Unwilling to give up.
Zhou Jianmin decided to climb the wall.
He didn't have Su Lang's agility. After a brief attempt, he honestly went to fetch some stepping stones.
He finally managed to climb up, only to be severely pricked by a nail.
He cried out in pain, then quickly shut his mouth.
As he jumped down, Zhou Jianmin smelled a pungent odor, but he didn't pay attention to it, his mind solely focused on getting into the house.
By the time he reached the door, he was already feeling dizzy and his steps were unsteady.
In his daze, he saw Lin Zhilan coming out, covering her nose with a handkerchief.
Zhou Jianmin smiled, then suddenly fainted on the ground.
Lin Zhilan kicked him. Seeing no reaction, she walked over and put out the fire.
Once the smell dissipated, she lowered her handkerchief and dislocated the joints of Zhou Jianmin's hands and feet.
She used to only set bones and treat dislocations for patients.
Now, dislocating them was just as easy.
She kicked him a few times, and Zhou Jianmin woke up from the pain.
Just as he was about to move, he realized he couldn't move his hands or feet.
Zhou Jianmin looked at Lin Zhilan in horror. "Sister-in-law, what did you do to me?"
Lin Zhilan smiled. "Jianmin, what are you doing at my house in the middle of the night?"
"You were the one who asked me to come!"
"Did I?"
Zhou Jianmin suddenly realized.
She didn't say it directly, but she hinted at it!
"Sister-in-law," Zhou Jianmin raised an eyebrow and said, "You'd better let me go, or if I shout right now, your reputation will be ruined!"
"Heh," Lin Zhilan laughed. "Your mother spreads rumors about me outside every day, what reputation do I have left?
But as for you, if Wu Li finds out you came climbing walls, do you believe she'll call her father over, and then will you even have your life left to talk to me?"
Zhou Jianmin panicked a little.
Let alone Butcher Wu, just Wu Li alone could cost him half his life.
"Sister-in-law, I beg you, let me off this time. I won't ever dare to come over again.
I'll also manage my mother well in the future so she won't come causing trouble for you."
Lin Zhilan found a rag from the kitchen and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Jianmin, your sister-in-law will definitely let you go, but you have to let me vent my anger first."
Zhou Jianmin's eyes widened as he saw Lin Zhilan take out a pair of iron fire tongs.
Lin Zhilan: "Don't scream now. It's the middle of the night, it wouldn't be good to wake up the neighbors."
Before she even finished speaking, the iron tongs struck heavily on his back.
"Mmph! Mmph mmph..."
Lin Zhilan frowned and stuffed the rag in a bit tighter.
More than ten minutes passed, and Lin Zhilan finally got tired.
Zhou Jianmin lay on the ground like a dead pig, lacking even the strength to cry out.
He stared blankly, his eyes filled with nothing but terror.
Before, in his eyes, Lin Zhilan was a fairy, an enchantress, the bright moon hanging in the sky.
Now...
Now she was a female monster wearing human skin.
Lin Zhilan tied his hands and feet with a straw rope, and then popped his dislocated joints back into place.
She clapped her hands. "Go on, head back."
Zhou Jianmin swallowed hard. "Sister-in-law, tied up like this, how am I supposed to walk?"
Lin Zhilan: "If you can't walk, can't you hop?"
Zhou Jianmin: "..."
And so, a bizarre scene unfolded.
In the dead of night, all was silent, with only the moonlight illuminating the road.
Zhou Jianmin hopped forward, and with every jump, the wounds on his back hurt as if they were tearing apart, causing him to flinch.
Like a toad.
It was only because she found manure disgusting, otherwise Lin Zhilan would have borrowed a trick from Wang Xifeng and splashed it all over him.
Lin Zhilan leaned against the door and watched for a while, then threw the stones by the wall far away, closed the door, and went to sleep with her daughter.
Little Linlin was sleeping soundly.
Not long after, Wang Guifen's wailing echoed throughout the entire village.
