Chapter 268: Mother and Daughter
Translator: Lonelytree
“Have you heard? Zhang Chunjiao’s eldest daughter, Xiao Dahua, jumped into the river!”
“What? Is she dead?”
“No, she was rescued.”
“Why did she jump into the river all of a sudden?” Someone asked doubtfully.
“It’s not all of a sudden… Xiao Dahua’s mother-in-law was embarrassed by Xiao Dahua’s mother, so they beat Xiao Dahua up and chased her home.”
“What do you mean by chasing her home? In the past, that would mean divorce. Does that mean the Guo Family plans to divorce Xiao Dahua?”
“Divorce is so embarrassing. No wonder Xiao Dahua couldn’t take the embarrassment and try to jump into the river.”
“What is wrong with Zhang Chunjiao? She has a good life, but she has to do something like this to harm her own daughter.
“Xiao Dahua gave birth to a son after she got married. She became a show-off because of that. She refused to work and went around the village chatting with people. There were few lazy men in Ten Miles Village too. They chatted and played cards under the big tree. Eventually, Xiao Dahua hooked up with one of them.”
“This is really a case of like mother like daughter. Before her marriage, Dahua wasn’t like this. Why did she change so much after she got married?
“Before she got married, she was trapped in this village. Everyone knew each other, so who could she seduce? Plus, our village was very poor back then.
“However, Ten Miles Village is different. Her in-laws are quite rich. They only have one son. Her father and mother-in-law are quite young and hard working. Everything they earn belongs to the young couple. Xiao Dahua didn’t have to do anything but look after her son. She must have gotten bored.”
“Tsk. These two are just ridiculous. The mother is awful, and so is the daughter. What are they trying to do anyway?”
Someone covered his mouth and laughed. “What can they do? They are trying to seduce all the men in the world!”
“Hehe…”
Everyone laughed, and then someone asked in confusion, “So where is Xiao Dahua now?”
“She didn’t die, so she was sent back to Taoyuan Village by her in-laws.”
“Oh, so she is back here now. Does the Guo Family really plan to divorce Xiao Dahua? If they really divorce, what will happen to the child? Will he get a stepmother?”
“The victim here is really the child.” Whenever there was a divorce, the children suffered the most.
“When Xiao Dahua was sent back with injuries all over her body, Zhang Chunjiao was so angry that she took out a knife from the kitchen and wanted to kill her son-in-law. Fortunately, someone stopped her. The Guo Family heard the news and escaped out of fear.”
“How are they going to live their lives from now on?”
“Why should we care?” Someone curled his lips and said, “Zhang Chunjiao is thick-skinned. She continues to live as nothing has happened. Xiao Fuqi’s mother is so furious. She has been nagging her son to divorce Zhang Chunjiao. However, Xiao Fuqi didn’t dare to do anything.
“Other than the initial anger, he has been extremely quiet.
“Xiao Dahua is sent back with serious injuries. She was drenched in the dirty river. Some of her wounds have started to fester. If she doesn’t go to the hospital, she might be crippled for life.”
“Ah, is it that serious?”
“Yeah, we saw her when she was sent back. She was in a very bad state. There were plenty of bruises on her body. It was terrifying.”
“Why would Zhang Chunjiao chose such a violent in-law for her daughter?” Some people did not quite believe it.
“Originally, they weren’t that violent. However, Xiao Dahua had to follow her mother’s example. She cheated with another man and was caught by her family in bed.”
“She really asked for it.”
For the next few days, the only thing people could talk about was Zhang Chunjiao and her daughter.
Zhang Chunjiao was a cheater and tried to have sex with her lover in broad daylight. However, her daughter was not to be outdone.
The Xiao Family was too busy with their own work to mind this business. They couldn’t care less about Zhang Chunjiao’s family.
The arson had caused a loss of 108,000 RMB.
Of course, Zhang Xiaolan had to pay for this money.
However, since she was arrested, her family had to pay for it.
Mother Xiao and Father Xiao were confused when they heard this. They didn’t think it was that moral either. “Yu ‘Er, Zhang Xiaolan has already been arrested. Are you still asking her family for compensation?”
Xiao Lingyu nodded. “Of course. Zhang Xiaolan is arrested because of arson. That doesn’t mean she can shirk the responsibility to compensate for the things she damaged.”
“But, how is her family going to do that?” Mother Xiao was worried. “Her family is poor too. They can’t even pay 1000, much less 100,000.”
Xiao Lingyu shook her head and said, “Mom, leave this to the court. They will pay as much as the court requires them to.”
Father Xiao asked in confusion, “Do we still need to bring the court into this?”
“Yes.” Xiao Lingyu nodded. “This is the procedure. It doesn’t matter if their family can’t pay. We have to go through the procedure. We’re living in a lawful country. We can’t give people exception simply because they are poor.”
The villagers didn’t know the law, so Xiao Lingyu wanted to use this opportunity to make them understand the severity of punishment. If they did something wrong, they would have to face the law.
It didn’t matter if someone was arrested. There was something called shared property. If the wife was arrested, then the husband’s family had to cough up the compensation on her behalf. If there was no money, there was the liquidation of assets like houses, lands, and so on.
Mother Xiao and Father Xiao nodded. “Alright, this shall be an example for everyone.”
They also knew that their family had grown rich too quickly. There were quite a number of people who were jealous. These people were hard to understand. They couldn’t bear to see other people have a good life. Therefore, they would give up their own lives to destroy the other party.
After Zhang Xiaolan was taken away, the villagers received another earth-shattering news.
Zhang Xiaolan was already arrested, but her family had to compensate Xiao Zhengyang for the damage to his property.
Since it was intentional arson, they were fully responsible for the loss of 108,000 RMB.
The people from the court came over to assess the state of their family’s property. If they didn’t have the ability to pay, they would have to pay in installments.
The villagers were dumbfounded. They didn’t think the consequence could be so serious. The compensation was more than 100,000. Even if they didn’t eat or drink for decades, they wouldn’t have this kind of money.
Someone said, “Zhang Xiaolan is really a jinx.”
“Not only did she let herself go to jail, but she also implicated her family.”
“Xiao Chengcai’s family will have to work for Xiao Zhengyang’s family as free labor for decades to pay this debt off.”
After Xiao Chengcai’s family heard the court’s verdict, Xiao Chengcai’s mother immediately rolled on the ground and cried out shamelessly, “We don’t have money. You might as well take my life. Let them take my old life as compensation.”
The people from the court had seen this kind of situation many times. After they completed their mission here, they quickly left. The victim could be rolling around or throwing tantrums, but it had nothing to do with them.
After the people from the court left, Xiao Chengcai and his mother came to make a fuss with the Xiao Family.
However, the Xiao Family’s door was tightly shut.
Xiao Chengcai’s mother angrily pointed at the courtyard door and said, “Xiao Zhengyang, I know you’re in the house. Hurry up and open the door, or I’ll smash it.”
“Auntie, Zhengyang and Qiuying are not at home,” Someone said.
“Then, Xiao Lingyu must be home.” Xiao Chengcai’s mother shouted arrogantly, “Xiao Lingyu, come out. You vicious bitch, you’ve caused my family so much misery. Come out and face me!”
With a creak, the door of the Xiao family courtyard opened.