Chapter 153 Dogs Biting Dogs
When Lin Baozhu arrived at Lijiazhuang with Li Dani and the old widower's fellow villagers, they ran into Granny Li, who was clutching a wad of money with a pained expression, and hesitantly trying to hand it to Lin's mother.
"Wow! It's quite lively! Everyone's here!" Lin Baozhu's clear voice suddenly rang out, breaking the deadlock.
With lightning speed, Lin's mother snatched the money from Granny Li's hand! She then looked in the direction of the sound and, seeing Li Dani huddled on the back of the bicycle, her heart ached. She rushed forward, her hands searching Li Dani's body: "Dani! Are you hurt? Ah? Let Auntie see!" After confirming she was alright, Lin's mother wiped her eyes, "It's good you're back! It's good you're back! You scared Auntie to death!"
"Auntie...where is my mother?" Li Dani's voice trembled as she tightly gripped Lin Baozhu's clothes.
"Your mother..." Lin's mother choked up, forcing a smile, "Your eldest and second uncles took her to the hospital! Don't worry, we'll go see her in a little while!"
When Li's aunt, who was hiding behind the crowd, saw Li Dani return, her face turned pale and she shrank back as if she wanted to disappear on the spot.
When Granny Li saw Li Dani, she screamed like an old cat whose tail had been stepped on: "You?! How did you get back?!"
The village head of the old widower village immediately chimed in, his face stern, "Old Lady Li! Your girl is too precious for our humble family to afford! We're sending her back as is! And return the betrothal money right now!"
"A refund?!" Upon hearing this, Granny Li immediately did a spectacular roll on the spot, slapping her thighs and wailing, "This is outrageous! You've already slept with me, and now you want a refund?! There's no way you can get something for nothing! No way!!"
"Bullshit!"
The captain interrupted her sharply, "Old woman Li, stop your nonsense! Li Dani's cousins were there during the wedding ceremony; how many eyes were watching? Give us our money back right now! Otherwise—" Her eyes suddenly turned cold, "we'll report you to the police! We'll accuse you of marriage fraud! Li Dani is only thirteen, a minor! You should consider whether your Li family can bear the charge of trafficking a minor!"
"Report it! Go ahead and report it if you dare!" Granny Li howled, her voice trembling with fear. "Then nobody will escape! Let's see who ends up in jail!"
Watching the two groups arguing fiercely, Lin Baozhu curled her lips into a cold sneer. Dogs fighting? There's plenty of time to watch the show, but right now, she has important business to attend to.
Her sharp gaze swept across the dark mass of people, her voice not loud but clearly penetrating the noise:
"Ge Gengsheng! Is there anyone named Ge Gengsheng in this village? Step forward so I can see him!"
A commotion arose in the crowd, and someone asked in confusion, "Ge Gensheng? What do you want with him?"
Lin Baozhu slowly drew the gleaming axe from her back, weighed it in her hand, and said with a playful yet chilling tone, "Me and him? We have no relation. But this aunt of your Li family..." The axe tip pointed at the pale-faced aunt of the Li family, "...has a rather unusual relationship with him!"
"Isn't everyone curious why Granny Li is in such a hurry to sell my cousin as a second wife?"
Lin Baozhu's voice suddenly rose, carrying a penetrating power: "The root of the problem is here! Aunt Li and Ge Gengsheng were having an affair in the woods, and my cousin caught them! This wicked woman was afraid of being exposed, so she conspired with her lover Ge Gengsheng to have Aunt Li sell my cousin far away to silence her!"
Her gaze was like a knife, scraping across the panicked face of Aunt Li, and she continued to add fuel to the fire: "Everyone, look at her face! High cheekbones, triangular slanted eyes, a face that looks like she'll bring misfortune to her husband, children, and relatives! Think about it, hasn't the Li family never had a moment's peace since this woman married into the family? Old Man Li broke his leg, Old Woman Li smashed her head, and the two boys born to the eldest son are both stupid and ugly..."
She paused deliberately, her gaze sweeping over the ashen-faced Uncle Li, before posing the most piercing question: "Uncle Li doesn't seem like a stupid person, does he? These two children... tsk tsk, could it be that Aunt Li and Ge Gengsheng... secretly fathered them?"
