Countdown to Awakening

Qi Yuanyuan dragged Sun Pandi along for a long distance, both of them breathless.

On the way, the old man from the Xue family stopped them. Qi Yuanyuan tried to break free and continue running, but he held her tightly. "What are you two doing in such a hurry?"

Before Qi Yuanyuan could speak, Sun Pandi said, "Uncle Xue, we have something urgent to do. We need to go find the village chief..."

"That's unfortunate. The village chief is not at home right now. He's in the provincial capital on business."

After hearing this, the two of them looked at each other with despair. Qi Yuanyuan asked, "Then, when can he come back?"

Seeing the two people's eager eyes, the old man of the Xue family thought for a moment before answering, "That's hard to say, but I heard he said he could be back today." As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Yuanyuan said to Sun Pandi, "Then go to my house first, and delay it as long as you can."

Sun Pandi agreed and was about to run to Qi Yuanyuan's house when several people suddenly came from behind and grabbed her. Qi Yuanyuan just reacted and turned around to grab Sun Pandi.

But she wasn't strong enough and they soon separated.

Chen Juan quickly came to Sun Pandi and stared at her fiercely. Then everyone heard a "pop" sound and Sun Pandi's muffled groan.

Seeing this, everyone frowned silently, as if the slap had hit them in the face.

The resounding slap landed on Sun Pandi's left cheek, and she tilted her head to the side. The slap made her already red face even redder... She looked up at Chen Juan in disbelief. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Beat her in front of so many people?

"You little bitch, what can't I do to you?! I'm already being very polite by letting you finish high school. You eat and use my money, and now you want to use my money for college? Your brother is still waiting for the money to go to high school? You used up all the money by yourself, what will happen to my son?!"

There was no trace of mother-daughter affection in Chen Juan's words, and her face was full of vicious expression.

Then came Sun Pandi's voice begging for mercy: "Mom, please let me finish reading it. Just think of it as you lending it to me. I really want to study. I passed the exam with great difficulty..."

"No! Marry your Uncle Ma in a few days. His family is rich and you will never have to worry about food and clothing. Why will you need to study then? Marry her early to earn some dowry for your brother so that you can support him! We can also get some help from him, as a way of repaying us for raising you!" Sun Panddi was about to say something else when Sun Degui came forward.

"You are such a money-loser! You are a girl, but you still have to get married after studying so much. You might as well save money for my son to continue his studies! You useless thing, what you should do is get married and have children as soon as possible." Sun Degui said.

Sun Pandi grew up hearing these words. She thought that if she studied hard and got into university to prove herself, her family would respect her and give up the idea of ​​marrying her off. She never expected that even if she got into the university she had always dreamed of, her fate would be the same as most other girls in the village.

"You can't do this! Pan Di is not yet of legal marriage age. You are forcing her to get married, which is illegal!" Qi Yuanyuan was fascinated by these words.

Suddenly, I felt that these words were very familiar.

Isn't this what her grandmother said to her? When she was little, her grandparents also disliked her because she was a girl and gave her to her grandmother to raise...

"What do you mean by forced marriage? You're just saying all this nonsense! I'm her mother, so why can't I let her get married? Don't think you're so great just because you read a few books!" Chen Juan turned to look at Qi Yuanyuan. Then, she added aggressively, "Qi Yuanyuan, I haven't even said anything about you yet. This is our Sun family's business, so why do you interfere? You're just a little girl, and you'll get married sooner or later. I advise you not to waste your time studying at university and find someone to marry as soon as possible!"

More and more people gathered around.

Old Mr. Xue, who had just spoken, interrupted, "Sun's daughter-in-law, don't be so ruthless. After all, Pan Di is the first college student in your family, and the first in our village to get a degree. Why are you not letting her go to school? Is she still your daughter?"

Just as Chen Juan was about to say something to choke him, Ma Hui pushed through the crowd and came up.

