Chapter 38 Zhou Mujiao's outrageous behavior cannot be tolerated.
Zhao Yunjing pulled Zhou Mujiao behind him and asked with a stern face, "What business do you have at my house?"
The Zhao family members had witnessed Zhao Yunjing's strangeness before, so none of them dared to speak first. They shrank back and forth, and Uncle Zhao and his wife simply pushed Aunt Zhou to the front.
Aunt Zhou felt a chill run down her spine. She remembered the time she slipped and fell on flat ground at the foot of the mountain and quickly checked the ground.
Great, the stone slab road is flat and clean, so even if you fall, it won't hurt too much.
Aunt Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward, saying, "Liu Ya, come out here, Grandma wants to say a few words to you."
Zhou Mujiao peeked out from behind Zhao Yunjing, her voice soft: "Then Grandma, you have to promise not to hit me again, not to sell me again, and not to bury Xiao Wu alive, otherwise I won't talk to you anymore."
The villagers knew that Aunt Zhou had beaten and scolded Zhou Mujiao and sold her to Butcher Zhang, but they had never heard of burying Xiao Wu alive. However, they knew that the child was very weak from taking medicine all year round. Aunt Zhou sold her granddaughter and then buried her grandson alive. This was something a grandmother would do.
Aunt Zhou's face changed, and her eldest son, Zhou Dawen, explained, "What do you mean, burying Xiao Wu alive? Who told you all this nonsense? We were just trying to carry him to Doctor Li's to see a doctor, but he suddenly stopped breathing on the way, so we thought he was dead. We were just thinking of giving him a proper burial, but we never expected someone to steal him!"
"So what if you stole? It's good to be alive. But since you're still alive, why didn't you tell your family? Liuya, Xiaowu, your grandmother has been so worried about you these past few days!"
Zhou Mujiao pulled her head back and stopped talking.
Xiao Wu was reading inside when he heard the commotion and came out to see what was going on. As soon as he came out, Zhou Dawen saw him: "Xiao Wu! It's your uncle! I'm so glad you're still alive!"
Xiao Wu was startled, took a step back, then plopped down on the ground and burst into tears: "Uncle, don't bury me! Xiao Wu will be good! Xiao Wu won't take her medicine! Xiao Wu won't look for her older sister anymore, waaaaah! Older sister! So much mud! So heavy! So dark! Waaaaah, Xiao Wu is so scared!"
Zhou Mujiao rushed over and hugged Xiao Wu's head. Xiao Wu trembled all over, and in just a few breaths, all the color drained from his face: "Help, sister, help me... don't bury me, no! Ah!!"
Xiao Wu screamed and fainted on the spot.
Ignoring the Zhou family, Zhou Mujiao carried Xiao Wu back to the house. After he woke up and calmed down, Zhou Mujiao entrusted him to Aunt Zhao: "Auntie, please watch over Xiao Wu here. I'll be right back."
A small hand clutched her clothes tightly. Fear was written on the child's face, and his eyes were full of pleading: "Sister, don't go. I will grow up quickly and I can protect you!"
He himself would fall at the slightest blow, yet he was still thinking of protecting others...
Zhou Mujiao was heartbroken. This child had lived in such an extremely insecure environment since he was a child, and he was always worried about being abandoned. The shadow of his childhood might never heal him in his lifetime. And what she could do was actually very limited. Giving him enough security was just the most basic step.
"Little Wu, your older sister won't abandon you. Come on, let me carry you on my back, and we'll go teach the bad guys a lesson together."
As soon as I stood at the door with Xiao Wu on my back, all the noise disappeared.
Zhou Mujiao looked at each member of the Zhou family one by one, and the more she looked, the colder her eyes became. Zhou Da Niang felt her scalp tingle from that gaze. She remembered how fiercely she had slashed Zhang the butcher with a kitchen knife that day, and at the same time, she recalled the fear of being knocked unconscious.
Aunt Zhou took a step back: "You! What do you want to do?! I'm your grandmother! I'm your elder! You can't hit me! You can't kill me! Ah! Murder! The granddaughter is murdering her own grandmother! You have no humanity!"
