Ning Lu and Yan Bingqin exchanged a glance. They were now almost certain that Ning Yue had done something she felt guilty about.
When Wei Xiaomei saw her sister-in-law Yan Bingqin, her heart filled with hatred.
She still remembered the huge commotion from before, when Yan Bingqin had testified that her elder brother-in-law, Ning Tiedan, had once attempted to assault her.
Although the assault had failed, the thought still disgusted Wei Xiaomei. At first, she had been angry at Ning Tiedan for behaving shamelessly. But the more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that Yan Bingqin was the real problem—that she had been acting flirtatious and tempting men.
Otherwise, why would Ning Tiedan target Yan Bingqin, his younger brother’s wife, instead of any of the many other women in the village?
Wei Xiaomei had always been jealous that Yan Bingqin was prettier than her. Now her resentment was even stronger.
She pointed at a dog near the doorway and cursed loudly:
“Why are you passing by my house, you shameless little bitch of a dog? When you were young, you relied on that fox-spirit face of yours to flirt with men all day long. Then you have the nerve to complain when men harass you? Absolutely shameless!
Your daughter is just like you, always trying to seduce people. Too bad that no matter how hard she tries, she can’t marry into that family. Meanwhile, my Yueyue has already registered her marriage with him!
Serves you right, you shameless mutt!”
Yan Bingqin immediately frowned and stared coldly at Wei Xiaomei.
Wei Xiaomei put her hands on her hips and glared back.
“What are you looking at me for? I’m talking about the dog by the road, not you!”
Before she had even finished speaking, Ning Lu pointed at a roadside rock and began shouting:
“You rotten rock! Look at yourself—short, ugly, and black, smelling like you just crawled out of a latrine!
No wonder your husband doesn’t love you. Haven’t brushed your teeth in three years, have you? Your breath could kill flies!
Your daughter steals men and you’re proud of it. Your husband steals and you’re proud of that too. Your whole family is made up of thieves! Stealing with pride, stealing with honor, stealing your way into prison, stealing your way to execution! Keep stealing! A whole family of thieves!
Shameless thieves! Rotten thieves! A bunch of thieves destined for hell!”
“Thief” had recently become the most common insult directed at the eldest Ning family throughout the village.
Wei Xiaomei reacted as if someone had stepped on her tail. She lunged at Ning Lu.
“Who are you calling a thief? I’ll tear your face apart! Shameless thing! Just as filthy as your mother!”
Ning Lu slapped her hand away.
“You can insult a dog, but I can’t insult a rock? Did that hit a nerve?
Get away from me!
You’re the one with the thick skin. It’s thick enough to stop bullets. After stealing from people, you should be hiding with your tail between your legs, not coming out looking for trouble.
Say one more word and I’ll throw you into a manure pit!”
Wei Xiaomei staggered backward.
She knew she couldn’t beat Ning Lu, but she was so furious that she trembled with rage.
“You two disasters! Fine! Our branch of the family is cutting ties completely with yours! Everything in your house that belongs to us must be returned immediately!”
Yan Bingqin’s face darkened.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. What do we have that belongs to you?”
Wei Xiaomei pointed at the well.
“First of all, this well! My husband arranged for workers to dig it back when he was village chief. He didn’t charge your family a single cent!
So this well belongs to me now! You’re not allowed to use it anymore!”
It was true that Ning Tiedan had not charged money for the well.
However, that was only because Ning Tiegen had given him other benefits in return.
Several older villagers who had come to watch confirmed that Ning Tiedan had indeed helped arrange the construction of the well without taking payment.
Yan Bingqin couldn’t be bothered arguing.
“Fine. Then take the well away.”
Wei Xiaomei immediately found a large iron lock and locked up the well.
She couldn’t think of anything else that belonged to the second branch of the family, but this alone made her feel triumphant.
She wanted to see how the second branch would survive without access to the well.
After all, several villagers had witnessed everything.
Meanwhile, Ning Yue had gone to the Lin family home.
Ning Lu and Yan Bingqin had only just returned. Their house had been empty for a week and needed cleaning, and there was no hot water left in the thermos.
Worried about her mother’s health, Ning Lu refused to let her do any work.
“Mom, I’ll go fetch water from the village well. The two of us don’t use much water anyway. Besides, I think there’s something strange about that well. There were a lot of dead ants around it. If we can’t use it, we can’t use it.”
