In everyone’s minds, Ye Xiaohua was just a mindless, silly girl. Her father was dead, her mother had run off, and she and her younger brother were the only two children left in the house. They didn’t even know how they were going to feed themselves, yet she was the only one who could still smile. She wasn’t nearly as sensible as her little brother, Xiao Douzi.
A massive swarm of people stood before her, but far from being afraid, Ye Xiaohua only wondered if Old Mrs. Ye’s face would hurt terribly when it got slapped after stirring up such a grand fuss.
In the end, should she use her wood-chopping cleaver, or the sole of her shoe?
At this very moment, Ye Xiaohua had already begun figuring out what to use to slap Old Mrs. Ye’s face later.
“Ahem, ahem…” The Village Chief had been dragged out of bed first thing in the morning before he could even finish his second sleep, so he was quite displeased right now. Especially when it involved the Ye family—the absolute biggest headache in the village—his face was now a mass of wrinkles, completely written over with reluctance. However, as the Village Chief, safeguarding the peace and tranquility of the village was his responsibility.
He let out these two coughs just for those whispering people to hear, signaling them to shut their mouths because it was his turn to speak. “Sister-in-law, speak up then. You dragged me out first thing in the morning to serve as a witness for you. What kind of witness am I supposed to be?”
According to the village hierarchy, Old Mrs. Ye ought to address the Village Chief as Third Brother. In front of him, she didn’t dare act as domineering and arrogant as before; instead, she adopted an incredibly affected and artificial manner, which nearly nauseated Ye Xiaohua.
Can’t throw up, can’t throw up. Breakfast is very expensive.
“Third Brother… boohoo…” Old Mrs. Ye covered her face and wept, while Qin Xiulian, who stood beside her, also wore a heavily knit brow, looking as though she wanted to speak but hesitated.
The Village Chief sighed. “If there’s an issue, just talk about it. What are you crying for? How much grievance have you suffered? Tell me and I’ll settle it for you. Is it because of these two children?”
Old Mrs. Ye nodded through her tears. “Yes… I truly have no face left to see anyone.”
Ye Xiaohua didn’t know if Old Mrs. Ye had been this way since her youth or if she only acted like this in front of the Village Chief, but it was truly revolting.
She was getting impatient. If Old Mrs. Ye didn’t say it soon, she would say it herself.
“Third Brother, ordinarily, family scandals shouldn’t be aired in public.”
Bullshit. Ye Xiaohua snorted in disdain. Look at this dense, dark mass of people that had packed their small courtyard to the brim; some who truly couldn’t squeeze inside had even sat up on her family’s low wall.
Ye Xiaohua was just waiting. Her family’s low wall couldn’t withstand people sitting on it; whoever broke it would have to compensate her for it.
“It’s truly… my heart is just so stifled. Poor Second Brother worked himself to the bone for this family, even giving up his life for it, but in the end, the children he raised weren’t even his own flesh and blood.”
The Village Chief had not expected such a scandalous topic. Shocked, his white beard twitched upward, and his cloudy eyes widened completely round. “What? Sister-in-law, this sort of talk cannot be thrown around lightly.”
“I’m not throwing it around lightly. It’s not exactly something honorable, so why would I make this up? If I didn’t feel aggrieved on behalf of Second Brother, I originally intended to bury this secret for a lifetime.”
How did it suddenly become a secret? Ye Xiaohua expressed her confusion. However, everyone’s attention right now was fixed on the Village Chief and Old Mrs. Ye. Old Mrs. Ye was making all sorts of expressive faces; if they were a few decades younger, Ye Xiaohua would truly suspect there was something going on between the two of them.
It wasn’t time for Ye Xiaohua to speak yet, so she just listened quietly. At the same time, she gripped Xiao Douzi’s hand tightly and patted his head, letting him know not to be afraid—with her around, no one would dare touch him.
“Xiaohua and Xiaodou aren’t the flesh and blood of our Ye family at all. They were born from that wretched woman, Lady Li, committing adultery with someone else.”
