Gu Changzheng smiled and pinched her cheek.
"Second Brother felt he had lost face and was trying to regain it through fighting."
"Ah...can fighting save face?" Lu Huaijiao didn't understand.
Although she felt that Xu Honglian deserved to be beaten, anyone who saw that mouth would want to punch her.
But Gu Changqing is no ordinary person; how could he be so ruthless?
"Could he be having other women on the side?"
Because his heart wasn't with Xu Honglian, he could beat her to a pulp when he did.
Gu Changzheng smiled but didn't say anything.
This behavior is tantamount to tacit agreement.
Lu Huaijiao's lips twitched, and she looked back at the direction of the village entrance. She found that the fierce Xu Honglian had been beaten by Gu Changqing and was curled up on the ground, unable to fight back. All she could do was hug her head and cry.
As for Gu Jindan and Gu Baodan, they had long since disappeared.
The villagers were initially watching the spectacle, but seeing Gu Changqing becoming increasingly aggressive, they stepped forward and pulled Gu Changqing and Xu Honglian apart, allowing them to calm down.
The man advised Gu Changqing not to stoop to the level of an old woman.
The woman advised Xu Honglian not to be so fierce, to think before she speaks, and to try not to say things that would anger men.
Upon hearing this, Xu Honglian became enraged. Her face was bruised and swollen, and even the slightest movement would pull at her in pain. She covered her face and whimpered, then started cursing at those who were trying to persuade her.
Well, Xu Honglian is someone who is impervious to reason and doesn't understand kind words.
The woman who had tried to persuade her felt that she had wasted her heart and ignored Xu Honglian, getting up and leaving to go to work in the fields.
They were all from the same village, and they only came to comfort her and offer some words of advice after seeing how badly she had been beaten. Who knew that Xu Honglian would not only ignore it but also scold them for meddling in other people's business?
Fine, everyone lives their own lives behind closed doors anyway. Xu Honglian's life or death has nothing to do with them. They're just making a fuss over nothing.
Even if Xu Honglian were beaten to death in the future, they wouldn't even glance at her or meddle in her affairs.
Gu Changshan and Liu Chun brought their child from their home to this place. They met Gu Changzheng and his family when they were almost home.
Gu Changshan was momentarily stunned when he saw Gu Changzheng.
"Fourth brother?"
His gaze swept over Gu Changzheng and Lu Huaijiao before finally confirming that it was indeed his younger brother who had gone to the city.
Gu Changshan then hurriedly stepped forward: "Fourth brother, why are you back? Is something the matter?"
After more than two years apart, Gu Changshan seemed to be a bit more talkative than before, perhaps because his family's living conditions had improved.
Gu Changzheng nodded and said, "I received a call saying that the wall around my house had collapsed, so I came back to take a look."
"Oh, oh, I see." Gu Changshan agreed, then his gaze fell on Daya and Erya, who were walking behind Chen Lin. He quickly smiled and thanked Gu Changzheng, "Daya and Erya, we've caused you trouble."
"It's not much of a hassle."
Gu Changzheng's tone remained calm. His two older brothers had very similar personalities; they would both use an honest and simple appearance to cover up their inner thoughts.
"Brother, are you busy with work in the fields?"
Gu Changzheng asked.
Gu Changshan nodded: "That's right. Recently, the rice has been heading and the corn has been husking. I've been working in the fields from dawn till dusk every day, hoping for a good harvest this year. Then I'll send some new corn to you and your parents to eat."
This was the first time Gu Changshan had said he wanted to send something to Gu Changzheng and the others.
It's unclear what Liu Chun, standing behind him, was thinking, but Lu Huaijiao didn't care.
It wasn't that she looked down on the corn in the countryside, but rather that Gu Changshan's words were just empty politeness, and she didn't need to take them to heart.
Even if it's not just a polite remark, she wouldn't want to eat it even if it were actually sent to her.
She won't accept anything that isn't given to her sincerely.
Gu Changzheng didn't pick up on that topic. Instead, he called Da Ya and Er Ya over and said, "Big brother, no matter how busy you and sister-in-law are, don't neglect the children. Da Ya and Er Ya are honest and don't dare to tell you anything. If you don't pay more attention to them, you won't even know if they're being bullied to death outside."
"How could that be? They're all kids from the same village, they won't be bullied to death." Gu Changshan chuckled and scratched his head, unaware of the severity of his daughter's bullying.
Liu Chun, who was standing next to her, added, "Whose child doesn't grow up with bumps and bruises like this? Compared to other children, these two are so much happier."
They were clearly girls, but because Gu Changshan cared about his image, he spent a lot of money to send them to school in town.
In Liu Chun's view, this was completely unnecessary.
If she weren't afraid that Gu Changzheng would come back and cause trouble for her and her son, she would have stopped letting Daya and Erya go to school long ago.
What's the point of a good-for-nothing studying so much? She'll eventually marry into her husband's family and be taken there with her.
She certainly didn't want to raise a college graduate as a daughter-in-law for her in-laws whom she had never even met.
Girls should study for two or three years, then go home to help their parents with chores, and get married when they reach marriageable age. That is the correct way of life.
Instead of spending so much money to go to school in town like Daya and Erya.
Liu Chun was actually quite dissatisfied with the fact that his two daughters' tuition was five yuan per semester.
Now, it's showing itself without even realizing it.
As soon as she finished speaking, Daya and Erya shrank back. Although it was a very small movement, Lu Huaijiao still saw it.
Lu Huaijiao chuckled softly.
"Sister-in-law, you're uncultured yourself, but you won't allow others to be cultured either?" Lu Huaijiao's words were always very 'vicious'.
Especially for someone like Liu Chun who cares about saving face, Lu Huaijiao's words were even more hurtful.
She continued with a laugh, "Who told you that the vast majority of girls don't go to school? Who told you that other people's children grow up being bullied? Sister-in-law, you're incompetent and can't protect your own child, so don't use other people's opinions to criticize you, okay?"
"Honestly, out of all the people I know, this is the first time I've seen someone so incompetent at protecting their daughter from being bullied, yet still so stubborn. I wonder if you're a duck, sister-in-law?"
"Stubborn to the end?"
She smiled and glanced at Liu Chunwen.
Liu Chun's face turned green with anger.
Seeing this, Gu Changshan immediately spoke up to defend Liu Chun: "Sister-in-law, it's true that your sister-in-law isn't very educated, but she really cares about Daya and Erya. As her sister-in-law, an outsider, you really shouldn't speak like that."
"No matter what, she's still your sister-in-law."
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