Linlin frowned. Lin Zhilan gently patted her back, and she grabbed her mother's collar and fell back asleep.
At the entrance of the Zhou family home.
"Oh my son, who beat you up like this!"
Wang Guifen had been sleeping soundly when she suddenly heard a noise outside the door.
It was all that vixen Lin Zhilan's fault. Now everyone knew the Zhou family had money, especially after they received over two hundred in pension money a few days ago, so Wang Guifen had been sleeping lightly lately.
Thinking a thief had broken into the house, she woke up Old Man Zhou. Each holding a shovel or a hoe, they cautiously walked to the door.
After listening through the door for a long time, Wang Guifen said, "Old man, I think I hear Jianmin's voice."
"Mother!" Zhou Jianmin didn't dare to shout for the door to be opened. After bumping his arm against the door for a long time, he finally heard his mother's voice. "It's me, it's Jianmin."
Wang Guifen threw down her shovel and opened the door.
"Oh my goodness, my boy, what happened to you?"
"Mother, stop crying and help me untie these ropes first."
"Oh, right, okay, okay."
Only after untying the ropes did Wang Guifen see the injuries on his back.
To go to his rendezvous, Zhou Jianmin had specifically worn his only white shirt.
Now his back was covered in bloody streaks, and the shirt was almost entirely dyed red with blood.
Wang Guifen had just started to wail when Zhou Jianmin pursed his lips. "Mother, stop shouting!"
Wang Guifen immediately shut her mouth. "...Oh."
Old Man Zhou helped his son into the house and sat him down before asking, "Jianmin, what exactly is going on here?"
Zhou Jianmin grimaced in pain. "I was playing cards with some friends, lost some money... and couldn't pay it back."
Wang Guifen: "Even if you couldn't pay it back, they shouldn't have beaten you!"
Old Man Zhou pulled Wang Guifen back. "Tell me, how much do you owe?"
Zhou Jianmin rolled his eyes, lowered his head, and said, "Two hundred."
"What? Two hundred!"
"You!"
If it weren't for seeing his son in this state, Old Man Zhou would have wanted to strike him.
Seeing his father's reaction, Zhou Jianmin cried to Wang Guifen, "Mother, they said if I don't pay the money back, they'll beat me every time they see me, until they beat me to death!"
"There's no law anymore! I'm going to the police station to report them tomorrow!"
"Mother... I was gambling in a group, I'd be arrested too."
"This..."
Wang Guifen looked at Old Man Zhou. "Old man, what should we do?"
Old Man Zhou took a drag from his old pipe. "What else can we do? Pay the money!"
He waved his hand dismissively and went back to his room.
Wang Guifen's heart ached for her son, but it also ached for the money.
"It's all that vixen Lin Zhilan's fault! We originally had over 800 bucks, but she forcefully snatched away over 500. If the King of Hell wants to claim a life, why doesn't he claim hers! And your brother is gone too, from now on our family..."
"Mother, stop talking."
"Alright, alright, mother won't say it." As Wang Guifen wiped his wounds and blew on them, she couldn't help but complain again, "Your wife isn't any good either. All she knows is to eat and sleep, sleep and eat every day. Even pigs don't live as comfortably as her."
"Wasn't it you who made me marry her!"
Wang Guifen shut her mouth.
Zhou Jianmin had successfully swindled his older brother's pension money from his parents.
Enduring the pain on his back, he returned to his room.
Wu Li was sleeping soundly and even snoring. Wang Guifen's loud wailing earlier hadn't even woken her up.
With his back covered in injuries, Zhou Jianmin could only lie on his stomach on the bed.
Heaven was just so unfair. His brother got to marry such a beautiful wife, while he could only marry a big, burly tigress.
Lin Zhilan had exacted a small measure of revenge for the original owner of her body and her daughter, and she slept very well.
The next day, as agreed, she prepared to take her daughter to visit Uncle Chen.
