Shen ng carried Yaoyao ho, the little girl was sobbing sadly, pitifully, and Shen ng shielded her as she took a golden egg tart from her pocket.
"Yaoyao, stop crying. Look what Auntie brought for you, a fragrant and sweet little egg tart. Do you want to take a bite?"
"Auntie, I want my mom. My mom is going to be beaten, Auntie."
Shen ng reached out and touched Yaoyao’s hair.
"Yaoyao, don’t worry, your mom won’t be beaten. With your little aunt and Grandma Guo there, nothing will happen to your mom. Stop crying, take a bite, it’s really sweet. When your brothers return from school, they will co and play at Auntie’s house; my poor thing, don’t shed tears like little pearls anymore. Tonight, Auntie will cook sothing delicious for you, okay?"
The little girl was torn. Delicious treats were right beside her mouth, but she could still hear her mother crying outside; she wanted to check on her mother, to see what exactly was happening. She was scared and didn’t want to be separated from her mother and her siblings.
"Yaoyao doesn’t want to be separated from her brothers and sisters, doesn’t want to be separated from my mother, Yaoyao is not a burden."
"Good child, you, your mom, and your brothers won’t be separated. Your mom will take good care of you in the future. Auntie will talk to the leaders at the Head Flower Factory and get your mom a temporary job. Then your mom can earn her own salary and live well with you and your brothers, just like your elder sister Daya, alright?"
Yaoyao, with innocent and joyous eyes, looked up at Shen ng.
"Really, Auntie? Can my mom really take care of and my brother alone?"
"Yes, Yaoyao, so now you need to be good, eat this. Your mom is working hard on dividing the household. The village chief, the Secretary, and your Grandma Guo are all on your side."
"Mm, Yaoyao won’t cry, Yaoyao will be good."
Shen ng smiled and praised her a bit, then nudged the egg tart toward her little mouth. As Yaoyao took a bite, her eyes sparkled.
Mingyang and Mingliang, Ming Fang, Daqing, Erqing, and Daya energetically returned to the village and from afar heard soone crying and cursing, which startled the kids.
"Brother, I... I think it sounds like our mom?"
"Yes, Erqing, run, it’s mom; mom is being tornted, hurry!"
Daqing and Erqing dropped the sticks they were holding and ran forward, with Daya quickly sprinting as well.
"Daya, sis, why are you running?"
"My mom. I heard my mom’s voice."
Seeing them run, Mingyang and the others quickly followed. The children knew if their mothers were being tornted, then their own mom would surely be there too.
With no dad at ho, they absolutely couldn’t let their mom be tornted. The mom did so much for the village and the villagers; if anyone dared to tornt her, they would fight those people to death, even if they couldn’t win, they’d still take a chunk of flesh.
The children arrived just in ti to see only Zhao Jingui and Chen Zhaodi causing trouble, while Wang Lianhua, though disheveled, held a strong presence.
"Want to drive to death? Then none of us will have peace. Lu Yonggang did wrong when he was alive; now that he’s dead, he’s accumulating blessings for and the children. I’m telling you, I don’t want anything from the Lu Family, I want nothing but my children. Don’t think I don’t see what you’re plotting, wanting to drive away to have my sons slaving for you, dream on. If you dare to pull my sons out of school today, tomorrow I’ll hang myself at the Lu Family’s gate, letting the whole village see how ruthless you are."
"Mother, mother, are you alright? Wuu wuu...."
"Sister, where did my sister go?"
Wang Lianhua wiped her tears with her sleeve.
"Don’t be afraid, Yaoyao is at Aunt ng’s house. You go there; the village chief and Aunt Guo are here, no one can bully mother."
Daqing and Erqing hugged Wang Lianhua’s waist tightly, unwilling to leave. Their mother was suffering here, how could they possibly leave!
"Good children, with the aunts here, your mother will be fine."
Yu Xueli and Xifeng ca over to take the two children away, but the children clung tightly to Wang Lianhua’s waist and refused to let go.
"I won’t go, I want to be with mother, I want my mother."
"I’m not going either, I’m the eldest, father is gone, I have to protect my mother, if anyone dares to bully my mother, I’ll smash them with rocks."
Daqing picked up a big rock from the corner, held it in his hand, and glared fiercely at Zhao Jingui and Chen Zhaodi, ready to strike if they dared to co forward.
"You little bastard, I’m your grandmother, you are the grandson of the Lu Family, how can you side with outsiders, are you foolish? Following your mother, what future do you have? If your mother remarries, you will just be burdens, and then you won’t even be able to fart."
"Yes, Daqing and Erqing, grandmother and elder aunt want what’s best for you. What’s the point of going to school? Look at those sent-down youths, all went to the countryside, studied and ended up farming, totally useless, just wasting money."
"It is useful, it is useful. Our Teacher Zheng said, studying well ans contributing to the country, even if not studying well, you can still be literate and not beco a drag to the country. What you said is useless, I just believe in my mother."
Daqing stood in front of Wang Lianhua like a little tiger, and everyone watching this scene felt heartbroken for the mother.
"Aunt Chen, think about how to handle this. If you’re determined to drive Lianhua out, I will decide to let her live alone with her children, just like Mrs. Daya from now on, and also arrange a hostead for them in the village. If you regret it, just hurry and apologize to their mother, and this matter can be considered resolved."
"No, Wang Lianhua can leave, but the children must stay with our family. She can take Yaoyao wherever she wants, it’s none of our business."
Lu Debang looked at Chen Zhaodi, his expression slightly cold.
"Fine, if you want to keep Daqing and Erqing, that’s fine too, but our village will also record the property belonging to their household back when Yonggang was alive, so that the boys can inherit it when they grow up. You Public Service should also pay dowries for Daqing and Erqing to get married, otherwise the village committee won’t agree."
Chen Zhaodi hadn’t even spoken when Zhao Jingui imdiately exploded. She wanted to keep the little boys for labor. If she still needed to pay for their dowries, why would she need these boys?
"Why mix in, let them earn themselves for their marriages, why should the Public Service pay?"
"Don’t reject a face-saving offer, do you know our village’s status in the county now? Can we afford to let bad reputations spread? Now the whole province, the whole country knows about Lu Family Village in Ning County, it’s even on the radio, do you know or not? If it ruins the village’s reputation, who in the village would agree?"
As the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law looked at the village chief’s stern complexion, and glanced at the surrounding villagers frowning at them, their faces instantly turned pale.
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