Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Even a Vicious Tiger Won’t Eat Its Cubs

「Two days later.」

Su Tang took a camp vehicle to find Lu Xiao after her afternoon shift ended.

But as luck would have it, the guard at the gate said Lu Xiao had been away on a mission for the past few days and had no idea when he would be back.

Su Tang sighed and asked the guard to leave a message for Lu Xiao.

’Looks like Lu Xiao won’t be able to make it to Sister-in-law Zhang Cui’s wedding.’

In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the wedding. The area under the canopy set up in the open space behind the canteen was packed with people.

Large, red “double happiness” characters were pasted on both sides of the makeshift stage, incredibly eye-catching.

Li Haixin had specially invited Zhao, the man with the loudest voice in the canteen, to be the emcee. Zhao was currently bellowing, “First bow, to heaven and earth.”

Su Tang was talking with Lin Qian while watching the stage.

Li Haixin, dressed in a brand-new blue tunic, was supporting a similarly newly-clothed and blushing Zhang Cui as they were about to bow.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted from the back of the crowd.

“Zhang Cui! How dare you get married!”

The familiar voice made everyone present freeze for a moment.

Wang Jianfeng, like a crazed wild bull, lunged forward and snatched the child from Su Tang’s arms.

Su Tang didn’t dare to pull back, afraid she might fracture Mai Sui’s bones. She had to be careful, but Wang Jianfeng had no such scruples.

He whipped out a knife and swung it around wildly. Su Tang was unlucky enough to be slashed, and her hand went limp, losing its grip.

Wang Jianfeng, tightly clutching a terrified and wailing Mai Sui, violently shoved his way through the crowd and rushed to the front of the stage.

His hair was a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot.

At that moment, the cold tip of the blade was pressed tightly against Mai Sui’s delicate little neck.

Su Tang, ignoring the wound on her arm, was about to go after him but was pulled back by Lin Qian.

In his current state, Wang Jianfeng clearly wouldn’t listen to reason.

If he stabbed her, she would be killed.

The guests instantly erupted into chaos, and screams filled the air.

Mai Sui’s terrified cries were heart-wrenching as her small body struggled in vain within Wang Jianfeng’s iron-like grip.

The tip of the knife had already pressed a startling red line into her tender skin!

“Wang Jianfeng! Are you insane?! Let the child go!”

Li Haixin’s eyes were nearly splitting with rage. He instinctively pulled the suddenly limp Zhang Cui protectively behind him.

Like an enraged lion, he glared at Wang Jianfeng with blood-red eyes.

“If you have a problem, come at me! Don’t hurt the child!”

“Come at you?”

Seeing Li Haixin shielding Zhang Cui, Wang Jianfeng burned with even greater jealousy and burst into crazed laughter, a sound more awful than crying.

“HAHAHA! Come at you? The woman I raised, the child I raised! What makes a worthless cook like you think he deserves them!”

His arm trembled violently with agitation, and the knife tip against Mai Sui’s neck pressed in a fraction deeper!

“No! Wang Jianfeng! I’m begging you! Don’t hurt Mai Sui!”

Zhang Cui let out a desperate cry from behind Li Haixin, her legs giving way as if to kneel.

“Daddy! Mommy! WAHHH…”

Mai Sui’s cries were enough to tear everyone’s heart to shreds.

The festive atmosphere under the canopy was completely gone, replaced only by terrified screams, a child’s wails, and hysterical threats.

Everyone’s hearts were in their throats, their eyes glued to the deadly knife.

“Wang Jianfeng! Put the knife down! That’s your own daughter!”

Zhang Cui struggled behind Li Haixin, her voice hoarse and desperate, tears smearing her bridal makeup.

She wanted to rush forward but was held back firmly by Li Haixin.

“My own daughter?”

Wang Jianfeng reacted as if he’d heard the world’s biggest joke, pressing the knife a little deeper into Mai Sui’s delicate neck.

The sight of that scarlet mark made everyone’s eyes ache.

“If she stays with you, she’ll have to call this lousy cook ’Dad’! I, Wang Jianfeng, can’t bear that shame! Zhang Cui, today you either come back with me, or…”

The madness in his eyes practically spilled out. “Or I’ll have Mai Sui die with me! Let everyone see how you, Zhang Cui, drove your own daughter to her death!”

