The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

Zhou Mazi was sick with irritation. Now that this had happened, Gu’er could forget about marrying into Liu Shu Village. Once word of her viciousness spread, who knew if anyone would ever want to marry her? She would be completely worthless to him.

’Everyone is demanding an explanation, but what am I supposed to say? There’s no way I’m paying for this!’

"Second Elder, Fourth Uncle, Uncle Six, what do you say?"

Zhou Mazi asked the elders sitting there. If they were willing to take his side, the situation might be negotiable.

"Mazi, what Da Kui said has merit. Zhou Mei, your second daughter, and Zhang Da were in the wrong, but they didn’t actually manage to do anything to Gu’er. She, on the other hand, wounded them. You have to give the other families some kind of explanation. Otherwise, what are we supposed to do? If everyone starts pulling knives like her at the slightest provocation, what will our village turn into? In all my years, I’ve never seen a girl act like that. Still, she’s your daughter. It’s up to you to handle it. But if you can’t appease them and they come after you later, we’re staying out of it."

After a brief discussion, the elders sided with Zhou Da Kui. For one, Zhou Da Kui was the village chief, and they had to show him respect. For another, they looked down on Zhou Mazi and felt it wasn’t worth making enemies to defend him.

Third, Gu’er was a girl—and a step-daughter at that. Strictly speaking, she wasn’t even from their village, so they had no intention of defending her.

Gu’er’s gaze turned icy. ’I can’t believe they can be so shameless.’ For Zhou Da Kui, the village chief, to spout such nonsense... ’What does he mean, "they didn’t manage to do anything"? What more did he want them to do? If I hadn’t fought for my life, what would have become of me? I’d have been assaulted by Zhang Da by now! And who would they have stood up for then? They’d have accused me of disgracing myself and forced me to marry Zhang Da, or else told me to kill myself.’

’They always twist things to make themselves right. Why should I listen to any of them? Who the hell do they think they are?!’

In that instant, something fierce and defiant ignited within Gu’er. Her entire demeanor changed. ’These villagers, these so-called neighbors... From now on, I don’t need to consider any of their feelings. Because when real trouble strikes, not a single one of them will lift a finger to help.’

Even if it meant being forced out of this village today, she would not let them dictate her fate!

A vicious glint appeared in Zhou Mazi’s eyes. He shot a hateful glare at Zhou Feng’er. ’It’s all this little brat’s fault,’ he fumed internally. ’If it weren’t for her, I’d be at home waiting to collect my money. Now she’s cost me everything. I’ll deal with her when we get home.’

As for Zhou Gu’er, Zhou Mazi hated her too. ’If only she hadn’t injured anyone, this whole mess would have been avoided.’ He never stopped to think that if Gu’er hadn’t desperately defended herself, if she hadn’t grabbed that knife, she would have been violated by Zhang Da. What would have awaited her then was a life of hell on earth.

But Zhou Mazi didn’t care about any of that. All he knew was that this incident had cost him his money.

And losing money hurt Zhou Mazi more than carving off a piece of his own flesh.

"I must have owed you all in a past life for you to come and torment me like this! Zhou Gu’er, you’re a curse! A debt collector sent to ruin me! I must have been blind to let that bitch Li Hua bring you through my door. If I’d known then what I know now, I would have strangled you to save myself the trouble! Now look at this mess! I can’t handle you anymore. Just take a knife and cut yourself a couple of times. Let that bastard Zhang Da and Zhou Mei get their pound of flesh, and we can call this over. Just make sure they don’t come after me—this has nothing to do with me! If you can’t placate them, I’ll beat you to death!"

Zhou Mazi spat the words out viciously. Zhou Mei’s family refused to back down, and they had influence; he couldn’t afford to cross them. He wasn’t afraid of Zhang Da, but the man was a scoundrel just like him. If Zhang Da decided to become a nuisance, it would be endless trouble. His only option was to push Zhou Gu’er forward to take the blame. ’Just make her cut herself twice,’ he thought. ’It won’t kill her. The two families will be satisfied, and the whole affair will be over. Then I can try to smooth things over with Liu Shu Village. Maybe they’ll still take her, even if it’s for less money.’

The very thought of getting less money made Zhou Mazi’s heart ache as if it were being squeezed. He wanted nothing more than to march over and cut Gu’er twice himself; maybe that would finally quell the rage boiling inside him.

Gu’er’s eyes reddened. She bit her lower lip so hard it hurt, refusing to show any weakness. ’I knew he was heartless,’ she thought, ’but I never imagined he could be this monstrous. To tell me to cut myself twice as an apology... How could he even form those words!’

A deep chill spread through Gu’er’s heart, not just from his words, but from the reaction of the entire village. Though some people were muttering that Zhou Mazi wasn’t human, not one of them stepped forward to stop him. To them, she would always be an outsider.

"Heh..."

Gu’er suddenly let out a laugh. It wasn’t a pretty sound. In the darkness of the night, it was utterly chilling.

Everyone froze, stunned by her laughter. They figured she must have been frightened out of her wits. Why else would she be laughing right now instead of crying?

"You are my father. Not by birth, no, but I have lived in the Zhou family for over a decade. I have called you ’Dad’ for over a decade. I thought that no matter how heartless you were, you had to have at least a sliver of humanity left. But I was wrong. You’re not even human! When you plotted to sell me to Zhang Da for money, I didn’t blame you. I’ve eaten your family’s food for ten years; I knew I had to repay that debt. That’s why I told you I would earn you thirty yuan, begging only that you wouldn’t marry me off to a random scoundrel. I climbed the mountain every day to pick vegetables, went to the city to sell them, and worked myself to exhaustion. And I still didn’t blame you. I did it because I had hope. I believed that if I could just earn that money, you wouldn’t sell me to a lowlife, that you’d find a shred of conscience and stop beating and cursing my mother and me. But today... today I do place blame. I blame the heavens for ever leading me to your door. If I had known it would end like this, I would have rather starved to death than ever eaten a single grain of rice from this house."

"Other men are real fathers. Even if their daughters do something terrible, even if their daughters are worthless, they still protect them. Because they treat their daughters like human beings. But you? Are you a father? No. You don’t treat your daughter like a person. In your eyes, I’m just an object you can sell for cash. You want me to cut myself twice as an apology? Heh. I’ll tell you right now: in your dreams!"

As she finished, Gu’er’s voice turned chillingly cold. She stood ramrod straight, a pillar of strength, yet many in the crowd of onlookers were visibly moved. They could feel her sorrow and her fury, and their hearts went out to her.

"You dare defy me! What’s the use of spouting all that nonsense? You’re my daughter, and that means you do what I say! That’s your fate!"

Zhou Mazi was stunned that Gu’er would say such things in front of everyone, making him lose face completely. He was furious but found himself at a loss for words. He realized he couldn’t win a war of words with her; all he could do was try to crush her with his authority as her father.

"Fate?"

Gu’er burst out laughing, a wild, almost maniacal sound.

"Then what if I refuse to accept this fate! Since you won’t protect me, since in your heart you never once saw me as your daughter, then from this moment forward, you are not my father! I, Gu’er, will no longer carry the Zhou family name. I am disowning you as my father!"

Gu’er spoke each word deliberately, her voice chillingly clear.