He looked at Sun Pandi, who looked like a seductive vixen, and couldn't help but smile. Then he reached out and touched his sleek face. "Pandi, a woman can only have a bright future if she marries a good family. No matter how much you study, it's a waste of time and money. You might as well marry me. I'm the richest man in the village, and I can give you a good and stable life."

"Bah!" Qi Yuanyuan said disdainfully, "Who told you that? How can it be a waste of time for girls to study? You're afraid that someone with higher education will look down on you because of your inferiority complex!" Qi Yuanyuan's words made everyone smile secretly. But for Ma Hui's sake, they didn't dare to laugh too much.

"Hey, what do you mean? I'm talking to my wife, why are you butting in? What's your business?" Ma Hui's words were merciless, as if he was telling everyone that he was determined to marry Sun Pandi. Seeing him like this, Qi Yuanyuan didn't dare to go up and pull Sun Pandi away.

Old Man Xue interrupted again: "Ma Hui, you're not normal, are you? How old is Pan Di? You're almost forty, you should at least find someone suitable. Why are you wasting Pan Di?"

Ma Hui turned to look at Old Man Xue, his expression no longer concealing his impoliteness. "Old Brother Xue, you're old, so please don't meddle in our affairs. You're only my brother by seniority, so it's not your turn to take charge. I remember your grandson going to school in town... It's not like our family can't intervene..." Ma Hui's words frightened Old Man Xue.

You know, his grandson was able to go to school in town because he bribed the teacher and the principal. This is a small handle... What if Ma Hui reported it? The village chief is most afraid of tricks...

He instantly lost his confidence and stopped talking, but just watched silently from the side...

"Pandi, listen to me, I've been through this too. It's hard for a woman to find a good husband once she's over a certain age. Although Ma Hui is much older than you, a grown man will care for you. He's also rich. If you marry him, you'll never have to worry about food or clothing." A woman in the crowd "reminded".

"Pandi, don't listen to them. They are all trying to harm you!" Qi Yuanyuan said.

She was afraid that Sun Pandi would listen to their words and look down on her.

"What do you mean by harming someone? I was the one who gave birth to her after ten months of pregnancy. How could I harm my own daughter? You have such a vicious mouth, girl!" Chen Juan glared at Qi Yuanyuan, looking like she wanted to tear her mouth apart.

It's really strange, the girls in the Qi family never cared about these things before...

"Stop it!" Zheng Haifeng's voice came from behind. Everyone turned around.

Zheng Haifeng and his group approached them, seemingly furious. The old man behind him had gray hair and even a white beard, and the wrinkles on his face resembled the grain of a tree. This was the village chief, Zhao Zhikang.

"What are you doing?!" the village chief shouted.

Chen Juan and Sun Degui didn't take the village chief seriously at all.

The village chief squeezed into the crowd and saw Sun Pandi's expression. He couldn't help but feel distressed. Sun Pandi's expression seemed to be asking the village chief to save her... He then turned around and pointed at Chen Juan and Sun Degui and said angrily, "What are you doing? Although Pandi is a girl, she is one of the first college graduates in the village. How can you, as parents, be so cruel as to force her to get married now?!"

"Village chief, there's nothing we can do about it. She'll get married sooner or later. In our generation, we all got married at 18. What's wrong with that? Besides, Ma Hui is kind and caring, and his conditions are not bad..." Before Chen Juan could finish her words, the village chief interrupted:

"What are you talking about! They are from different eras and there is no comparison!"

"What's that, Village Chief? Times have changed, and things are the same." Sun Degui's greed for money was practically written all over his face. "Besides, you're also intervening in our family affairs, Village Chief? Isn't that a bit inappropriate? You're already so old, why don't you just go back and rest and take care of this?" Sun Degui's words implied that the Village Chief was old and useless.

The village chief was furious at this and continued pointing at Sun Degui, "I'm the village chief, and I have the final say on all village affairs! Your affairs are the village's affairs, and I have to take care of them! As long as I'm here, I won't allow you to marry Pan Di to Ma Hui! No one else can do this! You're committing a sin!"