“You’re full of shit!”

Veins bulged on Li Haixin’s forehead, and his fists cracked as he clenched them.

He wished he could rush over and tear Wang Jianfeng to pieces, but the knife at the child’s neck was like a cold chain, restraining his every move.

He could only stand like a wall in front of Zhang Cui, his eyes locked on that deadly blade.

Just then, a clear voice, tinged with unquestionable composure, cut through the chaos.

“Wang Jianfeng!”

The crowd automatically parted, and Su Tang pushed her way to the front of the stage.

There was no panic on her face, only a calm sharpness as her gaze locked onto Wang Jianfeng’s knife-wielding wrist.

“Look at Mai Sui.”

Su Tang’s voice wasn’t loud, but it reached Wang Jianfeng’s ears clearly.

“She’s only two years old! She’s your daughter, and you’re scaring her so badly she’s shaking all over! Look at the blood on her neck!”

Wang Jianfeng subconsciously glanced down, his eyes meeting Mai Sui’s, which were filled with immense fear and brimming with tears.

The child’s small body was sobbing violently in his arms. She was so frightened that her cries had become intermittent, and her little face had turned purple from lack of air.

That fresh red line was exceptionally stark against Mai Sui’s pale skin.

Wang Jianfeng’s arm trembled almost imperceptibly.

Seizing on that moment of hesitation, Su Tang spoke faster, each word clear and deliberate.

“Wang Jianfeng, you keep saying she’s your daughter, but what are you doing right now? You’re using her life to threaten her mother!

Are you even a man? You looked down on Zhang Cui, hit her, cursed her, and after the divorce, you couldn’t stand to see her doing well!

And now you’re using your child’s life to blackmail her? Ask any father here who among them would do something so cruel to their own flesh and blood!”

Her words struck the hearts of every man present like a heavy hammer.

A few of the more hot-tempered men had already clenched their fists. Someone quietly picked up a nearby shovel handle, glaring menacingly at Wang Jianfeng’s back.

Low murmurs of discussion and accusation began to ripple through the crowd.

“What a piece of scum…”

“Even a vicious tiger won’t eat its own cubs!”

“Let the child go!”

An invisible pressure washed over Wang Jianfeng like a tide.

Su Tang’s words, the contemptuous and angry glares from the crowd, and the increasingly faint sobs of the child in his arms were like countless needles stabbing into his chaotic mind.

The hand holding the knife began to tremble uncontrollably. The tip of the fruit knife, which had been pressed tightly against Mai Sui, moved a tiny distance away from her skin.

“Daddy… it hurts…”

Mai Sui whimpered weakly. Her cry was like the last straw.

“Mai Sui!”

Zhang Cui caught the tiny shift of the blade. At that moment, the maternal instinct that had been submerged in fear and despair erupted with astonishing force.

She suddenly broke free from behind Li Haixin and lunged recklessly toward Wang Jianfeng!

Her target wasn’t Wang Jianfeng, but the small, fragile figure in his arms!

“Get away from me!”

Startled by Zhang Cui’s reckless move, Wang Jianfeng flinched back, his arm instinctively loosening its grip.

’Now!’

Li Haixin, who had been coiled like a leopard ready to pounce, moved.

He was faster than Zhang Cui! He didn’t lunge for Wang Jianfeng but cut in between him and Zhang Cui like a shadow, his target aimed precisely at the wrist of the hand holding the knife.

“Let go!”

Li Haixin roared. The strength and precision he’d honed through years of wok-tossing were pushed to their limit.

His rough, large hand clamped down on Wang Jianfeng’s wrist like an iron pincer.

“AH!”

Wang Jianfeng felt a sharp, numbing pain shoot through his wrist, as if struck by an electric current, and his fingers instantly lost all strength.

CLANG!

The fruit knife, glinting coldly and stained with a trace of Mai Sui’s blood, fell from his grasp and landed on the dirt ground with a sharp sound.

As the strength left Wang Jianfeng’s arm, Mai Sui’s small body went limp and began to slide downward.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep