The young boy whom Su Nian’an had pulled to his feet had not even answered yet when the older woman who had forcibly taken Su Nian’an’s seat lost her temper first. She pointed at Su Nian’an and shouted, “You little brat! Born to a mother but raised without one! He was sitting there perfectly well, so why did you pull him up?”
Seeing how fiercely the older woman defended the boy, the expressions of the people around them instantly changed.
With the way this woman was reacting, if that boy were not her own grandson, how could she possibly defend him like this?
Did Su Nian’an look like someone who could be intimidated by a rude old woman? Back when she had grown up as a left-behind child under her grandparents’ care, if she had not been quick with her words, who knew how badly she would have been bullied in the countryside?
“If you want someone to blame, then blame yourself. You clearly have a mother but no upbringing, yet you’re turning around and insulting someone else’s grandmother, aren’t you?”
After throwing out that remark, Su Nian’an shifted her gaze back to the boy and said with a faint, almost mocking smile, “Having a grandmother who loves taking advantage of every little thing, constantly argues with the neighbors, and is disliked wherever she goes… Even if she usually protects you, you must find her pretty annoying too, right?”
Those words immediately drained the color from the boy’s face.
He did not argue with Su Nian’an. Instead, he looked at the older woman and said, “I’m not sitting there.”
A boy of his age clearly cared a great deal about his pride. On top of that, he looked rather timid, making it obvious that he had always been controlled by his domineering grandmother at home, which had shaped his personality this way.
A grandson like this did not necessarily have a particularly close relationship with his grandmother.
On the contrary, at his age, if everyone around him disliked his grandmother, and her personality was indeed this unpleasant, it was entirely possible that the boy himself did not like her either.
He had simply always enjoyed the conveniences his grandmother provided for him, so he had never stopped to think about it.
But now, Su Nian’an had directly exposed that hidden relationship, leaving the older woman utterly humiliated.
“You wicked girl! How dare you sow discord between me and my grandson!”
With that, the older woman abruptly stood up and lunged forward, intending to slap Su Nian’an across the face.
With the strength Su Nian’an possessed, she had nothing to fear.
Just as Su Nian’an was about to strike back, a slender, handsome hand so perfectly formed that every finger looked as though it had been carefully sculpted by God gripped the older woman’s wrist, stopping her.
Su Nian’an turned her head and saw an impossibly handsome face right in front of her.
Yet between the man’s brows was a distinctly cold and stern expression. His entire body radiated an aura that seemed to say, “Stay away,” making people instinctively shiver.
Combined with his aloof, noble air, it made people even more reluctant to approach him and strike up a conversation.
It was as though time had suddenly stopped.
Everyone around them stared at the man who had reached out and stopped the older woman from hitting Su Nian’an.
The clothes he wore looked like ordinary coarse cloth garments that anyone from a common household might wear, yet somehow, on him, they looked completely different. He was still strikingly handsome.
“Oh, look at that! Here comes someone who just loves meddling!” the older woman said.
She tried to pull her hand back, only to discover that she could not move it at all.
“Let go! Why are you grabbing my hand?” she demanded.
The man frowned deeply and said, “You were in the wrong first, yet you’re still lashing out in anger and trying to hit someone.”
“What does it have to do with you? Could it be that this woman is your old lover, and you’re trying to help her?”
The words were vicious, and the woman seemed capable of making up malicious rumors without even thinking twice.
Everyone knew how important a woman’s reputation was in this era. Although Su Nian’an was someone who had crossed over from another time, she knew perfectly well that rumors could ruin a person’s life.
But this older woman was simply too malicious, actually spreading such a filthy rumor about the two of them right in front of everyone.
Su Nian’an had never been particularly good-tempered to begin with. How could she possibly tolerate this?
She immediately swung her hand and slapped the older woman across the face.
Several people standing closest to them were so shocked that their jaws practically dropped.
Good heavens!
This young woman was really bold.
She looked delicate, petite, and soft, yet she had actually dared to slap that unreasonable old woman right across the face!
The older woman was stunned as well after receiving the slap.
She covered her aching cheek and pointed at Su Nian’an, stammering, “You… you… you…”
The pain in her face made her hesitate to throw herself at Su Nian’an and start wrestling with her.
“You took my seat. I simply used your own method to take the seat back. Then you tried to hit me. When a kind-hearted person stopped you, you resorted to spreading rumors and falsely claiming that there was something going on between me and him. There are so many people watching right now. You can casually spread rumors and slander me, ruining my reputation. Do you believe I’ll call the police?” Su Nian’an said with a cold laugh.
“You… you hit me, and now you’re saying you’re going to call the police?” The older woman stared at Su Nian’an in disbelief.
“I hit you because you spread malicious rumors about me! And besides, you were the one who tried to hit me first. You just happened to be stopped before you could do it.”
The commotion between the two had gone on for quite a while, and it had attracted quite a lot of attention.
After the people around them recovered from their initial shock, they began discussing the matter among themselves.
The young man sitting opposite Su Nian’an frowned deeply before speaking.
“Didn’t that older woman and her grandson pretend not to know each other at first? I arrived the earliest, and from beginning to end, I didn’t hear the two of them exchange a single word.”
“Then it was deliberate. They pretended not to know each other so they could occupy the seat beside the one she had bought a ticket for. Someone like that clearly planned it in advance. No matter who ended up sitting in the seat she wanted, she probably intended to snatch it.”
“And when she saw it was a young girl, that woman became even more aggressive. She just didn’t expect to pick a fight with someone who wouldn’t back down.”
“Exactly, exactly. The country is trying to improve the overall level of public conduct, yet there are always people like this who are rude and unreasonable.”
Hearing that not a single person around her was taking her side, the older woman’s face turned ugly.
The arrogance and viciousness in her eyes gradually gave way to guilt and uneasiness.
And it was not only the older woman who was receiving strange looks.
Her grandson was too.
The boy had his pride. Being caught in a situation like this only made him feel even more irritated.
He looked at his grandmother, who was normally so domineering in the village that she acted as though she ruled the entire place.
But now, for once, he could see panic in her eyes.
For some reason, the sight made him feel an even stronger sense of disgust toward her.
“Grandma, hurry up and give the seat back to her.”
Hearing this, the older woman felt even more humiliated.
She could willingly give up the seat herself. Even if Su Nian’an had told her to switch seats, she could have accepted that.
But she absolutely could not accept being ordered to do so by her own grandson.
In front of a child, she felt as though her authority had been challenged.
“You’re just a child. Why are you butting into the adults’ conversation? Didn’t I tell you to keep quiet? You’ve always been such a stupid child. I found you a seat to sit in, and you don’t even know how to be grateful…”
As these unreasonable words came pouring out of her mouth, the people around them all revealed undisguised disdain in their eyes.
She treated even her own grandson this way, acting as though she had to be the emperor of the household, as though everyone around her owed her something.
Dealing with unreasonable people like this was truly troublesome.