Chapter 34: Upsetting the moral order?

Lu Qiao glanced at Officer Liu but had to admit that what he said was actually not wrong.

She had obtained a book about current laws from Director He, and she had already read it from cover to cover.

The current laws did not have clear inheritance rights. According to historical trends, the relevant legal provisions would not be promulgated until 1985. Currently, children inheriting parents' property mainly relied on traditional customs, grassroots mediation, and sporadic legal principles.

And the Marriage Law promulgated in 1950 had as its core the abolition of old systems such as arranged marriages, concubinage, and child brides. Its regulation of property relations was relatively brief because children's property rights were not a legislative priority.

In practice, it mainly relied on traditional customs. For example, what Shao Le said earlier—that he and his older brother could completely distribute their parents' house and property.

But his two older sisters had lost the qualification to divide the family property because they had already married out.

Although gender equality had been advocated all along, the process of truly implementing it was incredibly long.

Just at this moment, a familiar inner voice came: 【Little fairy, I've finally found you, hee hee.】

Lu Qiao hurriedly looked toward the side. Sure enough, a tabby cat was squatting on a tree not far away.

Because only the tabby cat liked to call her little fairy or little master.

Other creatures called her by her full name.

Lu Qiao said quietly in her heart to it, "I'm working, it's quite chaotic here, go play somewhere else."

The tabby cat stood up, pointed at an old black cat squatting on the windowsill of the balcony next door, and said to Lu Qiao: 【Do you see that old black cat? It's crying. It used to be the cat raised by Zhou Li's mother. Master Zhou also liked this cat, but after Master Zhou died, the old black cat was driven out by Luo Guixiang. Because the old black cat wouldn't leave, its leg was even broken by Luo Guixiang's son. Now the old black cat basically stays over by the boiler room.】

Seeming to have activated the surrounding aura, Lu Qiao suddenly heard the old black cat's inner voice at this moment.

【Little master, don't die. Your mother left something for you, woo woo woo...】

Lu Qiao's gaze darkened. Left something? Where?

Her gaze fell on Master Zhou's house on the first floor. Could the thing be in the room?

This was going to be lively now.

Officer Liu naturally didn't know there was such a mystery. He hurriedly said, "I didn't say anything wrong either. I was just telling you according to the relevant regulations."

Seeing so many people watching her joke, Zhou Li hadn't rested well since she returned. She was staying at Aunt Sun's house with her husband and child, and Luo Guixiang wouldn't let her step foot into the house at all.

She opened the medicine bottle and stared fixedly at Luo Guixiang: "You surnamed Luo, you are a woman with a snake-hearted heart. If I die, it was you who forced me to death!"

The mute man holding the child suddenly knelt on the ground, and the child was scared into wailing loudly. For a moment, the scene was somewhat chaotic.

Lu Qiao shouted in her heart to the tabby cat watching the fun: "Go tell the old black cat to find an opportunity to pounce over and knock over the medicine bottle in Zhou Li's hand."

At this time, Lu Qiao couldn't communicate with the old black cat and could only go through Huahua.

The crowd was noisy, and no one noticed the suddenly sounding meow-meow-meow, nor did anyone notice the old black cat suddenly bristling.

Officer Liu shouted anxiously, "Don't do anything stupid, we can discuss this matter properly."

Afterward, looking at the indifferent Luo Guixiang, he jumped and shouted, "Old Luo, say something! After all, Zhou Li is also Master Zhou's daughter."

Luo Guixiang said slowly, "What do you want me to say? Isn't our courtyard all like this? Where is there a married-out daughter returning to her maiden home to live? Even if my daughter married out, doesn't she have to go to the man's house? If you ask me, the problem still lies with Zhou Li's husband. Since Zhou Li married locally, she should live locally. Why return to the city? I really don't understand."

Officer Liu stared, "Old Luo, why are you talking like that?"

Luo Guixiang retorted, "Am I not right?"

Someone in the crowd echoed.

"Our housing is tight now. If married-out daughters really all came back, it would be a mess."

"Yeah, yeah, that's the truth. Isn't this upsetting the moral order?"

Zhou Li was ashamed and angry. She and her husband were together by mistake; her husband was an adopted son, and her mother-in-law's family treated them like cattle and horses. Her two-year-old son was almost sold by the old lady. She had no way to live, which was why she thought of returning to the city.

The countryside side had already turned upside down. Returning so dejectedly, she might as well die.

Dying was good. Dying was also good for going over there to ask her biological father why he had to find a vicious stepmother for her halfway, forcing her to have no way out?

She raised the bottle and was about to pour it into her mouth. The crowd suddenly let out ah-ah-ah screams. Someone ran toward Zhou Li, and the mute man climbed up and also pounced over crazily.

However, this time Zhou Li wasn't just scaring people; she really didn't want to live anymore.

Because Zhou Li was backing against the wall, and because everyone didn't take it to heart, there was no precaution. By the time Zhou Li was about to drink the poison, even if the mute husband closest to her was fast, it was of no avail.

Many people felt a buzzing in their heads.

Officer Liu's vision went black; the fleeting thought that flashed through his mind was that it was all over.

The Dichlorvos available nowadays is extremely potent.

Especially such a large bottle; even if sent to the employee hospital immediately, she wouldn't be saved.

Just at this moment, the old black cat, having finished communicating with the tabby cat, was filled with immense joy; it leaped from the windowsill and pounced toward Zhou Li.

The crowd only felt a black shadow flash before their eyes, and the sound of "meow, meow, meow" rang in their ears.

Then they saw Zhou Li, whose hands were now empty, standing there in a daze.

The mute husband scrambled over, grabbed Zhou Li in a hug, and his silent weeping was truly heartbreaking.

As for Zhou Li, she stared blankly at the old black cat that was looking up at her from within the crowd.

She pushed her husband away and took a swift step forward, and the old black cat took the opportunity to pounce into her arms.

Zhou Li said in disbelief, "Xiao Hei, Xiao Hei, didn't you die?"

Luo Guixiang frowned uneasily, but soon stopped caring.

It was just a cat, a beast; what difference did it make whether it was alive or dead?

Many people in the crowd breathed a sigh of relief, and someone shouted, "Isn't this the cat raised by Zhou Li's biological mother?"

"Oh my, this cat is truly spiritual; it saved Zhou Li."

Some old ladies wanted to say "Bodhisattva bless her," and others wanted to say it was Zhou Li's biological mother, Yu Xiu, blessing her only daughter, but upon thinking of the current situation, they quickly shut their mouths.

Yet, quite a few people were secretly exchanging glances.

Lu Qiaoge lowered her voice and said to Officer Liu, "Officer Liu, I am a woman; would it be alright if I had a few words with Zhou Li?"

Officer Liu was stunned for a moment, then realized what she meant and nodded hurriedly.

Lu Qiaoge walked up to Zhou Li, who was crying while holding the old black cat, and introduced herself: "Comrade Zhou, I am a new cadre from the neighborhood office. My name is Lu Qiaoge. May I have a few words with you?"

Zhou Li nodded slowly.

Lu Qiaoge's voice was crisp: "Comrade Zhou, Officer Liu and Comrade Luo are right. As a daughter who has married out, you have no right to move into the house your father left behind without Comrade Luo's consent."