The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

"Alright!" Sun Jiaming shouted. He didn’t care about offending these old men; he couldn’t stand the sight of them. He had already offended and warned them after what happened to Gu’er, but he never expected they would fail to learn their lesson and end up provoking his grandmother directly.

Watching as Second Grandpa and the others stood there, their old faces beet-red but not daring to make a peep, Gu’er couldn’t help but feel a surge of admiration for Grandma Sun. ’So this is how tough Grandma Sun is! Daring to curse these elders to their faces, and they don’t even dare to talk back.’

’No wonder Grandma Sun wasn’t mad at me for what I did that night. It turns out she’s no pushover herself.’

’But if Grandma Sun is this formidable, why can’t she handle Cao Qiu?’

Gu’er glanced at Cao Qiu and saw her staring at her mother-in-law, her eyes wide with disbelief.

’Gu’er suddenly understood. It wasn’t that Grandma Sun couldn’t handle Cao Qiu, but that she considered her a daughter-in-law, a member of the family. She wanted her to live a good life with her son—after all, a husband and wife are companions for life. On top of that, Cao Qiu was Brother Jia Ming’s mother. That must be why Grandma Sun had always tolerated her. In the end, she must have simply lost all hope, her heart growing so cold she couldn’t even be bothered to speak to her anymore. That’s why Cao Qiu became so tyrannical, assuming everyone was afraid of her.’

Cao Qiu was truly stunned. ’I never imagined my mother-in-law was this fierce. I can be a handful myself, but I would never dare to act so belligerently in front of these elders.’

’My mother-in-law just cursed them all out and even laid a hand on one of them, yet not a single one dares to say a word. How is she so powerful?’

’Then him? Then her?’

As she thought about her mother-in-law, Cao Qiu took a step back. ’Will she take her anger out on me next? I’d better keep my distance.’

"Auntie."

Zhou Da Kui saw the elders standing there silently, their faces flushed, and he felt his own face burning with embarrassment. He hadn’t interacted much with Grandma Sun and had always thought she was a kind old woman, but seeing her today, he realized she was a complete shrew. Still, he couldn’t back down. The last time, when Gu’er caused that scene, he had already been thoroughly humiliated, which damaged his reputation as the village chief. He couldn’t believe it was happening again. He had come over to stir up conflict within the Sun Family, hoping it would escalate so the whole village would find out and the Suns would be shamed. He never expected this old woman to be so formidable, giving the elders he brought with him such a dressing-down that none of them dared to speak. It was obvious how powerful Sun Jiaming’s grandfather must have been; even after all these years, these men still deferred to him.

While Zhou Da Kui was lost in thought, Grandma Sun had already responded, "What’s the matter? Is Nephew Zhou displeased with me? This is our family’s business. We haven’t broken any laws. Even if Nephew Zhou is the village chief, this is outside your jurisdiction, isn’t it?"

Grandma Sun’s face was full of scorn. Cao Qiu wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Zhou family, but Grandma Sun certainly did not. She was deeply dissatisfied with them.

Zhou Da Kui’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Auntie, I came here with good intentions to help. These respected uncles also meant well. It’s one thing if you’re not grateful, but how can you curse at people like this? Even if you’re an elder, Auntie, you should have some decorum. We’re not children. How can you scold us as if we were your grandsons?"

Zhou Da Kui was furious.

"Heh. How amusing. I was just wondering what business this was of Village Chief Zhou’s. And don’t talk about scolding grandsons—I don’t scold my own grandson like this. As for you lot, you’re not worthy of being my grandsons. And as for them, if they’re unhappy, they can tell me themselves. Second Brother, are any of you unhappy?"

Grandma Sun finished speaking and turned to Second Grandpa and the others, though her earlier words had been aimed squarely at Zhou Da Kui.

