standoff
Old Li had experienced so many life-and-death situations on the battlefield and had seen all sorts of people, but he had never seen such wicked people as this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
It is said that even tigers do not eat their cubs, let alone humans!
Although Wang Yao wasn't their child, she was still family. Wang Tianmiao had only been dead for a short time; his body was barely cold, and they already wanted to use his daughter to make money. Were they even human? They were worse than animals.
Old Li pointed a trembling finger at Liu Lan, "You, are you even human? Wang Yao is your own granddaughter! Your son has only been dead for a few days, and you're already selling his daughter! How can you be so cruel? Aren't you afraid of retribution for doing such a thing!"
Liu Lan was startled by the sudden intrusion of Old Man Li. She knew that if outsiders found out about this, they would definitely gossip about it.
So when he saw Old Man Li, he felt a little guilty.
But when she heard Old Man Li point at her nose and curse her as soon as he entered the door, saying she would suffer retribution, she immediately stopped him, as she believed in such things the most.
"I'm getting my comeuppance? What comeuppance am I getting? Men should marry when they're of age, and women should marry when they're of age. Wang Yao is my granddaughter. As her grandmother, what's wrong with me finding her a husband? You're an outsider, what right do you have to point fingers at me? Who do you think you are? You were just a soldier for a few days. Let me tell you, I'm not afraid of you. Stop meddling in other people's business!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Ailing wanted nothing more than to cover Liu Lan's mouth.
You're an old lady, buried up to half your neck in the earth, of course you're not afraid, but I am!
His son is a company commander. I don't know how high a rank a company commander is, but did you see how polite the village chief is to this old man? Do you think we can just scold him like that?
Old Li had been a soldier since he was young. He was a rough and clumsy man who was not good at speaking. At this moment, he was speechless after Liu Lan's words. He pointed at Liu Lan and kept saying "you you you..." for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence.
Seeing that Old Man Li was so angry, Liu Ailing was afraid that he might actually get seriously ill, so she quickly explained:
"It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding. You were outside, you definitely didn't hear what we were saying. We weren't talking about Wang Yao, we were talking about things related to my family. Yes, it's about my family. I went back to my parents' house a while ago, and I heard about this, so I brought it up with my mother-in-law. I didn't expect you to misunderstand. Hehe, how could we do such a thing? We'd be talked about behind our backs, right, Mom?"
As she spoke, she supported Liu Lan, seemingly to prevent Liu Lan from falling. However, from Wang Yao's perspective, it was clear that Liu Ailing was tightly gripping Liu Lan's arm.
The pain calmed Liu Lan down, and her reason returned. She wanted to agree with Liu Ailing's words, but Wang Yao didn't give her the chance.
Do you think you can just brush this off with a few words? No way!
Originally, she planned to get involved herself and expose the family's evil deeds to everyone. Now that Grandpa Li had already brought this matter to light, she might as well go with the flow. She no longer had the patience to play along with this family.
"Really? Shouldn't it be Liu Lan's sister who marries into the Chen family? How come you know Liu Lan's sister, Liu Ailing? Liu Lan, you're such a grown woman, yet you dare to do it but not admit it? Do you think someone as wicked as you will go to hell after you die? You definitely will, you'll go to the eighteenth level of hell."
Wang Yao certainly didn't believe in the idea of going to hell after death, but she knew Liu Lan believed it.
Liu Lan goes to the temple to burn incense and pray to Buddha on the first and fifteenth of every month. I don't know what use it is for someone who has done so many bad things to pray to Buddha.
She wanted to provoke Liu Lan and make her say things she shouldn't.
As Wang Yao expected, when Liu Lan heard that this unfilial descendant Wang Yao no longer called her grandma but still dared to call her "Liu Lan" repeatedly, her anger rose in waves.
Hearing that Wang Yao also dared to curse her to go to hell after death, she could no longer suppress her anger.
"You wretched girl, you're the one who'll go to hell! Come here right now, and I'll beat you to death today! If I don't kill you, I'll bury you alive so you'll never be able to rise again..."
She cursed and tried to grab Wang Yao, but Old Man Li stood in front of Wang Yao. Seeing that she couldn't hit Wang Yao, she picked up a stool and threw it at Wang Yao.
Liu Xiangmei, who had just returned from the fields, heard the commotion and came over to see what was going on. As soon as she entered the door, she saw this scene. She screamed in shock and instinctively ran towards Wang Yao.
