Su Nanyue looked up to see her mother-in-law, Wang Xiu Lan, striding through the doorway with a wooden stick in hand, Jiang Jing Zhou following closely behind her.
Once inside the yard, Wang Xiu Lan charged straight toward Su Nanyue.
“How dare you! Who gave you the nerve to lay a hand on my precious grandson?”
Jiang Jing Zhou stood at the doorway, his childish voice dripping with undisguised malice.
“Grandma, beat her to death!”
Xiao Bao wanted to step forward but was pulled back by Da Bao, who whispered, “Don’t go.”
Xiao Bao always listened to his older brother. Hearing this, he pouted but obediently stayed by Da Bao’s side, watching Su Nanyue with a worried expression.
Su Nanyue didn’t notice this scene, her gaze fixed firmly on Wang Xiu Lan.
As the older woman rushed toward her with the stick, Su Nanyue suddenly turned and ran toward the kitchen behind her.
She had just picked up a kitchen knife when Wang Xiu Lan burst in, the stick already swinging toward her.
Su Nanyue turned around, gripping the kitchen knife with both hands, and swung it at Wang Xiu Lan.
The blade met the stick, sending it flying.
Her movements were completely chaotic—wild, indiscriminate slashing.
Wang Xiu Lan quickly retreated from the kitchen but still had her sleeve sliced open by the knife.
Feeling the cold air on her arm, she was both furious and terrified.
Pointing a trembling finger at Su Nanyue, she screamed, “You little bitch! How dare you raise a knife against me? Just wait until I—”
Her words were cut short as her eyes widened suddenly, and she let out a sharp scream.
Su Nanyue stood with a cold expression, her face splattered with chicken blood, holding the still-dripping kitchen knife.
She had to thank that strutting rooster that had passed by her earlier—it gave her the perfect opportunity to kill the chicken to warn the monkey.
Unfortunately, some blood had splashed into her eyes too.
She blinked uncomfortably, resisting the urge to rub her eyes, and glared at the still-screaming Wang Xiu Lan.
“Shut up!”
Her bloodshot eyes and blood-smeared face made her look like a female ghost coming to claim a life.
Wang Xiu Lan was terrified by her appearance and immediately stopped screaming, afraid that any delay would result in the kitchen knife meeting her neck.
She wanted to run, but her legs wouldn’t obey, and she collapsed to the ground.
Su Nanyue looked down at her with crimson eyes, her expression indescribably cold and terrifying. “Go on! What were you going to do?”
Wang Xiu Lan quickly shook her head, trembling uncontrollably from fear.
Su Nanyue felt nothing but scorn. “So you can be afraid too!”
The moment she killed the chicken, the truth about the original host’s death suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Eight days ago, the original host was washing clothes by the river when Jiang Jing Zhou, being mischievous, pushed her from behind.
Caught off guard, the original host hit her head on a stone in the river and died on the spot.
That was when she had crossed over.
Wang Xiu Lan had been right there and witnessed everything, yet she told others the original host had slipped and fallen.
She only had people carry her home, neither calling a doctor nor giving her any food.
If not for Da Bao feeding her watery corn porridge—so thin you could see your reflection—every day to keep her alive, she would have been long gone.
It was because of this that she had been drifting in and out of consciousness all these days, only fully waking up today.
She lifted her gaze, sweeping over Jiang Jing Zhou, who had collapsed by the doorway, paralyzed with fear.
Then she looked back at Wang Xiu Lan, dark-skinned and cowering on the ground, staring at her in terror.
With bloodshot eyes wide open, she took a step forward, bringing the kitchen knife closer to Wang Xiu Lan.
“Then why didn’t you consider whether I’d be scared when you let Jiang Jingzhou push me into the river?”
A flicker of panic crossed Wang Xiulan’s eyes.
She forced herself to appear calm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Your falling into the water was an accident.”
Jiang Jingzhou had pushed from behind—Su Nanyue couldn’t possibly have seen it. She must be bluffing.
Thinking this, Wang Xiulan still couldn’t stop the unease churning inside her.
Watching her reaction, Su Nanyue sneered coldly.
“Whether it was an accident or not, you know the truth in your heart.”
She pressed the blade against Wang Xiulan’s face and tapped it heavily, feeling the woman tremble beneath her. “If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it in the first place.”
“Since I’m saying this, I naturally have evidence.”
Wang Xiulan was truly terrified now, both frightened and panicked. Her voice trembled as she spoke, “Xiaozhou didn’t mean to! And you’re fine anyway, aren’t you?”
Su Nanyue was so angered by this shameless remark that she laughed—a genuine, cold laugh.
She kicked Wang Xiulan hard in the shoulder, sending her sprawling to the ground.
As Wang Xiulan tried to get up, Su Nanyue delivered several more kicks to her stomach.
Each kick was delivered with full force. Wang Xiulan curled up in pain, lying prone on the ground.
Su Nanyue stepped forward, placing her foot on Wang Xiulan’s left hand and grinding down hard.
Listening to Wang Xiulan’s pig-like screams of pain, she sneered, “Can’t handle this? Compared to how you beat and abused me, this is nothing.”
In her memories, this old woman had never hesitated to beat and curse the original host.
“Besides, I survived because I’m lucky—not because he didn’t try to harm me.”
Moreover, the original host had truly lost her life because of this incident.
The thought made her even angrier.
“Since you think this is trivial, I’ll just report it to the police. But when the military finds out, Jiang Che can forget about being a soldier.”
Hearing this, Wang Xiulan panicked, forgetting her fear as she twisted her head to look at Su Nanyue. “No! You can’t report it!”
She writhed, using her uninjured right hand to clutch Su Nanyue’s leg, pleading, “As long as you don’t go to the police, I’ll agree to any demand you have.”
