Chapter 41: Doesn't the Cao family have an old house for help?
Something happened to Yao Taotao.
The mixed residential area is a mixed crowd, so the two sisters usually go in and out together, keeping a low profile and not wanting to cause trouble.
However, just this afternoon, Yao Taotao had a quarrel with someone.
The reason was that the mother-in-law next door was always dishonest. She either stole the oil from their house or borrowed needles and thread and never returned them.
Yao Taotao endured it again and again and had no intention of getting angry.
To be honest, a woman without the support of her natal family, or a rural man who marries into the city, has to bow to reality no matter how high her ambitions are.
Yao Taotao tried her best, but she never expected that the family next door would go even further and let their own children come in to eat while she was cooking in the kitchen.
When she finished making the second dish, she came out and saw that the first dish of scrambled eggs with leeks had been eaten up.
He licked it clean, not even a chive leaf was left.
The boy even made a face on purpose, trying to piss her off.
Yao Taotao couldn't stand it any longer and finally exploded. She put down the vegetables in her hand, rushed forward, grabbed the kid by the collar, pulled down his pants and slapped him several times.
The child howled at the top of his lungs, alarming the parents next door, who started fighting.
At that time, brothers Cao Guangyuan and Cao Guangyi had not yet gotten off work, and there were only the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law at home. There was an idle man hanging around the house next door. When he heard the noise, he came over to support his son.
In addition, his wife and mother were there, and his friends were nearby, so more than 20 men gathered together and beat up the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law together.
In the chaos, Yao Taotao stood in front of her mother-in-law and sister, and was beaten the most and injured the most seriously.
As for Yao Yingying and Ma Sanjie, they were not seriously injured.
At this moment, Yao Taotao has been admitted to the emergency room, and it is still unknown whether she is dead or alive.
Third Sister Ma cried and grabbed Yao Zhizhi's arm: "Your mother has already brought people over to deal with it, but Xiao Yao, my family doesn't have much money. Can you lend me some? I will pay you back. If that doesn't work, I can mortgage our old house to you, okay?"
Although Yao Zhizhi didn't want to have anything to do with Yao Taotao and the others, she was not a heartless person after all.
I quickly went into the house to get the money: "You go to the hospital first, I'll come after I feed the baby."
"Oh! Thank you, Xiao Yao, thank you!" Sister Ma San's eyes were swollen from crying. She took the money and rushed to the hospital to pay the medical bills.
Yao Zhizhi walked into the room and glanced at Xiao Xingxing. She wasn't awake yet, so should she wake her up and feed her?
After all, she didn't know when she would be able to come back.
Forget it, let the third brother feed the baby some milk powder, she quickly gave some instructions and turned to go out.
Qi Changxiao didn't dare to be vague and quickly pushed the cart out: "Wait, I'll go with you."
The two arrived at the hospital and asked about the situation. Yao Taotao was still receiving emergency treatment, so they could only go to Cao's house first.
When we arrived at the place, we saw more than 20 idle people making trouble with the police.
The police station doesn't have enough police force these days, not to mention that they have to investigate a serial theft case these days, which makes things even more complicated. Even if all the police officers in the station are dispatched now, there are only seven or eight people in total, and they are completely at a disadvantage against more than twenty adult men.
Besides, they didn't have guns.
However, these idle people did not dare to act recklessly. After all, if they alerted the criminal police from the Public Security Bureau, they would be in trouble.
So the situation was at a stalemate where the police wanted to arrest people but couldn't, and the idle people wanted to escape but couldn't.
Yao Zhizhi didn't know whether the station had applied for support from the Public Security Bureau. For safety reasons, she decided to secretly ask Qi Changxiao to go there.
"No, you go and I'll stay. There are more than twenty men surrounding here. If a fight really breaks out, you'll get hurt." Qi Changxiao refused. It would be better if the two of them switched places.