Although Old Man Li was old and not as agile as before, he was still more than capable of dealing with an old lady like this.
He caught the flying stool and slammed it down at Liu Lan's feet, causing it to crack instantly.
The wood from the shattered bench hit Liu Lan's calf, and the pain made her instinctively collapse to the ground.
Liu Xiangmei shielded Wang Yao behind her and questioned her sharply, "Mom, what did Yao Yao do to you? How could you throw a stool at Yao Yao?"
Liu Lan was in so much pain that tears were about to come out. Hearing her eldest daughter-in-law speak to her so harshly only intensified her hatred for Liu Xiangmei and her daughter.
She said sternly, "Why can't I throw a stool at her? I'm her grandmother. She's disobedient and unfilial to me. Even if I were to kill her, it would be perfectly justified, let alone if I were to beat or scold her."
Liu Xiangmei could hardly believe it.
No matter what, Yao Yao has Liu Lan's blood in her veins. How could she be so cruel as to threaten to kill Yao Yao?
When Old Man Li heard these words, he thought the old woman had lost her mind. Thinking of what he had overheard outside the door, he realized that neither the mother-in-law nor the daughter-in-law were good people.
Wang Yao and her mother are both honest and law-abiding people. Over the years, there has been no news of them having any conflicts with anyone. These two women, who are so weak and powerless, are definitely no match for this family. They might just be outmaneuvered by them at any time.
Wang Yao was his and his grandson's savior. He had no way to repay her, but he couldn't just watch her be harmed by these vicious people. He had to make this family wary.
Old Li glanced at Wang Yao, "I'm going to find the village chief and let him know that someone is about to kill someone within his jurisdiction!"
When Liu Ailing heard that Old Man Li wanted to see the village chief, she panicked instantly.
In their relatively remote villages, the village chief holds a very important position. He is in charge of allocating the country's welfare subsidies, so no one dares to offend him.
What happened today is just a family matter for the Wang family. Why did it have to involve the village chief? It's completely unnecessary!
Moreover, if the village chief comes, won't this matter escalate? Forget about marrying Wang Yao off to a fool; her family will probably never be able to hold their heads up in the village again.
Thinking of this, Liu Ailing quickly stopped Old Man Li: "Uncle Li, no, the village chief is very busy all day, let's not trouble him. We can handle our own family matters."
Old Li didn't even glance at Liu Ailing. This woman was the one who advocated marrying Wang Yao off to a fool as soon as possible. She was a truly wicked woman. He snorted, pushed Liu Ailing away, and left.
Seeing that she couldn't stop Old Man Li, Liu Ailing turned to Liu Xiangmei and pleaded, "Sister-in-law, I beg you, please say a word to stop Uncle Li. We shouldn't air our dirty laundry in public, and besides, this is all a misunderstanding. If we make a big fuss, we'll all lose face."
Liu Xiangmei looked at Liu Lan and saw that Liu Lan was still glaring at Wang Yao with resentment, which made her feel a chill run down her spine.
She didn't know what had happened before she entered, but whatever it was, how could a grandmother harbor such resentment towards her granddaughter, even going so far as to threaten to kill her, showing absolutely no affection for her? It was chilling.
Liu Ailing followed Liu Xiangmei's gaze to Liu Lan, and seeing that even at this point, Liu Lan was still worrying about whether or not to go to hell, she felt a headache coming on.
With the situation so dire, why dwell on such vague and unrealistic things?
Liu Ailing didn't understand Liu Lan's beliefs, but Wang Yao did. She smiled at Liu Lan and said, "Someone as wicked as you will definitely have your limbs cut off after you die, be torn to pieces, fried in oil, and roasted over fire, never to be reincarnated..."
"Ah...bullshit, you foul-mouthed brat! If you say another word, I'll sell you to some remote mountain forest today, so you can spend the rest of your life with an idiot, so you..."
Liu Lan broke down upon hearing Wang Yao's words, but Liu Xiangmei went beyond that; she grabbed Liu Lan by the collar and slapped her several times.
She used to treat this old lady with the respect due to Wang Tianmiao, and she endured all the grievances she suffered for Wang Tianmiao's sake, but today she couldn't bear it anymore.
Since this mouth is going to spew filth, she'll teach it a lesson. She wished she could concentrate all her strength in her hand and slap the old woman hard across the face.
