Xu Huiqing had already driven away that old hypocritical couple in her previous life, so why would she be afraid of them now?
She had been holding back all this time, but that was only because she had just given birth, suffered heavy bleeding, and was too weak.
Although the doctor said it would take forty-two days postpartum to fully recover, it had already been thirty days. If she didn’t explode today while her family was here, then when would she?
The plate she slammed down didn’t cause much damage, but it terrified Xu’s mother.
Xu’s mother had never seen her usually good-tempered, obedient daughter so furious before. In her eyes, there was no daughter in the world more patient, more obedient, more sensible, or more virtuous than her own!
If her daughter ever got angry, it was always someone else’s fault. Without pushing her daughter to the brink, this kind daughter would never lose her temper!
She now knew that the rumor about her granddaughter being sold was probably true, since it had driven her gentle, sensible daughter to the point of striking someone. How could this be false?
But smashing dishes over her father-in-law’s head—this would surely make her the subject of public scorn. Was she trying to give up on life?
Frightened, she hurried over and grabbed Xu Huiqing’s arm, trying to calm her down!
The Zhao family members were stunned as well.
More than thirty years ago, Old Zhao had managed to cozy up to the commune’s Revolutionary Committee secretary and became a Red Guard. Back then, he had joined the committee in raiding homes and persecuting people, and in the Zhao household, he was absolute authority. Only in recent years, with age and the disbanding of the committee, had he learned to keep a low profile. But in the Zhao family, he was still a god.
Now this ‘god’ had been hit on the head by his daughter-in-law, and Zhao’s mother felt as if the sky had fallen. With a howl, she bent over and charged at Xu Huiqing, trying to headbutt her in the belly!
The old Zhao couple’s classic routine of crying, screaming, and threatening suicide was something Xu Huiqing knew all too well.
In the first few years after marrying into the Zhao family, she hadn’t understood their ways and was too timid to resist. Zhao Zongbao had placated her, but she had suffered torment from Old Zhao and his wife—the former with a red face, the latter with a stern one.
Later, as she gradually figured out who they really were, she could no longer bear it and exploded. The old couple hoped that in their old age she would serve them, so they dared not mistreat her. Zhao Zongbao was away for much of the year and relied on her to care for his parents at home, so they had to treat her and Xiao Xi well. But beneath it all, all the family’s wealth belonged to the Zhao family. Not a penny would be given to Xiao Xi. Old Zhao’s exact words were: “Girls are a loss; they’re raised in vain. Not a penny will be given to her when she leaves, not even one cent—that all belongs to the Zhao family!”
And he said this right in front of Xu’s own mother.
At that time, although Xu Huiqing had lost her official post, she was still working and earning money!
Before then, she had never thought about seizing anything. From then on, she watched everything carefully, obtained her accounting certificate, and took charge of finances at Zhao Zongbao’s company!
She knew the Zhao family would have a son eventually, so she kept a close eye on everything to save for her daughter.
Now, seeing Zhao’s mother pull over a large wooden high-backed chair with the same old theatrics, Xu Huiqing was prepared.
The chair was too big and heavy for her to lift, but Zhao’s mother charged and hit the wooden chair’s back, falling flat on her bottom with a thud. Slapping her thighs, she wailed, “My goodness! The daughter-in-law dares to hit her in-laws! It’s unbelievable!”
Xu Huiqing snapped at her third brother, “Third brother, the Zhao family’s a den of kidnappers. Aren’t you going to report this to the police?”
Everyone, still shocked that Xu Huiqing had dared hit her in-laws, immediately turned their attention to her words. No one dared speak or stop her.
She was Zhao family’s legitimate daughter-in-law and had already given birth to two children. There was no way she’d lie, right?
Could Old Zhao and his wife really be kidnappers?
A woman who had come to watch the commotion suddenly slapped her thigh, “No wonder! Maybe the Zhao family really is a den of kidnappers! Remember? The old Zhao house was down by the dam embankment. Back then, they could barely afford food, and the house was in ruins. Now the old house is replaced by brick and tile buildings. Look at how prosperous they are now—with three storefronts, TVs, fans, sewing machines filling the house! How much money must that have cost? If they hadn’t been kidnappers, how could a family of peasants for eight generations have gotten so rich?”
Her words sowed doubt in others’ minds: “Last month, a child went missing in Jiaojia Village. Could it have been taken by the Zhao family?”
“If their own daughter-in-law says so, then it’s definitely kidnappers!”
“The Zhao family is really a den of kidnappers!”
Xu’s third brother, who had been frozen in place after seeing his sister nearly get hit, immediately broke into a run for the police station.