In truth, such rumors and gossip had indeed circulated within the village before, but that was just idle talk. Today, the old matriarch of the Ye family had personally come out to confirm it. Everyone felt they hadn’t come in vain today; there really was a good show to watch. However, there were also some kind-hearted people who, upon hearing Old Mrs. Ye speak this way, already guessed the siblings’ impending fate.
“This cannot be spoken of lightly. The implications are heavy. Sister-in-law, do you have proof?” the Village Chief asked cautiously.
“Ai, isn’t it completely obvious?” Old Mrs. Ye pointed at Ye Xiaohua and Ye Xiaodou for everyone to see. “Fellow villagers, take a good look. Which part of these two kids looks like anyone from our Ye family? Furthermore, as for that mother of theirs, what kind of character did she have? I don’t even care to speak of it. Misfortune for the family line, absolute misfortune for the family line! That cursed Lady Li—heaven has eyes, why didn’t a bolt of lightning strike her dead?”
Ye Xiaohua felt it was time for her to say something. She tilted her head up, still intending to play the fool to catch them off guard; this tactic never failed. “Grandmother, what are you saying? I don’t understand.”
“Don’t call me Grandmother! I am not your grandmother.”
“Oh, dead old hag.” Since she wasn’t allowed to call her Grandmother, then she wouldn’t. Who cared anyway?
“Who are you talking to? Who allowed you to call me that?” Old Mrs. Ye had not expected Ye Xiaohua to address her this way. If there weren’t so many people here, she would have slapped her across the face long ago.
Ye Xiaohua narrowed her eyes, putting on an entirely innocent and ignorant look. “You didn’t let me call you Grandmother, and I heard others call you that, so I just called you that too.”
“Who… who called me that?” Old Mrs. Ye demanded.
Ye Xiaohua’s eyes darted around, and her gaze landed precisely on Qin Xiulian. Qin Xiulian hurriedly explained, “Mother, I… I never said such a thing about you. Don’t listen to her nonsense.”
“She’s a fool; would she know how to lie?” Old Mrs. Ye countered, her gaze turning fierce. Qin Xiulian was about to suffer.
In front of others, she called her “Mother” this and “Mother” that with such intimacy, yet behind her back, she actually cursed her like this. Old Mrs. Ye panted heavily in anger.
“Dead old hag…” Ye Xiaohua spoke up once more.
Old Mrs. Ye nearly choked on her own breath. “You are not allowed to call me that!”
“Not allowed to call you Grandmother, and not allowed to call you dead old hag. Then I’ll call you… old crone who refuses to die!” The moment Ye Xiaohua said this, quite a few people couldn’t hold it back and burst out laughing.
As the saying went, when a scholar encounters a soldier, logic fails; and when a decent person encounters such a silly girl, even if they aren’t angered to death, they will lose half their life.
“Did you teach her this too?” Without even asking first, Old Mrs. Ye looked directly at Qin Xiulian beside her. Qin Xiulian felt incredibly wronged; when had she ever said such a thing? She was never one to indulge in cheap verbal taunts. That wretched silly girl actually dared to frame her!
“Mother, it really wasn’t me. How could I possibly say that about you? I didn’t. You didn’t say ‘old crone who refuses to die’…”
“Shut your mouth!” Old Mrs. Ye was truly about to explode with rage.
Ye Xiaohua looked at Qin Xiulian, who was desperate to explain herself. Needless to say, this idea must have been cooked up by her again. She was the mastermind; if she was going to deal with them, she would deal with both of them together.
“If Xiao Douzi and I don’t look like Father, then Eldest Cousin doesn’t look like Eldest Uncle either. Is it because we are all the same, and none of us are children of the Ye family?” Ye Xiaohua tilted her innocent little face up and asked a question that was, to Qin Xiulian, incredibly malicious.
Qin Xiulian had suffered a loss last time, but she had assumed the silly girl had truly just spoken on a whim. Now, however, she realized she was wrong. This silly girl didn’t seem so silly anymore; she was trying to drag her down with her!