Second Grandpa and the others looked at Zhou Da Kui, then back at Grandma Sun, and finally forced a laugh. "Sister-in-law, it’s only right that you scold us a bit. Big Brother said back then that we should treat you the same as we treated him. You’re just teaching us a lesson on his behalf. We’re not unhappy, not at all."

The smiles on their faces looked more painful than tears. Grandma Sun just snorted.

Zhou Da Kui was so angry he wanted to storm out. ’I never realized Sun Jiaming’s grandfather still held such sway over these men,’ he fumed. ’He’s been dead for so many years, yet they’re still afraid of him. Last time, Sun Jiaming threatened them with a hunting rifle, and this time, they’re getting chewed out by an old woman. These people are spineless! A disgrace to the Zhou name.’ 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"No matter what you say, I’m the village chief here. You can say what you want to these uncles, Auntie, but I, Zhou Da Kui, don’t owe your Sun Family a thing! The Sun Family rejected Zhou Mei without giving a reason, and we haven’t even said anything about it. Now the Sun Family is having problems, and I come over with good intentions to mediate, only for you to humiliate me like this? If everyone in the village acts like you, Auntie, how am I supposed to do my job as chief?"

Zhou Da Kui was on the verge of turning hostile. The Sun Family’s influence in the village had gradually weakened over the years. He couldn’t let them walk all over him; he had to keep them suppressed.

Gu’er glanced at Zhou Da Kui, her thoughts turning to the nearly one hundred IOUs. ’Looks like Zhou Da Kui is about to be humiliated,’ she thought.

Grandma Sun looked at Zhou Da Kui and suddenly smiled. She nodded at Sun Jiaming.

Sun Jiaming immediately went over to the kang bed, opened the chest, and pulled out three slips of paper.

Gu’er hadn’t expected there to be three of them. She wasn’t familiar with the names of the Zhou family from her past life, so she didn’t know which slip belonged to Zhou Da Kui’s family, but she had guessed there would be one.

Zhou Da Kui stared at the slips in Sun Jiaming’s hand, confused. He didn’t know what was written on them, nor did he understand why Sun Jiaming was taking out these pieces of old, coarse paper.

But Second Grandpa and the others turned pale. They knew exactly what those slips were and what they represented.

The IOUs still existed. They stared in terror at the chest. The contents might not be valuable, but the sight of them made their hearts pound. That was the proof of everything they owed the Sun Family.

Second Grandpa and the others looked ghastly. They took a few steps back. From now on, they’d better not provoke the Sun Family. This feeling was unbearable.

Seeing them retreat, Zhou Da Kui frowned. ’What on earth are those things in Sun Jiaming’s hands?’

He was stunned just a moment later as Sun Jiaming began to read the contents of the papers aloud.

Zhou Da Kui couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They were IOUs. Three of them! Two were from his father, and one was from his grandmother.

Zhou Da Kui surged forward. He stared at the slips in Sun Jiaming’s hand—at the writing, the dates, and the thumbprints pressed into the paper. These couldn’t be fake.

He glanced back at Second Grandpa and the others and saw that their heads were all bowed. He knew it had to be true.

He remembered how his grandmother used to go on and on about how good the Sun Family was and how much they had helped their family. After she died, his father would say the same. But he got tired of hearing it; he grew to resent it. In his rebelliousness, he resolved that one day he would surpass the Sun Family, make them grovel before him, and crush them under his heel.

Now he was the village chief, while the Sun Family had fallen into decline. By all rights, they should be the ones watching his every move, trying to stay on his good side. But what was happening now? He comes to their home, and they treat him like this. The moment he declared he didn’t owe the Sun Family anything, they threw the IOUs in his face. ’Your grandmother borrowed from them. Your father borrowed from them. More than once! And they still haven’t paid it back. How dare you say you don’t owe them anything?!’

Zhou Da Kui felt as if he’d been slapped hard across the face, several times, by the entire Sun Family. His face turned a deep, blotchy red. He gasped for breath, his chest heaving, with no way to vent his fury.