Chapter 783

The bespectacled man chuckled: "It's fine. If yours get broken, I still have mine. If it really comes down to it, I'll take care of your wife."

"..."

The young man lit a cigarette quite leisurely: "If you aren't afraid of her sitting you to death, that's not impossible."

The bespectacled man blinked, thought about his sister-in-law's large build, then looked at himself: "A friend's wife should not be trifled with, but for the sake of your and your wife's happy life, even if I have to risk my life, I will figure this thing out."

The young man looked at the bespectacled man with disdain: "Then what are you waiting for? Get to work."

"Alright!" The bespectacled man went out, quickly returned carrying a large toolbox, took out his tools, and nimbly began dismantling the VCD player.

The same scene was playing out in many places, and the heads of Siemens, Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, and others, after buying the VCD players, packed them up and sent them back to their headquarters.

………………

In Zhenxing Village, Zhou Andong and a few others came out of the brigade headquarters, chatting as they walked home.

"Dongzi!" Yuan Hongbiao said: "I had someone get some wild game. I'll have your aunt stew it tonight; come over to my place and have a drink."

Zhou Andong shook his head: "My aunt and uncle are coming back tonight, so we have to get together no matter what. Once things settle down at home, I'll go to your place."

"Fine!" Yuan Hongbiao said: "I won't lie to you, when I came yesterday, your aunt kept urging me to make sure you come over to the house to sit for a while."

Zhou Andong said with a smile: "Put the wild game in the freezer and save it for me; don't you go eating it all in secret."

Yuan Hongbiao laughed heartily: "Those wild game were prepared just for you!"

Yuan Hai, Yuan Tao, and Chen Yuan walked behind, and upon hearing their conversation, they exchanged glances.

They had already told Dongzi that Yuan Hongbiao had ill intentions, so why was he still being so close to him?

However, although the three were muttering to themselves, they didn't show it on the surface.

Xiaobei also knew about these things, but he never worried about his big brother; instead, he looked at Yuan Hongbiao with a hint of pity.

"Help..."

As the group walked along the shadows of the alley wall, they suddenly heard a loud shout from a nearby house, and then there was no more sound.

The group stopped in their tracks simultaneously, and Zhou Andong asked: "Did you guys hear that?"

"Heard it!" The group nodded in unison.

The wall wasn't high. Zhou Andong raised his hand to the top of the wall, flipped over, and jumped inside.

The curtains were drawn. He ran quickly to the door and pushed it; it was bolted from the inside.

Bang! Without any hesitation, Zhou Andong kicked the door open, and then saw a figure dart out the back door.

Yuan Hai and Yuan Tao also jumped in, followed by Chen Yuan and Xiaobei. The four followed Zhou Andong through the door.

Zhou Andong didn't enter the room but chased out the back door, where he saw Wu Chao and the others, who had been following him in the dark, sprinting rapidly toward the southeast.

"Ah!" Suddenly, screams came from Yuan Hai and the others behind him.

Zhou Andong turned around and saw Yuan Hai retreating in a panic, while Yuan Tao, Xiaobei, and Chen Yuan stood at the doorway, their faces pale.

Zhou Andong walked over and lifted the door curtain, seeing a woman lying naked on the edge of the kang, blood flowing all over the floor.

On the kang lay an infant, only about a year old, lying there motionless.

At this moment, Yuan Hongbiao ran in, panting. His belly was too big, making it difficult to climb the wall, so he had gone around to the front and entered through the main gate.

Zhou Andong's expression wasn't very good either: "Brother Hai, go to the brigade headquarters quickly and call the police."

Yuan Hai nodded and turned to run outside.

Yuan Hongbiao looked at the woman inside, took a cigarette from his pocket, and handed one to Zhou Andong, Yuan Tao, Chen Yuan, and Xiaobei.

"Hemp rope always breaks at the thinnest point. This woman was already pitiful enough; I didn't expect..."

Yuan Hongbiao lit his cigarette and sighed.

Zhou Andong took a fierce drag. He couldn't stand seeing things like this, especially with a child lying on the kang. This murderer truly deserved to be hacked into a thousand pieces; how could anyone lay a hand on such a small child?

"Can you tell me about it?"

"What's there not to tell." Yuan Hongbiao exhaled a cloud of smoke, "Her name is Su Yuling. More than twenty years ago, she fled here with her parents and younger brother.

Our place here is vast and sparsely populated, lacking labor. Whoever came with an introduction letter, the commune would keep them. After all, more labor meant more land could be cleared and more grain planted.

Her family took root here. They hadn't lived a peaceful life for even two years when her mother suddenly fell ill and died a month later.

Since then, her father seemed like a different person, his temper becoming extremely violent. Once, during a conflict with someone, his throat was slit by a sickle.

From then on, she worked alongside the adults to earn work points to support her younger brother. With the help of kind neighbors, she scraped by day after day. One year, there was a heavy snowfall that lasted for several days.

Neighbors hadn't seen the two sisters for several days, so they waded through waist-deep snow to check on them, only to find the younger brother already dead. She was clutching her brother tightly and still had a breath left, but given the situation, everyone thought she wouldn't survive.

A neighbor aunt said, this girl is too miserable; whether she can be saved or not, we must make one last effort. Then they had someone carry her to their home, kept the kang burning hot, covered her with quilts, and boiled porridge to feed her.

Perhaps heaven opened its eyes; she recovered, and then she was married off to the commune director's idiot son. The following year, she gave birth to a big, fat boy.

At first, everyone was surprised that the idiot could actually get a woman pregnant, but curiosity aside, such things were only discussed behind people's backs.

Who would have thought that the idiot was playing with fire, set the firewood stack ablaze, and was beaten by his father, crying and shouting that his father slept with his wife. This was like pouring water into a boiling pot of oil; the whole village exploded.

The matter blew up, and the higher-ups sent people to investigate. Sure enough, the child belonged to the commune director. Everyone was stunned—sleeping with the father-in-law and even having a child.

The village was filled with insults and humiliation toward her every day. Soon after, the commune director was dismissed and executed. Then everyone learned the truth: it wasn't her sneaking into her father-in-law's bed, but being forced."

Speaking of this, Yuan Hongbiao glanced at the woman inside who had no signs of life.

"She resisted, but every time she resisted, she was met with a brutal beating. It's said that her whole body was covered in scars, with not a single good spot."

"And then?" Zhou Andong took a drag of his cigarette, "What about the idiot and the child?"

Yuan Hongbiao sighed again: "This girl had a kind heart. Even when everyone urged her to find someone else to marry and leave this place, what would happen to the idiot at home?

Returning evil with good, this girl stayed behind just to take care of the idiot. Who would have thought that the following year, the idiot was holding the child playing in the yard, fell into the well, and drowned.

Then she lived alone. Two years ago, through an introduction, she married an old bachelor in the neighboring village. She thought her good days had come, but heaven still didn't let her off.

Last autumn, just after she gave birth, her husband went to the fields to haul the harvest. A cart full of corn, and when coming down the mountain, the donkey got spooked. He fell off the cart and was run over in the head by the fully loaded donkey cart."