Zhou Mujiao smiled and said calmly, "I won't kill you, or anyone in the Zhou family. I will only wish you well for the rest of your lives. May your families have no food reserves, may you go hungry and cold, may the men be unable to find wives, and may the women be unable to marry into good families. May everyone you encounter in the future be someone who will harm you. Oh, and you will all get sick, sicker than Xiao Wu. When you get sick, you will have no money for treatment and no medicine. You will all experience the same suffering that Xiao Wu went through."
This isn't a blessing, it's a curse!
Although it's true that belief determines existence and disbelief determines non-existence, how could they tolerate Zhou Mujiao's outrageous behavior?!
Aunt Zhou, Zhou Dawen, Zhou Dawu, and Zhou Dayong pounced on her at the same time: "You brat! I'll tear your mouth off!"
Zhao Yunjing stepped in front of Zhou Mujiao and said, "Let's see who dares to touch those siblings!"
At the same time, Aunt Zhou stumbled and fell, and her three sons fell one after another, piling on top of her like a human pyramid. She could hear the cracking and breaking of all her bones. Strangely, no matter how hard the group tried to pull them up, they couldn't manage it!
Uncle Zhao and the others silently stepped back. They remembered that day when they meant to sprinkle arsenic on Zhao Yunjing's fishpond but ended up sprinkling it on their own. They meant to throw dead fish into Zhao Yunjing's fishpond but ended up taking the dead fish home instead, and Aunt Zhao almost died.
Zhao Yun Jing and the Zhao family are too strange! We can't afford to mess with them!
They tried to run away, but their feet wouldn't obey them and they walked towards the Zhou family members, pressing down on them one after another.
At the bottom, Aunt Zhou screamed and fainted on the spot. The Zhao family members, as if possessed, got up and dragged Zhou Dawen and his brothers down, piling them on top of each other until they all fainted. Only then did the Zhao family members wake up from their daze.
"No! We didn't do it! It was Zhao Yunjing! Zhao Yunjing is too strange!"
The rest of the Zhou family were all women, and they wouldn't listen to the Zhao family's explanations; they rushed over and started hitting them.
The two families were locked in a fierce fight, leaving no room for anyone else to intervene.
Aunt Yang silently put down her carrying pole, Aunt Feng put down her broom, the Luo sisters put away their scissors, and Xiulan took the knife from Zhao Xiaoya's hand, patting her chest as she said, "I was wondering why we've been at the Zhao family's house for so many days without any problems. It seems Yun Jing isn't unlucky; it's just that some people who can't get any advantage deliberately let him out to ruin people!"
Aunt Yang chimed in, "It's good that they're unlucky! Yun Jing's mere presence is enough to kill off all these heartless and corrupt people!"
Zhao Yunjing indeed took two steps forward, and the two families, already embroiled in a fierce fight, fought even more desperately.
Seeing that someone was about to die, Aunt Zhao pulled Zhao Yunjing aside and whispered, "It's okay now."
Zhao Yunjing paused, and Zhou Mujiao behind him responded softly, "Yes, that's fine."
As soon as the words were spoken, the two families, who were locked in a fierce battle, suddenly stopped, then embraced each other and wept bitterly, leaving Aunt Yang and the others completely bewildered.
Aunt Zhou suddenly woke up and pointed at Zhou Mujiao: "Money! Money! Money! You're a member of the Zhou family, you owe me your wages! Give me everything!"
Zhou Mujiao took out a silver note from her bosom, handed it over, and whispered, "Think carefully. If you take this silver note, your family will be plagued by misfortune from now on. If you don't take it, there's still a chance for things to turn around."
Aunt Zhou paused, and her eldest daughter-in-law snatched the silver note away: "One hundred taels! Hahaha! We're rich! Our family is rich! I'm going to be a rich lady!"
Zhou Mujiao then took out another silver note and asked the Zhao family, "Do you want it?"
The Zhao family turned and ran, and the Zhou family happily went back home. Little did they know that Zhou Mujiao's 'blessing' had already been delivered by Heaven and would arrive soon.
The farce between the Zhou and Zhao families was just a minor episode, quickly forgotten amidst the busy work in the embroidery workshop. Ten days later, the first batch of finished products was completed, totaling five hundred pieces.
They packed their bags overnight, and the next day Zhou Mujiao and Zhao Yunjing hitched up the oxcart and set off. This time, Zhou Mujiao brought Xiao Wu along, and Zhao Yunjing brought Chu Liu along.
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