Chapter 266

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"How do you speak to people?"

Zhang Hongmei's mother-in-law let out a howl, striking the posture of a shrew cursing in the street: "On what grounds do we have to admit it just because you say so? Who do you think you are?"

"On the grounds that I'm her maternal cousin."

The cousin exuded a domineering aura: "On the grounds that I watched her grow up from childhood, I know the ins and outs of this matter. Don't you try to quibble. If you really push me, we'll see each other in court. Once a paternity test comes out, you won't be able to quibble even if you want to."

"What do you want, bringing her back?"

Zhang Hongmei's father-in-law chimed in from the side.

"Don't want anything, just came to acknowledge a relative."

The cousin sneered, just about to say another line — "make her recognize the true face of her birth parents."

The words hadn't even left her mouth when Zhang Ershan, who had been keeping a dark face and saying nothing, suddenly blurted out: "Us acknowledging her is fine too. You pay the fine, and I don't mind raising one more daughter."

"Pah!"

The cousin spat a mouthful of saliva right back.

"What do you want her for?"

Zhang Hongmei's mother-in-law's face changed too, not understanding what scheme her son was playing at.

This girl looks decent enough. Raise her a few more years, marry her off to a wealthy older man, could fetch a hefty bride price, for his younger brother to marry a wife......

Zhang Ershan was calculating exactly how to sell his daughter. He couldn't say it outright, so he kept making meaningful eyes at his mother.

"Son, what's wrong with your eyes? Did they make you so angry your eyes cramped?"

His mother was quite a piece of work too. She didn't catch her son's meaning, mistakenly thought his eye was twitching, and still wanted to flip the script, using it as a pretext to demand medical fees.

"His eyes aren't from anger. They're churning with a bellyful of dirty schemes......"

The cousin laughed in fury, cursing back in a torrent of abuse.

"I don't want her as my sister!"

The Zhang Ershan mother and son hadn't even had time to retort when a sturdily built little boy came howling out of the house.

"Zhuangzhuang, how did you come out?"

"It's cold outside. Go back quickly."

Zhang Hongmei's grandparents saw their grandson and instantly changed their faces. Their solicitous expressions looked especially glaring at this moment.

A slender girl followed out, watching this scene with cold eyes, a trace of mocking smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

"You little brat understand shit!"

"Your father isn't doing this for you."

Zhang Ershan, his scheme disrupted by his son, was so angry he nearly kicked him.

"I knew you were playing this angle."

The cousin saw through it, eyes revealing loathing: "How can there be a father as wolf-hearted and dog-lunged as you in this world? Not caring about family affection at all, capable of doing anything for money."

"When we gave her away back then, we didn't ask for money."

Zhang Ershan was a rogue to begin with. Hearing this, he shamelessly doubled down, biting back: "You saying that reminds me. We can't give our daughter away for nothing. You bring the money. No money, don't think about taking the person away today."

"Nana......"

The cousin looked back at Nana, seeking her opinion: "Do you want to stay in this family?"

"No, I don't."

Nana trembled in fright.

"Good."

The cousin was satisfied, combat power maxed out.

"Pah!"

Turning back, she directly spat a mouthful of saliva back: "Seen shameless ones, never seen one as shameless as you. You still dare ask us for money? Come on, come get it. Believe me, if you dare reach out your hand, I'll dare chop it off!"

"You crazy woman, dare run wild in my house?"

Zhang Ershan didn't take the cousin seriously. He deliberately acted the bully, swung his fist wanting to hit someone: "Damn it, watch me beat you."

"Who do you want to beat?"

Guben moved decisively, grabbed his wrist, and twisted it backhand.

"Aiyo aiyo, hurts hurts hurts, hurts to death."

Zhang Ershan was just a two-bit hoodlum. He could swagger in the village, molest a woman or two, but actually had no real skill.

Guben restrained him, kicked him hard, forcing him to kneel on the ground.

"Hey hey, what are you doing?"

"Let go of my son."

Zhang Hongmei's mother-in-law went frantic, rushed over trying to pull him away.

The cousin seized her arm in one grip and flung her aside.

"Let's see who else dares make a move?"

Guben applied more force, twisting Zhang Ershan's arm into a pretzel.

Zhang Ershan let out a pig-slaughtering scream.

"Let him go. We don't want the money anymore, don't want it anymore."

Zhang Ershan's mother was so frightened she kept waving her hands.

"What you're saying......"

Female Cousin deliberately scared her: "When did we say we'd give you money? From the start it was your son extorting and blackmailing, such vile behavior must be severely punished, I'm calling the police right now, going through legal proceedings, if I don't get your son sentenced to jail, I'm not surnamed Liu!"

