Seeing Li Erni’s struggling grow weaker and weaker, Li Qiuyue finally let go of her.
Li Erni gasped for fresh air, quickly opening her mouth and panting heavily.
Li Qiuyue then looked toward Zhao Huaizhi, who had been playing the quail.
His body instinctively leaned back, stammering: “Qiuyue, you can’t treat me like this… haven’t you forgotten our past…”
Before he could finish, Li Qiuyue pressed him down by the neck and dunked him into the water.
Li Qiuyue snorted coldly and then turned to tear-streaked Zhao Guangzong.
“Guangzong, Auntie will continue telling you: when you do something wrong, you must pay the price. But you’re still too little, so this debt will be borne by your parents.”
“From now on, before you do anything bad, always remember how many lives your parents have, understand?” Li Qiuyue’s face remained expressionless, her voice carrying a hint of gentleness.
Zhao Guangzong trembled all over with fear, finally realizing he shouldn’t have laid a hand on Li Zhao.
Not because he understood right from wrong, but because Li Qiuyue was genuinely terrifying.
And this was only the beginning.
Zhaozhao had been in the river for at least ten minutes; each time they were dunked, it was only about a minute.
Li Qiuyue alternated pressing the two adults into the water.
At first, they cursed, then begged for mercy.
After more than ten times, Li Erni’s throat could only gasp, Zhao Huaizhi was limp as clay, and Zhao Guangzong had fainted at some point.
Li Qiuyue straightened, wiping sweat from her temple, then stepped onto Zhao Huaizhi’s chest.
“Your son threw Zhaozhao into the water and gave him a high fever. How do you plan to fix this?”
“I’ll pay!” Zhao Huaizhi was genuinely terrified by the suffocating fear.
Li Qiuyue remained silent, seemingly waiting for him to continue.
He gritted his teeth and shouted, “I’ll pay… fifty!”
“What fifty? The medicine won’t even cost ten!” Li Erni snapped in exasperation. “Zhao Huaizhi! Are you still thinking about that bitch Li Qiuyue, deliberately helping her out?”
“Shut up! If you hadn’t egged Guangzong on, would this have happened?” Zhao Huaizhi shouted.
“You’re blaming me?” Li Erni widened her eyes.
Before she could continue, Li Qiuyue stopped her with a single glare.
Li Qiuyue had no interest in the couple’s arguments. She pressed her foot harder and said flatly, “Fifty. Otherwise, we continue.”
Hearing the amount, Zhao Huaizhi almost cursed. Hearing the word “continue,” however, he fell silent.
He gritted his teeth: “Fine! Fifty it is!”
Once he loosened the ropes, he didn’t believe he couldn’t take down Li Qiuyue, a mere woman.
But Li Qiuyue seemed to see through his thoughts. She sneered coldly: “Don’t even think about revenge. Today I can summon one Li Bachelor, tomorrow I can find ten who want money and don’t care about their lives.”
“No, no… I know it’s the child’s mother who spoiled him. I’ll discipline her properly in the future. You’ve had a hard time too, I genuinely want to compensate you,” Zhao Huaizhi forced a smile.
The folds of his face scrunched together, making Li Qiuyue feel disgusted.
Li Erni ground her teeth, chest tight with anger.
Suddenly, she saw someone passing by the low wall outside and shouted excitedly: “Mom!”
“Mom! Come save me! That bitch Li Qiuyue is trying to kill me!” she yelled.
Li Qiuyue had already turned at the first shout.
“Li Qiuyue! What are you doing?!” A gray-haired woman in a blue floral cotton jacket strode in, carrying a bamboo basket.
“Mom?” Li Qiuyue called out too, not really to summon, but to identify the person.
But the only response was a basket thrown at her.
Filled with cabbage and potatoes, Li Qiuyue dodged just in time, and the vegetables fell entirely on Zhao Huaizhi.
Amid Zhao Huaizhi’s wails were Li Erni’s cries: “Mom! Li Qiuyue just tried to drown me! She seduced Zhao Huaizhi and stole my money!”
Hearing this, Liu Jinhua’s mind seemed to explode. She glanced around, grabbed a nearby fire poker, and chased after Li Qiuyue, swinging it at her.
As she ran, she cursed, “Wretched spawn!”
Li Qiuyue backed up continuously until she reached a corner, trapped.
She wanted to kick Liu Jinhua away, but hearing the familiar voice, her body instinctively curled toward the corner.
This gave Liu Jinhua the chance to swing the poker at Li Qiuyue’s back.
Li Qiuyue instinctively shut her eyes, only hearing a muffled grunt.
Turning in shock, she saw a man in a dark navy coat standing in front of her.
“Qin Huai!?” she exclaimed in disbelief.
She instinctively glanced at his wrist and saw the red string.
How was he here?
How did someone come to save her?
Qin Huai gasped from the pain but his voice remained deep and strong: “Are you alright?”
Li Qiuyue shook her head in a daze. Though she couldn’t see faces clearly, she felt the seriousness, warmth, and care in his eyes.
Swallowing hard, she noticed Qin Huai’s trembling shoulders and finally snapped back to reality.
She couldn’t imagine the force Liu Jinhua had used Qin Huai’s coat had a deep dent from the impact.
She didn’t dare think what would have happened if the blow had hit her.
Li Qiuyue quickly pushed Liu Jinhua aside and steadied Qin Huai.
Liu Jinhua finally found her voice, stammering, “I was going to hit my own daughter you ran into her yourself!”
Everyone already knew Li Qiuyue’s man was a soldier, even a cadre. No one dared provoke a soldier.
Qin Huai clenched his teeth, straightened up despite the pain, and coldly sneered, “So she’s your daughter? I thought she was your enemy!”
He glanced at the mess in the yard, pausing briefly, then resumed as normal:
“I defend the country on the frontlines, yet you bully my wife and son in the rear. I might just call the local police station to see how you explain yourselves.”
His voice was soft but suffocatingly authoritative.
Even his sharp, heroic features instilled fear in those around him.
Liu Jinhua glanced at Li Erni.
Li Erni shivered, unsure if from cold or fear: “It was clearly her…”
“It was her child who deliberately pushed Zhaozhao into the water, and you spread rumors about me, knowing I’m just a laborer at the construction site in town, yet you deliberately twisted it to ruin my reputation!” Li Qiuyue seized the chance to speak.
Complaints go to whoever speaks first. Besides, she wasn’t lying.
Qin Huai gave no room for rebuttal and followed Li Qiuyue: “Perfect. Previously you bullied a military family, now you attack a soldier. Today, we’ll go to the police station together to settle this properly!”