Life had finally become comfortable for Xu Ergen’s family.
But over at the old Xu household, the entire day could only be described as absolute chaos.
The previous night, Chen Hehua had burst into the house crying, urging Xu Dagen to hurry to the hospital and find Xu Ergen.
Xu Dagen spent the entire night running back and forth between the hospital and the police station.
Yet no matter where he searched, he couldn’t find Xu Ergen’s family.
After barely enduring until the next morning, he even went to the bus station for routes heading into the city, but still failed to intercept Xu Ergen.
Thinking that Xu Ergen was closest to his eldest sister, Xu Dagen rushed over to Xu Dajie’s house at noon, barging in while loudly demanding Xu Ergen come out.
Not only did he fail to find anyone, Xu Dajie even chased him out with a broom.
Now even Old Xu couldn’t stay calm anymore.
He sent Xu Dahai to Xu Ergen’s workplace too, only to learn that Xu Ergen had taken leave and hadn’t returned to work.
Left with no choice, the entire family collectively went to the police station that afternoon to beg for mercy.
But without Xu Duoduo’s signed forgiveness letter, Dead Fish Eyes stubbornly refused to release anyone.
He was still waiting for Xu Duoduo to die so he could earn merit from the case.
Old Madam Xu didn’t understand any of that.
She directly threw a tantrum at the police station.
Dead Fish Eyes didn’t indulge her either. He immediately locked Old Madam Xu up as well and even declared that once Xu Duoduo died, Xu Eryou and Xu Sanyou would be executed by firing squad.
Seeing how chaotic the household had become, Xu Xiaomei chose not to reveal that Xu Ergen’s family had returned to the village.
She didn’t want her second brother to continue being bullied by the family.
Old Xu was furious, resentful, and frightened all at once.
Returning home and seeing the house in complete disorder, he suddenly realized how foolish it had been to split the family and drive Second Son away.
Normally, Zhou Rong and the three girls handled almost all the housework every single day, while Xu Xiaomei helped where she could.
Now only Xu Xiaomei remained.
And after listening to Xu Duoduo’s advice, Xu Xiaomei decided that if Chen Hehua refused to work, then she wouldn’t work either.
That entire day, the Xu family survived on steamed buns bought from the state-run restaurant and plain boiled water.
The whole household sat under a gloomy cloud.
“Boss, tomorrow go wait at the bus station again.”
“Boss’s wife, go cook. What, now that the family’s split, you expect me—your father-in-law—to serve you?”
It was all because of that disaster-star woman and her rotten idea about a “fake” family split.
Now Third Son had truly moved out, and Second Son had vanished entirely.
“Dad, why don’t you make Little Sister do it?” Chen Hehua had never done housework in over ten years of marriage.
“Big Sister-in-law, don’t drag me into your laziness. I work all day too. I can serve Father, but I’m not serving you.”
“Little Sister, don’t forget you’ll still need your natal family backing you up after marriage!”
“Oh really? What backing did you give Big Sister after she married? Every time you see her, you only know how to mooch off her.
“And if this family ends up with two murderers, I’m more afraid you’ll drag me down.”
Xu Xiaomei used to work hard purely because she pitied Zhou Rong and the three girls.
But now?
Serve Chen Hehua?
That would only happen if the sun rose in the west.
“If you won’t work, then get out! I’ll find Dagen another wife. You troublemaker!”
Old Xu regretted everything so deeply he nearly wanted to strangle Chen Hehua himself.
“Dad, don’t be angry. I’ll go right now.” Chen Hehua cast Old Xu a dark look before turning toward the kitchen.
Now wasn’t the time to challenge him directly.
She’d endure for a few days first. Once Eryou and Sanyou came back, then they could settle accounts.
Chen Hehua understood survival perfectly.
…
Dahéyan Village.
Before dawn had even fully broken, everyone in the family except Xu Ting was already awake.
“Husband, take this fifty yuan. Use it for emergencies.”
“Duoduo, take this fifty yuan for hospital expenses.”
Xu Ergen and Xu Duoduo pocketed the money before finishing breakfast.
Then Xu Ergen led Xu Bu and Xu Duoduo toward the commune.
The three traveled silently for over an hour before reaching the commune and boarding the bus back to the county town.
After another two and a half hours of rattling travel, they finally returned.
“Xiaobu, take Duoduo to the hospital to change her bandages first. Afterward, go wait at your eldest aunt’s house for me.”
“Dad, why don’t we just stay at a guesthouse tonight after you get the travel permit? Auntie’s place doesn’t even have enough space for the three of us.”
“That works too. Meet me at the neighborhood office at noon after I get the permit.”
