Xu Zhouzhou limped out the door and washed up briefly. The sky was now fully bright.
Standing at the courtyard gate, she saw children passing by on their way to school and asked one of them to help her request leave from the school.
She then went back inside, dug out the biscuits she had bought a few days ago, and ate a few pieces while pondering how to make her move on Gu Beizheng.
The incident of him giving her artificial respiration a few days ago was already the talk of the town. In this era where a woman’s reputation was everything, why couldn’t she just use that to latch onto him?
Thinking back to her attitude a few days ago, it was indeed a bit of a slap in the face. But that was then, and this is now. She decided to latch onto him first and deal with the rest later.
“Xu Zhouzhou, you little whore, get the hell out here!”
Suddenly, a woman’s sharp, clamoring voice came from the courtyard.
Xu Zhouzhou looked up. It was Lu Shijie’s mother, Fu Chunhua. She reckoned she was here to vent her anger on behalf of her son.
Fu Chunhua stood with her hands on her hips, shouting furiously at the room: “You little slut, what are you hiding for? Don’t make me come in there and drag you out!”
Villagers who had risen early to head to the fields with their hoes heard the shouting and gathered around.
Xu Zhouzhou pushed the door open with a bang, supported herself against the wall as she walked to the doorway, and looked coldly at Fu Chunhua: “What are you hollering about so early in the morning?”
Seeing Xu Zhouzhou, Fu Chunhua bared her teeth and rushed over: “Xu Zhouzhou, was it you who injured my son?”
Xu Zhouzhou said coldly, “If your son says so, then let’s say it was. But didn’t he tell you why he was injured?”
When her son returned home in the middle of the night yesterday, his face was black and red, and blood was oozing from his body. It nearly scared her to death. She took him to the hospital overnight, and after questioning him for a long time, her son finally admitted that Xu Zhouzhou had stabbed him.
She had wanted to call the police right then, but her son refused adamantly. She knew her son had always been fixated on this little slut. Seeing his cowardly, guilty demeanor, she could roughly guess what he had done. If the police were actually called and investigated, her son wouldn’t have a good outcome either.
But since that wretched girl dared to be so ruthless, she definitely had to vent this anger.
“What did my son do? My son was just being kind-hearted! He pitied you for being all alone and wanted to help you, yet you actually attacked him so ruthlessly?” Fu Chunhua shouted.
“Was I too ruthless? If he dares to provoke me again, those scissors won’t just be stabbing his shoulder. I’ll cut it off directly and end your Lu family line.” Xu Zhouzhou looked at Fu Chunhua with a chilling gaze.
Once these words were spoken, the onlookers probably understood what was going on.
Everyone else just secretly coveted her or stole a few glances, but who would have thought that kid Lu Shijie had such lustful audacity that he’d dare to try and force himself on her?
“Bullshit! My son wouldn’t look twice at a little slut like you. A thing ridden by thousands and touched by ten thousands—are you even worthy?” Fu Chunhua cursed loudly without any restraint.
Having been harassed and gossiped about lately, Xu Zhouzhou had long been bottling up her anger. Hearing this woman’s words now, the rage instantly rushed to her head. Ignoring the pain in her foot, she took a step forward and slapped her across the face.
“You’re the f*cking whore! Your whole family are whores! You’ll be whores for eight generations!”
With a loud slap, everyone present was stunned. Fu Chunhua was also dazed for a split second before letting out a howl and pouncing on her.
Although her foot was injured and the original owner’s body was a bit weak, she hadn’t forgotten the self-defense moves from her past life. Facing the pouncing Fu Chunhua, she delivered a punch straight to her face.
Fu Chunhua cried out “Ouch!” and covered her eyes. Without hesitating, Xu Zhouzhou kicked her right in the stomach, knocking her directly to the ground.
However, landing that kick made her injured foot hurt so much she gasped in a breath of cold air.
Fu Chunhua scrambled up from the ground and pounced on Xu Zhouzhou like a madwoman, grappling with her. In close-quarters combat, martial arts moves were useless; scratching faces and pulling hair were the most practical tactics.
