Mu Shangyu was getting a headache from all the noise. He shot a harsh, furious glare at Qi Ruobing.
Qi Ruobing had no choice but to force an awkward, apologetic smile. “Zhaozhao, I only made this one plate of dumplings to help your uncle regain his strength. How about you eat this instead?”
Saying that, she pushed a bowl of plain rice porridge toward Mu Zhaozhao.
Hmph! Let’s see what she has to say now. It’s not like I didn’t give her food. Besides, she can’t go snatching food from her elders.
Hearing this, Mu Zhaozhao beamed brightly. “Sure thing! Since I’m young, plain porridge works for me—Achoo!”
Losing her balance with a sudden jerk, she sneezed directly onto the plate of dumplings.
This sudden move instantly left both Qi Ruobing and Mu Shangyu utterly stunned. They stared at her blankly, as if frozen in place by a spell.
Mu Zhaozhao rubbed her nose and said with a touch of apology, “Uncle, I’m so sorry. I caught a bit of a cold. Please, go ahead and eat the dumplings—Achoo!”
As she spoke, she aimed right at the dumplings and let out another loud sneeze.
“Achoo!”
“Achoo!”
Three times, four times…
Once she was thoroughly satisfied, she rubbed her nose and sat down. “It’s all because Aunt tried to steal the family property last night and stirred up such a fuss. I caught a draft while catching the thief! I’m really sorry. Don’t just stand there staring, go ahead and eat!”
After saying this, she even blinked her innocent, fox-like eyes twice.
Mu Shangyu looked down at the plate of dumplings, now thoroughly coated in Mu Zhaozhao’s saliva, and completely lost his appetite.
He stood up abruptly and gritted his teeth. “You eat it. I’m not hungry.”
Mu Zhaozhao continued to smile sweetly. “Uncle, are you in a rush to head out? Alright then, I’ll force myself to eat these dumplings.”
Qi Ruobing glared at Mu Zhaozhao with resentment, her mouth shut tight.
Mu Zhaozhao picked up a dumpling with her chopsticks and ate it with delight. Just now, she had deliberately done that to gross them out; it had been all show and noise, without actually spraying any saliva.
She glanced at Qi Ruobing—who looked like a bruised, black-eyed hanged ghost—and smacking her lips loudly, ate even more heartily.
She was infuriating enough to drive someone to an early grave.
Just as Mu Shangyu reached the front door, a deafening pounding echoed against the entrance.
“You damned girl, get out here right now!”
Mu Shangyu crossed his brow in frustration and pulled the door open.
In an instant, Qi Ruobing’s parents barged in aggressively, flanked by her two brothers.
The moment they entered, their eyes scanned the room. When the younger brother, Qi Da, spotted Qi Ruobing in the dining room, he pointed at her and shouted, “Mom, Dad! The ungrateful traitor is right over there!”
Seeing this, Qi Ruobing glared back fiercely. She already had a belly full of rage with nowhere to vent, and here they were.
Qi’s parents rubbed their eyes, barely recognizing Qi Ruobing, whose bruised and swollen face resembled a pig’s head.
However, they didn’t care how she had gotten injured. Mother Qi shouted in a rage, “You damned girl! How dare you trick us with rocks! You made your father and me sweat to death carrying them, only to find two boxes of heavy stones when we got home! You wasteful piece of trash, how did I raise such an ungrateful wolf? Curse you!”
Hearing this, Mu Zhaozhao’s eyes curved into crescent moons. She picked up another dumpling and enjoyed the show while eating.
Qi Ruobing asked in shock, “What? The two boxes you carried away were rocks too?”
“Damned girl, stop playing dumb! You just didn’t want to give us the money—you did it on purpose!” Father Qi pointed at her nose and yelled curses.
Upon hearing this, Mu Shangyu abandoned his plans to leave. He walked back over and demanded sternly, “Qi Ruobing, last night you swore up and down that those eleven boxes of gold bars were given to your parents’ family. What on earth is going on here? Speak!”
“What? Sis, you didn’t give us a single bar of gold! You lied to Brother-in-law? What kind of hidden scheme do you actually have?” the second brother, Qi Er, shouted along.