Xu Ergen hurried off toward his workplace to deal with job matters.
“Big Sister, the school’s nearby. Let’s go there first.”
After marrying Zhou Rong, Xu Ergen had only truly rebelled against the family once—
when it came to his daughters’ education.
Old Madam Xu had reluctantly agreed to let the girls attend school so the family could continue exploiting Xu Ergen’s branch as labor.
But to save on textbook fees, Xu Duoduo had started school a year early so she and Xu Bu could become classmates.
This year, both girls should have been entering senior year of high school.
But the family had no intention of supporting either of them through university.
Old Madam Xu insisted the boys were the ones who needed college education, so Eryou was allowed to repeat senior year.
As for girls?
A high school diploma was already “educated enough.” Whether for factory jobs or marriage prospects, there was no need to waste another year studying.
Schools were accommodating toward students not planning university applications.
After finishing second year of high school, students could directly receive graduation certificates.
So today the sisters went to retrieve their diplomas.
Xu Duoduo knew that once next year’s turmoil began, schools would no longer remain peaceful anyway.
Skipping senior year didn’t matter much.
There were still ten years before the college entrance exams would resume.
The sisters happily walked out of school holding their freshly issued diplomas.
To reach the hospital required a huge detour, but Xu Duoduo felt lazy and suggested cutting through the alleyways behind the school.
“Aiyo, these little girls are pretty. Why not come play with your big brothers awhile?”
The moment they turned into the alley, they ran into three hooligans.
Xu Duoduo instantly regretted choosing the shortcut just to save a few steps.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t beat them—
the problem was her current image.
She was still supposed to be a seriously injured patient.
If she fought too hard and exposed herself, things would get troublesome.
“Don’t come closer! I’ll scream for help! Get lost!”
Xu Bu pulled Xu Duoduo protectively behind her, though her trembling hands completely betrayed her fear.
Xu Duoduo lowered her head pretending to be scared while secretly rummaging through her space for a weapon she could plausibly use without drawing too much suspicion.
“Go ahead and scream. The more you scream, the more excited we get.”
The hooligans slowly cornered the sisters deeper into the dead-end alley.
Then—
Thunk!
A large bundle suddenly flew over the wall behind the hooligans.
A figure vaulted over right after it.
The newcomer landed smoothly, then froze slightly after looking up.
Clearly he hadn’t expected other people to already be inside the alley.
“Well now, brother, what good stuff’s in the bag? Meeting us means you split half with us.”
The three hooligans immediately turned to block the newcomer instead.
Xu Duoduo lifted her head.
Oh?
Wasn’t that the green-uniformed guy who climbed through the bus window?
The young man in green also recognized Xu Duoduo immediately, one eyebrow lifting slightly.
Mainly because her bandaged-head appearance was far too memorable.
By now, Xu Duoduo had finally located a large stone inside her space.
Using Xu Bu’s body to block the view, she pretended to pick it up from the ground.
Then she silently raised one finger toward the green-uniformed man in a “shh” gesture while creeping closer behind the hooligans.
“Eat this!”
She swung the rock hard into one hooligan’s head.
The thug staggered once and collapsed instantly.
Hearing the sound, a second hooligan turned—
only to be kicked flying by the young man in green.
The green-uniformed man spun and leapt again, sending the third hooligan crashing into the wall too.
Both men slammed against the bricks before sliding unconscious to the ground.
“Awesome.”
Xu Duoduo gave him a thumbs-up.
The young man walked over, checked the head wound of the thug Xu Duoduo had hit, then slung his bag over his shoulder and headed toward the alley exit.
“I’ve got things to do, so I’m leaving first. You can either report this to the police or leave directly. They’re not seriously hurt—they’ll wake up soon.”
“Big Sister, go report it. I’ll stay here and watch them. We can’t let these hooligans off easy.”
“Duoduo, can you really stay here alone? Maybe we should go call someone from the alley entrance instead?”
“I’m fine. Hurry up. If they wake up halfway, I’ll just hit them again with the rock.”
Xu Duoduo casually weighed the stone in her hand.
“Alright then. Stay far away from them. I’ll be back quickly.”
Once Xu Bu disappeared into the distance, Xu Duoduo immediately pulled an electric baton from her space.
Just to be safe, she zapped each hooligan one more time before beginning to search their pockets.
Turns out the three thugs were surprisingly rich.
She found over two hundred yuan, two jin worth of candy coupons, and one bicycle coupon.
Chuckling happily, Xu Duoduo tossed everything into her space.
Serves you right for trying to scare me.
Consider this compensation for emotional damages.