An hour later, Liu's father arrived at Orange Village. He then drove the oxcart to a hidden spot near Li Ziqiang's house, where it would be difficult for others to see him. He had his eldest uncle's three sons guard the oxcart. He then went to the Orange Village chief and lied to him that he had something good to discuss with him, and that he was going to his brother-in-law's house. Then, Liu's father, along with his second brother, Mingzheng, and the Orange Village chief, arrived at Li Ziqiang's gate. The gate to the courtyard was not open, so Liu and his men went straight in.
"Happy New Year, dear mother-in-law and father-in-law! We are here to pay our respects."
In the main room, Li Dabing and his wife were blaming each other.
"Old lady, shouldn't I have sent Ziqiang's wife to the hospital yesterday? What should we do now that her family is here?"
"You old man, you've been called Li Dare for nothing. I'll kill you! What if others find out that it was Ziqiang who beat us? Those two little bitches will definitely go to Liujia Village to complain. They should have drowned them in the urine bucket when they were born. Ziqiang isn't home anyway, so what can they do to us? We'll just pretend we didn't hear anything, and they'll just leave thinking no one's home."
"Old woman, you are smart."
Father Liu was lying on the door of the main hall. When he heard the noise from inside, he knew that they must have done something wrong and were afraid to come out.
Father Liu thought for a moment and gave his second brother a look.
"Second brother, I remember Xiu'er told me where the money was in her room, and that if we needed it urgently, we could just go and get it. Since my mother-in-law and the others aren't at home, we can just break the lock and take the money away."
"That's right, big brother."
The head of Orange Village felt something was wrong and thought it might be a dispute between the two families. He wanted to sneak away, but Father Liu quickly grabbed him.
At this time, the two people in the room couldn't help but come out.
"Brother-in-law, why are you here? We were sleeping by the fire just now and didn't hear you. I apologize to you."
"There's no need to apologize, mother-in-law and father-in-law. We're here to talk to my little sister."
"My dear brother-in-law, this is such a coincidence. Ziqiang and his wife took their two children to the county town to watch a movie today. Only they love their children so much." Old Lady Li said with a smile, her face wrinkled beyond recognition.
…
While they were talking, Mingzheng had already gone to the back of the house as agreed with Liu's father. If the Li family did not open the door, Mingzheng would secretly climb in through the window of Liu Xiu's room, open the door that was locked from the inside, and then come out from the main room.
"Uncle, Dad, come in quickly. There's blood all over Aunt's bed and she can't be woken up." Mingzheng ran out from the main room.
"What are you doing? Are you breaking into my house?" Old Lady Li yelled while sitting on the ground. Father Liu and his family ignored them, but Old Lady Li's voice attracted their neighbors.
Liu's father pushed Li Dadan away, who was trying to stop him, and rushed into Liu Xiu's room, dragging the Orange Village chief and his second brother with him. Li Dadan's neighbor, Li Tiechui, and his wife also followed him in.
Liu Xiu was lying on the bed, the sheets beneath him were stained red with blood. Liu's father walked to the bed, lifted the quilt, and found that Liu Xiu's lower body was all covered in blood. Liu's father knew that Liu Xiu's child was gone.
"Xiu'er, Xiu'er." Father Liu called for more than ten minutes but Liu Xiu still did not respond.
Liu's father could only step forward, lift Liu Xiu's head and slap Liu Xiu's face.
"Xiu'er, Xiu'er..."
"Brother, my child was beaten to death by Ziqiang, and Dahua and Xiaohua were locked up by them."
"It's okay, they are at my house, my eldest brother and second brother are here, don't be afraid."
Liu Xiu fainted again after she finished speaking. Her father quickly stuffed a piece of Ganoderma lucidum he had brought from home into Liu Xiu's mouth and asked her to hold it.
Father Liu turned around and said to the Orange Village chief, "Brother Li, you heard that my younger sister had a miscarriage after being beaten by Li Ziqiang. Now she's unconscious again, and we don't know what's wrong. Can you drive us to the commune in an ox cart? If anything happens to my sister, it will be hard for future young men in your village to find wives."
When the Orange Village chief heard this, he said, "Little Brother Liu, wait a minute. I'll drive the ox cart over here."
Father Liu whispered to Mingzheng, "Mingzheng, go call your great-grandfather's three uncles. Wait until the man who just left drives the ox cart back, then drive the ox cart out again."
"You two, how can you act like a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law's father like this? If anything happens to my sister, I, Liu Guangda, will not let you go. Why don't you go and make my sister a cup of brown sugar water to support her? If my sister can't make it to the hospital later, your son will be buried with her. I'm not afraid of going to jail."
Father Liu worked hard all year round, and his body was muscular. He was 1.75 meters tall, which was relatively tall in the entire commune. He deliberately looked at Li Dabing and his wife with a sullen face and raised his fist. This frightened Li Dabing and his wife for a moment, and they quickly ran to the kitchen to light a fire and make some brown sugar water.
Father Liu walked to the neighbor's house of Li Dabing's family and secretly handed him two dollars, saying, "Brother Li, you have to testify for my poor sister. It was that beast Li Ziqiang who beat my sister into this state. He even killed his own child. He is really not a human being." Father Liu had heard from Liu Xiu before that the neighbor of Li Ziqiang's family had competed with Li Dabing's family for the position of worker in the cannery but never won. The two families have been trying to find fault with each other for years.
"Brother Liu, I can't stand people who bully their own wives. Don't worry, no matter who comes, I will testify for you." Li Tiechui said.
"Brother Li, could you two please help me keep an eye on those two old men? I'm afraid they might poison my sister."
"Okay, Brother Liu." Li Tiechui pulled his wife, who was still watching the show, away.
"Guanghui, I think my little sister is in danger this time. I'm using Lingzhi tablets to keep her stable. I'll go to the police station later and ask them to drive a police car to take my little sister to the county. You and the others will take my little sister's dowry home. I don't want my little sister to return to this den of wolves after this. No one helped her deal with the miscarriage this time, so I left her to fend for herself."
"Brother, I want to beat that bastard and those two old guys to death. I must never let my younger sister live like this in the future. We must get a divorce." Liu Guanghui's face turned red with anger.
"Guanghui, don't act rashly. Go ahead and take my little sister's dowry. Search every place you can in their house. When you find the money, secretly hand it to Mingzheng through the window of my little sister's room. There's a mountain behind my little sister's room. I asked him to wait there. Be careful of people. Remember, when you take my little sister's dowry out, have the Orange Village chief check it. The more people who see it, the better. Got it?"
"Okay, big brother."
…
"Brother Liu, the oxcart is coming."
"Okay, thank you, Brother Li, you are such a good village chief. I can go there by myself." Father Liu quietly stuffed five dollars into the hand of the Orange Village chief.
Liu's father put Liu Xiu, along with his quilt, on the ox cart and drove off. On the way, he met Mingzheng and the others and told them about his and Guanghui's plan. As soon as he finished speaking, Liu's father hurriedly drove the ox cart back to the commune.
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