Yao Zhizhi shook her head: "No, it's easier for men to do it to men. Listen to me, go quickly."
"Then you have to promise me that if a fight really breaks out, you will run away quickly." Qi Changxiao was worried. More than half a year after giving birth, his wife had almost regained her previous figure. She had a little bit of fat on her body, but she was very slim overall. It was obvious that she could not beat those big and strong men.
He really didn't want to see her get hurt.
Yao Zhizhi leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Qi Changxiao was anxious and embarrassed, so he had to hold his breath and leave.
Yao Zhizhi was helpless, she didn't want this to happen either.
Time is running out, so let’s get down to business first.
Turning around, she looked at the group of excited men, then at the pop-up window of the Guayuan alarm, which was so busy that the system was almost stuck, and she made a plan in her mind.
This group of people seem to be united in their hatred of the enemy, but in fact they are a group of scattered sand.
They just get together to scare people out of the so-called brotherhood.
Therefore, it is very easy to break up their alliance.
As for how to disintegrate...
Men are aggressive creatures and cannot be confronted head-on. In such a tense environment, a soft, crying little woman can easily make them relax their vigilance and even waver.
Then use the melon source in her hand to manipulate people's hearts a little bit...
Yao Zhizhi pinched herself, squeezed out two tears, and walked over.
In the tense environment that was about to break out, a young woman wearing a white shirt with green flowers ran over crying and hugged Tang Fengyuan's arm.
She complained softly, "Mom, are you okay? It's all my fault. I knew they were doing something bad, but I thought about finding a few more witnesses before calling the police. I didn't expect them to be so restless and actually want to beat you up. I was wrong, Mom. I should have called the police directly and arrested them first before looking for evidence."
Tang Fengyuan was no longer surprised by this. What did his daughter-in-law know in advance this time?
This guy has used similar methods to scare many people. This time he was smart. He showed weakness first and then scare people, so as not to anger these men and end up in a bad way.
Okay, cooperate with me.
So she pretended to be serious and looked at her daughter-in-law: "Zhizhi, what do you know? How did you know it? Tell me."
"Didn't I want to be a journalist and write articles to make money? For a while, I often came here to look for news." Yao Zhizhi wiped her tears and shrank back timidly, "Then I accidentally ran into something."
"What happened? Is it serious?" Although Tang Fengyuan was a police officer, the area she was in charge of was too large for her to know every detail, so she had no idea how much of what her daughter-in-law said was true or false.
Yao Zhizhi nodded and shook her head: "If no one knows, it's not serious."
Tang Fengyuan wanted to laugh. His daughter-in-law played the role of a silly woman quite convincingly. So he patiently asked, "Then tell me, how many of them did something like this?"
"There are quite a few of them." Yao Zhizhi timidly glanced at the group of cross-eyed men and hid behind her mother-in-law. "Are they trying to kill me to silence me?"
"No, they dare not. Tell me, what happened?" Tang Fengyuan knew that he could not name anyone at this time. The more vague he spoke, the more anxious this group of people would be. They would pray that they were not discovered and hope that the matter would be over quickly.
So, she asked in general terms, without naming any names.
Yao Zhizhi nodded, half of her face peeked out from behind her mother-in-law, glanced at the group of men, and then hid back again: "Two of them have dealings with black market vendors, three of them gamble a lot, four of them have improper relationships with other people's wives, and five of them..."
As Yao Zhizhi spoke, her remarks became more and more outrageous, and no one knew who she was talking about.
These men were indeed frightened to the point of turning pale. Everything else was easy to deal with, but the mere fact that they had dealings with black market dealers was enough to charge them with speculation and profiteering, and in serious cases, they could be shot.
For a moment, you looked at me, I looked at you, and we were all confused.
Just when she didn't know what to do, a man walked up from behind Yao Zhizhi.
He noticed Yao Zhizhi from the beginning and knew that she came with a man. She came with murderous intent and a fierce look.
