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墨書 Inktalez
But when she turned her gaze, she saw Father Lu, and her expression stiffened, fearing he might notice something unusual.
Father Lu had been leaning against the wall, staring blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought. She shuffled over and gently patted him on the shoulder.
"Old man, what should we do about our son?"
Zhang Yan had also been taken by the Zhang family. Her son insisted she would definitely return, but it had been so long without any sign of her. The two grandsons were also gone—how could they continue living like this?
After speaking, Ding Cuihua wiped her tears with the back of her hand and pouted, ready to cry, but a single glance from Father Lu stopped her.
"Shut up."
Father Lu looked at her irritably; it had barely been a day since his daughter-in-law was taken away—why was she in such a rush?
Crying wouldn’t bring back the two grandsons. He thought about Lu Zheng and Wen Qian, feeling a deep resentment. How had he ended up with such a formidable daughter-in-law?
He had heard the rumors circulating in the village lately; Wen Qian was indeed quite notorious. He needed to come up with a plan—if things went awry, Lu Zheng and the others would surely panic, and then he could take advantage of the chaos once again.
Ding Cuihua felt even more stifled by Father Lu's harshness; tears streamed down her face as she looked at him with a pitiful expression.
"Old man, I'm just worried! Why are our lives getting worse and worse?"
After saying this, she playfully hit his chest twice and blinked at him.
In his youth, Father Lu had loved it when she acted like this; it always seemed to invigorate him. She felt satisfied every time he perked up in response.
Sighing, she thought it was all because of her uncooperative womb—during their early years of marriage, she hadn’t been able to bear children. Only after trying various methods did they finally have Lu Yao, but since then, they hadn’t managed to have another son or daughter.
Neither of the two men had turned out well.
Father Lu swallowed hard, closing his eyes momentarily as he unconsciously clenched his fists at his sides.
"Old man!"
Father Lu opened his eyes and looked at her disdainfully. "Speak properly; I thought you were younger than this. Why don’t you go look in the mirror?"
Ding Cuihua was hurt and stared at him in disbelief. She raised her hand to touch her face and felt nothing but wrinkles and sagging skin—it was as if her face was swelling like a pig’s head after that vicious encounter with Hua this morning.
In an instant, she felt deflated.
She had grown old, and even her husband had begun to disdain her.
Suddenly, Ding Cuihua sat up and started to shake Lu Yao awake.
"Son, where's the money? Did you bring the money back?"
Shu Ge was asking her for money again, and where was she supposed to get it from?
Lu Yao, who had been impatient, couldn't care less now. He hurriedly rummaged through his pockets but found nothing.
"It's gone! They must have taken it all; not a single cent left."
There were hundreds! That was the money from selling her grandson, and now it was all gone. What difference was there between this and selling him for nothing?
As for Shu Ge, what could she do? If he starved to death, what would happen to her?
"Old man, where's the passbook? The passbook?"
Ding Cuihua watched as Lu Fu pulled it out from his pocket. She finally breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, he had kept the passbook on him yesterday. If it had been with Lu Yao, it would have surely been taken by now.
They truly had no cash on hand; not only was there no food left at home, but even their pots and pans were gone.
How much would it cost to buy new ones? It was heartbreaking.
While Ding Cuihua was feeling the pinch, in the thatched house, Lu Zheng pulled out some money from his pocket and handed it to Wen Qian.
"Where did this come from?" Wen Qian counted it and found there was quite a bit. She looked at Lu Zheng in surprise.
She remembered that when he first returned, he had handed her the passbook. Although there wasn't as much money in it as she had saved, it was still a considerable amount.
"It’s from last night; those people gave it to me."
"Gave it to you?" Wen Qian raised an eyebrow in astonishment. They actually gave him money voluntarily? He must have scared them!
Suppressing her laughter under Lu Zheng's puzzled gaze, she patted his arm and said, "Good job."
If she guessed correctly, this money must have been taken from Lu Yao after he gave her some; this was what remained.
That was why she had said they needed to hurry—otherwise, the money would be gone. If Liu Ge hadn’t been thinking about the thatched house, this money would indeed have disappeared.
Lu Zheng lowered his head, watching Wen Qian intently with unblinking eyes, paying attention to all her movements and expressions while his fingers rubbed together slightly at his side.
"Can you help me with something?"
Ding Cuihua leaned closer to Lu's father, her expression a mix of confusion and fear. "Old man, what is it?"
Lu's father opened his mouth but remained silent. He pulled out a bankbook from his pocket and handed it to Lu Yao. "Go withdraw the money. Take it all out."
"Dad, why take it all? Can't we just take out a little?"
Lu's father shook his head thoughtfully. "It has to be all of it. I have my reasons. Just go and get the money."
Lu Yao looked at his father, not fully understanding but deciding to keep quiet. His father's expression was somewhat intimidating, almost sinister. It seemed someone was about to face misfortune. He shifted his gaze slightly towards the entrance of the thatched cottage.
A smile crept onto his lips. His father’s methods were bound to be different; after all, Lu Zheng was his father.
"Alright, I'll go get the money this afternoon." Lu Yao glanced at the amount in the bankbook, but his mind was already racing with other thoughts.
It had been a while since he last indulged in some entertainment; his mouth felt dry and he craved a drink. In the past, Zhang Yan would cover for him, but now he was on his own.
He planned to have just a little this afternoon—enough that his parents wouldn't notice when he got home.
Life had been unbearable lately, but with some money now, he needed to stand tall and earn the respect of others.
In his mind's eye, he pictured himself walking through the city streets, a crowd of admirers behind him, all enviously watching him with drooling excitement.
Yet he couldn't tell if their admiration was genuine or if they harbored ulterior motives.
Meanwhile, in the morning, Lu Zheng continued helping Uncle Aiguo tear down the house. The main building had been completely stripped, and they had begun on the kitchen.
Ding Cuihua stepped outside and saw that the kitchen roof was already gone. She rushed over and climbed up the ladder like a wildcat. "Who told you to tear down the kitchen? You've already taken down the main house; you can't take down the kitchen too!"
If the kitchen was gone, where would they cook? This was all meant for Xiao Yao!
Standing on the ladder, Liye nearly lost his balance and quickly grabbed onto the wall to avoid falling.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Ding Cuihua glared at Liye with increasingly malicious intent.
After being beaten up by someone with the surname Tong that morning, she felt utterly humiliated. Now she wanted nothing more than to see her son hurt—if not killed, then at least crippled would suffice.
Even if she got beaten up again afterward, it would still feel like a victory!
As she thought this, the wound on her face throbbed even more painfully, causing her to act more forcefully with her hands.
Jiang Liye clung to the wall, afraid to let go. The ladder beneath him swayed increasingly, and he felt as if he would fall at any moment. Terrified, he glanced down and saw Ding Cuihua continuing to shake the ladder.
He raised his eyes and spotted Aunt Tong, who had just entered the courtyard. He quickly called for help, "Mother, come quickly! She wants to kill me!"
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