In another room, Zhou Xiaowei was also in a complete mess. Unable to fight off the drowsiness, he soon fell asleep and was still asleep when Aunt Zhou finished making breakfast.
Looking at the heavy snow, Aunt Zhou thought about Second Aunt Zhou, who had gone to the Zhao family's place and hadn't returned all night. Her heart ached with worry. She quickly woke Zhou Xiaowei up and asked him to go to the Zhao family's to check the situation.
Zhou Xiaowei gulped down a few mouthfuls of breakfast, grabbed a corn bun, and headed out the door.
It was freezing cold. Aunt Zhou didn't let Chuntao get out of bed. She brought a basin of washing water and put it beside the bed for Chuntao to wash up.
Then she brought over a bowl of hot poached eggs, but Chuntao had absolutely no appetite.
Zhou Zhijun had been taken away by the public security and his life was uncertain. The family planning officials from the commune hadn't caught her and surely wouldn't give up easily.
Now that she was staying at her second aunt's place and something had happened to her second aunt's family, all these troubles were intertwined, making her extremely upset.
"Mom, I wonder how things are going with Second Aunt?" Chuntao asked softly.
Seeing her frowning, Aunt Zhou quickly comforted her, "What could happen? I guess it's just a quarrel between the young couple. Couples often have such spats."
As she said this, she handed the bowl to Chuntao. "Come on, eat it quickly while it's hot to warm yourself up. Don't think about anything. Eating well, sleeping well, and having the baby safely is more important than anything else."
Chuntao took the bowl and forced herself to finish the bowl of egg tea, but her worries didn't lessen at all.
Wrapped in her quilt, she sat on the bed, looking out through the plastic film pasted on the window. The world outside was a vast expanse of white, and she couldn't see anything clearly.
At this moment, her heart was as cold as the weather outside.
Afraid that Aunt Zhou would worry too, she didn't say any more. She could only endure it bit by bit, silently praying in her heart for Zhou Zhijun to come back soon.
She also prayed for the safety of Second Aunt Zhou's daughter!
Now, let's talk about the Zhao family's side. Last night, Liu Dashan wanted to report the matter to the police, but the Zhao family tried their best to stop him. They even got into a fight on the spot.
Liu Ergen, considering that his wife, Zhao Qiaoyun, was from the Zhao family, not only didn't help but also advised Liu Dashan to take a step back and avoid trouble.
Second Aunt Zhou was so angry that she slapped him. "Your sister has been beaten to death, and you can still say such things! How could I have given birth to such a coward like you!"
After being scolded and beaten, Liu Ergen squatted in the corner of the wall, not daring to say a word.
The Zhao family had many people. One group of them blocked Second Aunt Zhou and her son from reporting the matter, while another group wrapped Liu Xianghua's body in an old mat and hastily buried it in the mass grave.
Before Zhou Xiaowei reached the Zhao family's place, he met Ma Dali on the way.
"Uncle, why haven't my second aunt and the others come back? Has something happened?"
"Your cousin Xianghua was beaten to death by Zhao Baoku! The Zhao family is afraid that your second aunt and the others will report the matter, so they've locked them up! I sneaked out of my home secretly!" Ma Dali said anxiously.
The Zhao family was a powerful clan in Zhao Village, while the Ma family was a small and isolated family in the village and had often been bullied by the Zhao family.
Ma Zhanshan arranged this marriage back then just to get some connections.
If the Zhao family knew that Ma Dali had informed others, they would surely take even more severe revenge in the future.
Suddenly, he grabbed Zhou Xiaowei's hand and said urgently, "Xiaowei, you go to the commune quickly to report the matter. I have to go home first!"
"The Zhao family is really despicable! I'll go right away!" After saying that, Zhou Xiaowei turned around and ran towards Dongshan Commune.
The snow was falling thickly, and the mountain path was slippery. Although Zhou Xiaowei was young and strong, it was already late afternoon when he finally reached the commune.
In this remote and poor area, it was common for men to beat their wives, but it was rare for someone to be beaten to death.
As soon as the public security officers heard that a person had died and the body was hidden and the victim's family was imprisoned, they didn't dare to be negligent at all. They immediately rushed towards Zhao Village against the snow.
When they reached the mass grave, the public security officers wanted to dig up the grave for an autopsy, but the entire Zhao family surrounded the grave with hoes and shovels, not allowing them to get close at all.
Most of these people didn't know much about the law. They all thought that as long as there were many people taking the blame together, the public security officers couldn't do anything to them.
The public security officers tried to persuade them kindly, but they refused to listen. If they used force, they were afraid of intensifying the conflict. So an old public security officer took out his camera and started taking pictures of the crowd, "Click, click."