Yan Bingqin nodded.
“All right. Go get the water. I’ll stay here and look around to see if we can figure out what’s been wrong.”
Ning Lu quickly grabbed a carrying pole and two buckets and headed out.
Wei Xiaomei deliberately sat beside the well in front of Ning Lu’s house, washing clothes.
When Ning Lu returned carrying two buckets of water, Wei Xiaomei looked at her smugly and mockingly.
She deliberately scooped up a ladle of water and drank it.
“Oh my, having a well right outside the house is so convenient. It’s deep too. The water tastes wonderful…”
Ning Lu ignored her and carried the water into the house.
Wei Xiaomei remained by the well, not daring to curse openly but constantly making sarcastic remarks.
Beside her sat another village woman named Auntie Li, who was close friends with her. The two of them took turns chiming in.
“From now on I’ll keep this thing locked. It’s my well, and I’ll see who dares use it! If I catch anyone stealing water from my well, I’ll curse that little bitch to death!”
Auntie Li laughed.
“You’re absolutely right, Xiaomei. Curse anyone who dares use it!”
Then suddenly she screamed.
“Oh my God! Xiaomei, what’s wrong with you?!
You’re vomiting blood!
Help! Somebody help! Ning Tiedan’s wife is vomiting blood!”
With a loud thud, Wei Xiaomei collapsed onto the ground.
The ladle fell from her hand and clattered beside her.
Ning Lu and Yan Bingqin immediately ran outside.
Auntie Li was panicking.
Ning Lu sneered.
This Auntie Li was the mother-in-law of one of the women who had died in the village’s earlier tragedies.
Back then, she had bullied her daughter-in-law to death during the postpartum period.
Now she was enjoying watching someone else’s misfortune.
Ning Lu immediately pointed at her.
“You were just sitting here talking to her the whole time. How did she suddenly start vomiting blood? Was it you?”
Auntie Li waved her hands frantically.
“No! No! It wasn’t me! I was just talking to her! She was washing clothes. She got thirsty while talking and drank some water!”
The villagers quickly gathered and rushed Wei Xiaomei to the hospital.
As blood poured from her mouth, Wei Xiaomei stared around in terror.
“What’s happening to me…?”
It felt as though all of her internal organs were burning.
Ning Lu followed them to the hospital.
She was worried that if anything happened, someone might try to blame her family.
More importantly, she was convinced that Wei Xiaomei had been poisoned.
And the intended victims had originally been her and Yan Bingqin.
So she needed to go along and find a chance to uncover the person responsible.
By the time Wei Xiaomei arrived at the hospital, her pupils were dilated. She was rushed straight into emergency treatment.
Several villagers gathered outside discussing what might have happened.
Those who had witnessed the dispute over the well explained the situation.
“This really has nothing to do with Yan Bingqin and Ning Lu. They’d only been home for less than half an hour. Wei Xiaomei started provoking them first. Then she sat by the well washing clothes and drinking water. Ning Lu and her mother never even touched her.”
Everyone quickly realized the same thing.
There was something wrong with the well outside Ning Lu’s house.
Meanwhile, at the Lin family home…
Ning Yue was taking care of Lin’s mother.
Lin Anguo had gone out to borrow money because he needed to pay for his mother’s medical treatment.
When no one would lend him any money, he reluctantly gathered all the old books and study materials that Ning Lu had previously helped him obtain and sold them as scrap.
Lin’s mother kept demanding hand-pulled noodles.
“The hand-pulled noodles Ning Lu made were so soft. She’d add fried little crucian carp, and the soup was fresh and fragrant. Even the broth was delicious.
Ning Yue, you can make them too, right? My son likes you so much. You must be even more capable.”
The truth was that Ning Yue had barely done any household work growing up.
But now she could only force herself to try.
Making dough turned out to be much harder than she expected.
She added too much water, so she added more flour.
Then there was too much flour, so she added more water.
Then there was too much water, so she added more flour again.
The cycle repeated over and over until Ning Yue stared blankly at the bowl.
She had used up every bit of flour in the Lin household.
Before she could figure out what to do next, a village girl came running over, panting heavily.
“Ning Yue!
Your mother has been poisoned! She might not survive!
Hurry and go see her!”
The mixing bowl slipped from Ning Yue’s hands and crashed to the floor.
Dough scattered everywhere.
Without another word, she turned and sprinted toward the hospital.