Back To The 80s-Chapter 210: Venting (Extra Update with Heshi Jade Reward)_1
Upon hearing this, Gu Xiaobei burst into tears and fell into Lu Zhanguo’s arms. Zhuang Shuxian was livid. She swung around abruptly and glared at Li Xianglan who was standing in the doorway. Through gritted teeth she sneered, "You wretched bitch, I’ll tear you apart today..."
As she said this, she rushed towards Li Xianglan. Seeing the threat, Li Xianglan turned to flee but Gu Xiaobei sprung from Lu Zhanguo’s arms and darted after her, reaching out to grab Li Xianglan’s arm and yanking her back into the room.
The force of the tug sent Li Xianglan staggering back. As she did, Zhuang Shuxian had already lunged at her, grabbing a handful of her hair and roughly forcing her onto the ground.
Li Xianglan turned to retaliate by clawing at Zhuang Shuxian’s face, but Gu Xiaobei rushed over and restrained her, allowing Zhuang Shuxian to land several harsh slaps on her face.
"You heartless witch. You dared to hit my Jiujiu. I’ll skin you alive today," cursed Zhuang Shuxian as she continued to assault Li Xianglan.
Li Xianglan, hardened by labor, was powerful. She let out a shrill scream, shook off Gu Xiaobei’s grip and pushed forward, causing Gu Xiaobei to stagger back only to be steadied by Lu Zhanguo.
Regaining her balance, Gu Xiaobei once again dove into the melee pinning Li Xianglan who was struggling with Zhuang Shuxian to the floor.
Zhuang Shuxian swiftly straddled Li Xianglan, scratching and swearing at her. Gu Xiaobei held down Li Xianglan’s hand and pinched the tender flesh under her armpit till she recoiled in pain.
Zhuang Shuxian furiously dug her nails into Li Xianglan’s face while Gu Xiaobei viciously pinched her weaker spots.
Chen Qiang watched from the side as his wife held down and beaten. He tried to step in but was blocked by Lu Zhanguo, who glared coldly at him, causing him to freeze in fear.
Though Zhuang Shuxian also came from a background of hardship, her age was catching up to her while Li Xianglan was naturally aggressive. She began to writhe and protest. Gu Xiaobei, her mind on Jiujiu’s injuries, didn’t let up with the pinching and twisting.
Seeing that the situation had escalated enough, Jin Xueping stepped in, pulled Zhuang Shuxian away and shouted at Li Xianglan, "Stop it, or see what happens!"
As Zhuang Shuxian got up, Li Xianglan stood, wiping tears with an accusatory gaze at Gu Xiaobei who was closest to her. She lunged at Gu Xiaobei.
Lu Zhanguo swiftly pulled Gu Xiaobei behind him and grabbed Li Xianglan’s wrist, shoving her hard enough to knock her back to the ground.
His voice choked with tears, Li Xianglan cried out, "You’re all bullies, even the army... Is there no justice left..." As she fell, she beat the ground in frustration.
Gu Xiaobei glared at Li Xianglan, mumbling quietly under her breath, "If you’ve hurt my child, I’ll skin you alive and drink your blood."
Lu Zhanguo, who had always had sharp hearing, picked up her words, his face darkening instantly.
Jin Xueping ignored the weeping Li Xianglan on the ground and said to Chen Qiang, "I assume you’ve figured out who we are by now. Indeed, Jiujiu is our son’s child with Xuerong, our granddaughter."
"We should be thanking you for saving Xuerong and raising Jiujiu all these years. However, the atrocities you’ve committed against Xuerong and the abuse Jiujiu has suffered...," the words trailed off, Jin Xueping too upset to continue. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
After calming down a moment, he continued, "Today we’ll take Jiujiu back. As for the past years of child-rearing, we’ll compensate you."
At the mention of compensation, Li Xianglan perked up. Still disheveled, face covered in scratch marks, she scrambled up to hear Jin Xueping’s offer.
