dmims Chapter 31 First, save your own life.
Chapter 31 First, save your own life.
"It's you! You're the one who ruined my Xiaoyun!"
Suddenly, Aunt Zhao sprang to her feet, waving her withered, claw-like hands at Li Xianglian's face. "You jinx! Where did you take my daughter? You owe me my daughter!"
Li Xianglian was prepared and moved aside, hiding behind Wang Defa.
"Mother! What nonsense are you talking about!"
Li Xianglian cried out in grievance, "What kind of evil spirit are you possessed? I've been sleeping soundly in the woodshed the whole time, I haven't even stepped over that threshold! Xiaoyun is a grown woman weighing over 100 pounds, with hands and feet, do you think I would hide her between my legs? Even if you gave me the courage, I wouldn't dare lay a finger on her!"
Caught off guard, Wang Defa was used as a shield. Seeing that Aunt Zhao's Nine Yin White Bone Claw was about to scratch his face, he was so frightened that he held the medicine box horizontally in front of his chest.
A crisp "snap" sound.
Aunt Zhao's fingernails scraped fiercely against the wooden medicine box, making a teeth-grinding grinding sound. Two fingernails broke off, and blood seeped out.
"Aunt Zhao! Have you no shame?!"
Wang Defa was also furious. He shoved the crazy woman away, "So many eyes are watching! Xianglian crawled and tumbled out to save you, her knees are still bleeding! You don't appreciate it, and then you bite people as soon as you wake up? Are you a mad dog?"
The villagers who were watching the commotion were already dissatisfied with Aunt Zhao's "thief crying 'stop thief'" act, and now they were even more furious.
"Has this old woman lost her mind? Her own daughter is missing, why is she blaming someone else's daughter-in-law?"
"Exactly! Just now she was saying her wife ran away, but now that her wife is right in front of her, she's saying her daughter is gone. I think she just doesn't want this daughter-in-law to have a good life!"
"What a tragedy! To have such a mother-in-law, Xianglian's life is truly miserable. She was almost disfigured just now."
Public opinion was overwhelmingly against Zhao, with spittle flying everywhere, almost drowning her.
Aunt Zhao couldn't hear any of that. Her mind was filled with the sack, the stack of three hundred and fifty yuan that she had already stuffed into her pocket, and her own daughter on the donkey cart who should have been enjoying a good life but had gone to hell instead.
That's her flesh!
Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out at the courtyard gate.
A man wearing a felt hat and with a lewd face was peeking inside.
It was Sun Laowai.
He was originally waiting at home to hear Aunt Zhao's good news and to get a share of the reward money.
Hearing that the Zhao family was making a scene, I thought it was because Li Xianglian's elopement had been exposed, so I rushed over to see if I could help cover up the lie.
As soon as he entered, he was met with Zhao Da Niang's bloodshot eyes.
When Aunt Zhao saw Old Man Sun, it only added fuel to the fire.
If it weren't for that old man's terrible idea, if it weren't for the buyer he found, if he hadn't helped carry the sacks last night, would her daughter have gotten lost?
This is an accomplice! The executioner who killed her daughter!
"Old Sun! You heartless bastard!" Aunt Zhao, completely losing her temper, lunged at Sun Laowai, tearing at his collar. "You blind, depraved dog! You owe me my daughter! Go and get her back for me!"
Old Sun, his face covered in bloody scratches, was terrified: "Hey, sister, are you crazy? Wasn't it last night...?"
"Shut up! Shut up!" Aunt Zhao was so frightened that she quickly reached out to cover Sun Laowai's mouth.
If I let this slip, then everything will be over.
Sun Laowai was also a shrewd man. When he saw the scene and then looked at Li Xianglian standing there perfectly fine, his heart skipped a beat, and he realized that something big had happened.
The wrong person was put in that sack last night!
This is a life-or-death deal!
Old Man Sun shoved Aunt Zhao aside and turned to run away, shouting, "I don't know anything! What does your daughter's disappearance have to do with me! Don't try to pin this on me!"
"Don't go! You're not allowed to leave!"
Aunt Zhao clung tightly to his clothes; they were her only lifeline. If Old Man Sun didn't chase after him, where would she, an old woman, find that donkey cart?
The two were tearing at each other in the yard, and the scene was incredibly ugly.
Li Xianglian watched the dog-eat-dog show with a cold eye, calculating in her mind that the time was almost right.
