Tang Long had barely shown his face since the car accident, and his sudden appearance startled everyone.
He seemed to have grown taller, nearly 1.9 meters, with a cold, stern face carrying a hint of menace, especially the black eye patch worn askew on his face, which made him look even more ferocious. The old women were clearly frightened.
"You think you're so tough? You want to use a knife? Go ahead and chop me!" Director Zhang regained her composure and immediately adopted the spirit of a shrew, taking a step forward.
Tang Long was not afraid of her and took a step forward as well.
Tang Long's sister-in-law panicked and rushed over to snatch the knife from his hand.
"Xiaolong, let's talk this out! Don't do this! Don't use a knife! We can't let someone die! That would land us in jail!"
"Mom, move aside!" Tang Long's body hadn't fully recovered yet, and his momentum weakened considerably after being interrupted by his sister-in-law.
Seeing that he had made a mistake, Director Zhang rallied his troops and waved his hand behind him, saying, "That vixen is inside. Charge in and skin her alive today. Let's see who can protect her!"
Qin Xiaoyu held Hanhan and her younger sister tightly, listening to the commotion outside. A chill ran through her body. Scenes she had only ever seen in movies and television were about to happen to her in real life.
She had done nothing wrong, yet she was to be judged by others and fall into the hands of those crazy women who were capable of anything. Thinking of the humiliation she was about to suffer, she wished she could just die.
But seeing the terror in Hanhan and her younger sister's eyes, she couldn't bear to leave them. It would be easy for her to die, but what about the children? Life is so hard; living is harder than dying. What could she do?
The situation at the entrance was getting increasingly chaotic, with many people already entering the courtyard, making it completely packed.
Everyone was waiting for Qin Xiaoyu to be dragged out and displayed to the public, to strip off her shiny clothes and see what kind of skin she had that could make the commander's son, who was even younger than her, so infatuated.
"Mommy, Mommy!" Hanhan cried, hugging Qin Xiaoyu tightly.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, son, don't be afraid." Qin Xiaoyu's mind raced, trying to think of a way to escape and avoid being humiliated. She was trapped in this small courtyard; there was no way she could leave.
She turned to look at the window facing the alley. The window was crowded with people, dozens of eyes staring intently into the room, as if they wanted to crawl through the glass.
She has no way out.
"Get out of here, all of you!"
This roar was earth-shattering.
The people in the courtyard were startled and fell silent instantly.
The lady, leaning on her cane, stood precariously under the eaves of the main house.
"You still have the nerve to show your face? Your granddaughter-in-law is shameless, and so are you..." Director Zhang parted the crowd, walked up to his wife, and wanted to humiliate her first.
"Pah..." The lady easily spat a mouthful of phlegm onto Director Zhang's face, interrupting her.
"You old bastard, how dare you..." Director Zhang wiped his face, furious and embarrassed, and rushed over to attack, but his wife poked him directly in the chest with her cane, making him wince in pain.
The wife stood on the steps, while Director Zhang was below, suppressed and not expecting her to dare to make a move. He suffered a loss in these two incidents.
A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd. That's how the masses are—their stance is fickle; they watch whoever's making the most of the spectacle, which is quite fair.
"You, surnamed Zhang, let me tell you, back when you were destroying the Four Olds, you couldn't even take a single box from my Tang family. Do you know why? I'm not afraid of you. Today, you won't be able to take anyone from my Tang family either. My granddaughter-in-law, I'm determined to protect her!" The lady's words were firm and resolute. For some reason, Director Zhang seemed to lose his momentum when he heard about the destruction of the Four Olds.
"Don't give me that. This is a task assigned at a meeting of the neighborhood committee. They're going to crack down on moral conduct. Your granddaughter-in-law is a negative example. She'll be going to the meeting to be criticized."
“Then show me the documents, let me see which law you violated. As long as it’s legal, you can take your people and leave, I won’t say a word against it. If you can’t come up with one, we can start from the 1950s. This old man of mine may not be good at much else, but he has a great memory. I remember exactly how much stuff you took from each household back then, and whether you handed it over.” The woman’s words became increasingly eloquent, and whispers arose from the crowd.
"Those old grains are like chaff, they're useless to talk about. Let's talk about the present, we're taking them away today!"
"Let's talk about the current situation, Director Zhang. Last time you collected money from each household, five cents a day for pest control. I heard that other committees didn't collect it." Suddenly, Aunt Yu's voice came from the crowd.
Aunt Yu had a hard life; she was disliked by her children and grandchildren and had always lived a difficult existence. Her mother-in-law usually helped her out. Seeing the Tang family in such dire straits today, she was extremely worried.
But she was just an old woman living alone, with little influence and no voice.
Now that they've finally found an opportunity, they're busy stabbing each other in the back.
This statement immediately caused a huge uproar. If someone in a family had a child, it would just be a spectacle, something to talk about over tea. But if a family charged 50 cents, that would be a big deal. How much could you buy with 50 cents?
“Yes, I heard it from my sister-in-law, their committee didn’t accept it either!” someone echoed.
"Yes, yes, my apprentice's family didn't accept it either. What's going on with this money? Director Zhang, can you explain it to me?"
"I just collect what's being collected by the street vendors. How would I know who's collecting it?" Director Zhang was quite frightened and pushed his way through the crowd.
"Don't let her go! Five cents a day is a lot of money. We barely see meat twice a year, but her family's pots smell of meat every day. Where does she get the money? Think about it!" Seeing this, Aunt Yu quickly added fuel to the fire, which aroused the crowd's indignation.
Director Zhang had already slipped out the door. When the people in the yard saw that the situation was not right, they rushed out to chase after him. The yard, which had been noisy just moments before, instantly became quiet.
Only a few members of the Tang family remained. Tang Long's knife had been taken from him by his cousin-in-law, who was pushing him into the house. Grandma Hanhan jogged over, closed the door, and locked it again. She was still shaken and pale.
The woman stood upright until everyone had left, then she swayed slightly and almost fell. Grandma Hanhan quickly ushered her into the house.
Qin Xiaoyu felt like she had escaped a disaster. She let go of the two children in her arms and then realized that her clothes were soaked with sweat.
"Little Fish." Her cousin-in-law walked over and took her hand with heartache.
Qin Xiaoyu weakly leaned her head against her chest.
"Second Aunt, don't be afraid. With me here, no one will dare to touch you!" Tang Long said coldly, then moved a stool and sat down at the door to guard it.
Qin Xiaoyu calmed herself down for a moment before standing up.
"Little Fish, where are you going?" My cousin-in-law hurriedly followed.
"I'll go check on your wife."
"Don't go yet. Madam was very agitated just now. Let her calm down."
Qin Xiaoyu stopped, convinced that her cousin-in-law's words made sense.
"I see the sky is getting cloudy again, let's take my little sister to get her IV drip first, we'll talk when we get back." My sister-in-law took out some rain gear.
"Okay." Qin Xiaoyu hugged her little sister and handed the rain gear to Hanhan.
"I'm worried, I'll stay with you." The cousin-in-law was terrified. She was afraid that someone would attack Qin Xiaoyu again. She had two children with her and no way to protect herself.
“Okay.” Qin Xiaoyu shared the same concerns.
She never imagined that Bai Weiwei's attacks could be so detailed; she had truly underestimated the darkness of this era.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
