied.
Hongfei noticed that Xing Zhaozhao had nothing in her hands except for the basket on her back, and asked, "Mom, have you sold everything?"
Xing Zhaozhao smiled and nodded: "Yes, they're all sold out. We made a lot of money."
"Didn't you buy anything else?" Hongfei asked.
Xing Zhaozhao looked down at her empty hands before realizing that she had been so caught up in the grief of losing her son that she had forgotten about going shopping.
"I was in a rush to get back, so I didn't have time. I'll buy it next time I go," Xing Zhaozhao replied casually, then took her son's hand and walked out of the cellar.
Hongfei responded with an "Oh," and then sighed, thinking of Hongyu who had been restless all morning, eagerly anticipating what new gadgets his mother would bring back today.
This time, he's probably going to be disappointed.
Aunt Hao was playing with little Hongling inside the house when she heard Xing Zhaozhao returning outside. She picked up the child and greeted her with a smile: "You're back?"
Seeing Xing Zhaozhao's red eyes, the smile on her face quickly disappeared, replaced by deep concern: "Why are your eyes so red? Have you been crying? What happened? Who could have made you cry like this?"
She cried all the way back. Even without looking in a mirror, Xing Zhaozhao could imagine how swollen her eyes were. In any case, they wouldn't go down anytime soon, so she didn't bother to hide it. She just made up an excuse and said, "It's nothing. I accidentally kicked some mud while chasing rabbits in the woods, and it splashed into my eyes. There was nowhere to wash it off, so it was uncomfortable for a long time. It's only a little better now."
Hearing this, Aunt Hao, without suspecting anything, said nervously, "Eye problems are not to be taken lightly. Come here and let me take a look."
Xing Zhaozhao obediently moved closer.
Aunt Hao pried open her eyelids and looked carefully: "It seems there's no dirt left, so she should be fine. But just to be on the safe side, she should still go to the clinic to get checked out."
Xing Zhaozhao knew her own eyes well and said dismissively, "Let's talk about it tomorrow. If I'm still not feeling well tomorrow, I'll go again."
That's how people in the village are. If they have a minor ailment, they'll just endure it for a couple of days. If they get better, they'll get better; if not, they'll go see a doctor.
Aunt Hao had long been used to it, so she didn't insist.
Seemingly knowing that her mother had returned, Xiao Hongling, who had been behaving herself all morning, started whining.
After Xing Zhaozhao took the baby to breastfeed and came back, she asked Aunt Hao, "Auntie, what brings you here today?"
"I heard your house was burgled last night, how could I not come and check on you?" Aunt Hao glared at her and said, "You're such a carefree person, after such a big thing, you can still come back and fall asleep right away. At least you could have called me so I could have come and kept you company."
Xing Zhaozhao smiled and said, "There's no need for that. It's the middle of the night, why bother you, Auntie? Besides, if those thieves dare to come to my house, they'll be the ones who suffer, not me."
"That's true." Aunt Hao thought of the commotion she saw early in the morning when she heard the news and ran to the brigade headquarters. She laughed so hard she almost fell over. "You're so mischievous. So many people, you actually strung them together and dragged them over. When I saw it this morning, I laughed so hard my stomach hurt."
"However, there are two other families in the village who are having a hard time." Aunt Hao's smile faded, and her face darkened. "They didn't teach them properly and raised a disloyal wretch who colluded with outsiders to steal from their own village. They even have the nerve to cry and beg the brigade leader to show leniency. I'm ashamed for them."
"How did the captain handle this matter?" Xing Zhaozhao asked.
"What else can we do? We've sent them all to the police station," Aunt Hao said.
Xing Zhaozhao was somewhat surprised: "The captain didn't show any leniency this time and sent them all to the public security brigade?"
Xing Zhaozhao didn't know or understand the others, but she did know the two in the village. The fact that they could raise such people showed what kind of family they had. When they started to argue and cause trouble, it was enough to make anyone's scalp tingle.
This is also why Xing Zhaozhao herself didn't handle the case and left it entirely to Captain Gao to deal with. It would save a lot of trouble, and even if they had objections, they wouldn't be able to pin it on her, since she was still the victim.
Aunt Hao shook her head and said, "After all, there are so many people involved, and such a big commotion has been caused. This is no small case. If he dares to show favoritism in this matter, would he still be able to hold his position as the captain?"
"However, when I came here before, I heard those two families gossiping behind your backs, blaming you for kidnapping people from the same village and showing no consideration for your fellow villagers. They even tried to incite others to cause you trouble," Aunt Hao said, looking at Xing Zhaozhao.
Xing Zhaozhao raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "I haven't even touched it yet, and you still want to cause me trouble?"
"Don't worry, they're just gossiping now, they don't dare to come to you." Aunt Hao couldn't help but laugh again when she talked about this. "Now everyone in the village knows that you can take down nine men all by yourself, and you can even string them together and drag them away. I guess no one will dare to come here to cause trouble anymore."
Xing Zhaozhao smiled and said, "That would be perfect."
This is exactly the result she wanted.
Aunt Hao seemed to realize something, and her smile faded slightly: "However, there might be an exception."
Xing Zhaozhao was taken aback: "Who else would be so foolish as to do something drastic?"
"Your mother-in-law, of course," Aunt Hao said.
After saying that, she realized it was wrong and changed her words: "Now I should call her my ex-mother-in-law."
After all, they've already severed ties.
Aunt Hao's mention of it only reminded Xing Zhaozhao of what she had just heard from Hao Xiuning: her eldest son hadn't survived, and the entire family of four had died, directly or indirectly, at the hands of the Gao family.
I hate it so much.
Aunt Hao suddenly felt a chill beside her.
She turned her head in surprise to look at Xing Zhaozhao beside her.
Xing Zhaozhao had a faint smile on her face.
But for some reason, it gave her a strange feeling of unease.
“That’s perfect, I also want to settle accounts with them properly,” Xing Zhaozhao said softly.
“Auntie,” she turned to look at Aunt Hao and said with a faint smile, “Tell me, if I were to string them together in the middle of the night when no one is looking, and drag them into the woods, wouldn’t it be completely undetectable?”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com