"You...you're spouting nonsense!!!" Aunt Li, struck where it hurt, instantly exploded, jumping up and down and cursing in a high-pitched voice, "You slut! You whore! Which eye of yours saw that?! Ge Gensheng and I are completely innocent! If you can't produce evidence, I'll tear your mouth apart! I'll sue you for defamation!"
At this moment, Li Dani, who had been timidly hiding behind Lin Baozhu, cautiously peeked out half her head. Her voice was soft, yet carried a strange penetrating power, as she "kindly" advised her aunt:
“Auntie, now that you’ve admitted it, please beg the brigade leader. He might not report it to the commune out of consideration for us villagers… But what if…” She bit her lip, as if she had made a huge decision, “What if the villagers find out that Ge Gensheng has your… those big underpants with a red patch on the back under his pillow… that he takes them out and smells them every night before he goes to sleep… then, Auntie, you… you couldn’t explain yourself even if you had a mouth all over your body…”
boom--!
Li Dani's words were like a bucket of cold water poured into boiling oil! The entire scene fell into a deathly silence! Everyone's expression froze!
The next second!
"Whoosh—!!"
The crowd erupted in chaos! A cacophony of whispers, gasps, and gasps filled the air!
"My God! The eldest daughter-in-law is with Ge Gensheng?! That guy is only in his early twenties!"
"No wonder! No wonder! A few days ago, someone saw Ge Gensheng go into the back mountain, and his eldest daughter-in-law followed him there!"
"Oh! I remember now! One time when Boss Li wasn't home, there was that noise coming from the back wall of his house in the middle of the night... Listen... listen, and it really is..."
As Aunt Li listened to these increasingly blatant comments, her face turned from red to white, then from white to green, and finally to ashen! Like a raging female beast, her eyes bloodshot, she lunged at Li Dani with bared teeth and claws:
"Li Dani! I'll tear your rotten mouth apart!!!"
"Bang!!"
Before she could even touch Li Dani, Lin Baozhu delivered a lightning-fast kick, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, hard slamming into her plump hip!
"Awooo—!"
Aunt Li flew backward like a tattered sack, crashing with a loud bang, landing squarely on her bottom in the opening of a broken water vat filled with water! Water splashed everywhere! Her lower body was submerged in cold water, while her upper body struggled and twisted in vain, like a turtle unable to turn over—a comical and pathetic scene!
In this chaotic moment, a dignified and resounding shout rang out from the courtyard gate:
"Stop! Police!"
Following the sound, everyone looked and saw Wang Shun leading several uniformed police officers, their faces grim, as they walked through the crowd of onlookers. Qin Haifeng followed closely behind, his sharp gaze immediately locking onto Lin Baozhu in the center of the scene. Seeing that she was unharmed, his tense jawline relaxed almost imperceptibly. His gaze swept over the messy courtyard and Aunt Li, who was stuck in the water vat, and his brows furrowed deeply.
The old widower village head, who had just been all "fair" just moments before, turned extremely ugly the moment he saw the police arrive. He coughed twice, forced a fawning yet stiff smile, and hurriedly went to greet them:
"Oh, officer! It's a misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding! What trafficking of women? That's not true! This...this is just a small dispute between villagers..."
"Misunderstanding?!" Lin's mother, like a firecracker that had been lit, rushed forward, pointed at the brigade leader's nose, and then viciously jabbed at the disheveled Granny Li and Aunt Li in the water vat, her voice shrill with agitation:
"Officer! Don't listen to his nonsense! It's this whole bunch of heartless bastards! They colluded with this old widower to sell my perfectly good niece to this filthy old man as his second wife! My sister was protecting her daughter and they almost beat her to death! She's still in the hospital! If you don't believe me, go and investigate! The whole village can testify!!"
Upon hearing the words "testify," the villagers watching all changed their expressions slightly, as if they had been burned. They quietly moved their feet back and lowered their heads even further, wishing they could disappear on the spot, for fear of being implicated by the police and needlessly offending the villagers.
Wang Shunzheng was well aware of the villagers' "better to avoid trouble" mentality. He frowned and decisively ordered, "Take Granny Li, Uncle Li, Aunt Li, the old widower, and the victim Li Dani back to the station for questioning! Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li, you two stay here to conduct interviews, investigate, and collect evidence!"
"What?! To the police station?!"
Upon hearing that they were to be arrested, the three women, including Granny Li, were instantly terrified! Their earlier tantrums and bullying vanished without a trace, leaving only ashen fear on their faces.
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