I also know that after she said a few words to the man, she pinched herself and ran into the crowd, pretending to be pitiful.
He suddenly wanted to laugh. What a smart woman.
Knowing that the police are outnumbered, they cannot engage in a head-on confrontation.
Knowing that I am a woman, I can take full advantage of the stereotype of being weak and paralyze the other person.
What a clever trick, but unfortunately, I didn’t see him coming out of the alley.
He lit a cigarette, walked into the crowd, and swept his sharp eyes over them, and the group of idle men all let go.
The policemen whose clothes were torn quickly straightened their appearance and looked at the man in unison.
The man turned around, blew out two smoke rings, and looked at Yao Zhizhi silently.
His eyes were filled with a shrewdness that seemed to see through everything, which made Yao Zhizhi unsure of what he wanted to do. She couldn't help but frown and secretly think of a countermeasure.
The man was very tall, about 1.85 meters, with thick arms, broad shoulders and a broad back.
His deep facial features were sharp and angular, and even when he didn't speak, he exuded a strong sense of aggressiveness. In addition, there was a scar about six centimeters long on the left side of his cheek, making him look particularly scary.
Before he fell into poverty, he had a rather prominent background, so his words carried a lot of weight in this area.
I heard there was a commotion here and wanted to come over to calm things down, but I didn't expect that this woman would get there first.
He put away his cigarette with interest and asked, "You've said so much, but have you ever considered that your one-sided statement cannot serve as evidence?"
"Yes, so I later asked my friends from the newspaper to come over. My friend said that just us were not enough, and it would be better to ask a policeman to come and witness it together. I didn't expect that they got into trouble before us and even beat someone into the hospital." Yao Zhizhi pretended to be aggrieved. She could hardly continue acting. She felt so uncomfortable.
If there weren't more than twenty men gathered here, and if a fight broke out, the mother-in-law would get hurt, there would be no need for her to suppress her nature and pretend to be pitiful.
He didn't know if her acting was any good, but the man flicked away his cigarette, looked her over silently, and asked, "Are you Tang Fengyuan's daughter-in-law?"
"Well, what's wrong?" Yao Zhizhi calmed down and endured it a little longer. Changxiao brought people over soon.
The man curled his lips and smiled self-deprecatingly. With such poor acting skills, she didn't think he didn't know about her great achievements some time ago, right?
Although it was his first time meeting her in person, she was already well-known for having helped her mother-in-law settle neighborhood disputes many times.
Now that he's pretending to be pitiful, only the group of strong-limbed and simple-minded idiots behind him will believe him.
He crushed the cigarette butt and said, "Whoever started the fight today, behave yourself, stand up, and follow Sister Tang."
More than a dozen men looked at each other. After the boss spoke, they had no choice but to stand up. There were five of them in total. The others were either instigating the trouble or watching from the sidelines.
The man looked at Yao Zhizhi quietly and spoke again: "Those who have dealings with black market traders, stand up."
Two more men came out, and they were ridiculously obedient.
Finally, the man stared at Yao Zhizhi and moved his lips: "Those who gamble and have affairs with men and women should also come out."
Eight more came out.
Some have several of these, and some have just one.
The man took a quick look and estimated that it was almost done, then asked, "Comrade Yao Zhizhi, are you satisfied?"
Yao Zhizhi didn't say anything.
He saw through her!
The man knew she was playing a trick.
She suddenly became curious. Why didn't this man have any melon source alarm?
How did he make this group of lawless thugs obey his orders?
Not clear.
In short, since this side is willing to cooperate, she should also know when to stop.
She came to calm the situation, not to show off her heroism.
Then he nodded: "Mom, it's all here."
"Let's go." Tang Fengyuan quickly called Lao Hu and others to control this group of lawbreakers and prepare to take them away.
Just then, the police arrived and she quickly reported the situation there.
Yang Shuming was busy and didn't come. It was Xiao Sun and a few young policemen who came, and they were equipped with guns.
