Chapter 335: Raising an Ancestor
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
This was the first time the police station received such a report. Child brides had existed for a long time. Although they knew that it wasn’t legal, it would be difficult for those little girls to live after leaving the home of the family that had taken them in.
Therefore, under normal circ.u.mstances, they couldn’t do anything about it. They hadn’t expected Mu Jingzhe to report it directly.
“To clarify the seriousness of the situation, what they’re doing is human trafficking. Selling children and women is a very serious matter. Today, she bought a child bride. If she’s not satisfied, she might sell the child elsewhere the day after tomorrow. After a while, she’ll get bolder and bolder and think that what she has done is no big deal. Who knows what kind of atrocious crimes she will go on to commit? Such a matter has to be handled immediately.”
Mu Jingzhe felt that Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao was probably so bold because she had seen Zhao Lan sell Little Bei before. Even though Zhao Lan had claimed that she had given Little Bei away, in reality, she had sold her for money. And Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao had learned all that bad stuff in the process.
“Besides, in this case, Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao is simply looking for someone to work for her. She beats and scolds the girl every day. This is abuse through and through. I’m afraid that someone will die if this continues. Even if the child doesn’t die, letting such a young child work all the time is child labor in disguise. If everyone hears this and thinks it’s a worthwhile deal, I don’t dare imagine what the future will be like.”
Many sins started little by little.
The people of Great Eastern Village were still simple and kind overall, but when presented with benefits, one could become very wicked. In this day and age, many people were so poor that they couldn’t afford to eat and wanted to sell or give their children away. If everyone followed suit, it would all be over.
At this point, the police officer at the police station got serious. “We understand what you’re talking about. We’ll investigate and deal with the situation in time.”
Only then did Mu Jingzhe feel at ease and return to the village. When she returned, the sky was already dark. Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao’s family sounded like they were eating, and Little Zhaodi was still where she had been previously.
True to her word, Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao seemed like she wouldn’t give Little Zhaodi anything to eat. Mu Jingzhe sighed and stroked her head. “Don’t just stand there foolishly. Sit when you should.”
Although Li Zhaodi had never been a child bride in the past and might not have been beaten so much, she had suffered no less than Little Zhaodi. Mu Jingzhe looked at her. Perhaps it was because of her name, but she kept feeling like she was looking at a younger version of her mother.
At the time, she hadn’t been born yet, and they hadn’t even been in the same time and s.p.a.ce, so she hadn’t been able to help her mom. But she could help Little Zhaodi. Therefore, even though she knew that Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao had thrown her here to let them see and was aware of what Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao was thinking, she could only fall for it because she couldn’t really watch as Little Zhaodi starved and leave her be. Fortunately, she had already called the police.
When Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao heard that Mu Jingzhe had come back, she came out to see Little Zhaodi and waited for Mu Jingzhe and the rest to give her something to eat out of pity.
While Mu Jingzhe and the others were eating, she went to take a look. Sure enough, she had given Little Zhaodi food. It was white steamed buns with meat wrapped inside. The food looked delicious.
Since Mu Jingzhe had gone to the police station to report the case, she had bought some meat on the way back, so there was meat for dinner.
Ever since she’d made meat buns in Ocean City, Little Bei had fallen in love with this cooking method. Even now that they were back, Mu Jingzhe would still prepare this dish.
Little Zhaodi drank the soup and tasted this unprecedented delicacy. This was really the first time she had eaten such delicious food. It was also the first time she had eaten white flour buns and meat. They were so tasty that she almost swallowed her own tongue.
Seeing that Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao had come over to take a look, Little Zhaodi immediately stuffed into her mouth the half of the bun that she couldn’t bear to eat and had been slowly savoring.
Although she was fast enough, Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao could see it clearly. Shao Shou had also seen Little Bei eat it before and kept clamoring for it.
Upon seeing Little Zhaodi stuffing it into her mouth as quickly as she could, Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao was furious. She cursed under her breath. Although she had plotted to get Mu Jingzhe to help them raise Little Zhaodi, when she saw that she had really been given such delicious food, she felt uncomfortable again. One had to know that they could only afford to eat cornbread!
Even when they ate white flour buns, they couldn’t afford meat.
“When they give you food in the future, you’re not allowed to eat it. Bring it back and let us eat it.” Of course they had to eat this delicious food. Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao threatened Little Zhaodi, but the latter didn’t say anything.
For the next two days, Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao dealt with Little Zhaodi often, as Little Zhaodi was disobedient and kept eating the food given to her by Little Bei and Mu Jingzhe. She stubbornly refused to listen and didn’t keep the food for them as she’d been told, even if it meant she had to swallow down the food so quickly that she choked.
Usually, she didn’t say a word, but whenever someone s.n.a.t.c.hed her food, she would be fierce. When Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao asked her to ask for clothes and sweets, Little Zhaodi didn’t listen at all. Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao kept giving her a hard time and always let Shao Nan and Little Bei witness her hitting Little Zhaodi.
Little Bei couldn’t ignore this. After saying a few words, she pulled Little Zhaodi home. In the end, Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao turned around and spread a rumor that Shao Nan had taken a fancy to Little Zhaodi and shamelessly wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h his cousin-in-law to make her his child bride.
Mu Jingzhe felt that Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao was really asking for a beating. Just as she was about to teach her a lesson, the police finally came.
They had already investigated thoroughly and confirmed the truth before coming to their door.
Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao had only lived a good life for two days and no longer had to wait on Zhao Lan. She was still thinking of ways to use Little Zhaodi to scheme against Mu Jingzhe and the rest and use Little Zhaodi to disgust them. In the end, the police came.
As soon as she saw the police, Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao’s hands trembled. When she heard that it was illegal to buy and sell child brides, Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao almost knelt down.
“I didn’t buy her. Her family gave her to me. I didn’t buy her.”
Actually, Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao had given them money, but she definitely couldn’t reveal this. “Her family said that they couldn’t afford to raise the child, so they gave her to our family. I didn’t buy her.”
“But you still can’t raise her as a child bride.” The police said the same thing as Mu Jingzhe.
Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao gritted her teeth. It seemed like Mu Jingzhe had snitched on her. She gritted her teeth and swallowed. “I don’t regard her as a child bride. I just took pity on her and adopted her.”
“Then why didn’t you come to the police station to apply for adoption? This is completely illegal.”
The police weren’t that easy to talk to. Seeing that many people from the village had come to watch, they took this opportunity to teach everyone that their old tricks wouldn’t work anymore.
“If your family truly wishes to adopt her, you have to follow the formal adoption procedure. From now on, she will be like your biological daughter and enjoy the same rights as your other children. It’s even more impossible for siblings to get married.
“Also, this child is already at school age. You have to send her to school.”
Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao’s face turned pale when she heard that. This was a result of both fright and anger. She didn’t know why raising a child bride was against the law. Furthermore, there were so many rules. She wasn’t even willing to give Little Zhaodi food and she actually wanted Mu Jingzhe to help raise her. This talk of sending her to school was even more absurd.
At the thought of the money she had spent and the comfortable life she had been leading for the past two days, Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao really didn’t want to send Little Zhaodi away. Why? She had gritted her teeth before spending the money to buy her.
However, she couldn’t be a child bride. She also had to be sent to school.. This wasn’t how one treated a child bride but an ancestor.