RYEY – Chapter 175 Xu Laidi Strikes

“Impossible, the name written on it is Zhao Min.”

“How do you know?”

“Liu Peili told me.”

Liu Peili was Xu Laidi’s biological mother. Since Xu Laidi and Wang Qin were good friends, their mothers had also become close confidantes.

“How did Liu Peili know that my family had English books? Could it be that you reported my father?”

“No, not me. Xu Laidi has been coming to my house a lot—maybe she told Liu Peili herself.”

“You’re really foolish. Do you know how Wang Qin was caught cheating? That was all Xu Laidi’s scheme. Don’t believe me? Go ask her.”

“What? You’re not tricking me, are you?”

“Just wait, I’ll call her over.”

Cheng Qiao felt her eyelids twitching violently. Thinking of little Cheng Li at home, she quickly made an excuse and ran back. Seeing her worried expression, Li Huan followed her.

“What’s wrong with Cheng Qiao?”

“Don’t know. Maybe seeing her stepmother reminded her of her own suffering, and she couldn’t hold back.”

“Stepmothers are never any good. Just look at Chen Tiezhu.”

“Let’s go check on her, maybe we can say something to calm her down.”

“If we all leave, who’ll watch over that cheating woman’s mother?”

“You guys go ahead. I’ll stay here.”

Zhaodi stepped forward. She didn’t know whether Xu Laidi had succeeded, but she felt uneasy inside and wanted to stay.

“You… forget it. Your daughter is also a cheating woman, one who survives on peanuts. She’s even worse than Wang Ping. If you weren’t one of us, we would have locked you up long ago.”

Wang Xiangyang rolled his eyes, but every word he spat pierced Zhaodi’s heart. She wanted to curse as she had before, but now Li Huan was in charge of Xiangyang Village, and she really dared not.

“Xu Laidi, open the door! Someone, save my grandson…”

As soon as Cheng Qiao entered the courtyard, she heard Mother Li shouting loudly for help. She rushed over and saw Mother Li frantically knocking on the door of her own house. Her heart sank as she reached out to push the door.

The door wouldn’t budge. It had been locked from the inside. Inside, the hoarse cries of little Cheng Li could be heard, along with Xu Laidi’s frenzied curses.

Cheng Qiao broke out in sweat. Just as she was about to take a pig-killing knife from her space to chop the door down, Li Huan arrived in time and pulled Mother Li away from the door.

Cheng Qiao quickly stepped aside. Li Huan picked up a wooden beam and slammed it against the door. One strike, two, three… He cursed himself for making the door so sturdy.

With a mix of smashing and kicking, the door finally gave way. Cheng Qiao rushed in and saw Xu Laidi clutching Goudan’s neck with both hands.

Cheng Qiao immediately jumped onto the kang bed and kicked Xu Laidi hard in the head with her cotton-padded shoes. Xu Laidi hadn’t expected the door to be broken open so quickly, nor that Cheng Qiao’s kick would be so strong.

The pain forced Xu Laidi to release her grip. Li Huan grabbed her by the hair from behind, dragging her off the kang, and punched her hard.

Xu Laidi clearly heard the sound of her nasal bone cracking. Realizing something was wrong, she tried to get up and escape, but the pain made her faint instantly.

“Li Huan, go call my master!”

Cheng Qiao looked at the half-conscious Xu Laidi, who was rolling her eyes but still shielding little Cheng Li behind her. Her heart ached.

She had never hated herself more. She knew Xu Laidi was like a rat lurking in a gutter, watching her every move, yet she had been so careless.

Little Cheng Li had already woken up. Seeing Xu Laidi’s ferocious look, he recalled how this woman had pushed him into the river in his previous life and was nearly terrified out of his wits.

Luckily, Brother Goudan was there. He protected Cheng Li in the corner and fought the villain, but he was too small. Before long, he was knocked down in front of Cheng Li.

When Xu Laidi tried to grab him, Brother Goudan bit her hand. She slapped him hard and choked him.

“Momo…”

Half-year-old Cheng Li saw Cheng Qiao and felt as if he had found a savior. He tried to call out “Mama,” but could only manage “Momo.”

Cheng Qiao was overjoyed—her son could call her “Mama”—but she knew the priority was saving Goudan, not comforting her child.

“Don’t be afraid, sweetheart. Mama’s here. Brother Goudan got hurt protecting you. Mama will take care of him first. Can you watch from the side?”

Cheng Li nodded, his big eyes staring. Cheng Qiao took a cup of water from her space. Though it couldn’t bring someone back from the dead, it could help with recovery.

She gave Goudan water and then used silver needles on several of his acupoints. Gradually, his eyes opened.

“Auntie, the bad woman… wanted to take my brother.”

“Goudan, don’t worry. We’ve knocked the bad woman out.”

Cheng Qiao held Goudan up and showed him Xu Laidi lying unconscious on the ground. His expression immediately relaxed.

“Baby, are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

Mother Li scooped up little Cheng Li, checking him thoroughly, her lips turning purple from worry. She hadn’t noticed when Cheng Qiao had brought the cup of water.

Seeing Cheng Li unharmed, and Cheng Qiao holding a bruised and battered Goudan, Mother Li felt guilty. Today, if not for Goudan, Cheng Li might not have survived.

Goudan, now indoors, shed his thick winter coat and was left in a thin, worn cotton shirt, which Xu Laidi had torn into shreds.

Cheng Qiao covered him with a thin quilt, while Li Huan tied up Xu Laidi, preparing to take her to the police station.

The villagers had only come to comfort Cheng Qiao, but witnessing Xu Laidi trying to grab little Cheng Li themselves, they saw just how malicious she truly was.

“Xu Laidi didn’t even visit her own son in the hospital. I heard his leg is crippled—he’ll never recover.”

“Now this child has been adopted by Tiezhu. For a house, they adopted a cripple—Chen Tiezhu got a bad deal.”

“Ah, Xu Laidi is truly poisonous. Her own son is useless, so she tries to harm someone else’s child. People like her should be fed peanuts.”

“Huan, I called the police. They’re out on duty today and said we should lock her up tonight. They’ll come early tomorrow to take her.”

“Okay, lock her up at the village committee. Keep her separate from Xia Fen. Don’t let them meet.”

Wang Xiangyang quickly agreed. He and Wang Xiang Dang each dragged one of Xu Laidi’s legs toward the village committee. Along the way, someone kicked her, someone spat on her, but Xu Laidi remained completely unaware.