Zhou Da Kui’s face was so dark it looked like it was about to drip water, but he didn’t respond to Gu’er.
"Zhou Gu’er, you shut your fucking mouth! You tired of living? Don’t you want Li Hua to live either? If you don’t kneel and apologize to everyone today, if you don’t kowtow until they tell you to get up, I’ll go ho and beat that bitch Li Hua to death."
Zhou Mazi ca to his senses. He suddenly thought of Li Hua. Gu’er was acting as if she were possessed, afraid of no one, but she couldn’t possibly be indifferent to Li Hua.
The mont Gu’er heard Zhou Mazi ntion Li Hua, her heart sank.
’I’d forgotten about my adoptive mother. I can risk it all, and Zhou Mazi won’t be able to touch , but what about her? He’ll definitely take his anger out on my adoptive mother. He’ll beat her. I don’t want her to get hurt because of .’
’What do I do? Now that things have co to this, do I have to give up because of her?’
Gu’er’s eyes scanned the crowd. Her adoptive mother wasn’t there. ’If she was here, she would have co forward by now. Where in the world did she go?’
"Where’s your mother? Where the hell did she disappear to?"
Zhou Mazi found it strange too; he had no idea where Li Hua had gone.
"Soone ca to say Grandma fell seriously ill and might not make it, so Mom went to her house," Zhou Feng’er replied in a low voice.
Seeing her shifty eyes, Gu’er knew. ’It must have been Zhou Feng’er and Zhou i. They found soone to trick Mom into going to our grandmother’s house, even lying that she was dying.’
’Still, it’s better that my adoptive mother isn’t here. If she were, she would never let make a scene like this, nor would she let leave the Zhou family. She’d probably have already knelt and kowtowed for . With her gone, I can finally do this. I have to leave the Zhou family. Otherwise, who knows if this will happen again? I’ll never know a day of peace.’
"That damned woman... I’ll settle the score with her when she gets back!"
Zhou Mazi cursed indignantly, then turned to the stony-faced Gu’er. ’She must care a lot about Li Hua, right?’
"Hurry up and get on your knees!"
Zhou Mazi knew he had found Gu’er’s weakness.
Gu’er didn’t move.
"Zhou Laosan, that wife of yours brought this scourge into our lives. If you can’t handle it, just send her back to her family. If Zhou Gu’er doesn’t kneel today, then from now on, anyone in the village who even speaks to her will be making an enemy of us all. When that happens, don’t you dare bla us for being ruthless."
Second Grand-uncle finally caught his breath. He was furious with Gu’er; it was the first ti anyone had ever treated him this way, and he’d nearly fainted from rage. That was why he made the vicious threat to isolate her.
"You think I care? A whole crowd of you ganging up on a lone girl—you’ve got so nerve. I am not kneeling today. So what if no one in the village will talk to ? Without any of you, I, Gu’er, will do just fine."
Gu’er sneered. ’As if any of them ever gave a damn about before. In my past life, when Zhang Da beat so badly I couldn’t get out of bed, or in this life, whenever I was bullied, who ever cared? Who ever helped?’
’This wasn’t just a montary fit of anger. I’ve been weak for so many years, and no one ever pitied or looked out for . So why not be tougher? Even if they ostracize , if I can’t stay here, I’ll just go to the city. I refuse to believe I can’t survive.’
"You! You! Fine. Zhou Laosan, did you hear ? Are you going to deal with this or not? If you won’t, we will! You few, go grab her and force her down. Let’s see if she’ll kneel then!"
Second Grand-uncle’s face was flushed with rage. He pointed at a few young n, ordering them to restrain Gu’er.
Two of the young n stepped forward.
"You dare! Anyone who touches , I’ll cut them down!"
Gu’er raised the knife, her expression fearless. ’I’ve already cut one person today. I’ll cut down anyone who tries to bully .’
The two young n didn’t dare to advance. With the precedent of Zhang Da, they believed Gu’er would actually do it. They looked back toward Second Grand-uncle and the other elders.
"Useless! Zhou Laosan, I’m asking you one last ti. Are you going to handle her or not? If you don’t, don’t bla us for getting rough!"
Second Grand-uncle was angry at the two for being useless and hadn’t expected Gu’er to be so unyielding. It would be utterly humiliating if word got out that the entire village had to gang up on her.
"I’ll handle it! I’ll handle it, Second Grand-uncle! I’ll make her kneel right now."
Zhou Mazi bowed and scraped, then turned to curse at Gu’er. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? I still have a reputation to maintain! Get on your knees, or you can just wait for to go ho and beat Li Hua to death."
He didn’t dare to offend the entire village.
"Go on, beat her. She’s not my birth mother anyway. She’s the one who brought to your house to be beaten and cursed. I’ve had more than enough. Go ahead and beat her if you want. It won’t be you’re hitting."
Gu’er lifted her head and spoke with cold indifference. ’I have to do this now. Only by acting like I don’t care will Zhou Mazi not take his anger out on my adoptive mother. If I show that I care, all that awaits is humiliation. I will not kneel.’
Zhou Mazi hadn’t expected Gu’er to say sothing like that.
A murmur of discussion imdiately broke out in the crowd. Many who had initially felt so sympathy for Gu’er were now calling her an ungrateful wretch, a heartless monster.
A sharp pain pierced Gu’er’s heart, but she held her head high, ignoring what everyone was saying. ’Because I know talk is cheap. Only by leaving the Zhou family can I stand tall and live a good life. And only when my own life is good will I have the ans to truly care for my adoptive mother.’
"You... you heartless little bastard! I must have been blind to have raised you! Are you going to kneel or not!"
Zhou Mazi pointed at Gu’er, at a loss for words. If Gu’er didn’t care about Li Hua, he had no leverage other than beating her himself.
The rest of the crowd gossiped as they watched the drama unfold. The mbers of the Zhou family looked particularly smug, as if watching a play. They believed Gu’er would eventually yield. After all, she was just one weak girl. They were sure she’d be forced to her knees.
"You want to kneel? You really want to kneel?"
Gu’er asked Zhou Mazi, but before he could answer, she continued, "You do realize that even if I kneel, they’ll still want money. Ten yuan per family. That’s twenty yuan for the two of them. Can you afford to pay that?"
Gu’er suddenly stopped fixating on whether to kneel. ’This argunt is endless,’ she realized. ’I need to solve this, and fast. The most important thing is to get away from the Zhou family. There’s no point getting bogged down with these people.’
Zhou Mazi had forgotten about that. In all the pressure to make Gu’er kneel, he had hoped a simple kowtow would solve everything. He’d forgotten about the compensation. Gu’er had no money, and he certainly wasn’t willing to pay it himself.
’Gu’er had long understood Zhou Mazi. He’d give up anything and everything, except for his money.’
"It seems kneeling won’t solve this after all. The only option left is to cut myself. If I cut myself, you won’t have to pay any compensation. If I give myself two cuts to settle the trouble with Zhang Da and Zhou i, will you agree to sever our father-daughter relationship?"
Gu’er only had to ask Zhou Mazi. ’Now that I’ve said it, I’m not taking it back. Even if I have to pay a price, I will never return to the Zhou family again.’
’If I hurt myself, the worst that can happen is a scar. I’m willing to do it, as long as it ans I can cut ties with Zhou Mazi.’
’Besides, I would rather cut myself than kneel. I’ll show these people. They can force to harm myself, but they cannot force to my knees. I won’t let them trample on my dignity.’
’I want to see what these old n, and Zhou Da Kui, the village chief, have to say when they watch cut myself. I want to see just how shaless they can be, ganging up to bully a defenseless girl!’
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