“Awake is awake. What do you mean ‘somewhat awake’?”
The Women’s Director’s face darkened. “Chen Pozi, faking a faint to fool everyone, what kind of scene are you trying to make? Are you trying to divert everyone’s attention from your son?”
“Ouch, it hurts! The cold really got to me. Ouch, my head is so dizzy, I think I’m going to faint again…”
Chen Pozi clutched her stomach, crying out in pain, but stubbornly said, “I was freezing all day. If you don’t believe me, ask Sister Chunhua.”
Being called out, Wang Chunhua’s legs felt a little weak under the villagers’ gazes. But thinking of the reward Chen Pozi had promised, she steeled herself and stepped forward to testify.
“Yes. When I saw Chen Pozi, she was squatting in the river, and her face was blue from the cold. She probably got sick from the cold right then.”
“How coincidental. While everyone else was holing up at home for the winter, Aunt Chunhua just happened to be taking a stroll by the river and just happened to see my mother-in-law catching fish.”
“However…”
Su Nian changed the subject, drawing the villagers’ attention back to Chen Pozi.
“Mother-in-law, let’s first talk about the matter of me forcing you to break the ice to catch fish.”
Su Nian pointed at the retreating Wang Chunhua and questioned Chen Pozi in a stern voice, “Aunt Chunhua said I had a craving and forced you to go into the river in the dead of winter to catch fish as an apology, that I was abusing you. Since everyone is here, why don’t you tell them why you had to catch fish? Was it because I wanted to eat it and forced you?”
“I…”
In front of everyone, Chen Pozi glanced fearfully at Su Nian, trembled all over, and timidly said with her head lowered, “Yaozu’s wife, whatever you say goes… You didn’t want to eat it. It was me. I wanted to curry favor with you. It was my own doing.”
“My fainting tonight wasn’t because I was chilled during the day, either. It’s because my own health has always been poor.”
The way she said it, it was as if she had said nothing, yet at the same time, she had said everything.
“Ha!”
Su Nian was so amused by Chen Pozi’s shamelessness that she laughed.
She knew Chen Pozi could act, but she never expected her to be this good at it.
“So, from what Mother-in-law is saying, you’re still blaming me for forcing you to catch fish and getting sick from the cold.”
Su Nian raised an eyebrow, getting straight to the point. “In front of the brigade party secretary and everyone else, make yourself clear. Did I force you? Just answer yes or no. You don’t need to say anything else.”
Chen Pozi hemmed and hawed.
“What are you afraid of!”
The brigade party secretary impatiently rapped his knuckles on the tractor’s hood. “Tell the truth! The entire village is here today. If anyone tries to settle scores with you and give you a hard time when you get home, I’ll be the first to deal with them!”
“Alright!”
Chen Pozi wiped away a tear and said in a small voice, “Yaozu’s wife said that she must drink fish soup to produce milk after giving birth. It’s a tradition passed down in the Su family. If I couldn’t get any fish, she would… Our family is poor, I really had no other choice but to catch them myself.”
“It’s not Yaozu’s wife’s fault. She was pampered since she was a child; chicken, duck, fish, and meat were her daily fare. It’s me who’s useless and couldn’t withstand the cold.”
“Yaozu’s wife, if you’re angry, take it out on me. Please don’t take it out on Yaozu, beating him, scolding him, and locking him out of the house in the middle of the night.”
Chen Pozi wept, snot and tears streaming down her face, indirectly explaining why Chen Yaozu had been climbing through the window in the middle of the night.
“That child has a sleepwalking disorder. He can’t be agitated. The moment he’s agitated, it acts up…”
“Comrade Su, your tyrannical behavior in the Chen household is simply too much!” The brigade party secretary’s brows were furrowed so tightly they could have crushed a fly. “As the party secretary, I will absolutely not tolerate such wickedness! A penalty! There must be a heavy penalty!”
Su Nian watched quietly, not rushing to interrupt. Only after the brigade party secretary had finished did she say faintly, “Secretary, I admire your hatred for evil and your upstanding character. But please, hear me out before you pass judgment.”
“Mother-in-law spoke with such sincerity, even I felt sympathy listening to her.”
She stared at Chen Pozi’s face, which was showing a hint of triumph, and gave a mocking smile. “However, I am allergic to fish and shrimp. For me, eating fish is a life-threatening act.”
Fearing the villagers wouldn’t understand what an allergy was, Su Nian explained in simple terms.
“An allergy can be considered a type of illness, an incurable one at that. Everyone’s body is different. Some people don’t have it, but others will have a severe reaction to specific foods. After eating them, a mild case would be breaking out in a rash on the spot, while a severe case could lead to suffocation and death due to swelling in the throat.”
She lowered her head and gave a bitter smile. “Unfortunately, I am allergic to all fish, shrimp, and seafood, and a very severe case at that. I didn’t know when I was little and almost lost my life.”
