"Li Chuntao! You jinx, what are you doing running wild out here?" Liu Cuilan and Li Dazhuang ran up panting, pointing at Chuntao's nose and cursing.
Zhou Zhijun took a step in front of Liu Cuilan, shielding Chuntao securely behind him. He slapped away the hand pointing at Chuntao and said coldly, "Liu Cuilan, watch your mouth!"
Liu Cuilan's hand stung from the slap and dropped limply to her side, but she was unrelenting with her words, "This is my family's business, it's not your place to interfere. Get out of the way!"
"I'm making it my business today!" Zhou Zhijun stood with his back straight, his cold face looking as if covered in frost, his sharp gaze piercing straight into Liu Cuilan's face.
Terrified, Liu Cuilan took a half step back, suppressing her fear as she yelled, "What do you want?"
Li Dazhuang, who was standing to the side, was also intimidated by Zhou Zhijun's aura. He quickly offered an apologetic smile, "Brother Zhijun, don't be angry. We're just here to call Chuntao home, it's no big deal!"
Though he said this, in his heart he cursed all eight generations of Zhou Zhijun's ancestors.
It turned out that in the middle of the night yesterday, after the cow was chased back, Wang Lanhua discovered that the household register book kept under her pillow was missing. She immediately panicked and urged Li Dazhuang to look for it.
Li Dazhuang rummaged under the bed for a long time but didn't even see a trace of the household register.
"I even checked before going to sleep, the household register was right under the pillow. Even if it grew legs, it couldn't just disappear overnight..." Wang Lanhua shouted, slapping her thigh.
She suddenly remembered the incident of catching the thief. That thief went through a lot of trouble to lead the cow away but didn't actually take it. It was too suspicious.
She slapped her forehead and screamed, "It must be Zhou Zhijun! He arranged for that thief, using a diversion tactic to steal my household register!"
Wang Lanhua guessed right. The one who led the cow away was Zhou Zhijun, but the one who stole the household register was Zhou Xiaowei.
The uncle and nephew coordinated flawlessly, smoothly taking the household register away.
If Li Chuntao and Zhou Zhijun got their marriage certificate, who would take care of Wang Jieshi for the rest of his life? Wang Lanhua anxiously jumped out of bed and made Li Dazhuang go to Wangjia Village overnight.
Li Dazhuang borrowed a bicycle and pedaled so fast the wheels almost flew off. Upon arriving at Wangjia Village, he first found Liu Cuilan, and the two of them hurriedly rushed to Wang Jieshi's house.
Wang Xiaohong and her brother were not home, and Wang Jieshi didn't know where Chuntao went either. The two panicked and immediately turned around to run to the commune.
Not seeing Chuntao and Zhou Zhijun at the commune, Li Dazhuang locked the bicycle in the commune courtyard, gritted his teeth, and paid a high price to hail a three-wheeled motor cart, rushing all the way to the county town.
They rushed to the county civil affairs bureau, but the people there said no one from the Qingshan Commune had come to get a marriage certificate.
Coming out of the civil affairs bureau, the two wandered around the city like headless flies. Unexpectedly, they actually spotted Zhou Zhijun and Chuntao, and immediately strode over to catch up with them.
"Who says it's no big deal?" Liu Cuilan turned back and glared fiercely at Li Dazhuang. "You useless coward! If she runs away, my Lanhua won't stay with you anymore!"
Li Dazhuang wanted to ask about the household register, but he opened his mouth and ultimately didn't dare to make a sound.
Zhou Zhijun couldn't be bothered to waste words with the two of them. He turned around, grabbed Chuntao's arm, and walked away.
Liu Cuilan and Li Dazhuang hurriedly followed behind, not daring to block them by force. Liu Cuilan only dared to curse in a low voice, "You shameless hussy, stop right there!"
Zhou Zhijun suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning back to sweep his gaze over the two of them. His eyes were as cold as knives scraping against their faces.
"Liu Cuilan, Chuntao is a free woman, and she certainly isn't a member of your Wang family. If you keep pestering us, I'll rip your tongue out!"
