Chapter 75: Gave Her a Slap
How could he forget? Su Zhaozhao’s stunning actions on the train had been the first time a girl had ever made such a profound impression on him.
Back then, facing a man holding her hostage at knifepoint, Su Zhaozhao had remained unbelievably calm and had even fought back.
So naturally, she wouldn’t be afraid of a situation like today’s.
Xie Huaizheng let go, and Su Zhaozhao ran over.
A crowd had already gathered over there.
When Su Zhaozhao got there, she saw a woman lying on the ground, blood flowing from her body.
She lay there silently, completely still.
Nearby, a woman was shouting curses. "Crazy woman! Deciding to kill herself... serves her right if she dies!"
"Doesn’t even take care of her child, just stays at the hospital all day. All I did was tell her to come home, and she makes a scene by trying to jump off the building?"
"What ’psychological illness’? I think she’s just got water in her brain, completely fooled by those doctors."
Through the crowd, Su Zhaozhao saw Li Xiuhong, her face twisted in a ferocious snarl as she cursed.
"Hey, you! Can’t you just say a few less words? The doctor is on the way." A bystander couldn’t stand it anymore and tried to stop the woman.
"She’s your daughter-in-law, for goodness’ sake. Your son is out there working himself to the bone, leaving his wife and child in your care, and you have to go and drive her to her death?"
"Exactly. Getting her to the hospital is what matters. She’s lost a lot of blood; it’s terrifying to look at."
"What should we do? She’s not... dead, is she?"
Su Zhaozhao lowered her gaze to the woman lying in a pool of blood. It was Wang Dahua, who just the day before had given her such a kind, gentle smile.
But at this moment, she lay on the ground with her eyes closed, seemingly lifeless.
Xie Huaizheng didn’t know this was Su Zhaozhao’s patient. He just stood beside her. Many people recognized Xie Huaizheng, and it was as if they had instantly found their backbone.
"Camp Commander Xie, this is great! You’re here just in time. Let’s hurry and get her to the military hospital. It’s just a few steps away."
"Don’t move her," Xie Huaizheng stopped them. "She’s in serious condition. Moving her recklessly could be even more dangerous. Let’s wait for the doctor."
It was a shame he wasn’t a doctor and couldn’t perform first aid on her.
The wrong first aid methods would only worsen her injuries.
His gaze shifted from Wang Dahua to Su Zhaozhao. Although her back was to him, he could sense an aura of boundless grief radiating from her.
’Do they know each other?’
The next moment, Li Xiuhong rushed in front of Su Zhaozhao. "It was you! You’re the one who harmed my daughter-in-law!"
She reached out to grab Su Zhaozhao, but seeing this, Xie Huaizheng immediately stepped in front of Su Zhaozhao, blocking Li Xiuhong.
When Li Xiuhong saw Xie Huaizheng’s cold, stern face, she recognized him as the famous Camp Commander Xie from the military district.
’This woman actually has a connection to Xie Huaizheng?’
’No wonder she was so arrogant at the hospital. So she got into the hospital by pulling strings?’
’And all that talk about ’psychological illness’—that’s just some capitalist nonsense made up to cheat people out of their money.’
’Only Wang Dahua would get brainwashed like that. She was always fine before, but after one therapy session, she goes and does something like jumping off a building?!’
Li Xiuhong glared at Su Zhaozhao with a ferocious expression, as if she wanted to skin her alive.
Su Zhaozhao looked at Li Xiuhong’s venomous glare and wondered how many days and nights Li Xiuhong had stared at Wang Dahua with that same look.
She placed her hand on Xie Huaizheng’s arm, signaling to him that he didn’t need to stand in front of her.
Xie Huaizheng glanced at her and saw Su Zhaozhao walk toward Li Xiuhong.
Before Li Xiuhong could react, Su Zhaozhao slapped her across the face.
"SLAP!"
The sudden slap left Li Xiuhong stunned.
The other onlookers were also stunned.
Xie Huaizheng immediately moved to Su Zhaozhao’s side, watching Li Xiuhong vigilantly. If Li Xiuhong tried to rush over and attack Su Zhaozhao, he would push her away.
It took a moment for Li Xiuhong to recover. Her face immediately twisted with rage. "You little bitch! You dare hit me?!"
She started to charge forward, but with Xie Huaizheng beside her, his eyes as cold as ice, Li Xiuhong was forced to stop.
"Camp Commander Xie, what is your relationship with her? She just hit me! Why are you stopping me instead of her? You’re a soldier! You’re supposed to be fair and just!"
Li Xiuhong then started wailing to the crowd, "Look, everyone! Is there any law and order left in this world?! She assaulted someone! She hit an old woman like me!"
However, not a single person in the crowd came to her aid. In fact, many secretly felt that Su Zhaozhao had done the right thing.
There were never any secrets in the compound. Most of them had been here for several years and understood the situation.
This Li Xiuhong hadn’t actually been here for very long, but her daily cursing of her daughter-in-law was so loud that it was known throughout the entire compound.
Especially at mealtimes, you could always hear Li Xiuhong’s harsh, shrill voice coming from their apartment.
As for Wang Dahua, she never fought back when cursed at, only shedding silent tears.
Some of the other army wives who empathized with her also tried to talk to her, but it was useless.
And then today, not long after she was discharged from the hospital, some of them had heard Li Xiuhong furiously hurling insults at Wang Dahua.
She was capable of saying the most vile and filthy things.
They had tried to intervene, but it was no use.
Family disputes are the hardest to manage.
They never expected that a short while later, Wang Dahua would jump.
’What a foolish girl!’
After delivering the slap, Su Zhaozhao felt slightly less angry.
She said to Li Xiuhong, "At your age, you still don’t understand the concept of doing good deeds to build virtue. Hitting you is just helping you accumulate some."
She was furious, and the curses just flew out of her mouth.
Li Xiuhong had never seen such a seemingly gentle and frail young woman speak so viciously.
’Cursing me for being immoral?!’
’Those are the kinds of words that should be coming out of my mouth!’
She was enraged. "What did you say? You little... Believe it or not, I’ll have my son arrest you!"
Just then, the ambulance arrived. The paramedics took Wang Dahua to the hospital for treatment.
Su Zhaozhao watched Wang Dahua’s pale face as she was carried away, her body covered in blood.
She remembered how, not long ago, Wang Dahua had looked at her with such a gentle expression.
’Why did it come to this?’
’How long did it take for her to give up on herself?’
The police had also arrived. Seeing such a scene, they couldn’t help but frown and sigh.
It was brutal. Simply too brutal.
’How could something like this happen in a military family compound?’
"Officer, this woman hit me! You need to arrest her and lock her up immediately," Li Xiuhong said, pointing at Su Zhaozhao the moment she saw the police.
However, no sooner had she spoken than countless voices rose up from the crowd. "Have you no shame? She was upholding justice! You hounded someone to death, a slap is getting off easy."
"That’s right! If anyone should go to jail, it’s you! Your son is a soldier, which makes your daughter-in-law an army wife! She’s protected, too."
"Officer, take this old hag away! She’s suspected of murdering her daughter-in-law."
...
The crowd had long since taken a disliking to Li Xiuhong, and now they all started cursing her.
The officer looked at the crowd, then at Li Xiuhong.
In the end, it was Xie Huaizheng who said, "Let’s all go to the police station to give our statements."
Li Xiuhong never expected everyone to turn on her. She was so angry her breathing grew ragged. "You! You’re all crazy!"
Su Zhaozhao said, "I suspect she’s the one who drove her daughter-in-law to jump. There’s something very wrong with her demeanor."