“What? Impossible!”
Chen Pozi’s hand, which was wiping her tears, froze. Meeting Su Nian’s deep, dark eyes, she felt a sense of panic. “You’re lying! How could there be such a coincidence!”
“You say you’re allergic to fish and shrimp, I could say I’m allergic to meat!”
Wang Chunhua knew she and Chen Pozi were two grasshoppers on the same rope. If Chen Pozi was punished, she wouldn’t be able to escape either, so she had to chime in. “Empty words are no proof. Who would believe you!”
“I know you all don’t believe me. How about this? Whichever of you aunties has fish at home, lend me a little. We’ll know if it’s true or not once I take a bite.”
“I have some at my house. I’ll go get it right now.”
A woman in a military-green padded jacket stood out from the crowd. “I believe Comrade Su wouldn’t lie to us.”
Su Nian glanced at the brigade party secretary, walked over to the woman, and bowed in thanks. “I’ll have to trouble you, Auntie. I will pay you back for the fish you lend me.”
“It’s alright. This little bit of fish is nothing, Auntie can afford to treat you. You wait here, I’ll go get it now.”
The woman patted Su Nian’s arm sympathetically, then spat in the direction of Wang Chunhua and Chen Pozi, her face full of disgust. “Black-hearted wretches. Comrade Su just gave birth. I don’t know how she offended you two that you’d team up to frame her!”
The woman trotted off with her storm lantern and returned shortly after, holding a coarse porcelain bowl of fish aspic, which she handed to Su Nian.
“Here, Comrade Su. Auntie just cooked this last night.”
Su Nian thanked her, picked up the chopsticks, and swallowed a small piece of fish.
Watching Su Nian’s calm and composed demeanor, Wang Chunhua’s heart began to pound.
If Su Nian dared to borrow fish to prove her allergy, then she was most likely truly allergic!
Since she was allergic to fish, why did she go through such a roundabout way to prove it? What was her goal?
Thinking of Aunt Niu, who had coincidentally appeared in Su Nian’s room tonight, Wang Chunhua subconsciously pulled her hand away from Chen Pozi’s grasp. A chill rose from the soles of her feet, making her tremble all over.
They had fallen into Su Nian’s trap!
Su Nian probably knew about the mother and son’s scheme all along. She kept quiet, just waiting for them to jump into the pit themselves!
First, she had Aunt Niu hide in the room to catch Chen Yaozu.
Then, she pretended to be unaware, exposing their scheme bit by bit in front of the villagers!
Just as Wang Chunhua was horrified, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
“It’s red, it’s red! She’s really breaking out in a rash!”
On Su Nian’s fair face, sesame-sized red bumps were popping up one after another, a shocking sight.
The skin that hadn’t broken out was also affected, swelling up and turning a rosy red.
Her palm-sized face instantly swelled by a size, making her original features almost unrecognizable.
“I didn’t deceive you, nor did I lie. I am truly allergic to fish and shrimp.”
A crystalline sheen veiled her almond eyes. Su Nian choked back a sob and rolled up her sleeves to show the villagers. “I was afraid of suffocating and not making it to the hospital in time, so I only ate a tiny bite.”
Only then did everyone realize that the symptoms on Su Nian’s face were relatively mild. Her arm, hidden under her sleeve, was even worse, covered in a dense layer of overlapping red bumps that were glaringly red.
“Comrade Su is really allergic to fish! It’s Chen Pozi and the others who were lying!”
“Ha, so many bumps from just one bite. So an allergy can really be fatal! It seems Chen Pozi isn’t the fool, Su Nian is. Marrying into the Chen family and ending up with a mother-in-law like this, and a husband consumed by lust who disregards her life.”
At this point, there was no longer any suspense about who was right and who was wrong.
It was a settled fact that Chen Pozi and Wang Chunhua had framed and wronged Su Nian.
But what the crowd couldn’t figure out was, although Su Nian’s class background was not good, she was educated, knew medicine, and was beautiful. She earned as many work points as a strong laborer.
What family wouldn’t treasure such a capable daughter-in-law? Why would Chen Pozi stir up trouble and ruin Su Nian’s reputation?
“What else could it be for? She’s got nothing better to do and doesn’t want peace in the family.”
“The way I see it, Comrade Su is too capable. Chen Pozi wants to ruin her reputation to control her and snatch her dowry.”
The villagers gathered in small groups, whispering among themselves. Though their voices were low, they were loud enough for everyone to hear.
“I… I suddenly remembered I have something to do at home…”
Wang Chunhua backed away with a fawning smile, trying to slip away with a random excuse.
But before her heel had even left the ground, the brigade party secretary’s furious gaze swept over. “Did I say you could leave? Stand right there!”