"No, I don't want to go to jail."

Hearing about jail, Zhang Ershan was so scared he nearly peed his pants.

"Please, please don't call the police."

"We don't want this child anymore, really don't want her anymore."

"You take her away, from now on she has nothing to do with us, we'll just pretend we never gave birth to this child."

Zhang Hongmei and her father-in-law and mother-in-law were also scared pale, begging for mercy nonstop.

"Nana, did you hear that?"

Female Cousin achieved her goal and no longer had the mood to keep wrangling with them.

"I heard."

Nana looked at her mother with resentment, unable to hold back her tears.

"Let's go, from now on we're never coming to this place again."

Female Cousin's heart ached; she bent down and wiped her tears.

Guben shook off Zhang Ershan, disgusted, and patted his hands.

"Please, take me with you too."

Zhang Dashan's eldest daughter, Zhang Juan, at the moment they were about to leave, mustered her courage, rushed from the doorway of the main room, and grabbed Female Cousin's arm.

"You, why do you want to take us with you?"

Female Cousin's steps paused, her eyes revealing surprise.

"If I don't leave now, my dad will beat me to death......"

Zhang Juan rolled up her sleeve to show her: "He beats me when he's drunk, hates that I'm ugly, calls me a money-losing goods, won't let me go to school......"

"Good heavens!"

Female Cousin saw the scars on her arm, her face abruptly changed.

"You dead girl, you've rebelled against heaven."

Zhang Ershan's ferocious face fully revealed, he climbed up from the ground, and slapped the back of Zhang Juan's head.

Zhang Juan was struck until her vision went black, nearly fainting.

Guben was quick-eyed and quick-handed, catching her.

"You dare hit her again, just try!"

Female Cousin was so angry she rolled up her sleeve, intending to personally teach this human trash a lesson.

"So what if I hit my own daughter?"

Zhang Ershan, relying on being her birth father, started acting unreasonable again: "We don't want the little one, but this big one is registered in the household, she's our Zhang family's person, you want to take her away, you must have my agreement, without my permission it's illegal abduction and trafficking, I can also sue you in Court, send you to jail."

"Want to sue us, huh?"

Female Cousin wouldn't be afraid of him: "Fine, go sue then, I'll wait for you to sue me, whoever doesn't go is a Grandson, I'd like to see if you have the guts."

"Birth parents can't abuse children either."

Guben's brows and eyes were cold and stern: "Your behavior has already violated the law, even if you don't sue us, we can't turn a blind eye, today this child, we must take away, you just wait for jail, we'll see you in Court."

"You can't take her away."

Zhang Ershan's mother suddenly rushed over like she'd gone mad, trying to grab Zhang Juan.

In her view, Zhang Juan was a witness, as long as she didn't let them take Zhang Juan away, they'd have no evidence to sue her son.

What she could think of, how could Guben not think of.

As she rushed over, he pulled the person behind him, using his own body to block her.

"Juanzi, what are you doing?"

Zhang Hongmei was also anxious, scolding her daughter with displeasure: "Is our family short of food for you, or short of clothes for you? You want to join with outsiders, against your own birth father and birth mother?"

"You still have the nerve to say you're her birth mother?"

Female Cousin retorted with disdain: "Where were you when she was being beaten? At that time didn't you think she was your daughter?"

"She's disobedient, so what if I hit her a couple times?"

Zhang Hongmei stiffened her neck and argued forcefully: "I've lived this long, never heard of a father beating a son being a crime, the little stinkers in our village, which one hasn't been beaten? Spare the rod spoil the child, if you don't educate them properly, won't they all grow up crooked."

Female Cousin found it even more ironic: "I see you two were beaten too little when you were young, that's why you grew into such crooked melons and bad dates."

"No matter what, you can't take her away."

Zhang Hongmei couldn't win against Female Cousin in words, hardened her heart, picked up an iron rake from the ground, and blocked the Door.

"Just you? You want to stop us too?"

Female Cousin had long been unable to endure, seized the chance to rush over, and started grappling with her.

"Hit her, hit her!"

In the midst of the two struggling, Zhang Hongmei's son suddenly rushed over screaming at the top of his lungs, and was struck indiscriminately by his own mother, a rake blow knocking him to the ground.

"Ah!"

The noisy Small Courtyard, because of his one miserable scream, seemed like a pause button had suddenly been pressed, falling into silent dead stillness.

