Chapter 96: The Whole Street Celebrates

Chapter 96: The Whole Street Celebrates

"I also want to report Liu Guohua for being a hooligan, assaulting and harassing young women."

"The two of them, uncle and nephew, also threatened me, saying they would kill me if I dared to report them..."

Before Huang Ximei could finish speaking, Liu Shuanglu rushed towards her, raising his hand to slap her across the face.

Su An grabbed the frail old woman and pulled her aside, then turned and kicked Liu Shuanglu in the chest.

Liu Shuanglu, hit by Su An's kick, stumbled backward and tripped over Liu Guojun, who was lying on the ground, landing on top of him.

Amid the screams of pain from Zhang Manyu and Liu Guojun, Su An sternly scolded Liu Shuanglu.

"If she's slandering you, you should explain yourself. Hitting a woman, a woman who has borne your children, managed your household, and spent half her life with you—you really deserve to die!"

Huang Ximei, who had been expressionless and numb since entering, remained emotionless even when Liu Shuanglu kicked her. But now, feeling Su An's small hand gripping her arm, her body trembled slightly, and her eyes grew warm.

She lowered her head to hide her reddened eyes, and when she looked up again, there was no emotion left in her gaze.

"Officer, I'm telling the truth. I swear to heaven, and I take full responsibility for every word I've said. I also have evidence!"

Liu Shuanglu, facing Huang Ximei's determined expression, turned pale. "Huang Ximei, what nonsense are you spouting? You're going to ruin the whole family! I'm the father of Guomao and Guozhen. What good does it do you to smear my name like this? How will our children face others in the future?"

"You can't just say things like that. There are so many officers here. What if they take it seriously? Hurry up and explain to them, quick!"

Liu Shuanglu, pinned to the ground by two officers who had rushed in, was sweating profusely. "You're just mad because I hit you, right? Fine, I won't hit you anymore. Hurry up and explain to the officers that you were lying."

Seeing that Cui Yuanfeng and Liu Shuanglu were beyond saving, the neighbors on Fuqing Street who had suffered under them quickly came forward.

"What do you mean 'lying,' Liu Shuanglu? Even if Ximei didn't say anything, do you think we're all blind?"

"And you dare to bring up Guomao and Guozhen? With a father like you, they'd be better off as orphans."

"Exactly! I used to wonder why you didn't help your own children, why you didn't let your son take over your job when you retired, but instead gave it to Liu Guohua. You said it was because you pitied your nephew for not having a father, but look at your own son—does he have a father? Your son Guomao is still a temporary laborer doing hard work. I used to be puzzled why you doted on your nephew so much but neglected your own son. Now I see why! Could it be that all the children in the Shuangxi family are yours?"

"Officer, I also want to report something. My coal stove went missing before, and it was the Liu family who stole it."

"I also want to report. My grandson's silver pendant was snatched."

"Me too! Before, when their chicken went missing, they accused my dog A-Wang of biting it and chased him with a pole, beating him. When my son went to protect the dog, they beat him too. Later, they found their chicken, but they never apologized. My son and A-Wang were beaten for no reason, and now my son's leg still hurts when it rains!"

"Officer, my old man was sitting in the sun by the door when Liu Shuanglu, after drinking, passed by and claimed my old man was blocking his way. He kicked my old man to the ground, causing a huge gash on his forehead. It took over two months to heal, and they never paid for the medical expenses, saying they were drunk and couldn't remember."

........

Faced with the flood of accusations, Liu Shuanglu's lips began to tremble.

Outside, Liu Shuangbao and his wife, who had come to see the commotion, turned around and left before even entering, walking quickly with their heads down.

Aunt Qin gritted her teeth and pushed the man beside her. "You're dead, Liu Shuangbao! Weren't you going to help your brother? Weren't you going to fight alongside your brother? Go in, go in and join your brother in jail!"

Liu Shuangbao tightly held his wife's arm, trying to steady himself. "Wife, I... I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"You're in big trouble! If it weren't for me cleaning up after you every time, you'd have been reincarnated by now. You always say I'm ruining the bond between you and your brother, always following Liu Shuanglu around, eating his leftovers. I told you, with his behavior, something bad was bound to happen—either he'd get shot or stabbed in some dark alley. But you never believed me, always going on about brotherly loyalty..."

"You're such an idiot!"

The entire Liu family, along with Liu Shuanglu and Huang Ximei, were taken to the police station.

At noon, everyone hurried home to cook, and soon, households were standing on the street with their bowls, chattering and discussing the events.

"San Niu's wife, your husband suffered so much at the hands of Liu Shuanglu, why didn't you say anything before?"

"What about your family, why didn't you speak up?"

"That Liu Shuanglu, he starts by saying he has nothing to lose, then he goes on about where your son works, where your daughter-in-law is employed, and where your kids are going to school, listing them one by one. Would you dare to say anything?"

"What if he really goes to the child's workplace and affects their job, or scares the kids at school, what would we do?"

"We can only swallow our anger, who on this street isn't in the same boat? Look at Li Hongmei's family, and the Da Zhuang family who moved away two years ago, that's what happens when you cross the Liu family."

"I remember back then, the Da Zhuang family offended Liu Shuanglu, their child was playing by the well and Liu Shuanglu kicked him into it, the child was flailing in the well, and they just stood there laughing. If Granny Wang hadn't been there doing laundry and pulled him out, he might have drowned. When the Da Zhuang family went to confront them, they outright denied it, and the child was so scared he had a high fever for several days."

"Ah, it's really evil. You say the Da Zhuang family had somewhere to move to, but if he messes with our kids and elders, where would we go?"

"Exactly, everyone was too scared, with the old and the young, no one dared to offend this person, afraid they'd come looking for trouble. The Liu family has a whole string of brothers, nephews, and uncles, dozens of them."

Da Bao’s grandma said with lingering fear, "Luckily our old man also has three brothers, the Liu family still thinks twice before messing with us. If it were like Zhang Laotou, just look at the last time our kids got into a fight with theirs over fetching water, we could have been bullied to death."

"Don't be fooled by how everyone is ganging up on them today, if it weren't for seeing Xi Mei stand up, not necessarily anyone would dare to speak up."

"Ah, what a good person Xi Mei is, forced into such a state, her life has been really hard."

"Did you know, Xi Mei's daughter, the one Liu Shuanglu married off to Xiao Juan in the west city, had a difficult birth last month and gave birth to a daughter, injuring her body. It's said she might not be able to have children anymore, and was sent back. Liu Shuanglu went over once, extorted some money, and then took Xiao Juan to get a divorce. He took the dowry from the marriage, and also took the compensation from the divorce, and still thought Xiao Juan was a disgrace. She hadn't even finished her postpartum confinement when he dragged her out of bed to throw her out..."

Su Ping stirred the noodles in his bowl, picking up the poached egg pressed at the bottom and placing it in his sister's bowl who was engrossed in the gossip.

"An An, why is everyone so happy? It's like New Year's?"

Su An looked at the egg in her bowl, "Brother, I made four eggs, two for you and two for me, I have them here."

She returned the poached egg to her brother, then answered his question.

"From now on, there will be no more bad guys to bully them, isn't that like a huge celebration for them?"