She suddenly stepped forward, parting the crowd. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable firmness: "Since Mother says Xiaoyun is missing, and Uncle Sun says he doesn't know, we can't figure this out ourselves. Doctor Wang, uncles and aunts, I suggest we call the police!"
"What? Call the police?"
The moment those two words were uttered, the courtyard fell silent.
These days, ordinary people still have a natural sense of awe for that big hat.
"Yes, go to the commune and find the police officers at the local police station!"
Li Xianglian said with an upright expression, "A living person disappearing from home for no reason is a big case. Mother just said Uncle Sun knows something; there's definitely something fishy going on. Let the police officers come with their dogs to sniff around. Even if they ran away, or even if they were murdered and buried underground, we can find them!"
Upon hearing "police dog" and "public security," Aunt Zhao and Old Man Sun both shuddered, their legs almost buckling and causing them to kneel down.
If the police come, they can check his whereabouts last night and interrogate the donkey cart driver. The evidence will be irrefutable! This is a crime that could land him in jail for life!
"No...we can't call the police!"
Aunt Zhao shrieked, her voice cracking, "Don't wash your dirty linen in public! Why call the police when you've embarrassed yourself? Aren't you ashamed?"
"Mother, Xiaoyun is missing, are you still worried about losing face?"
Li Xianglian pressed on, "Or are you hiding something and afraid to let the police investigate?"
"Don't report it! Absolutely don't report it!"
Aunt Zhao's loud cry was so loud that it startled several sparrows in the tree into flying away.
She was like a mangy dog whose bones had been pulled out, lying on the ground waving her hands frantically. Her old face was as white as if it had just been painted with whitewash, and beads of sweat streamed down her wrinkled face, washing away the soot from the bottom of the pot and creating deep furrows. She looked both comical and ferocious.
Li Xianglian sneered inwardly, but on the surface, she wore an expression of disbelief, her large eyes blinking with an innocent, naive charm: "Mother, what's wrong? Xiaoyun is missing! This is a matter of life and death! Didn't Uncle Sun just say he saw a dark figure? What if a thief broke in and stole from our house, or killed Xiaoyun? The police are there to catch bad guys; once the police dogs arrive, they can find her by following the scent!"
"Stop talking! I told you to stop talking!" Aunt Zhao trembled all over like a leaf.
Police dogs? Following the scent?
If they follow the scent to the grove behind the village and catch up with that donkey cart, it won't just be Zhao Xiaoyun who gets caught, but also her own mother and Sun Laowai, her accomplice!
Buying and selling people is a capital offense punishable by death!
Even if she loves money and dotes on her daughter, she still has to save her own life first!
Sun Laowai, standing to the side, was so frightened that his legs trembled. He was a cowardly thief who stole chickens and dogs, and when he heard that the commune police station would be alerted, he was half scared out of his wits.
His eyes darted around, and he quickly followed up on what Aunt Zhao had been saying: "Yes, yes, Xianglian, we can't act impulsively. As the saying goes, 'Don't wash your dirty linen in public.' If we attract the attention of the police, will our Red Star Brigade still be considered an advanced collective this year? If the Party Secretary finds out, he'll skin us alive!"
Wang Defa frowned, still holding the stethoscope, his face full of disapproval: "Old Sun, what kind of talk is that? Is an advanced collective more important than human life? Aunt Zhao, what are you thinking? You were the one crying and wailing about finding your daughter just now, and now you're the one vehemently preventing her from finding her. What are you really up to?"
The villagers were in an uproar, their chatter buzzing like flies.
"Yeah, that old woman Zhao is really weird today."
"I bet there's something shady going on."
"Could this mother and daughter be putting on an act to scam someone?"
Seeing that the public anger was hard to defy, if they didn't give an explanation soon, these kind-hearted villagers might actually call the militia company commander over.
Aunt Zhao bit her lip until it bled; the heartache and fear churned inside her, causing her to writhe in pain.
But there's nothing I can do!
She sowed this bitter fruit herself, and even if it's with a razor blade in her mouth, she has to swallow it down today!
Aunt Zhao took a deep breath, slapped her thigh suddenly, and wiped away her tears in an instant, replacing them with an expression of sudden realization mixed with a hint of annoyance: "Oh dear! Look at my pig brain! I remember! I remember!"