“Let’s get straight to the point, stop rambling. What’s wrong with women being in charge?” Zheng Xu reached out and tugged at Shen Heng’s sleeve. “You should be nicer.”
This issue will never be resolved if we keep arguing about it.
Zheng Xu's words undoubtedly gave Su Yalong and Su Yahu two ways out. Su Yalong took a deep breath: "If we can't reach an agreement, we're going to take Zhigao away today. Or, you can give us six hundred yuan and the child will be yours."
Bai Jiaojiao said, "Then there's no need to talk. I can accept sending Zhigao away, but definitely not to you."
Su Yahu was furious. He had never seen so many meddlesome people, but he was also afraid of offending Shen Heng, who might really do something to him.
Bai Jiaojiao said, "Zhigao is with me now. If you don't agree, we absolutely will not let you take him away. If you don't believe us, you can try."
There's a saying that a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative, but in reality, it's hard to say who's closer.
Su Zhigao had never met these two uncles since birth. To Su Zhigao, Su Yahu and Su Yalong were strangers, and he was not as close as Bai Jiaojiao and Shen Heng, who he often saw in the village.
Uncle Su said, "It's settled then. If you two really care about the child, you should inquire around these next few days to see if there are any reliable families. We don't need them to be rich or wealthy, as long as they have good character and are good to Zhigao. That's all that matters!"
"Do you even have the right to speak?" Su Yahu had long been uncomfortable with Uncle Su sitting there so calmly.
"I'm your cousin! I can't even say what's going on with the Su family's offspring?!" Uncle Su was furious.
“I’m still Su Zhigao’s uncle!” Su Yahu retorted.
Seeing that the two sides were about to start arguing again, Zheng Xu shouted, "Alright! Stop it, both of you!"
He stood up: "Su Zhigao is also registered in Shili Village. As the brigade leader, I must take responsibility for him. Leave this child here for now. You can come and pick him up when you find a reliable place. Don't complain. Think about how you behaved before. Don't blame others for not trusting you."
These two brothers not only failed to support their mother in her old age, but they also didn't even show up at her funeral. A week later, they remembered their eldest nephew and started asking for 600 yuan.
Zheng Xu must be blind to let them take Su Zhigao away.
"What do you mean?" Su Yalong's face immediately turned cold. "Do you believe we'll call the police?"
Zheng Xu blushed crimson with embarrassment as Su Yalong pointed his finger at him: "Calling the police won't do any good! I refuse to believe I can't let the people of this village have their way. You two get out of here! Think it over before you come back!"
Zheng Xu pointed to the door, and Bai Jiaojiao, seeing that the time was right, glanced at Shen Heng.
Shen Heng understood immediately, got up and went out. In a few steps, he went to the woodshed and took out an axe: "Let's see who dares to stay in my house now. If they die in my house, it will be considered burglary if the police come!"
Chen Heng swung the axe in his hand, the "whoosh" sound becoming even colder as the cold wind blew in from outside the door.
Su Yahu and Su Yalong swallowed hard. Su Yalong grabbed his brother's wrist, his words tumbling out, "You just wait. Next week we'll bring the police from the station and teach you a lesson!"
After saying that, Su Yalong pulled Su Yahu away.
Su Yahu was still too proud to admit his mistake and wanted to confront Shen Heng head-on, but his younger brother, who was walking ahead without turning his head, held him back tightly.
"What are you doing? I don't believe he'd dare to lay a hand on me!"
Only after leaving Shili Village did Su Yahu forcefully shake off Su Yalong's hand and scold him.
Su Yalong rolled his eyes inwardly. If you really dared to go head-to-head with him, why didn't you go up in the first place?
But he absolutely couldn't afford to have a falling out with Su Yahu right now. The words that were on the tip of his tongue turned into: "A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle. It's just that Shen Heng, this village bully, is bold enough to bully ordinary people. Let's go find the police station and see how he can still act like a rogue! If that doesn't work, we'll petition and file a complaint! I refuse to believe that there's no justice in this world."
Su Yalong's words struck a chord with Su Yahu: "Hmph, thinking you can get one of our children for free? That's impossible."
"Brother, let's hurry back. It's getting late, and we'll miss dinner if we don't hurry."
Su Yalong was craving the braised food at Bai Jiaojiao's house. He wasn't hungry, but he just had a strong urge to eat.
Su Yahu shared the same idea, and the two of them, with their hands tucked in their pockets and heads down, hurried toward the town.
After the two brothers left, Uncle Su left immediately.
Zheng Xu stayed behind and looked at Su Zhigao.
The adults argued in the living room for a long time, but it didn't seem to affect him much.
Su Zhigao lay on the small table on the kang (a heated brick bed), carefully tracing the words Bai Jiaojiao had written for him with a pencil.
"Southeast coast of Huang Province, Hushan Commune, Shili Village Brigade, Su Zhigao"
Zheng Xu looked at the line of text and said, "Don't teach him to write such difficult things at first. For a child this age, just let him learn to write one, two, three, four, five first."
Zheng Xu has raised children himself, so he has experience.
Bai Jiaojiao explained, "Captain, I was afraid that if we really couldn't organize his two uncles, I would teach Zhigao to write down our address so that he would remember it better, just in case... we could find him again."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Xu finally understood Bai Jiaojiao's good intentions.
He sighed, "I know you mean well, but I also know we can't control this. If they call the police, the child will definitely be taken away."
Bai Jiaojiao was already very grateful that Zheng Xu had stood firmly on her side today: "If it doesn't work out, we'll adopt him first. When the police come, they definitely won't be able to ask for too much. As for where he'll go in the future, we'll find out later."
Seeing the attitude of Su Yahu and Su Yalong today, Bai Jiaojiao knew that giving the child to them would likely lead to dire consequences.
Bai Jiaojiao is no longer just thinking about waiting for Su Zhigao's father to come back; even if Su Zhigao's father really dies, she still has to take care of him!
After she finished speaking, Zheng Xu reflexively glanced at Shen Heng, who glared at her and said, "Why are you looking at me? Her opinion is mine."
Zheng Xu said helplessly, "Can't you be a little nicer? I didn't say anything."
"What's wrong with my attitude?" Shen Heng still held the axe in his hand, and he unconsciously tossed it around.
"Alright, if you two agree to keep the child, the village committee will definitely provide some assistance. Thanks to you, Jiaojiao, our village has a decent number of piglets now. Maybe next year the village will have some savings. We will definitely focus on helping people like Zhigao."
Bai Jiaojiao nodded.
Hopefully, nothing goes wrong with Su Zhigao's father.
Zheng Xu said, "Then I'll go back first. The village chief is still angry at home. I'll go over and tell him about today's situation and discuss it with him."
"Captain, wait a moment."
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