Zhang Hongmei was overly frightened, only reacting after a long while, threw away the iron rake, and rushed toward her son.

Her son, Zhang Bo, was hit on the shoulder by the iron rake, fell face down on the ground, when helped up a look, it was truly a bit miserable.

Forehead bruised and swollen, bridge of nose scraped raw, two streams of nosebleed gushing fiercely down the nasal passages.

"Zhuangzhuang, my precious treasure."

Her parents-in-law also crowded over, holding the grandson and wailing.

"She hit herself, what does that have to do with me?"

Seeing this scene, the female cousin reacted quickly and slipped to Guben's side at the first opportunity.

"It's fine."

Guben deliberately spoke loudly so Zhang Ershan's family could hear: "Anything that can be solved with money isn't a big deal."

"Good brother-in-law."

The female cousin saw his intent and cooperated tacitly: "I've already vented my anger; now it's up to you."

—

As Guben expected, hearing his words, the Zhang family was indeed moved and wanted to take the opportunity to demand compensation.

He went along with it, feigning agreement and letting them go to the hospital for injury assessment.

The Zhang family, unaware it was a scheme, indeed followed them to the township infirmary.

Guben took the opportunity to bring Zhang Juan along as well, had the doctor examine her, and once the injury assessment results came out, decisively called the police.

Zhang Bo only had superficial injuries; the doctor gave him some treatment, stopped the bleeding, and that was that.

Zhang Juan was different: sallow and thin, malnourished, clearly long-abused, with beatings and scolding causing it; the injuries were such that even the doctors and police officers couldn't bear to look.

Guben had reason and evidence, pointing out that long-term, frequent beating of children, with egregious circumstances, constitutes the crime of abuse, punishable by up to two years' fixed-term imprisonment, criminal detention, or public surveillance; causing serious injury or death, punishable by two to seven years' fixed-term imprisonment.

Zhang Ershan was forcibly taken away by the police, and Zhang Hongmei and her parents-in-law were now truly frightened, cowering and not daring to cause trouble again.

"Scared now? Weren't you all so arrogant just now?"

The female cousin vented her malice and felt refreshed all over.

"We're taking Zhang Juan."

Guben's gaze was cold and sharp, giving them no chance to retort: "I'll have a lawyer come to handle this matter."

"You'd best not come bother us again..."

The female cousin deliberately blackened her face to scare them: "Otherwise I'll sue you too, and have you go to jail with him."

"Think about your son, your grandson..."

Guben's gaze, cold as a blade, swept over Zhang Hongmei and her parents-in-law in turn: "If you all go in, who will take care of him? You surely don't think an ignorant child of only eight years old has the ability to survive on his own, do you?"

"Your son also needs education."

The female cousin added another blow: "He's just not beaten enough; he should be beaten a few more times to teach him a lesson."

"Let's go, no need to waste words on them anymore."

Guben glanced at his watch, saw the hour hand pointing to 22:00, and had no desire to linger any longer.

"Go, we're heading home."

The female cousin waved her hand domineeringly, took one each, and brought the two girls into the car.

Guben struck the lighter to start, the car roared as it drove away, gradually disappearing into the dark night.

—

Qinglong Back Street.

Deep into the night, the lights at Grandma's house were still on.

"Grandma hasn't slept yet?"

The female cousin got out of the car, glanced at the window beside the street, and could vaguely see a blurry figure sitting under the light.

"She must be waiting for us to come back."

Guben parked the car by the roadside, thought for a moment, and said with a smile: "You take Nana home; it's too late, I won't go in."

"Fine, you wait for me a moment; I'll be out in a moment."

The female cousin agreed promptly, taking Nana running home.

"Sister..."

Nana looked back at the car while running.

"Your sister can't live here."

The female cousin had her own plans: "Let her come back with me first; I'll arrange the schooling."

"Mm."

Nana agreed obediently and no longer looked back.

"Nana..."

The two sisters entered the building corridor, came to the doorway of the home, and the female cousin suddenly stopped, saying with a solemn face: "There's something your sister didn't tell you before; now I think it's better to say it."

"What, what is it?"

Nana had been badly frightened at her biological parents' home; seeing the female cousin suddenly change expression again, her little eyes trembled, and she was very panicked and uneasy.

"This matter, how to put it..."

The female cousin's mood was very complicated: "It was your eldest aunt, that is, my mother, who told me; when I heard it, I felt very sorry for Uncle and Aunt; actually you don't know how much they dote on you and love you; for you, they even gave up their own child."

"Ah?!"

Nana was already eleven years old and could understand the hidden meaning in the words.