The crisp, sharp sound of a slap abruptly plunged the ward into silence.
Li Xiuhe froze for a moment, her previously straight posture instantly collapsing as she turned her head away, silently wiping away tears.
“Using a child to attack a heroic mother—Chen Pozi, your heart is truly vicious!”
Su Nian’s raised hand paused mid-air as she warned sharply, “If you dare say another word, just try me! See if I don’t slap your mouth to pieces!”
“Aunt Xiuhe is a heroine who never yields to men, a people’s hero who fought in battles!”
“Why is her child sickly? It’s because she fought while pregnant, which disturbed the fetus and caused the child to be born with illness.”
Chen Pozi enjoyed the peace bought with the blood and sweat of heroes, yet she showed no gratitude. Instead, she used the suffering Aunt Xiuhe endured from the war to attack her!
Su Nian was truly furious, pointing at Chen Pozi’s nose and cursing,
“Greedy, selfish, vicious—someone like you deserves to have no descendants! Bad bamboo doesn’t produce good shoots—you and your whole brood of sons are nothing good! It’s you who should die a miserable death!”
“How dare you, Su Nian! How dare you curse my sons!”
Chen Pozi rolled up her sleeves and reached out to grab Su Nian’s hair, ready to tear into her. “You bitch! It’s you who should die a miserable death! You cheap, slept-around slut!”
“You little whore who’s been used and tossed aside! Let’s see how I tear your mouth apart!”
Although Su Nian’s strength was no match for Chen Pozi, who had done heavy labor for years, she had studied medicine and knew the body’s weak points. She sidestepped deftly to avoid the hand grabbing her hair, then lifted her foot and kicked Chen Pozi in the back of the knee, sending her tumbling to the ground.
“Stop fighting, both of you!” Li Xiuhe forced herself to gather her strength and stepped between Su Nian and Chen Pozi to break up the fight, her voice still hoarse. “Xiao Su, don’t hurt the child.”
“Alright, I’ll listen to you. I won’t fight her.”
Su Nian glanced at the cursing Chen Pozi, placed Fubao into Li Xiuhe’s arms, and turned to leave. “I’m going to find the public security to settle this! I want to ask them if they’ll stand by while a martyr’s wife and child are insulted!”
Su Nian’s steps were quick and urgent. Before Li Xiuhe could reach out to stop her, she was already out of the ward.
Chen Pozi lay on her side on the floor, stunned by the turn of events.
Everything Su Nian said was supposed to be her lines!
Reporting to the authorities was also a move she had prepared for Su Nian. How had Su Nian learned all of it?
“Don’t you dare go!”
Frightened by Su Nian’s determination, Chen Pozi scrambled up from the floor.
Ignoring the pain and dizziness, she leaned against the wall and chased after Su Nian, shouting as she ran, “Su Nian, stop right there! Stand still!”
As she chased, she slapped her own mouth, filled with regret.
Li Xiuhe had been helping Su Nian make trouble for her all day, and she had harbored resentment. On top of that, the agreed-upon time was almost up, and Li Xiuhe stubbornly refused to leave.
In her anxiety and anger, she had blurted out everything she was thinking.
Why couldn’t this mouth of hers learn to keep shut!
Seeing that Su Nian had already reached the entrance of the health center and was out of reach, Chen Pozi hardened her heart, sat down on the ground, and began wailing while slapping her thighs.
“This old woman’s life is so bitter! Old and useless, wanting to see a doctor but with no money because my daughter-in-law controls it all. This old wretch is just suffering for nothing!”
“Xiao Su! Mother won’t get treatment anymore, don’t run! Come back!”
“My old eyes are dim, I don’t know the way, and my legs are weak. If you abandon me here alone, what am I supposed to do?”
“You can hit me or scold me, I can bear it all, I just beg you not to abandon me!”
Chen Pozi’s hair was disheveled, and there were fresh slap marks on her face. She sat on the ground, wailing and crying, looking as pitiful as could be.
The kind-hearted people around couldn’t bear to watch, and they all felt deep sympathy.
“How pitiful! This daughter-in-law is truly heartless. Auntie, don’t worry, we’ll stand up for you!”
“That’s right! I’ll go right now and bring your daughter-in-law here to take you to see a doctor!”
A quick-footed, well-meaning young man caught up with Su Nian and stopped her. “Comrade, how can you leave your elderly mother alone at the hospital? She’s so old and sick—how can your conscience allow it?”
[Uncle has appeared, the big bad guy can’t hold back anymore!]
[Hmph! With Aunt Xiang here, the big bad guy’s plan to gang up on Mom is ruined!]
[Huh? The person running toward Aunt Xiang looks like the uncle who just drove the car and gave us a ride.]
What a coincidence—
they all just happened to gather together!
Scanning her surroundings, Su Nian didn’t see Chen Yaozu hiding anywhere.
The crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger—passersby and patients alike were almost all drawn by Chen Pozi’s commotion.
Su Nian casually grabbed a female student. “Classmate, there’s a public security bureau right ahead. Could you please help me report to the public security officers? Tell them I’m reporting someone for insulting revolutionary martyrs and bullying the wives and children of martyrs. Please ask the public security comrades to come and uphold justice!”
Su Nian was beautiful, with sparkling eyes that seemed to speak.
Before the female student could react, her mouth had already blurted out an agreement, and she couldn’t take it back. She had no choice but to resign herself and run toward the public security bureau.
Watching the female student squeeze through the crowd and run toward the public security bureau, Su Nian clapped her hands and returned to the health center.
Just as she walked up to Chen Pozi and before she could steady herself, someone bumped into her, nearly knocking her over.
Looking closely, she saw Chen Yaozu kneeling before Chen Pozi, tears streaming down his face, as if mourning at a funeral. “Mother! Your son has come too late. You’ve suffered!”
“It’s good that you’re here. Listen to me… don’t mention the fish-catching…” Chen Pozi glanced at Su Nian, who stood with her arms crossed watching the spectacle, and kept winking at Chen Yaozu.
She wanted to remind him that the ku rou ji about catching fish had been exposed, but she had barely started when Chen Yaozu’s loud voice interrupted her.
“Xiao Su is the one your son insisted on marrying. If she wanted to eat fish, I should have gone to catch it myself. Why didn’t you listen? The river in winter is frozen three feet thick! You’re not in good health—how could you withstand it? Your son is strong and healthy. Even if I froze for a day or half a day, it wouldn’t matter. Mother, why are you so foolish!”
[The big bad guy is in trouble! He was hiding behind the window and didn’t know the bad granny was punished, nor did he know Aunt Xiang was here. He thought Mom came to town because she fell for the trap, that she was forced to come to town. He’s still happily waiting for everyone to misunderstand Mom!]
Fubao giggled incessantly in her heart.
Listening, Su Nian couldn’t help but let a smile appear in her eyes.
Looking again at Chen Yaozu, who was stroking Chen Pozi’s face with tears of remorse streaming down, putting on the act of a filial son, the mockery in her eyes could no longer be suppressed.
How well he can act!
She had been blind too—
once thinking she could accept Chen Yaozu and live a good life with him, only to be sweet-talked out of so much money by him time and again.
Fortunately, heaven had opened its eyes and sent Fubao to her side. Through Fubao’s inner thoughts, she could see through Chen Yaozu’s hypocritical facade, cut her losses in time, and get back the money he had sweet-talked out of her!
Chen Yaozu still thought he was a step ahead, that his schemes were seamless, one loop after another.
He was probably already planning in his heart how to spend her Gold Bars!
But no matter how hard he racked his brains, he could never guess that she had already learned everything in advance through Fubao’s inner voice and had set a trap waiting for him to jump in!
“Mom, did Su Nian hit you again? Why are you so hot? You have a fever!”
Chen Yaozu didn’t notice anything unusual about Chen Pozi at all. Instead, he secretly rejoiced over the slap marks on her face and her scorching body temperature.
His mother was truly impressive—she really went all out for this ku rou ji!
“It’s my fault, Mom. I’ve made you suffer with me at such an old age.”
“I’ll go beg Su Nian right away and ask her to give us money for your treatment!”
“Ah…”
Chen Yaozu had already made his declaration in front of so many people, and there was no chance to take it back now. Chen Pozi could only stiffen her face, suppressing her unease while silently praying that Li Xiuhe wouldn’t show up too soon to ruin things. She chimed in,
“My son, I really feel terrible—alternating between chills and fever, and my whole body aches. The doctor said I need to be hospitalized for an IV drip. Go talk to your wife and tell her I’m not just wasting money—I really can’t hold on any longer!”
She wiped away tears, following Chen Yaozu’s lead, and sobbed pitifully, “You’re my son, a piece of my own flesh and blood. I’d rather freeze to death on the ice myself than see you suffer!”
Mother and son hugged each other and wept bitterly, their cries heart-wrenching, as if they had suffered the greatest injustice.
The onlookers were moved to pity, their eyes reddening one by one.
“Comrade, hurry and take your mother to get treatment!”
“That wife of yours is truly despicable. Lock her up for laogai.”
Listening to the crowd’s condemnation of Su Nian, Chen Yaozu buried his face in Chen Pozi’s shoulder, a triumphant smile flashing across it.
Su Nian must be completely bewildered now.
With him and his mother corroborating each other’s stories, Su Nian was all alone. Even if she wore her lips out trying to explain, no one would believe her!
Once Su Nian was locked up, he would use the excuse of pulling strings to pressure her into revealing where she had hidden the Gold Bars.
To protect herself and that bastard child, no matter how unwilling she was, Su Nian would have no choice but to hand over the Gold Bars obediently!
His university spot! His bicycle!