Old Zhao shouted to his eldest son-in-law, “Stop him! Don’t let him go!”
Though Zhao’s eldest son-in-law was a thoroughly bad egg—drinking, gambling, womanizing, smoking—at his worst, he was just a petty gambler who smoked cigarettes and sometimes went to city dance halls. He’d never seen anything like ‘kidnappers.’
He was completely dumbfounded. Xu’s third brother was already far off, and he was still standing there, stunned.
The other Zhao sisters were cooking in the kitchen, and the other sons-in-law looked at each other, unsure of what to do, frozen in place.
Zhao’s second sister was equally stunned, bursting into tears, “It’s a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding! If you want to see Xiao Xi, I’ll bring her to you. Why would you hit my parents? Xiao Xi is safe at my house!”
Xu Huiqing sneered coldly, “Do you think my postpartum hemorrhage and seizures just happened out of nowhere? I heard it with my own ears at the hospital. They were afraid this child wouldn’t be a boy and would take a Zhao family household registration, so they planned to keep selling daughters and keep having kids! Otherwise, how could I have hemorrhaged if the baby was born safely?”
Old Zhao and his wife were dumbfounded, their minds in chaos. They forgot whether they had talked secretly about selling their granddaughter in the hospital and whether Xu Huiqing had overheard it.
Zhao’s wife, having been a Red Guard in her youth, was extremely arrogant at home—sometimes very shrewd, other times speaking without thinking.
Otherwise, in the previous life, she wouldn’t have so casually revealed the truth about Xiao Xi being sold to the second sister in her own room, with the door not even properly closed, only to be overheard by Xu Huiqing.
Even her mother-in-law knew to speak softly, but her father-in-law and second sister were like two idiots, yelling louder than anyone.
Now, with Xu Huiqing’s words, Zhao’s second sister really thought it was Zhao father and mother talking at the hospital and that Xu Huiqing had overheard them. She stopped arguing and cried loudly, “It’s not my fault! My parents told me to do it! They told me to sell Xiao Xi! Zongbao knows too. Otherwise, even with ten lives, I wouldn’t dare sell Xiao Xi!”
Her words confirmed the Zhao family’s human trafficking.
They had sold their own granddaughter—how many others had they sold over the years?
Zhao father was so angry at his daughter’s stupidity that his eyes bloodshot.
He had just suffered a head wound from the plate Xu Huiqing smashed, his face smeared with blood. Hearing his daughter’s words, he stepped forward and kicked her hard in the chest, shouting, “Shut up! When did I tell you to sell Xiao Xi? I told you to hide her in the countryside for a few days until your nephew was born and then bring her back!”
Zhao’s second sister fell backward in pain, screaming and wailing, “Oh heavens, mother, I wouldn’t dare sell Xiao Xi without your permission!”
Zhao’s mother came to her senses, crawled over, grabbed her by the collar, and slapped her several times, “I’ll beat you to death, you shameless wretch! You even dared to sell your niece. If you lie again, I’ll really beat you to death!”
Xu Huiqing suddenly staggered a few steps, unable to believe what she heard. She walked over and pushed Zhao’s mother away, then asked Zhao’s second sister, “You said Zhao Zongbao knew about you selling Xiao Xi?”
Zhao’s mother had given birth to many children in her youth and been mistreated by her mother-in-law. Weighing only eighty jin, she was easily thrown down by Xu Huiqing’s shove, landing flat on her back.
Zhao’s second sister, overwhelmed by being accused, sobbed, “If Zongbao hadn’t agreed, I wouldn’t dare sell his daughter, even if I had ten lives!”
Hearing that, Xu Huiqing immediately ran inside the house.
Zhao father and mother shouted after her, “Stop her!”
No one knew what Xu Huiqing intended to do but hurried after her. But no one could match her speed.
Zhao Zongbao had already heard the commotion outside. His arms and legs were injured—his arm wrapped in bandages, ankle still swathed in gauze.
He habitually hid behind others, waiting for someone to take the lead in a fight. Listening carefully, he suddenly saw Xu Huiqing rush in, bend down, pick up a wooden stool from the floor, and without a word, slam it down on his bandaged lower leg!
A horrifying scream echoed from the back room to the yard.
When everyone rushed in, they saw Zhao Zongbao sweating profusely, his face pale as death, bent over holding his leg bent at a sharp angle by the stool’s blow, in agonizing pain and barely able to scream.
Xu Huiqing raised the stool once more and struck again, hitting Zhao Zongbao’s head bowed in pain with brutal force!