Boss Zheng chuckled, "Third Aunt, there are some things you'd better not ask. Just hand over the money obediently, and we'll all be fine. If you don't, don't blame me for being impolite."
"What are you going to do..." Old Woman Zheng asked nervously. She knew that Boss Zheng was a reckless person, and Chen Maimiao had just given birth, so she didn't want her daughter-in-law to be frightened.
When Boss Zheng saw that Old Woman Zheng wouldn't give him the money, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Fourth Sister-in-law... come out and tell everyone, that child..." Before he could finish speaking, Zheng Laosi covered his mouth.
He was both anxious and afraid. "Brother, brother, I beg you... my family really doesn't have thirty taels of silver."
Boss Zheng, his face grim, shoved Zheng Laosi aside and snapped, "If you don't have it, then produce the land deed..."
Fearing exposure, Zheng Laosi hurriedly said, "Land deed? Okay, I'll go get it for you right away."
Upon hearing this, Old Woman Zheng exploded in fury, " Laosi, you coward, what are you trying to do?"
"That land is our whole family's food supply, and you actually want to give it away? I think you've gone mad." As she spoke, she blocked Zheng Laosi's way from entering the house.
Zheng Laosi said anxiously, "Mother, don't worry about it. This matter won't be over until we give him the land deed."
"We haven't done anything to wrong him, why should we give him the land deed..."
Zheng Laosi shoved Old Woman Zheng aside and headed towards the main room. Just as he was about to step inside, a loud shout suddenly came from the kitchen, "Stop!... I'd like to see who dares to touch my land deed!"
Old Man Zheng charged out, brandishing a kitchen knife, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at Boss Zheng.
"Nephew, your third uncle hasn't done anything wrong to you, so why do you want my family's land deed?"
Boss Zheng wasn't afraid of his third uncle at all. In his eyes, his third uncle's family was just there to do his bidding. "Third Uncle, Third Aunt, are you really determined not to pay me?"
"No way! Even if the King of Heaven himself came today, you wouldn't touch a single hair on my head."
"Fine..." Boss Zheng turned and walked towards Zheng Laosi room. He pushed open the door, and Chen Maimiao shouted sternly, "What are you doing... Give me back my child."
"Fourth Brother... Fourth Brother..." Chen Maimiao struggled to climb off the kang (a heated brick bed) and tried to snatch the child, but Boss Zheng kicked her in the stomach, and the bleeding that had stopped instantly seeped out again.
Old Man Zheng, brandishing a knife, blocked the doorway. "Put my grandson down."
Boss Zheng sneered, "Your grandson... you should ask Chen Maimiao, whose child is this?"
"What do you mean by that?" Old Man Zheng and Old Woman Zheng stood there, stunned, their eyes turning to Chen Maimiao. Chen Maimiao's face was deathly pale, her eyes filled with hatred as she stared intently at Boss Zheng.
Old Woman Zheng pushed aside Old Man Zheng and squeezed into the room. " Maimiao... tell your mother, what exactly happened?"
Chen Maimiao trembled with fear. No... she couldn't say it. If she did, the family would be ruined. If she did, her fourth brother would abandon her. She couldn't say it.
She looked at Boss Zheng with a bewildered expression and roared, "Give me back my child..."
"Your child... you wouldn't have had a child without a man," Boss Zheng said, looking at Zheng Laosi and meeting his pleading eyes.
" Laosi, since your wife won't tell, why don't you tell everyone whose child this is? Weren't you right outside the door that night?"
Boom... Zheng Laosi's mind went blank, his ears were ringing, as if the sky had collapsed... The thing he had been desperately suppressing was finally exposed.
Chen Maimiao stared blankly at Zheng Laosi, "What did he mean by that, Fourth Brother?"
Zheng Laosi didn't dare look Chen Maimiao in the eye, only staring at Boss Zheng, "Brother... give me back the child, and I'll give you the land deed... okay?"
"No... I don't want the land deed anymore, I just want my son."
Upon hearing this, Old Woman Zheng felt dizzy and had to grab the threshold to steady herself. She stared at the three of them in disbelief, her ears ringing with the thoughts that filled her mind.
Chen Maimiao's voice seemed to come from near and far. She tried hard to hear what her daughter-in-law was saying until a desperate scream pierced her eardrums and she finally understood.
All that could be heard was Maimiao's hoarse voice demanding of Zheng Laosi, "Speak up! What does he mean by saying you're outside the door? Speak up... I'm asking you a question!"
Zheng Laosi's mouth was as tight as a sealed gourd; he simply couldn't open it.
Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi stood outside the courtyard, watching everything intently. Meng Anzhi whispered, "Auntie, should we still take this one coin?"
"Why shouldn't I want it?... I should."
Just then, a head popped out from behind the wall. She quietly leaned close to Jin Shanyao and whispered, "What happened? Didn't they just have a big, healthy baby boy? Why are they fighting?"
Jin Shanyao at her coldly, which frightened Auntie Liu so much that she quickly shrank her head back.
The commotion inside the Zheng Household's house continued unabated. Chen Maimiao stared into Zheng Laosi's eyes, her heart sinking deeper and deeper. Her lower body was soaked, her clothes stained with blood.
She felt dizzy and her chest ached as if it were being pricked by needles.
Boss Zheng relished their despair; they had brought this upon themselves. If he didn't pay, he would have no choice but to sell the child.
"Fourth sister-in-law, that night you and I..." The words trailed off.
Boss Zheng felt a slight chill on his lower back. Turning his head, he saw Zheng Laosi's bloodshot eyes staring intently at him.
A small piece of the knife was stuck horizontally in his lower back... It wasn't fatal, but it caught him completely off guard.
Boss Zheng almost instinctively pushed Zheng Laosi away. In the shoving, the knife was pulled out, blood and flesh still attached. The belated pain made him scream in agony.
Boss Zheng glared fiercely at Zheng Laosi, "You've really grown up, daring to draw your knife against me. Looks like you still don't understand my temper."
As he spoke, he lifted the child high and then slammed him to the ground. Just as the child slipped from his grasp, he was swept away by a bright green whip and landed steadily in Jin Shanyao's arms.
Meng Anzhi pushed aside the people blocking the doorway, ran to Chen Maimiao, and helped her onto the kang (a heated brick bed).
But Chen Maimiao was like a dead person; no matter how much she pulled, she wouldn't budge.
Meng Anzhi said anxiously, "Auntie... I can't pull it."
Jin Shanyao forward, grabbed Chen Maimiao by the clothes, and easily tossed her onto the kang (a heated brick bed). Then she walked up to Zheng Laosi, snatched the knife, and threw it aside with a clang.
The noise startled everyone awake. Old Man Zheng, still shaken, went to beat Zheng Laosi, saying, "What are you doing? Murder is punishable by beheading. If anyone should do it, it should be me!"
I'm old, I can die if I die. But you're young, if anything happens to you, how will your mother and I live?
Zheng Laosi seemed to have lost his soul, blankly letting Old Man Zheng pat him. Jin Shanyao finger and placed it on his pulse. Just as she had expected, Zheng Laosi was infertile.
After checking the baby in the swaddling clothes, Jin Shanyao said to the Zheng Household, "You can continue, don't worry about me... Oh, by the way, I just delivered the baby, so you'll owe me one penny less."
As she spoke, she looked at Meng Anzhi, "She charges fifty coins to stop Madam Chen's bleeding, as for you..." Jin Shanyao said understandingly, "You can pay after the treatment, or pay first and then treat, it's up to you."
Holding the child, she swayed back and forth, thinking to herself, "She's not here to meddle; she's here to ask for money."
As for Meng Anzhi, saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda.