Zhang Ting's case was resolved quickly. She embezzled a large sum of money, was sentenced to three years, and returned all the ill-gotten gains. Fortunately, Zhang Ting was shrewd enough to save money to open her own shop. If she had foolishly sent the money back to her mother in her hometown, she probably wouldn't have been able to recover it, and her sentence would have been much longer.
On the day of the court verdict, Xia Liang was also present. The moment the verdict was announced, the Zhang family erupted in heart-wrenching cries. Xia Liang didn't want to get involved and simply left the courthouse. Before she could even get into her car, her arm was grabbed. Xia Liang turned around and saw a middle-aged woman, probably in her thirties. She looked at least ten years older, likely due to long hours of physical labor and sun exposure. Xia Liang recognized her; she was the woman who had just sat with Zhang Ting's mother—probably her sister-in-law. Xia Liang didn't want to argue and coldly said, "Let go." Zhang's sister-in-law was a little afraid of this assertive woman, but thinking of her sister-in-law's ten thousand yuan, she mustered the courage to look Xia Liang directly in the eye: "My sister-in-law is in jail; you should hand over that money." Xia Liang was so angry she laughed. What kind of weirdo was this?
Shaking off the hand holding her arm, Xia Liang walked straight ahead, but the Zhang family, who had appeared out of nowhere, surrounded her. Old Mrs. Zhang wiped away her tears and said, "Give me back my daughter's money, or you're not leaving." Xia Liang was furious, glaring at the Zhang family and saying, "Your daughter's money? Are you kidding me? That's my money she secretly kept. She broke the law and went to jail. Are you really that clueless, or are you pretending?" Old Mrs. Zhang simply resorted to shamelessness, saying, "I don't care. My daughter's in jail, so that money is ours. If you don't give it back, I'll go to your shop and cause trouble, ruining your business." Xia Liang had seen many scoundrels, but someone like this was quite rare.
Zhang Ting's brothers surrounded Xia Liang, saying, "If you don't hand over the money today, we brothers aren't going to let you off easy." Xia Liang looked at the middle-aged man with disdain and said coldly, "You mean you're going to rob me if I don't give you the money?" The middle-aged man nodded, putting on a kind face, and said, "Hand over the money obediently, and we'll let you go. Otherwise, you've seen it yourself, we brothers aren't pushovers." Xia Liang looked at the family that had surrounded him and instantly felt what it meant to be stupid and wicked, as if not a single one of them was of sound mind.
Xia Liang, impatient with their arguing, said directly, "Get out of my way right now, or I won't mind sending your whole family to jail. It's right outside the courthouse, you can all go in and be with Zhang Ting." Old Mrs. Zhang said, "We're just getting our money back, why should we go to jail? Don't think we're easy to bully just because we're from the countryside. If you know what's good for you, hand over the money." Zhang's second sister-in-law, feigning kindness, said, "You don't want to get hurt, do you? If you're disfigured, will your husband still want you? Take my advice and hand over the money." In Zhang's second sister-in-law's eyes, Xia Liang was just a pretty face kept at home. Her husband's family must have funded the shops for her; otherwise, how could a young girl like her have the ability to run so many shops? Therefore, she must be very concerned about her appearance. If her appearance were ruined, her husband would definitely despise her, and where would she find such a life of luxury then?
Seeing that Chen Yanling and her three fellow apprentices had returned, Xia Liang didn't want to waste any more words with them. She pushed past Zhang Ersao and tried to walk forward, but the Zhang family members, who had been wary of her, were enraged by her action. "You bitch! You won't listen to reason! If we don't teach you a lesson, you won't know that the Lord has three eyes!" Zhang Erge raised his fist to teach Xia Liang a lesson, but his fist not only didn't get an inch closer to her, but it also moved further and further away, and he himself fell to the side. The Zhang family members around were all dumbfounded. What was wrong with their second brother?
Upon closer inspection, they realized that four young men and women had appeared behind them, looking like they were there to cause trouble. Two of the men were particularly muscular, clearly not ordinary farmers, but rather martial artists from a play. Old Mrs. Zhang, taking advantage of her age, started yelling, "Murder! There's no justice! How dare they kill someone in broad daylight! Pay up!" Zhang Er, who had been dragged to the ground and was trying to get up, immediately froze, pretending to be dead. Xia Liang, Chen Yanling, and their three fellow disciples were speechless. "Damn, we've never seen anyone so arrogant."
Following their elderly mother's instructions, the Zhang family planned to extort money from Xia Liang and his companions, just as they had done in the village. They figured that since this woman was wealthy, they could get far more than they had in town and the village. Indeed, the Zhang family was that shameless. Old Mrs. Zhang, relying on her many sons, had not only ignored her in-laws' advice when they were younger, but she also frequently gave them the cold shoulder when she was unhappy. Even as her sons grew older and the family had more able-bodied men, they could have lived comfortably by working honestly. But this family was wicked; instead of doing good deeds, they chose to take shortcuts. Initially, any peddler passing through their village was robbed clean, which eventually deterred outsiders from venturing there. Having tasted the benefits of their crooked ways, they naturally no longer wanted to honestly farm and rely on the weather. One day, a mother and her children went to town to buy things. Zhang Laosi was bumped into by an old man even older than Zhang Laotai. Now, the malicious Zhang Laosi immediately lay down on the ground and claimed he was lame, demanding compensation from the old man. The old man refused! With so many people on the street, bumping into each other was normal; he didn't believe Zhang Laosi could be lame from such a light touch. But the Zhang family had many members! They forced the old man to pay twenty yuan before letting him leave.
From then on, the Zhang family began to make a living by staging accidents for insurance fraud. Although it was unethical, they did live a good life. Not only did Old Mrs. Zhang find wives for all her sons, but the wives were also very fertile, giving birth to several grandsons in quick succession. In a time when most people couldn't even get enough to eat, the Zhang family's grandsons were well-fed and healthy. Although the villagers outwardly looked down on them, who wasn't secretly envious? Who wouldn't want to eat their fill and live a good life?
Today, the Zhang family tried to extort a large sum of money from Xia Liang using the same method, but they forgot their current location. The police officers who had just escorted Zhang Ting came out and saw a group of people gathered there, with faint sounds of arguing. Upon closer inspection, the officers realized they were the family members of the parties involved in today's case and the victim. They quickly inquired about the situation, but before Old Mrs. Zhang could speak, Xia Liang interjected, "Officer, Zhang Ting's family is demanding that I return the money Zhang Ting embezzled to them, claiming it belongs to them. They threatened to forcibly take it from me if I refused. This is outrageous; they tried to hit me, but my friend stopped them. Their mother then claimed my friend killed someone and demanded compensation." Seeing Zhang Er lying on the ground, breathing evenly, the officers felt a wave of dizziness. What a bizarre family!
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