Scarface suddenly felt a little relieved, relieved that he made the right decision today.
His eyes were fixed on the young woman, his left fingertips stroking the matchbox, his eyes dark.
Soon, Xiao Sun cooperated with several police officers to take away more than a dozen people who confessed their crimes.
It was time for the woman to leave. Her husband stood beside her, his face full of concern, asking about her well-being.
In the cold autumn wind of November, the woman raised her beautiful face and gave the man a bright smile.
The couple left talking and laughing.
Scarface silently watched their backs until they completely disappeared in the crowd in the distance.
The twelve men who had escaped the disaster gathered behind him.
"Boss, that woman is really annoying. It's all her fault for meddling in other people's business."
"Do you want to find an opportunity to teach her a lesson?"
"Shh, don't make any noise, the boss is thinking about something."
Scarface didn't say anything, but just lazily opened his eyelids and glanced at these idiots.
They were completely confused and at a loss as to what to do.
Scarface lit another cigarette, glanced at the street in the distance, and turned away.
The twelve men looked at each other, not knowing what to do next, and had no choice but to follow.
After taking a few steps, a warning voice came from the front: "Get out!"
The twelve men had no choice but to leave quickly.
*
In the hospital, Yao Taotao came out of the emergency room.
He suffered broken ribs and brain congestion, and almost lost his life.
Fortunately, the rescue was timely and the hospital fees were paid in full.
Third Sister Ma followed Yao Yingying into the ward crying, and hurriedly urged her, "Go back and make some clear soup or something. Xiao Tao needs to be taken good care of these next two days."
Yao Yingying hurried out, and just as she arrived at the hospital entrance, she saw Tang Fengyuan coming.
He held a thick handful of banknotes in his hand and counted them. The total amount was one hundred and seventy-nine yuan and eighty cents.
Yao Yingying refused to accept it: "Aunt Tang, no need. Zhizhi has already paid for the medical expenses. How can we take your money again?"
"This is the money collected by the families of those who beat people up. Take it. Saving people is the most important thing." Tang Fengyuan is impartial in his work and is not here to act like a Bodhisattva.
Yao Yingying breathed a sigh of relief. That was good, otherwise she would really owe Zhizhi too much.
Tang Fengyuan gave a few instructions and turned to leave.
Yao Yingying quickly grabbed her arm and said, "Auntie Tang, wait, this is an IOU. Please rest assured, we will definitely pay back Zhizhi for Xiaotao's medical expenses."
Tang Fengyuan did not refuse, took the IOU and left.
Yao Yingying quickly went to buy some brown sugar and eggs, went home to make some soup for her sister and sent it to the hospital.
The next day, I saw in the newspaper that Yao Zhizhi had written a report criticizing the petty theft of daily necessities from neighbors' homes.
This kind of thing is very common in life and can easily arouse public outrage.
Not to mention, the one who took advantage of the situation even started beating people up.
So, within three days, the family next door to the Cao family became a rat crossing the street, and everyone wanted to kill them.
Yao Yingying handed the newspaper to the haggard Yao Taotao: "Look, Zhizhi is venting your anger."
Yao Taotao took the newspaper and smiled tiredly: "My sister is so nice."
"I gave the IOU to Aunt Tang." Yao Yingying bought apples and pears and was sitting in front of the bed peeling them.
Yao Taotao pressed the newspaper against her chest and sighed deeply, "That's good."
"However, you have to control your temper a little in the future. It's not like we were in the countryside now, and we don't have our mother's family to support us, alas." Yao Yingying was very depressed. After this incident, she realized the importance of finding a backer.
But who should I look for?
My uncle has already adopted another girl.
The only person who can be found is probably Yao Zhizhi.
But... Zhizhi has already made it so clear.
She didn't know what to do either.
Yao Taotao had no idea of looking for a backer. Relying on a mountain will cause the mountain to collapse, and relying on the sea will cause a tsunami. It is better to rely on yourself.