Qi Ruobing was completely bewildered now, clueless as to where things had gone wrong. How had she ended up taking the fall for such a massive scapegoat?
Swallowing a mouthful of dumpling at the dining table, Mu Zhaozhao remarked nonchalantly, “Aunt, you stole money from my Mu family and lied to both sides. Did you really hire a secret lover on the outside?”
Her words exploded in the living room like a clap of thunder!
Father and Mother Qi’s triangular eyes flared. “What? You damned girl! You have money to keep a secret lover, but no money for us, and you lied to both sides? You’ve completely lost your mind!”
With that, they stepped forward in big strides and rained down a barrage of punches and kicks on Qi Ruobing.
Qi Ruobing couldn’t even make a sound to defend herself.
Mu Zhaozhao watched with cold detachment. Being born into a family that favored sons over daughters wasn’t Qi Ruobing’s fault, but having a twisted conscience and framing others certainly was.
When Mother and Father Qi grew tired from beating her, the two Qi brothers finally stepped in to pull them back. “Mom, Dad, stop hitting her for a moment! Ask her where the lover is first—getting the money back is what matters!”
Hearing this, Qi’s parents quickly stopped. “Right! Who is that secret lover of yours? Speak!”
“If you don’t talk, I’ll beat you to death and pretend I never raised you!”
Once her parents stopped beating her, Qi Ruobing clutched her head and collapsed onto the floor in a limp heap. She whimpered weakly, “There really is no secret lover… I don’t know where the money went either!”
Hearing this, Mu Shangyu stepped forward with long strides. He looked down at her with a ruthless expression. “Still refusing to tell the truth? Last night, didn’t you swear that you gave the money to your parents?”
Father and Mother Qi turned to look at Mu Shangyu, softening their tone. “Son-in-law, we definitely didn’t take a cent from this wretched girl. Forget eleven boxes of gold bars, we didn’t even see a single one. She’s lying!”
Although they acted tough toward Qi Ruobing, they were still intimidated by Mu Shangyu.
When it came to such a massive amount of money, things had to be made clear. Otherwise, if Mu Shangyu got displeased, he might throw their entire family behind bars.
Mu Shangyu questioned Qi Ruobing with a icy face, “How do you explain yourself now? If you won’t confess, where is your secret lover?”
Shaking her mangled, pig-like head, Qi Ruobing sobbed, “Shangyu, there really is no secret lover!”
After saying that, she suddenly pointed at Mu Zhaozhao. “It’s her! It must be her who stole the eleven boxes of gold bars to frame me!”
Aside from that, she couldn’t think of any other possibility.
Having watched the show while finishing off most of the plate of dumplings, Mu Zhaozhao patted her stuffed stomach and giggled:
“Aunt, you’re framing me again. I didn’t even step out of the house yesterday, and all the neighbors can testify to that. How could I possibly be capable of stealing eleven boxes of gold bars out of thin air? Why don’t you search the place and see where I could have hidden them? Aunt, acting all sneaky last night… did you get your lover to steal the money and swap it with rocks first, then trick both my uncle and your parents, while trying to pin the blame on me on top of that? Tsk tsk… what a brilliant scheme to kill three birds with one stone.”
“I didn’t! Mu Zhaozhao, shut your mouth!” Qi Ruobing screamed like a madwoman.
Mu Zhaozhao covered her ears, looking disgusted. “Uncle, my aunt’s head is probably broken. If you ask me, you should just send her to a mental hospital. She’ll confess much faster there. I guarantee that in less than three days, she’ll definitely tell you where both the secret lover and the money are.”
Hearing this, Mu Shangyu felt that Mu Zhaozhao made sense. Eleven boxes of gold bars couldn’t just vanish into thin air, and besides, such heavy items were impossible for a frail girl like Mu Zhaozhao to carry away.
It had to be Qi Ruobing colluding with a secret lover to steal them.
With that thought in mind, he glared at Qi Ruobing and said, “You really are mentally unstable. It’s high time you spent some time in a mental hospital.”