I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

Chapter 274: Chapter 211: You Take the Men, I’ll Take the Women (Part 2)

His wife’s words were a sudden reminder for Li Heihu’s father. That’s right! That good-for-nothing in-law of his, Zhao Dahe, had indeed said that he’d cut ties with all their other relatives from Dragon King Pond. And it was true that only their family of four had come to Zhao Damei’s wedding. He’d looked down on her family back then because so few of them had shown up.

”Well, I’ll be damned! That’s right! I almost let this little bastard scare me with his bluffing! Get him, all of you! Beat him to death! How dare he run wild in our Li Family home!”

When Li Heihu saw his father and brothers advancing with weapons in hand, he took a step back, sighed, and lowered his head. Behind Zhao Ergou, Zhao Damei watched his retreat, and the last glimmer of hope in her eyes died. She painstakingly forced a few words from her throat.

”Little brother, don’t worry about me. Just run! Take care of Mom and Sanwazi.”

”Don’t say that, Sis! I’m not leaving you behind!”

Zhao Ergou replied without turning his head, his eyes locked on the approaching men of the Li family. He tightened his grip on the kitchen knife. ’He was at a disadvantage. His only choice would be to charge and fight for his life. He wasn’t afraid of dying here today—Brother San would surely avenge him. He just felt sorry for Niu Guizhi. Good thing they weren’t married yet.’

”Guizhi, I’m so sorry! Brother San... I can’t wait for you any longer!”

As Zhao Ergou let out a final, furious roar, Li Heihu’s mother, who was standing in the back, couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

”Hahaha! Still trying to scare us? You might call him Brother San, but does he even acknowledge you?”

She had barely finished speaking when the front door was violently ripped open from the outside. The entire door, frame and all, was torn away by immense force and tossed into the courtyard. A WHOOSH of frigid north wind blasted in, so strong it forced everyone to squeeze their eyes shut. Then, a slightly mocking voice drifted in.

”Oh, I acknowledge him. I’m Er Gouzi’s Brother San. For life.”

”Brother San!”

At Zhao Ergou’s joyous cry, all eyes in the Li household fell upon a young man wearing a handsome greatcoat the likes of which they had never seen, complete with a mink hat and black leather gloves. The Li family gawked at his dazzling attire; compared to them, he stood out like a crane among chickens. His presence was so striking they almost missed the crowd of people trailing behind him.

Zhao Wendong looked at Zhao Ergou’s face, now alight with joy, and breathed a silent sigh of relief. ’Good thing Er Gouzi is safe,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, even annihilating this entire family wouldn’t have been enough to quell my rage.’ Remembering the cry he’d heard from outside, he said with a mischievous grin,

”Who said you couldn’t wait for your Brother San? See? I’m here.”

”Yeah, heheh.”

Zhao Ergou nodded, a goofy laugh escaping his lips as tears streamed from the corners of his eyes. In that moment, he was like a lost child who had finally found his way home, or like a boy who’d been called a ”wild child” his whole life only to have his parents suddenly appear at his side. Like a deeply wronged child finally seeing his protector, he pointed behind him and tattled to Zhao Wendong.

”Brother San, look! They’re starving my sister to death!”

On the way over, Zhao Wendong had heard from Sanwazi that Zhao Damei was being starved to death, but he hadn’t known the details. Hearing Zhao Ergou’s words, he looked past him toward the corner of the bed platform. Zhao Damei was curled up in the far corner. The old, padded cotton jacket she wore was so faded its original color was impossible to tell, with clumps of cotton stuffing poking out of its many tears. She was so thin she was almost unrecognizable. Her shoulder blades jutted out sharply, and her back was hunched over; her entire body looked like nothing more than a jagged bundle of bones. Her face was sallow, her cheekbones protruded grotesquely, and her cheeks were deeply sunken. Dark, bruised circles ringed her eyes.

Zhao Damei’s hair was dry and disheveled. One arm cradled an infant. The baby was wrapped in a scrap of old cloth, its tiny face shriveled and wrinkled. The little hand peeking out was as thin as a twig. Her other hand held a little girl, even smaller than Yadan, who was as thin as a stray kitten. The girl leaned listlessly against Zhao Damei’s leg, her head drooping limply, her eyes swollen into mere slits.

Zhao Wendong’s eyes shot wide open in disbelief. ’Is this... this dying woman... really the cousin I remember? Is this really Zhao Damei?’ She looked just like a terminally ill patient from a later era, wasting away after years of chemotherapy. She was literally just skin and bones; there wasn’t a shred of flesh to be seen.

”Who are you people? Who let you into our house?”

SLAP—!

Li Heihu’s mother had barely opened her mouth when a resounding slap echoed across her face. Zhao Wendong stared at Lin Zhiyin in astonishment. He had been about to strike himself but never expected his wife to be faster.

”You handle the men. I’ll take care of the women!”

With that, Lin Zhiyin grabbed Li Heihu’s mother by the hair and began slapping her across the face. Zhao Wenjun and Zhao Wenwu exchanged a look. The Lin Zhiyin they were seeing in this moment was a complete stranger to them.

”How dare you hit my mother! I’ll rip your mouth off!”

Seeing her mother-in-law get hit, Li Heihu’s eldest sister-in-law shrieked and lunged at Lin Zhiyin like a wild animal. Before she could reach her, Jin Xiuying shot out a kick, sending her stumbling back. Li Heihu’s second sister-in-law couldn’t stand by either and rushed forward to help. With a loud cry, Liu Yufen charged in from the side and tackled her, pinning her to the ground.

”I’ll kill...”

Li Heihu’s older brother had just raised his axe when three dark gun muzzles were pointed right at him. He instantly swallowed the rest of his words. Staring into the murderous eyes of the Zhao Brothers, he had no doubt they would actually pull the trigger and kill him.

”Ca-Captain,” he stammered, ”are you just going to stand there and watch as outsiders come and bully... bully our family?”

Facing Zhao Wendong and his entourage, Li Heihu’s father had lost all of his earlier arrogance. He shot Li Daya a pleading look for help. Li Daya offered him a smile that looked more pained than a sob, then turned his gaze toward Zhao Wendong.