Her youngest son and grandson were her life.
A mocking glint flashed in Su Nanyue’s eyes. “Fine. Five hundred yuan, plus some ration coupons.”
Wang Xiulan instinctively wanted to curse, but as the words reached her lips, she felt a sharp pain on her face.
Her body trembled even more violently.
Her mind went blank, and she completely forgot to respond.
After waiting impatiently, Su Nanyue bent down, grabbed Wang Xiulan’s hair, and forced her head up.
The pain brought Wang Xiulan back to her senses.
A sudden warmth spread between her legs.
The smell of urine filled the air.
Su Nanyue looked down and saw that Wang Xiulan had wet herself in fear.
Disdain and disgust flashed in her eyes.
Her face darkened, the chicken blood on her cheeks trickling down as she glared ferociously at Wang Xiulan.
“Money can be earned again,” Su Nanyue said grimly. “But if Jiang Che gets expelled from the military, his life will be ruined.”
“Think carefully before you answer.”
This was an era where leaving town required a letter of introduction.
If she wanted to leave this place, her only option was to find that cheap husband of hers.
Moreover, she and her two children needed to recuperate—all of which required money.
“Made up your mind? My patience is limited.”
Afraid she might go mad again, Wang Xiulan didn’t dare hesitate any longer and hurriedly said, “I’ll give it to you.”
With the answer she wanted, Su Nanyue finally lifted her foot.
Wang Xiulan scrambled up from the ground and scurried back to her room in a panic.
Su Nanyue stood in place, watching her enter the room before quickly raising a hand to rub her eyes.
Once her vision finally cleared, she glanced at Jiang Jingzhou, who was still frozen in shock.
Finally, her gaze fell upon Da Bao and Xiao Bao, who were clinging to each other.
The corners of her lips curved upward as she offered the two little ones a reassuring smile.
“Be good. Wait until Mommy finishes handling things here, then I’ll explain what happened earlier.”
After she spoke, she noticed they clung to each other even tighter, their faces full of fear as they stared at her.
Su Nanyue didn’t overthink it, assuming they were still wary of her because of previous incidents.
She sighed inwardly.
But for now, the most important thing was getting the money. Comforting the two little ones could wait.
With this thought, she withdrew her gaze and walked toward Wang Xiulan’s room. Leaning against the doorframe, she relaxed most of her strength and watched Wang Xiulan count the money.
She didn’t see how Da Bao and Xiao Bao both breathed sighs of relief after she turned away.
It couldn’t be helped—with chicken blood smeared on her face and holding a still-dripping kitchen knife, she looked utterly terrifying.
Even more frightening than when she used to beat and scold them.
Inside the room, afraid that Su Nanyue might truly go mad and kill someone, Wang Xiulan sped up her counting.
After counting five hundred, she took out a few more coupons and looked up at Su Nanyue, but didn’t dare approach.
Seeing this, Su Nanyue let out a cold sneer.
Gripping the kitchen knife, she stepped forward, snatched the money from Wang Xiulan’s hand, and took two national grain coupons, cloth coupons, and sugar coupons from the box.
Ignoring Wang Xiulan’s pained, murderous expression, she slammed the kitchen knife into the table. With her other hand, she picked up Jiang Jingzhou’s writing notebook and swiftly wrote a few lines.
The words “Confession Statement” stood out prominently.
It detailed how Jiang Jingzhou pushed her into the river, how the Jiang family intentionally refused to take her for medical treatment, and how they withheld food and drink in an attempt to kill her.
After writing, she pushed it in front of Wang Xiulan. “Sign and fingerprint it.”
Wang Xiulan, who barely knew how to read, half-guessed and half-recognized what it was and shrank back. “I’ve given you the money and coupons. Don’t go too far.”
Su Nanyue couldn’t be bothered to waste words on her. “I only wanted this as insurance. Since you won’t sign, I’ll go report this to the police right now.”
As she spoke, she picked up the kitchen knife and made to leave.
Wang Xiulan panicked, terrified that involving the police would ruin Jiang Che’s future. Gritting her teeth, she said, “I’ll sign.”
Su Nanyue paused and looked back at her. “If only you’d been this sensible earlier.”
Wang Xiulan glared at her fiercely. “You have to promise you won’t show this to anyone.”
Su Nanyue nodded dismissively. “I promise.”
Watching Wang Xiulan sign her name at the bottom, she grabbed Wang Xiulan’s hand and made a small cut with the kitchen knife. “Alright, press your fingerprint here.”
Wang Xiulan wished she could kill this little wretch, but seeing the knife in her hand, she could only grit her teeth and press her fingerprint onto the paper.
With the confession statement in hand, Su Nanyue folded it and put it away. She paid no mind to Wang Xiulan’s murderous glare and turned to leave.
Once outside, she washed her face, changed into clean clothes, and told Da Bao and Xiao Bao to wait for her at home.
She then picked up the headless rooster from the ground—no longer bleeding—and headed out.
As she passed through the gate, Jiang Jingzhou shrank into a ball, terrified of being noticed.
Su Nanyue noticed but ignored him, only casting a sidelong glance in his direction.
Jiang Jingzhou immediately raised his arm to cover his eyes, sobbing as he spoke, “Don’t kill me. The insults I hurled at you were all taught by Grandma.”
Wang Xiulan had just stepped out of the house when she heard these words, freezing in her tracks.
Her face was filled with disbelief.
Su Nanyue cast a sarcastic glance at her before continuing to walk outside.
She carried the rooster to the Brigade leader’s house.
With the rooster in hand and her reason being to join her husband in the army with the child, the Letter of introduction was quickly obtained.
Holding the Letter of introduction, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.