The reason they were beaten this time was that they were not rich enough, otherwise the theft of the dishes would have been a big deal and would not have made her so angry.
So she had only one thought, to make money, lots and lots of money.
It's a pity that she is injured now and can't do anything.
I can only endure it for a while.
After being discharged from the hospital a few days later, Yao Taotao returned to the Cao family to recuperate.
Just as I lay down, a man with a scar came in, carrying a basket of eggs, a rooster, two bags of brown sugar, and a black fish.
After the man came in, he put down his things and stared at Yao Taotao without saying a word.
Yao Taotao had seen him before and knew that he was the boss of the area, so she said coldly, "The weasel is paying New Year's greetings to the chicken. Take your things away."
"Did I hit you?" Scarface asked a very crucial question.
Yao Taotao frowned and said nothing.
Scarface asked again: "Did I ask them to beat you?"
Yao Taotao remained silent.
Scarface couldn't help but sneer: "Don't blame others if you're stupid. Yao Zhizhi knows how to show weakness, don't you? Doesn't she have a better background than you?"
Yao Taotao looked up in surprise, but saw the man with his back to the window, looking at her with disdain.
The sunlight from outside the window hit him, and he felt an inexplicable sense of oppression.
Yao Taotao couldn't utter a word.
Yes, she heard how Zhizhi handled the conflict that day, and it was indeed very smart.
At least it won't intensify the conflict and won't cause herself and her mother-in-law to get beaten.
She suddenly became curious: "Does my sister know that you admire her so much?"
"Is it necessary to let her know?" the man asked instead of answering.
Yao Taotao was convinced. She didn't understand what kind of person he was, so she could only quickly send him away: "Okay, as long as you are happy, I accept the things, thank you."
Scarface turned around, and Yao Taotao suddenly asked, "What's your name?"
"It has nothing to do with you." Scarface walked away.
Back in the most remote corner of the mixed-race area, Scarface picked up the newspapers of the past few days and turned directly to the column where revolutionary stories were serialized. After sitting down, he grabbed an apple, wiped it on his clothes, and began to read while chewing it.
A few days later, Yao Zhizhi received a letter from a reader, which was forwarded by Li Jing from the newspaper.
It was Li Jing's first time in the courtyard. She looked around the environment and was very envious. After sitting down, she took the hot water that Yao Zhizhi poured and said, "You are really good. Some readers have already written to you."
Yao Zhizhi opened the letter from the reader with a smile, but her smile soon froze.
Li Jing came over to take a look: "Oh, you're picking on me."
Yao Zhizhi put the letter away and carefully considered the reader's suggestion: "This person said I focused too much on love between men and women, but I don't think the proportion is very high. Seventy percent of the text is about telling the story, and thirty percent is about three pairs of revolutionary lovers who are forced to do whatever they want. Do you have to cut off all love and affection to be worthy of revolution?"
"I also think he's looking for trouble," Li Jing consoled him. "Maybe he's the one who can't let go of his love life, so he has the nerve to criticize others."
Anyway, different stories have different audiences and are not written for any specific person.
Yao Zhizhi nodded, found a box, put the letter in it, and taped a note on the box: "From now on, this will be used to store readers' letters."
"Then I'll collect enough and send it to you later. Otherwise, it's too tiring to run every day." Li Jing was ready to go back. She was married and had children to take care of at home.
Yao Zhizhi got up to see her off and met Qi Changxiao at the entrance of the alley.
This guy went out early in the morning, found two planks and some wood, and came back with no idea what to do with it.
Yao Zhizhi didn't ask and hurried to write her own manuscript. From time to time, the sound of hammering could be heard in the yard.
After Yao Zhizhi finished writing the manuscript, she came out and saw, hey, this guy has made a drawing board for himself?
After looking at him curiously, Yao Zhizhi went back to the house and wiped his sweat with a towel: "Can you draw?"
