The Old Xie Family hadn’t intended to resort to violence from the start.
To avoid damaging relations between the two families and considering that Xie Er Ni would still have to live with the Liu family in the future, they had endured the humiliation in silence.
That was, until Xie Jinzhu raised her hand and started throwing punches.
At that point, no one wanted to hold back anymore.
Everyone who could join the fight rolled up their sleeves in a frenzy, rushed forward, barely distinguishing friend from foe, and started pounding away!
Second Aunt raised her hand with earth-shaking force, delivering loud slaps: “You want to kill my daughter so you can bring that tramp from outside into the house?”
“Dream on!”
“I’ll beat you to death before you get your way!”
“Ouch… they’re killing me…”
Old Lady Liu struggled to crawl out, one arm extended, and screamed at the top of her lungs: “Someone, come quick!”
“The Xies are trying to kill us!”
“Stop hitting… you all need to stop!”
The midwife rushed out of the room, watching the two sides tangled up and rolling all over the ground, stomping her feet in anxiety: “Stop fighting, the baby’s born!”
Jinzhu caught the key words, kicked aside her second brother-in-law, who had been beaten to a pulp, and hurriedly asked: “What about the mother?”
“How’s my second sister?”
The midwife, sweat dripping from her forehead, quickly replied: “Alive, alive, both mother and child are alive.”
“It’s a girl. Stop fighting and go in to see her!”
While the baby was being born inside, the mother’s family and the husband’s family were fighting fiercely outside.
Once the mother’s family leaves, how will the one inside survive…
The midwife sighed and tried to persuade them a few more times, watching as Second Aunt and the others rushed into the room, her head spinning.
But an even bigger problem arrived immediately.
The Village Chief of Liu Village brought people with him.
Second Uncle Xie’s face turned pale, and he instinctively stepped forward to apologize and explain with a forced smile, only to be shoved aside.
The Village Chief stood in the Liu family’s courtyard, looking at the unrecognizable second brother-in-law crawling on the ground and Old Lady Liu crying for help, his face as dark as ink.
This is Liu Village!
Xie Er Ni is just a woman married into the village. For her family to gang up and beat people from Liu Village like this is utterly lawless!
Seeing the Village Chief arrive, the second brother-in-law crawled over on all fours and shouted: “Third Uncle, they almost beat me to death!”
“Not only do they refuse to repay the money they owe my family, but they also beat me and my mother!”
“If you hadn’t come, we surely wouldn’t have survived…”
The second brother-in-law lay at the Village Chief’s feet, crying and wailing with snot and tears. Among those who had come with him, someone angrily said: “This is too outrageous!”
“A married daughter is like spilled water—Xie Er Ni is already part of our Liu Village. How dare they treat her like this?”
“They’re looking down on us, the people of Liu Village!”
“A flea jumping off a dog’s fur thinks it’s the biggest thing in the world. Why must you insist on being respected?”
Jinzhu, pushed into a corner by the crowd rushing into the room, rubbed her wrist and stepped forward, saying: “When Liu Cheng stood by coldly watching his wife tread the line of death, why didn’t you say anything against him?”
What’s wrong with a married daughter?
Even if she’s been married eight times, she’s still a living person!
The speaker’s face twisted in anger, glaring at Jinzhu as he cursed: “This is the Liu family’s business. Who are you to butt in?”
“A reckless little brat, do you really think you’re a man?”
“What if I’m not a man?”
“You’re a man, so why haven’t I seen you grow wings and fly to the heavens?”
Xie Jinzhu pulled Xie Xiao Liu, who was trying to hold her back, aside and sized up Liu Cheng with a half-smile. “Since you can’t go to heaven, how about I send you to hell?”
“Aren’t you the big man who stands tall and takes charge? What are you crying about, lying there like a mangy dog?”
“Get up and fight me again.”
If she didn’t beat this scoundrel until he met his ancestors today, she’d be letting down the Liu family’s forebears!
“Outrageous!”
The Village Chief could no longer contain his anger and shouted, “This is Liu Family Village! You—”
“You said it yourself—this is just Liu Family Village!”
Xie Jinzhu, her anger with nowhere to vent, spoke in a harsh tone. “Just a mere Liu Family Village. Anyone who didn’t know better would think it’s some grand place, the way you all act so arrogant.”
“What, is this some lawless land? Do people from Liu Family Village not have to pay for murder?”
“You—”
“What about me?”
Xie Jinzhu glared coldly at the people shielding Liu Cheng, crossing her arms with a sneer. “So what if I hit him?”
“Liu Cheng nearly killed my second sister. Even if I chopped him up today and threw him out to feed the dogs, no one could fault me for it!”
Liu Cheng seemed unable to believe how brazen Xie Jinzhu was, pointing a trembling finger at her. “You… you’re utterly insolent!”
“Xie Er Ni is someone I paid silver to marry. Even if she really died, it wouldn’t be my fault!”
“Murder demands repayment! Don’t think just because you’ve read some books and pretended to be a man for a few years, you can—”
“Yes, I have read books.”
Xie Jinzhu grabbed Liu Cheng’s finger, and as he let out a pig-like squeal, she said meaningfully, “What, are you planning to sue me at the yamen? Need me to help you write the complaint?”
“Ah—”
“Keep screaming and I’ll rip your tongue out!”
Under Liu Cheng’s terrified gaze, Xie Jinzhu tossed the limp man aside like mud, hooked a broken stool with her foot, and sat down with a clatter, blocking the doorway as she spoke each word clearly. “I’ll be right here today.”
“I want to see just how arrogant you people from Liu Family Village can be, and how you plan to trouble my second sister!”
Xie Jinzhu moved too quickly, leaving no time for anyone to react.
By the time Second Uncle Xie finally snapped out of it, Xie Jinzhu had already single-handedly nearly angered the Village Chief and the others into fainting.
Second Uncle Xie, fearing his daughter would suffer in the future, forced out a smile uglier than crying as he went to help Liu Cheng up. “Son-in-law, that’s not how you should put it. Er Ni, she—”
“Shut your mouth!”
Liu Cheng shoved Second Uncle Xie away angrily. “I’m going to report you to the authorities!”
“I’ll report you for murder!”
“Son-in-law, this—”
“Get away from me, you old fool!”
Liu Cheng, helped up by villagers, viciously pushed Second Uncle Xie. “Just you wait, all of you!”
“I… I—”
“Jinzhu, stop!”
“Second Uncle, step aside.”
Xie Jinzhu grabbed Liu Cheng’s wrist and, amid gasps of shock, slammed him to the side as if tossing a block of spoiled tofu.
Liu Cheng’s struggling hand twisted and got pinned behind his back, his face shoved into the mud until his screams distorted. “Help… help me…”
“No one can save you.”
Xie Jinzhu stepped on the back of Liu Cheng’s head, cutting off his pleas as she coldly looked at the stunned crowd. “Fine, then report it to the authorities.”
“Before we go to the yamen, I’ll beat you to death first. Once we’re at the yamen, I’ll confess to your corpse.”
The Village Chief stared at Xie Jinzhu as if he’d seen a ghost. “Have you gone mad?”
“Killing someone means—”
“If I kill him, I’ll pay with my life. It won’t involve anyone else!”
Xie Jinzhu sneered coldly, mocking, “But as long as I’m alive, unless he kneels and kowtows to apologize to my second sister, he won’t live!”