Zhong Shuzhen looked up at Zhou Xianye, her eyes darting around like a frightened mouse, and she spoke haltingly and stutteringly.
Su Xiumei's eyes instantly turned red, just like a lioness that had been provoked to the extreme.
He forced his way through the crack in the door, grabbed Zhong Shuzhen by the collar, and roared, "Xiao Li and Xiao Juan said you were going to sell them. I didn't believe you at first, but you heartless bastard, where did you sell them to?!"
Zhong Shuzhen clutched her collar tightly with both hands, her old face flushed red like a boiled shrimp, her eyes darting around, refusing to answer the question directly.
"Su Xiumei, do you even respect me as your mother-in-law anymore?!"
You're trying to strangle me!
Zhou Xianye, you ingrate! Get your wife away from me right now!
This is an attempt to murder the mother-in-law! Someone's going to die!
Zhong Shuzhen cried and screamed at the top of her lungs, the sound so loud it seemed to shatter the roof, even louder than the grunts of a pig being slaughtered during the Lunar New Year.
"Su Xiumei is going to kill her mother-in-law! Help! Someone's being killed!"
Hearing the piercing cries, Zhou Xianye's anger surged, and he swung his arm and slapped the person hard across the face.
With a sharp "snap," Zhong Shuzhen's voice came to an abrupt halt. Her eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.
In her mind, her son Zhou Xianye, whom she had raised, had always been obedient to her and never dared to say no.
How dare they hit their own mother like that!
The cries, even more pitiful than those of a pig, instantly attracted the attention of the surrounding neighbors, who rushed over to see what was going on.
"Oh my goodness, what's wrong with Aunt Zhou? Why are Zhou Xianye and his wife fighting with her?"
"Xiumei is such a good and filial daughter-in-law, yet she was forced to hit someone. Aunt Zhou must have done something heinous!"
No sooner had Zhou Xianye slapped her than Su Xiumei slapped Zhong Shuzhen hard across the other side of her face.
"Where did you sell Xiaoli and Xiaojuan? Tell me! If you don't tell me, I'll strangle you today!"
Su Xiumei's eyes were filled with hatred as she stared intently at Zhong Shuzhen's neck, her hands already reaching towards it.
"Mother, tell me quickly, where did you sell the two sisters to? Otherwise, I, as their son... will not let you off the hook!"
Zhou Xianye stopped Su Xiumei's movements and then reached out and grabbed Zhong Shuzhen by the neck.
The neighbors who were watching the spectacle were all amazed, covering their mouths and staring wide-eyed.
"Oh dear, that Aunt Zhou is truly heartless! It's not like we're in a famine, yet she's going to sell her two granddaughters!"
"They deserved to be beaten! In my opinion, they did it right! Selling their children is utterly immoral!"
"Xiumei, you mustn't be soft-hearted. Your mother-in-law must have deliberately sold Xiaoli and Xiaojuan while you were away. I saw her secretly hiring a matchmaker to look at the girls last time."
Zhong Shuzhen was being choked, her face turning red from the effort, and she was having difficulty breathing. She couldn't say a word and could only desperately pound on Zhou Xianye's arm.
His eyes started rolling back.
Just then, Old Man Zhou, who had just returned from working in the fields, saw a large crowd gathered at his door. His brows immediately furrowed into a deep frown. He slammed his hoe on the ground and shouted sternly, "What are you all doing gathered at my door? So free? Have you finished all your household chores? You're here to watch the show!"
Everyone turned around at once, and when they saw that it was Old Zhou who had returned, they didn't think much of it and said with a smile, "Old Zhou, you don't know, do you? Your son is almost strangling your wife to death!"
"Your wife is utterly heartless; she actually sold both of her granddaughters."
"If you had come back any later, your wife might have lost her life!"
Upon hearing this, Old Man Zhou's face instantly turned extremely gloomy. He cursed inwardly that this old geezer was always causing trouble and had completely disgraced the family.
He had no idea about selling his granddaughter!
Didn't they say yesterday that Su Xiumei took her back to her parents' home? How come it suddenly turned into selling her granddaughter?
When Old Man Zhou went into the room, he saw that Zhong Shuzhen was barely breathing and was exhaling more frequently.
"Zhou Xianye, let go of her! She's your own mother! What are you trying to do?!"
Old Man Zhou was furious. He grabbed his hoe and hit Zhou Xianye on the shoulder, not daring to hit him on the head.
Zhou Xianye gritted his teeth and refused to let go. He turned to look at Old Man Zhou, whose shoulder was gushing blood, making him look rather gruesome.
"She sold my two daughters, do you think I should have done that? She's your wife, why don't you ask her what kind of good deeds she's done!"
Old Zhou was taken aback by the question; he had never actually thought about it.
In that brief moment, Su Xiumei picked up the hoe from the ground and swung it at Zhong Shuzhen without a second thought.
Zhong Shuzhen was terrified. Looking at the hoe raised high, she felt that her life was about to end at any moment.
Fear instantly overwhelmed her mind, and the instinct for survival made her use all her strength to push away Zhou Xianye's grip and take several steps back.
With a loud crash, the hoe struck the door panel and embedded itself instantly, scattering sawdust all over the ground.
"I'll talk, I'll talk! Take the hoe away, take it away now!"
Zhong Shuzhen's voice trembled violently, and her eyes were filled with fear and lingering dread.
If that blow had actually hit her, she would definitely be dead!
"I only received five hundred yuan. I really don't know where she went. I vaguely heard that she was sent to another province to be a daughter of a rich family."
I found them a good place. What kind of future could they have in this poor mountain village?
She's destined to get married early!
I'm trying to help them, and you parents don't even think about their feelings, yet you blame me!
The more Zhong Shuzhen talked, the more she felt she had done nothing wrong, as if she had really done a great deed.
Zhou Xianye's face was deathly pale, and the sharp pain in his shoulder had made him much more alert.
"What kind of car was that? Where did it go?" Zhou Xianye pressed.
Old Zhou finally understood what had happened. He looked at Zhong Shuzhen with disappointment and spat, cursing, "You vicious woman, you even sold your own granddaughter! You deserved to be beaten to death by your son!"
Old Zhou simply stopped caring. After all, he wasn't the one who got beaten up, and someone had to take the blame for this.
He can just watch from behind; the fire won't reach him anyway.
Seeing this, Zhong Shuzhen was so angry that she pointed at Old Man Zhou's nose and cursed: "You old bastard, weren't you happier than anyone else when you took that five hundred yuan last night?"
Now look what's happened, they're just going to deny everything!
Zhou Xianye, this old man and your brother Wu Fang were both involved in selling your daughter!
Don't let any of them escape!
If she's having a hard time, then nobody else should have a good time either!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