Liu Ailing had never seen such a ferocious expression on Liu Xiangmei's face before. For a moment, seeing Liu Lan being beaten, she didn't dare to step forward to stop it.
Wang Yao just stood by and watched, hoping that her mother would slap her harder, harder.
This is all something that the old woman owes to the mother and daughter.
Liu Lan's mouth was bleeding from the blow, and her head was spinning. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether her face or her leg hurt more.
In the end, it was the village chief who rushed over to rescue Liu Lan.
The village chief was truly astonished. These days, women fight so fiercely, they're practically killing each other. Look, Liu Lan is so badly beaten she's unrecognizable.
The village chief arrived so quickly because Old Man Li had just gone out to look for him, and he happened to be going to Old Man Li's house when the two met on the way.
Old Li told the village chief what had happened to the Wang family, and the village chief was shocked.
Is he going to sell his granddaughter to a mentally challenged man? And he even threatened to kill her?
What grudge does that old lady Liu Lan have against Wang Yao?
The two walked towards the Wang family's house, and from a distance they heard Liu Lan shouting loudly about who she was going to sell, so they quickened their pace.
They thought Liu Lan was bullying Wang Yao and her daughter, but when they entered the room, they saw Liu Xiangmei glaring angrily and slapping Liu Lan hard across the face.
Fearing that things might really escalate, the village chief quickly pulled Liu Xiangmei away, saying, "Just say what's going on. We're all family, not enemies."
Lying on the ground, Liu Lan mumbled, "Save the people, save the people, don't let me spit out your tears..."
Her mouth was swollen from being hit, and her speech was slurred, but everyone could understand her.
When Wang Yao saw the village chief arrive, she remembered that in her past life, after she went to the police station to report the incident, the village chief also learned about it and immediately helped her collect evidence.
The village chief said it was his fault for not discovering it in time and for not keeping a close watch on the villagers, which led to this heinous abduction incident. He also said it was because he hadn't taken care of Liu Xiangmei in time that she had this accident. He apologized repeatedly.
The village chief offered to pay for her to continue her schooling, but she refused.
Later, when she was preparing to go south, the village chief gave her some money and told her to take good care of herself.
Every year after that, when she returned home to pay respects at the graves, the village chief would invite her to his home for a visit.
It could be said that the village chief was the last bit of human kindness she felt in this village!
Wang Yao looked at the village chief. Before anything else happened, the village chief had already arrived, and everything started anew!
The village chief ignored Liu Lan and saw Wang Yao staring at him with tears in her eyes. He patted Wang Yao's head and said, "Come on, tell your uncle what happened?"
Wang Yao glanced at Liu Ailing, whose face was pleading, then at Liu Lan, who still looked like she wanted to devour her alive, and said:
“Uncle Village Chief, this is what happened. Grandpa Li and I overheard the mother and daughter-in-law talking inside the house from under the window. Liu Lan said…”
Wang Yao had a good memory and repeated almost word for word what Liu Lan and Liu Ailing had said in the room. She also recounted what happened after she and Old Man Li entered the room. Liu Ailing wanted to argue that Wang Yao was framing her, but she didn't get a chance to speak.
After Wang Yao finished recounting the story, she continued, "Uncle Village Chief, I actually knew about this a couple of days ago. I happened to be passing by that day and overheard the people inside talking about it. I was terrified and didn't know what to do."
Looking at Wang Yao's aggrieved expression, Liu Xiangmei's heart ached and tears streamed down her face. "So that's how it is, so that's how it is. Is it because you knew about this that you accidentally bumped your head? It's all my fault for not being careful enough and not noticing anything was wrong with you, sob sob~"
Wang Yao: ...
Well, it was really an accident that she bumped her head. She also bumped her head in her previous life, but it was just a minor injury. In this life, it's probably because it happened to coincide with the time of her rebirth that she fainted.
But that's not important.
Of course, her story about eavesdropping a couple of days ago was also fabricated. They would definitely have discussed it at home before planning to sell her to a mentally challenged person.
If she had heard about it a couple of days ago, she could now present more evidence logically when Liu Xiangmei and Liu Lan try to deny it.
Sure enough, when the village chief looked at her, Liu Lan instinctively whimpered, "Village chief, don't bite that little bitch, she's shameless, she's not..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com