Chapter 47: Chapter 47 - 47 Worse Than a Beast

47 Worse Than a Beast

The mayor could not help but laugh. “Alright, alright. I’ll listen to you. In the future, I won’t call you Master anymore. I’ll call you Little Li like Zheng Heping. You don’t have to call me Sir Mayor anymore as well.”

Zhou Xiaoli smiled, knowing that they were on good terms with the mayor now. “Then I’ll call you Uncle Zhuang.”

“Alright, alright.” The mayor smiled until his eyes curved. “Then, about my ancestral grave.”

Zhou Xiaoli immediately said, “Don’t worry, Uncle Zhuang. I’ll definitely take a look at it for you.”

After receiving Zhou Xiaoli’s promise, the mayor finally felt relieved.

At this moment, voices came from the courtyard.

Immediately after, Zhou Xiaoyu and Zhou Junjun ran in in a panic.

Zhou Xiaoyu said anxiously, “Sis, Sis, there’s bad news. Grandmother, Grandmother has come to our house!”

“Eldest Aunt and Second Aunt are also here!” Zhou Junjun added.

Hearing this, Zhou Xiaoli subconsciously furrowed her brows. That was quick on their part!

She knew it. How could Lai Jinniang and the others not be tempted since their family had so much money suddenly?

In addition, she had made a mockery of her good cousin, Xue Tiantian, in the county city yesterday. How could Zhou Guixiang, who doted on her daughter, endure it?

Here she comes since she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Zhou Xiaoli sighed and smiled apologetically. “Uncle Zhuang, please sit for a while. We’ll go out and take a look.”

Upon hearing that it was Zhou Xiaoli’s grandmother and aunts, the mayor originally wanted to take his leave. After all, this was someone else’s family matter. It wouldn’t be good for him to listen in.

However, he had more or less heard about the Zhou family and their affairs. In order to prevent them from creating trouble, the mayor chose to stay for a while.

After taking leave from the mayor, Zhou Xiaoli walked out with Zhou Xiaoyu and Zhou Junjun.

In the courtyard, what she expected did not happen.

On the contrary, Lai Jinniang held a handkerchief and was wiping non-existent tears from the corners of her eyes. She and her two daughters were acting out a scene where they felt sorry for their son and brother.

Zhou Xiaoli was confused. Huh?

What were they up to?

Before she could think about it carefully, their next performance let Zhou Xiaoli know what they were planning.

“My poor son. My heart aches so much. Why did he fall off the roof?” Lai Jinniang cried in a fake manner.

“Boohoo, that’s right. Why is Big Brother’s life so tough? He’s so young. Sigh!” Zhou Guixiang’s tears were also fake. “Mother, tell me, if Big Brother is gone, how would the Sister-in-law and the children live in the future?”

At this time, Lai Jinniang came forward and took Zhang Lan’s hand, looking like a kind mother-in-law. “Madam Zhang, it’s been hard on you. How about this? The three children are still young. You can come home with me. I’m really worried about your family living outside.”

Zhang Lan was used to being suppressed by Lai Jinniang. She wanted to pull her hand back, but she didn’t dare to. She subconsciously looked at the one who gave her confidence, Zhou Xiaoli.

At this moment, Zhou Xiaoli had already walked over. She deliberately raised her voice and said, “Aiya, Grandma, is what you said true?”

She said in a pleasantly surprised manner but she pulled Lai Jinniang’s hand away from Zhang Lan’s hand then.

Then, she stared at Lai Jinniang with innocent eyes. “Grandma, are you really willing to let us go home? Didn’t you think that I’m a jinx and want to chase us away?”

She suddenly thought of something and said in surprise. “Aiya, Grandma, don’t tell me you want us to go back so that you can get the 50 taels of silver that my family got!”

As she spoke, she covered her mouth in disbelief and shook her head repeatedly. “Ah, no, no. Grandma is definitely not a shameless person. Wouldn’t she be worse than a beast if she were to do that?!”

As she spoke, she nodded in affirmation. “Yes, that’s right. Grandma, you’re definitely not worse than a beast!”

After being exposed by Zhou Xiaoli, Lai Jinniang and her daughters’ expressions were very interesting.

Zhou Guihua, who was the youngest and the most impatient, immediately wanted to retort back. In the end, she was stopped by Zhou Guixiang. She gave her a look and suppressed her from taking any actions.

Lai Jinniang finally suppressed her urge to hit her and pretended to be angry. “You’re really rude. What are you talking about? You should be good…”

Before she could finish, Zhou Xiaoli interrupted her with a wink. “Grandmother, I don’t know how to speak. I’m a little direct, but I’m still a child. Grandmother, you won’t be so petty as to argue with a child like me, right? Or did I hit the nail on the head?”

Lai Jinniang swallowed her words. She had wanted to use her status as an elder to suppress her. “… How can that be? Hehe.”

When did this wretched girl become so eloquent?

This morning, when she heard from her eldest daughter that Tiantian had been bullied by Zhou Xiaoli, she did not believe it. From the looks of it, it must be true.

It seemed that this wretched girl had been pretending when they were at the ancestral home in the past.

“Haha, I knew Grandma wasn’t a petty beast!” Zhou Xiaoli said with sarcasm again.

Then, she seemed to have realized something. “Ah, I know. Grandma, you must pity our family for having such a difficult life. You can’t bear to see us die on the streets, right?”

Seeing that they had finally changed topic, Lai Jinniang immediately nodded. “Yes, yes, yes. I just feel sorry for you. Although Dalang is not my biological son, I have always treated him as my biological son.”

“Previously, I vented my anger on your family because of your uncle’s matter. I regretted it afterwards too. But now, I’m faced with having to send my son off before me. Oh, my heart breaks upon thinking about it!”

As she spoke, she wiped her tears hypocritically. “I can’t watch my eldest son die!”

Zhou Xiaoli nodded.

It turned out that Lai Jinniang and the others thought that her father was dead.

That was true. The villagers who had helped carry Zhou Yu to the doctor’s place had heard the doctor’s words.

If Zhou Yu did not wake up today, he would probably die.

Indeed, there was no news of Zhou Yu waking up today, and Zhou Xiaoli was furious at the Wang and Sun families.

There were probably rumors on the streets that Zhou Yu did not make it.

It had to be said that Zhou Xiaoli was right.

The people on the streets were all saying that Zhou Yu did not make it anymore. Coincidentally, Zhou Guixiang, who had returned to her mother’s house, heard it.

Her purpose of returning home was to avenge her daughter. When she returned to the Zhou family, she found out that Zhou Yu’s family had already been chased out.

...

She originally wanted Lai Jinniang to teach Zhou Xiaoli a lesson, but her father cared about his reputation and was afraid that the villagers would say that their family was heartless.

However, Lai Jinniang had been hankering for the 50 taels of silver that Zhou Xiaoli got for a long time, so after some consideration, Zhou Guixiang thought of a way to bring Zhou Xiaoli’s family home.

First of all, that would mean that she could get the money. Secondly, with Zhou Yu gone, it would be easy to control the women and children in his family. And third, the villagers would praise their family for being benevolent and righteous, and respect her father the same way again.

It was killing three birds with one stone. Hence, the mother-daughter trio put on this act.