"A little bit." Qi Changxiao has been thinking about what he can do recently. Now he wants to try drawing illustrations for a publishing house. Although he may not succeed, at least he has tried and has no regrets.
As for his painting skills, they are actually pretty good.
He had been ill since childhood and rarely went to school. He studied at home by reading books.
At that time, there was an artist living next door. Maybe he had some feelings for his mother, so whenever his mother went to work, he would come over to accompany him.
The artist taught me painting and piano.
However, three years ago, that person went to the countryside because of his background problem.
Qi Changxiao had never told Yao Zhizhi about these things, but since she was curious, he briefly mentioned them.
Yao Zhizhi suddenly realized, no wonder Qi Changxiao could play the piano.
I just don't know how well it will sound.
She asked the artist's name.
"Ning Zhengrong." Qi Changxiao opened his homemade drawing board and found a few sheets of newly bought white paper to clip them on. "Want to see what I'm capable of? Follow me."
Yao Zhizhi quickly helped and took the paint to the lake.
Yao Weihua looked up at his eldest nephew beside him, smiled and said to himself: "Look at how amazing your parents are, they know everything."
"Ah!" Little Star lay in the baby cradle woven with bamboo strips by her uncle, acting as a little yes-man.
Since I can't speak anyway, I just took "ah" as a response.
Yao Weihua smiled and put on the socks he had kicked off: "Your little feet are so naughty. If you kick off your socks again next time, your uncle will eat your little feet like a big tiger. Wow - isn't it scary?"
The little star giggled, not knowing what was scary or anything, just that it was fun.
The childish uncle smiled and covered him with the quilt: "What are you laughing at? Can't I imitate you? Then why don't you imitate me?"
He was responded with a crisp baby voice, giggling, so cute.
*
By the lake, Yao Zhizhi sat on the grass covered with autumn leaves, holding a workbook to record her inspirations, with a man painting silently beside her.
The autumn wind is bleak and the lake is shimmering, which brings a special feeling to my heart.
Taking note of the touching moment, she curiously asked, "Is Uncle Ning still in touch with our mother?"
"I don't know, maybe. When I was a child, I advised her to remarry, but she refused because she was afraid that I would be wronged." Qi Changxiao picked up the paintbrush silently. He missed the man who was both his teacher and friend to some extent.
I wanted to draw a portrait, but I was afraid his mother would feel uncomfortable if she saw it, so I gave up.
In the end, he painted a landscape, a rippling lake and colorful autumn trees.
Just as the leader said, the forests are full of colors and the river is clear and blue.
Yao Zhizhi came over to take a look, wow!
sure!
At least she couldn't draw it, and it was really artistic, with a heroic feeling of the vastness of the world and the absence of sadness in the autumn wind.
I couldn't help but ask: "This Uncle Ning seems to be very powerful, do you miss him?"
Qi Changxiao remained silent for a long time on this question.
Finally, he sighed and said, "Before I met you, I often wrote to him, but he only replied one letter, telling me not to write anymore and that he would contact me when he was okay."
It seems that the problem of class background is really serious. He can't be the descendant of a big landowner.
Forget it, I won’t ask anymore.
Qi Changxiao will say it when he wants to.
Yao Zhizhi herself came from an unfortunate family, so she could understand his hesitation and didn't force it.
After helping to clean up the paints, the two went home.
I had just washed my hands and was about to feed my baby when the postman showed up at the door.
This is the summons for the second trial sent by the court. The date remains unchanged, and the trial will be held on December 1st.
Yao Zhizhi put away the subpoena and looked forward to this day coming sooner.
Yao Mengmeng also received a subpoena. She brought her children to the city and visited her second sister.
When she arrived, she found the house they lived in was so remote and shabby, and she was so distressed that she burst into tears: "Second sister, doesn't the Cao family have an old house? Can't we take it back?"
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