Su Jianguo stopped and looked at the dilapidated outline of Wu Ermaitai's house in the distance.
"Jianjun, do you know why everyone calls him the village guardian?"
Su Jianjun shook his head.
"Because a fool like him is shielding the whole village from disaster."
Su Jianguo's voice was low and deep.
"Our village has had good weather and no major incidents in recent years; maybe it's because of him."
Su Jianjun nodded thoughtfully.
...
at the same time.
The Four Nine Cities.
At Su Mingqiang's home.
Su Mingqiang slumped on the sofa, clutching a half-empty bottle of cheap liquor in his hand. The liquor dripped from the bottle and formed a murky puddle on the sofa armrest.
The sunlight streaming in through the window shone on his swollen face, making the purplish-blue bruises appear particularly glaring.
That was a "memorabilia" left by my father, Su Jianguo, three days ago.
"waste!"
When Li Jinhua returned home from get off work and saw the scene before her, she gritted her teeth in anger.
She kicked the coffee table, making several empty wine bottles clang.
"What else can you do besides drink all day long?"
Su Mingqiang didn't even lift his eyelids; he just mechanically brought the bottle to his lips and took a big gulp.
The alcohol burned his throat, and he was numb.
Since that day, he has completely fallen out with his father, Su Jianguo, at home.
After being kicked out of his home and removed from the family genealogy, Su Mingqiang completely lost his spirit and became despondent.
I haven't gone to work these past few days; I've been drinking heavily at home every day.
I'm talking to you!
Li Jinhua snatched the bottle and smashed it on the ground.
Glass shards flew everywhere, and the liquor spread across the floor, emitting a pungent odor.
Su Mingqiang finally reacted.
He slowly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Li Jinhua, a twisted smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"What? You want to hit me too? Come on, hit me here!"
He patted his greasy cheeks.
"Anyway, I'm already a lost soul; I have nothing left..."
Li Jinhua's raised hand froze in mid-air.
Over the past three days, she had lost count of how many times she had laid a hand on Su Mingqiang.
Slaps, pinching, kicking—they used every means at their disposal.
At first, Su Mingqiang would dodge and beg for mercy, but later he became like a walking corpse, as if his soul had been extracted and only an empty shell filled with alcohol remained.
"My parents are still in the police station!"
Li Jinhua's voice was choked with sobs, deeply angered by her husband's incompetence.
"You promised to rescue them!"
Su Mingqiang chuckled and reached for another unopened bottle of wine on the coffee table.
"I've already been expelled from the family, how can I be saved?"
He clumsily unscrewed the bottle cap, spilling the liquor onto his filthy vest, its original color unrecognizable.
As he was talking, he suddenly burst into laughter, which was mixed with coughing and eventually turned into dry heaving.
Li Jinhua took a step back in disgust, watching her husband vomit by the sofa, his yellowish-brown excrement splattered all over the floor.
"Go outside and vomit!"
She screamed, but Su Mingqiang had already slumped back onto the sofa, his eyes closed, his chest heaving violently.
Looking at the mess in the room, Li Jinhua suddenly felt an unprecedented exhaustion.
That night three days ago.
When she first heard the news that Su Jianguo was going to remove Su Mingqiang from the family, she couldn't believe it.
After all, this is his own son, and his eldest son at that.
However, on the second day, when she learned that Su Jianguo had brought his whole family back to the village, she realized the seriousness of the matter.
Without the Su family's connections, her parents and brother would have really been locked up in the police station until they died.
Thinking about this, Li Jinhua's resentment deepened.
She looked around.
This two-bedroom apartment in the steel mill's staff quarters, which she was once proud of, is now filled with the stench of alcohol and vomit.
The man on the sofa, whom she once felt she could rely on, was now a lump of mud.
"I was so blind back then..."
Li Jinhua muttered to herself, turned and walked towards the bedroom, slamming the door shut.
She sat in front of the dressing table. The woman in the mirror had sunken eyes and downturned lips. Where was the former "flower" of the steel mill middle school?
Li Jinhua's hands trembled as she opened the powder box and dusted some powder on her face, trying to cover her haggard appearance.
Above the mirror was a photo of her and her colleagues from last year's Teachers' Day.
Li Jinhua's gaze unconsciously fell on the bald, forty-something-year-old man standing in the middle of the back row.
Vice Principal Zhang Haiyang, the man who always looked her up and down with greasy eyes.
"Teacher Li, please feel free to contact me anytime if you encounter any difficulties..."
Zhang Haiyang's voice echoed in her ears, accompanied by the faint touch of his thick hand on her waist.
Li Jinhua slammed the powder box shut, her chest heaving violently.
She certainly knew what Wang Dehai meant.
That lecherous old man has been eyeing her for a long time.
Li Jinhua's appearance was among the best of all the female teachers in the school.
Previously, Li Jinhua had absolutely no respect for this vice principal.
But now...
The sound of a wine bottle falling to the ground came from the living room, followed by Su Mingqiang's indistinct muttering.
Li Jinhua bit her lower lip until she tasted blood.
She can't rely on her own husband anymore, so she's trying to get her family to come out...
Li Jinhua was also determined to go all out.
She suddenly stood up, opened the wardrobe, and her fingers wandered among the rows of clothes.
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