Jin Xueping continued, "You’ve raised Jiujiu for nine years. Let’s say fifty for each year, a total of five hundred for ten years."
"Five hundred? It should be at least a thousand," Li Xianglan audaciously countered.
"A thousand? I doubt Jiujiu even spent a hundred in these last nine years," Jin Xueping sneered.
Chen Shi sat upright, waving her hands and saying, "No, no need for money, no, we have wronged Jiujiu."
Zhuang Shuxian burst into tears at the side, too choked to speak. The more she pondered, the more distressed she felt for Xuerong and Jiujiu.
Jin Xueping spoke icily, "We will definitely give the money. From today on, our connection with the Chen family will be severed."
Chen Shi nodded, and began to cry too. She had always been weak in her life and none of this was what she wanted to happen.
Li Xianglan dared not utter a word either, frightened by the cold, sharp glint in Jin Xueping’s glare earlier.
After speaking, Jin Xueping walked out of the house leading Zhuang Shuxian, while Lu Zhanguo also exited, clutching Gu Xiaobei’s wrist.
Gu Xiaobei found it strange as Lu Zhanguo’s composure seemed slightly off, when he was fine just a moment ago.
Jiujiu and Chen Gang were standing by the window outside the door. Jiujiu’s face was still wet with tears, apparently having heard the entire conversation from inside the house.
"Jiujiu, my poor Jiujiu." Zhuang Shuxian couldn’t help herself and squatted down to embrace Jiujiu, sobbing bitterly.
Chen Gang looked embarrassed and helpless as he watched Jin Xueping and the others.
He didn’t know that Jiujiu was not actually his sister. Every time Li Xianglan reprimanded her, he never thought that Jiujiu was not his biological sister.
Unexpectedly, not only Jiujiu wasn’t his biological sister, his own father even sold Jiujiu’s mother. He felt deeply ashamed and didn’t know how to face these people.
Jin Xueping had heard of Chen Gang’s care for Jiujiu before. He patted Chen Gang’s shoulder and said, "Young man, thank you for taking care of Jiujiu. Just let me know if you ever need help."
Zhuang Shuxian was about to leave with Jiujiu when Jin Xueping stopped them. He took out a thick stack of tens and counted out five hundred to give to Chen Gang, "Remember, this money is for your mother."
Then he turned to Chen Qiang and Li Xianglan who had followed them outside and said, "This money, is given by the old lady voluntarily. You can take it. If you want to steal it, I am not afraid to reveal my identity. I’m Jin Xueping, the mayor of T City. If you have any objections, you can find me at the city government."
Today, Jin Xueping was determined to intimidate Li Xianglan with his status. He believed that once they left, Li Xianglan would immediately snatch the money.
Chen Qiang and Li Xianglan were taken aback. Li Xianglan stumbled two steps backwards, leaning against the wall, too scared to speak. In her life, the highest-ranking official she had ever met was just the village chief.
A child inside the house woke up and started crying, providing Li Xianglan with an excuse to flee.
Jin Xueping suggested to go see Aunt Wang, whom he was grateful to - without her, they wouldn’t even know where Jiujiu was now.
When Aunt Wang saw the group, she flinched and immediately ushered them into the house. After being told about their situation, she wiped her tears and said, "I initially took pity on mother and daughter, and as I was the one who delivered Jiujiu, I decided to scare Chen Ergou."
Jiujiu snuggled into Zhuang Shuxian’s side. Jin Xueping took out ten notes of ten and placed them on the table, "This is a hundred dollars, our token of appreciation. I’ve also heard that in these years, Jiujiu was able to survive thanks to your help."
"We can’t take this money. We are just too poor, otherwise we would have adopted Jiujiu in the first place." Wang Daniu, Aunt Wang’s husband, said honestly.
"Take the money. We’ve been here for half a day without even a grain of rice to eat. May we trouble you to prepare some food?" Jin Xueping found an excuse.
"Even without the money, we will still provide you with food." Wang Daniu waved his hand, telling Aunt Wang to go cook food.