The two wrestled their way into the courtyard, leaving the crowd dumbfounded. Everyone knew how shrewish Fu Chunhua was; as the town mayor’s older sister, who usually dared to provoke her?
It was just that this little educated youth usually looked so soft and weak; they never expected her to be this fierce when she lost her temper.
With her hair disheveled, Xu Zhouzhou straddled Fu Chunhua and scratched at her repeatedly. I’ll show you for bullying people! I’ll beat you to death, you old hag!
Fueled by the resentment toward her son from yesterday and the grievances of these past few days, Xu Zhouzhou, eyes red with rage, couldn’t care less about the consequences.
Whether she lived or died didn’t matter; she absolutely had to vent this anger.
Fu Chunhua lay on the ground, clutching her head and screaming at the top of her lungs, with absolutely no power to fight back.
Two women nearby who were on good terms with Fu Chunhua stepped forward to break up the fight: “Oh my, stop fighting, stop fighting!”
They pulled Xu Zhouzhou off Fu Chunhua. Still not satisfied, Xu Zhouzhou kicked Fu Chunhua’s legs twice more.
Fu Chunhua scrambled up from the ground. Her face was scratched bloody, and she was a mess of snot and tears.
Xu Zhouzhou’s arms were pinned by the two women. She couldn’t shake them off; these two were obviously intervening with bias—holding her back to let the other woman win.
Seeing that she couldn’t move, Fu Chunhua gave a cold snort and raised her arm to slap her.
“Ouch.” The slap didn’t land; instead, her wrist was ruthlessly grabbed by a large hand. Fu Chunhua looked up: “You… you… what are you doing?”
Gu Beizheng retorted, his eyes as sharp as frost: “What are you doing?”
“Can’t you see? I’m going to teach this little whore a lesson. Look at what she did to me!”
Fu Chunhua yanked her arm hard, her face turning red from the effort, but she couldn’t pull it free. “Let go of me!”
“If there’s an issue, you don’t call the police? Is carrying out private punishment the rule of Shuitou Village?” Gu Beizheng glanced back at the two women holding Xu Zhouzhou.
Meeting Gu Beizheng’s cold, piercing gaze, their hands trembled with fright, and they let go of Xu Zhouzhou.
Gu Beizheng released Fu Chunhua and steadied Xu Zhouzhou, who had lost her balance and nearly fallen.
Feeling a pair of large hands supporting her back, Xu Zhouzhou found her footing, tidied her disheveled hair, and looked up at Gu Beizheng, the rims of her eyes slightly red.
“This is Shuitou Village’s business; what’s it to do with you meddling? She stabbed my son, and I must get justice for him!” Fu Chunhua shouted at Gu Beizheng.
She knew Gu Beizheng was a military officer, but so what? He was an outsider; did he really want to protect this little slut?
“Justice? Didn’t you ask your son why he was beaten? Didn’t your son tell you that I was also the one who beat him yesterday?” Gu Beizheng narrowed his long, thin eyes as he looked at Fu Chunhua.
“You… you?” Fu Chunhua exploded upon hearing this. No wonder her son was injured so severely. She had been wondering how a mere slip of a girl could beat her son into such a state. So, there was an accomplice?
“You two dog…”
“You’d best swallow those words back. Insulting a military service member can get you sent to prison.” Gu Beizheng interrupted her, his eyes filled with warning.
Fu Chunhua swallowed hard and choked back her words: “So what if you’re a soldier? Does being a soldier mean you can just beat people up arbitrarily?”
Xu Zhouzhou shifted forward two steps, looking at Fu Chunhua with a chilling gaze: “Fine. Since you think your son is innocent, then report it to the police. Let’s go to the Public Security Bureau. I can explain exactly what happened to the police, and Comrade Gu here can serve as a witness.”
Xu Zhouzhou looked up at Gu Beizheng.
Gu Beizheng nodded with a calm expression: “Certainly.”