Zhou Zhijun, you're not human... you coward!
Liu Cuilan was so angry her face turned red and her neck grew thick. She cursed loudly in her heart, but didn't dare to spit out a single dirty word from her mouth.
Li Dazhuang avoided Zhou Zhijun's gaze, looked at Chuntao, and pleaded, "Chuntao, come home with me! Grandma Shen is so old, if she gets sick from anger, will you be able to live with yourself for the rest of your life?"
At the mention of Grandma Shen, Chuntao's face instantly went pale.
Seeing her like this, Zhou Zhijun's voice softened, "Don't worry, nothing will happen."
"Let's go. It's noon, let's go get something to eat first."
Ignoring the two people behind him, Zhou Zhijun pulled Chuntao into a small restaurant nearby.
He ordered two bowls of braised noodles, one meat dish, and one vegetable dish. The two of them sat inside and ate slowly.
Liu Cuilan and Li Dazhuang stood at the entrance of the restaurant, peeking inside angrily. Smelling the aroma of meat wafting out, their stomachs growled with hunger.
Liu Cuilan didn't have a single penny in her pocket, and Li Dazhuang only had a few small bills that he had to save for the bus ride home. How could they dare to eat at a restaurant?
"Li Dazhuang, I haven't eaten since early morning and ran dozens of miles with you, and this is how you treat me? I was really blind back then to let Lanhua marry a cheapskate like you!"
Li Dazhuang looked conflicted. "Mother, I only have a few dollars left. If we eat, we won't even have the fare to get home!"
Liu Cuilan plopped down on the threshold and snorted coldly, "Don't give me that nonsense, you're just stingy!
I can't be bothered to care about Li Chuntao anymore. When I get back, I'm calling Lanhua home!"
With her temper, she meant what she said. Terrified, Li Dazhuang quickly offered sweet words, "Mother, don't worry, Chuntao is just momentarily confused!"
"I don't care! Anyway, I'm bringing Lanhua back. Finding her any random guy would be better than her staying with you!"
Zhou Zhijun and Chuntao came out well-fed and walked straight toward the bus station.
Liu Cuilan and Li Dazhuang were so hungry they felt dizzy, but they could only drag their empty stomachs and follow behind.
By the time the four of them took the same tricycle back to the Qingshan Commune, the sun was already setting in the west.
Zhou Zhijun rode his bicycle with Chuntao in the front, while Li Dazhuang followed behind carrying Liu Cuilan.
Li Dazhuang wasn't tall to begin with, and having missed two meals, his legs were as soft as noodles. In no time, he was left far behind by Zhou Zhijun.
Zhou Zhijun said to Chuntao, "You stay at my house. Let's see who dares to lay a finger on you."
When Liu Cuilan and Li Dazhuang returned to Wangjia Village, the sky was already pitch black.
Seeing Wang Xiaohong making soup in the kitchen, Liu Cuilan yelled, "Go, call that wretched girl Li Chuntao back here for me!"
Wang Xiaohong was already harboring anger in her heart. Seeing Liu Cuilan yelling at her, she threw the iron spoon in her hand into the pot. "So annoying! If you want to call her, call her yourself!"
Seeing that the mother and daughter were about to fight, Li Dazhuang quickly smiled apologetically, "Sister Xiaohong, what does it look like for your sister-in-law to stay at Zhou Zhijun's house? Call her back, I have something to say to her."
"She's not my sister-in-law. I'm not calling her. Whoever wants to call her can do it!" Wang Xiaohong didn't give him a shred of a good attitude.
"You wretched girl, if Li Chuntao doesn't come back, you can stay home and serve your brother for the rest of your life!"
After scolding Wang Xiaohong, Liu Cuilan turned her head and roared at Li Dazhuang, "You useless coward, I'm not dealing with your mess anymore. I'm bringing my daughter back tomorrow!"
After saying that, she angrily stepped out of the kitchen, only to see the beam of a flashlight shining into the courtyard.
"Is this Wang Jieshi's house?" a moderate voice called out.
Liu Cuilan turned her head to look. When she saw clearly who had arrived, her calves went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground.
