"Oh, my poor darlings suffered so much this time." Aunt Peng went up to the two little ones, touching one and hugging the other, her heart aching for them.
"Don’t be so silly in the future. If someone robs you, just let them. Don’t get yourselves hurt again." Aunt Peng still shuddered with fear whenever she thought about the incident. Thank goodness they hadn’t lost their lives. If they had, how would a girl like Bai Jiu go on living?
"Mhm, we won’t. Mom taught us that if we ever run into something like this again, we must hand over the things to stay safe, then come home and tell her so she can deal with the bad guys." Xiuxiu was truly frightened. Just the thought of never seeing her mother and brother again made her feel miserable.
"That’s right, your mom is absolutely right. If anything happens, tell the adults. Don’t be afraid." Aunt Peng paused for a moment, surprised that Bai Jiu would teach her children this way, but she knew it was the right thing to do.
"Don’t worry, Aunt Peng. They’ve learned their lesson," Bai Jiu said. No matter how furious she was, nothing was more important than the children’s safety.
"That’s good, that’s good. What did the doctor say? Will there be any lasting effects?"
"They’ll be fine. They just need careful nursing from now on. They absolutely cannot suffer like this again."
"It’s a sin, it really is. That kid was so ruthless," Aunt Peng sighed. "Jiu’er, what are you planning to do?" She had wanted to storm over to the Gao family’s home and curse them out, but it hadn’t been her place. She could only wait for Bai Jiu to return.
Bai Jiu took a deep breath. "I won’t let this go just like that." A flash of hostility crossed her eyes, so fast that even Aunt Peng, who was standing right next to her, didn’t catch it.
"How has the Gao family reacted to all this?" Having been away from the village for over a month, she needed to ask.
"Ever since the three kids were sent to the hospital, the Gao family sent Lin Guihua and Erzhu back to her maiden home," Aunt Peng said, having not expected the Gao family to do that. "But Gouwa’s mother came back and caused a scene. The Gao family paid her off, and not long after, they brought the two of them back." Aunt Peng had been paying close attention to the matter, listening for news every day. She told Bai Jiu everything she knew so she would be prepared.
"Paid her off? Hmph, I don’t want their money this time. I want Gao Erzhu to take a tumble in the water, too." She had plenty of money. A hundred thousand yuan was enough to buy the lives of every last member of the Gao family. This time, they weren’t going to get away with just paying her off.
"I’m afraid the Gao family won’t agree to that." Aunt Peng felt it would be difficult.
At that moment, Gao Weimin, who had been helping unload things from the ox cart, overheard their conversation. "Bai Jiu, my dad said you should go see him after you get back." This incident had set a terrible precedent, and his father had declared that he absolutely would not tolerate it.
"Alright, I’ll go with you in a bit. I’ll have to trouble the brigade captain again this time." Bai Jiu had planned to go anyway. Since the captain had asked for her, she wouldn’t hold back.
"Mhm, it’s no trouble." With Zhijun not at home, there wasn’t much he could do to help.
After lighting the stove at home, Bai Jiu boiled some water and made sugar water for everyone. She then asked Aunt Peng to stay and watch the children while she made a trip to the brigade captain’s house.
"Go ahead. Don’t worry about the kids, I’ll keep an eye on them. Aiguo, you go with Bai Jiu." Aunt Peng was still worried, so she asked Aiguo to tag along.
"Okay," Aiguo agreed without objection.
When Bai Jiu went to the brigade captain’s house, she brought some gifts along. Having troubled others time and time again, she had to show her gratitude. She prepared a bottle of liquor, half a kilogram of rock sugar, and two packets of pastries. These items didn’t look overly flashy, but they were perfectly polite.
Hearing the ox outside, the brigade captain knew she had returned. He took a drag from his cigarette and sighed. "Not a single day of peace and quiet." He didn’t even want to be the brigade captain anymore.
"What’s the use of sighing here? She’s probably already here, so just go out and meet her," Mrs. Li said. She wasn’t too happy about her husband getting involved in these matters either, but as the brigade captain, he had no choice. It had almost cost a life, so the matter could easily blow up. If Bai Jiu really made a huge fuss, her husband might even take the blame.
The Gao family was truly ruthless.
The brigade captain got off the kang, put on his shoes, and walked outside. Mrs. Li was worried as well, so she followed him.
The moment Bai Jiu saw the brigade captain, she knew he wasn’t happy to see her.
"Captain, I have to trouble you again," she said. She hadn’t wanted to, but she had no choice.
Looking at the items in her hands, the captain scolded, "What are you doing? Take these back." He didn’t dare accept such things.
"Don’t misunderstand, Captain. This is just to thank Weimin for running errands for me these past few days. It doesn’t mean anything else." She had already thought of an excuse on the way here. Times were tough for everyone nowadays. Even though people weren’t starving, it was still very difficult to eat anything decent.
Seeing what Bai Jiu had brought, Mrs. Li couldn’t bear to let them be returned. "Old man, watch how you speak. Do you really think you’re some high-and-mighty official?" Mrs. Li lightly slapped her husband a couple of times. "There’s no need to thank us. We’re all from the same village. Weimin and Zhijun are good friends, so it’s only right that he helps you," Mrs. Li said with a smile, taking the gifts from Bai Jiu’s hands.
Bai Jiu didn’t overthink it. She had brought the items to give away anyway, so the excuse didn’t matter.
"There’s no such thing as what’s expected. Weimin doesn’t owe me anything. Helping me is an act of kindness; not helping is his right. You’re too modest, Mrs. Li."
"Oh, you child," Mrs. Li chuckled. "Hurry, let’s go sit and chat inside. It’s cold out here."
Once inside, the brigade captain didn’t give his wife a chance to speak. He directly asked Bai Jiu what she planned to do about the incident.
Bai Jiu’s answer was simple. No matter what she did, she only hoped that the brigade captain and the village chief wouldn’t intervene. She didn’t want to report them to the authorities or anything like that; she wanted to vent her anger personally.
After hearing Bai Jiu’s words, the brigade captain took several long drags from his cigarette, filling the entire main room with smoke. It became so suffocating that Bai Jiu could barely stand being in there.
Finally, the captain spoke. "Okay," he said. "Just don’t take it too far, or I won’t be able to stop it."
That was what he agreed to, but as for how she would exact her revenge, that was naturally up to her.
Aiguo hadn’t expected Bai Jiu to actually convince the brigade captain to stay out of the matter. When Bai Jiu left, Aiguo followed her out. At the fork in the road, Bai Jiu told Aiguo to go back first. Aiguo was initially reluctant, but seeing her dark expression, he turned and headed home, planning to have his grandmother come over instead.
The news of Bai Jiu’s appearance in the village had long since reached the Gao family. By the time Bai Jiu hurried over to the Gao family’s home, everyone in the Gao family was already standing in the courtyard, as if they had been waiting for her to come knocking.
"Bai Jiu, you’re back. How are the children?" Old Man Gao immediately voiced his concern the moment he saw her walk in.
Bai Jiu glanced at him, her eyes landing on Gao Erzhu standing behind him.
"Hand over Gao Erzhu," she demanded straightforwardly, not wasting any time on pleasantries.
"Bullshit! Who do you think you are? You think we’ll hand him over just because you say so? Do you think you’re God almighty?" Seeing Bai Jiu act like this made Lin Guihua burn with anger.
Over the past few days, she had been forced to act meek and submissive at home because of Bai Jiu, receiving nothing but cold shoulders from everyone. She had to do the hardest chores, eat the worst food, and suffer the daily harassment of her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.