"Now it's the period of the severe crackdown. If you openly obstruct the law enforcement of the public security officers, do you all want to go to jail?"
As soon as they heard the words "severe crackdown" and "going to jail", everyone immediately panicked and stepped back one after another.
A few people who wanted to resist stubbornly were so angry that they cursed, but no one was willing to involve themselves for the sake of the Zhao family.
The public security officers successfully dug up the newly buried grave covered with snow and carried out Liu Xianghua's body from the old mat.
After the autopsy, it was found that there was an obvious depression on the back of Liu Xianghua's head, indicating that she had been killed by being hit with a blunt object.
The public security officers took Zhao Baoku's parents aside for interrogation separately. At first, they both insisted that it was a wound from a fall.
But after repeated questioning, they soon showed their true colors.
The mother said that Liu Xianghua was unfaithful and was caught by her son in the act. They had a quarrel and her son accidentally hit her to death.
The father had a different story. It was obvious that they were lying.
"Covering up a criminal is also a crime that will land you in jail!" The public security officers dropped this warning and were about to take the two of them away. Only then did the old couple get scared and honestly tell the truth.
Zhao Baoku had always been hot - tempered towards his wife, but he treated his younger brother like a father and was extremely kind - hearted towards him. His younger brother's family had many children and was in financial difficulty, so he secretly sent food to them, which often left his own family short of food.
Last night, when making soup, Liu Xianghua casually mumbled, "Our family and the second brother's family have the same amount of land. Why do we run out of food every year?"
Their six - year - old son heard what his mother said and shouted at the top of his voice, "Dad sent our family's food to Uncle's family!"
Only then did Liu Xianghua realize that her husband had been secretly subsidizing his younger brother's family. She felt aggrieved and couldn't help complaining a few words.
Zhao Baoku's temper flared up on the spot. He picked up a piece of wood beside the stove and threw it at Liu Xianghua.
Liu Xianghua dodged in a hurry but moved in the wrong direction. The wood hit the back of her head directly, and she fell to the ground on the spot and never woke up again.
After killing her, Zhao Baoku was also scared and ran away that night.
Zhao Baoku's parents not only didn't report the incident but also blocked and imprisoned the Liu family members to prevent them from going to the police station. They also buried the body privately, which had already violated the law.
Considering that there were still three young children in the Zhao family who needed someone to take care of them, the public security officers let Zhao Baoku's mother stay at home to take care of the children and took his father away for investigation.
Actually, Zhao Baoku didn't go far. He was hiding at a relative's place in the neighboring village.
Hearing that his old father had been arrested, he felt guilty. In the end, he went to the public security bureau to surrender himself.
It seemed that the case had come to an end with Zhao Baoku's surrender, but the pain in Second Aunt Zhou's heart would never fade in this lifetime.
She lay in bed, crying all the time. In just two days, she had lost so much weight that she was almost unrecognizable.
She kept mumbling, "If it weren't for making that unfilial son have a family, I wouldn't have let her do the marriage - exchange... My poor daughter!"
Second Aunt Zhou seemed to be in a daze. Aunt Zhou watched this with a heartache.
The loss of a daughter in old age was a pain that cut to the bone for a mother. Any words of comfort were useless. She could only hold Second Aunt Zhou's hand tightly and cry with her.
Hearing what Second Aunt Zhou said in the next room, Chuntao felt as if her heart was being stabbed by a knife.
She sympathized with Liu Xianghua's tragic fate and hated the cruel Zhao Baoku even more.
Both she and Liu Xianghua were victims of the marriage - exchange. Liu Xianghua had lost her life, while she had finally escaped from that hell.
Thank goodness for having mercy on her. Meeting a man she could rely on gave her a glimmer of hope for a better life.
But now, her man had been taken away by the police, and she had no idea whether he was in danger or not.
The more Chuntao thought about it, the more panicked she became. Two tears quietly rolled down from the corners of her eyes and landed on the edge of the quilt.
"Sister-in-law Chuntao, why are you crying?" Zhou Xiaowei came in with a mug of malted milk essence. "Drink some hot water to warm yourself up."
"Call me auntie!"
Suddenly, a cold and firm male voice came from outside the door. Zhou Xiaowei's hand trembled, and the enamel tea mug almost fell to the ground.
Chuntao's body also froze instantly. She was all too familiar with this voice.
She suddenly looked up towards the door of the inner room. The door curtain was lifted by the cold wind, revealing a tall figure standing there.
The man was covered in snow, and his eyebrows and eyes were also veiled by the frost.
At the sight of him, Chuntao's eyes were instantly filled with tears, and even her breathing was trembling!
