Qi's mother, Qi Zhijun, and Qi Zhifang all told her to shut up. Wang Dong stubbornly held his head high. Qi Zhijun was so angry that her liver hurt. Without even thinking, she knew that her sister had caused trouble again. Suppressing her irritation, she asked, "What's going on? It's only been a short time since the New Year. Why are you arguing again? You're always arguing! Aren't you tired of it?"
Wang Dong crossed his arms over his chest and sneered, "My mom's going to start harming people again; she's going to send a letter to that convict!"
Qi Zhijun stared at Qi Zhifang in disbelief. "What? Dongdong is telling the truth? Fangzi, you..."
Qi Zhifang bit her lip and pounded her chest for a while, feeling wronged, and said, "What did I do wrong? Can't I send him a letter? I didn't even go to see him, so what's it to you?"
Wang Dong angrily pointed at Qi Zhifang and said, "Ignore her, let her go. You can't stop a dog from eating shit! If you dare to leave this house today, I'll report you. I'd rather you go to jail alone than let you ruin your family!"
Qi Zhifang retorted angrily, "Who are you pointing at? Don't you have any manners? This is how I taught you. And what I do is my own business, it's none of your concern!..."
Enraged, Qi Zhijun lunged forward to snatch Qi Zhifang's letter. Qi Zhifang dodged left and right, screaming, "Ah...ah, why are you letting go? Give it back to me! What right do you have to read my letter? You've violated my privacy!"
Qi Zhijun angrily said, "That's still better than you committing a crime! Let go of me right now! Give it to me! I won't fight back."
Qi Zhifang still struggled and refused to give in. "No, I won't! This is what I wrote for him! None of you have the right to interfere! I want to be with him, I love him! He's a hero!..." "Slap!" A slap sent Qi Zhifang sprawling to the ground. Qi Zhijun grabbed the crumpled letter, glanced at it, tore it to shreds in a few strokes, threw it at her, and said, "I think you're hopeless!"
After strode away, Qi's mother pushed Wang Dong out and then turned to Qi Zhifang, saying, "Fangzi, you've already caused all the trouble you could and done all the things you were supposed to do. Your father was driven to his death by you, and we lost our big house. We've always been afraid that you'd be upset and get stuck in a rut, so we've tried to avoid this topic. But now, you should try to live your life properly. Our family is already riddled with problems and can't take any more of this. If you continue to have contact with that person, your brother will kick you out, and the children won't acknowledge you. There's nothing your mother can do."
Qi Zhifang cried and said, "Mom, I only have Xiao Hu now. I can't live without him. I can't even see him now. Can't I even write him a letter? Why is it so difficult?"
Looking down at Qi Zhifang with eyes full of disappointment, Qi's mother said, "Fangzi, you've always been willful. If you're still stubborn this time, I won't stop you. Go find him tomorrow and reform yourself with him! Before you leave, transfer your job to Fangfang and let her go back to the city to take over. If you want to die, die somewhere far away so we don't have to see you and worry about you! And don't bring trouble to us! This family is already riddled with problems and can't take any more!"
Qi Zhifang looked at her mother with an expression that seemed to say, "How can you not understand me?" Her eyes were wide open, her pupils bulging. "Mom! You don't understand me either, do you? Xiao Hu isn't a bad person. He's a hero who has served the people and shed blood! He's innocent! Why won't you believe me? He'll be released sooner or later!"
Disappointment was written all over Qi's mother's face. Her tightly furrowed brows and listless eyes revealed her pain and loss. "You're not three or four years old anymore. You're almost forty. In two years, you'll be a grandmother, a mother-in-law. And yet, all you're thinking about is love and romance. That's not bravery, it's shamelessness. Fangzi, can't we be realistic? You lost your post office job for Dai Shiliang, you lost your office job for Xiao Hu, and now you're cleaning toilets..."
Qi Zhifang's face was ashen, her brows furrowed, clearly enraged. She hysterically shouted, "Yes, yes, yes, I am a toilet cleaner, so what? Isn't it all your ex-daughter-in-law's doing! She's retaliating against me by making me clean toilets!"
Qi's mother was so angry that her vision blurred, but she tried her best to calm herself down. "If you hadn't gotten involved with Xiao Hu's troubles, would she have been able to harm you?"
Qi Zhifang, fighting back tears, laughed a few times and said, "Okay, it's all my fault, it's all my fault..." She then pushed her mother away and ran out. Her mother called out, "Fangzi..."
As soon as she ran into the yard, she saw Wang Dong staring at her coldly, and that look made her shiver.
The few minutes of stalemate between mother and son seemed to have exhausted Qi Zhifang's strength, and also gave her mother time to chase after them.
"What are you doing here? Are you watching me like a prisoner?" Qi Zhifang asked with renewed vigor after her mother came out.
Wang Dong said dismissively, "If it weren't for Grandma, Uncle, and our family, I wouldn't care if you died!"
By this time, some neighbors were already peeking in. Qi Zhifang had obviously noticed this and was furious, her face turning red. "Don't wash your dirty linen in public! Can't you talk about this in the yard instead?"
Wang Dong was so angry he laughed, as if he'd heard the funniest joke. "You think this is a family scandal? So you know this isn't something to be proud of? It's just being seen by others, and you can't handle that? I thought you were so detached from worldly affairs, not caring about what people thought. It's okay, don't be afraid! After all, you're the one who did this shameful thing that people will talk about behind your back, making you the subject of their insults and ridicule. We, who have been implicated because of you, aren't afraid, so what are you afraid of?"
Looking at Qi Zhifang's face, twisted with anger and provocation, like a flame flickering in a raging wind, he felt a sudden surge of pleasure for some reason.
It was as if a heavy stone pillar had suddenly been lifted from her heart, bringing a sense of clarity. The voice continued to provoke her, gently saying, "Come on! Don't be afraid. Since you think it's such a glorious thing, shout it out loud! Tell everyone what you're going to do! What are you afraid of? Don't you think it's a brave and noble act?"
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