As soon as the words were spoken, everyone turned to look.
It was a little girl of seven or eight.
“Lili, don’t just raise your hand for no reason—you mustn’t make things up!”
“I’m not making things up.” Lili walked up to Jiang Fusheng, clutching her vegetable basket.
It was only now, as she drew closer, that Jiang Fusheng noticed the bruises on Lili’s face.
It was clear she’d been beaten.
Her body trembled slightly; the original owner had once been beaten into this state by Jiang Fu.
Lili took a deep breath. “If I tell you, will you give me this one yuan?”
“That’s right,” Jiang Fusheng nodded. “But you can’t lie.”
Xiao’s mother, standing nearby, sighed and interjected, “This child is very honest; she wouldn’t lie.”
Hearing this, Jiang Fusheng opened her palm to reveal a one-yuan note. “Here.”
“It was Uncle Jiang Fu who killed the rat.”
Having said that, Lili reached out and grabbed the coin, tucking it into her pocket, thinking to herself that she could finally buy medicine for her mother.
The onlookers hadn’t heard clearly and began asking Lili who she was referring to.
But Lili paid no heed to them; clutching her vegetable basket, she ran off as fast as she could.
Jiang Fusheng sneered, “My guess was spot on.”
Although the Xiao family were not well-liked in Heping Village, given their formidable reputation, no one would dare to provoke them lightly.
Anyone capable of going this far must harbour a deep-seated grudge.
And at the moment, the only people she could think of were her own parents.
Having been forced to hand over 500 yuan, and unable to stand up to the Xiao family, her father must be seething with anger.
Knowing her father as she did—a hot-tempered and impulsive man—he surely couldn’t wait until nightfall to take action.
“So it was him who did this today!” Mother Xiao snapped out of her daze, so enraged that she tore off the corn leaves, gathered up the dead rats one by one, then pinched their tails between the leaves and lifted them up. “Lai Di, I’m going to your house to settle the score. If you’re afraid, you can go home first.”
“I’m not afraid!” Jiang Fusheng shook her head, raising her hand and clenching her fist. “My father has gone too far! Auntie, I’ll stand by your side through thick and thin!”
“Then let’s go!”
And so, the villagers, clueless as to what was happening, followed Jiang Fusheng and Xiao’s mother in a daze.
It wasn’t until Jiang Fuseng stopped outside the Jiang family’s courtyard wall that the villagers finally realised what was going on.
“Are these the relatives of Lai Di who threw that dead rat?”
“Judging by the look of them, nine times out of ten they are!”
“That’s just despicable!”
“As for despicable, who could be as despicable as the Xiao family?”
“What’s going on? What’s happened?”
“You lot don’t know, do you? Jiang Laidi got divorced, and not long after, she remarried Xiao Changhe…”
The villagers murmured and chattered amongst themselves.
Jiang Fuseng paid them no mind. Recalling the layout of her parents’ courtyard, she stood in a specific spot and said to Xiao’s mother, “Auntie, stand over there and throw it towards this spot—you’ll need to aim high.”
“Oh, right.” Xiao’s mother was puzzled, but she did as she was told.
The villagers were all curious as to why she had to throw it from a specific spot.
Plop.
Eh?
What on earth has fallen into the water?
“Ah—”
“Who! Who on earth has the nerve to throw a dead rat into my well!”
“Stop it!”
Chen Shuying’s deafening, frantic shout rang out across the courtyard.
Xiao’s mother paid no heed, flinging the dead rat into the well in a matter of seconds. She then clapped her hands and laughed, “Lai Di, well done! That’s taken the wind out of her sails!”
The courtyard gate swung open.
Chen Shuying stormed out, fuming. “Who did this? Who… Lai Di? You—was it you?”
Mother Xiao shielded Jiang Fuseng behind her and stood her ground against Chen Shuying. “I did it!”
Chen Shuying was fuming with rage. She pointed a trembling finger at Mother Xiao. “What gives you the right to throw a dead rat into my family’s well? That’s the well we drink from!”
Mrs Xiao retorted, “It was your husband who first threw that dead rat into my maize field!”
Chen Shuying snapped, “Nonsense!”
Mrs Xiao folded her arms. “Whether it’s nonsense or not, why don’t you call Jiang Fu out here to face the facts!
“He’s out. It couldn’t possibly be…”
“What’s going on? Why are there a bunch of people gathered outside my door?” Jiang Fu’s voice cut Chen Shuying off.
The villagers parted to make way.
Just as Jiang Fu was about to step forward, he saw Mother Xiao glaring at him menacingly and was so frightened he dared not take another step.
“Yao-zu’s father, you’ve finally come back!” Chen Shuying, as if she’d been waiting for a saviour, trotted over and began to weep, “That unfilial daughter of yours brought outsiders here and threw dead rats into our well, and she even claimed you were the one who threw dead rats onto the Xiao family’s land first.”
Jiang Fu’s heart skipped a beat.
Surely not. How on earth did they know it was him?
“That’s impossible. It couldn’t have been me.” Jiang Fu waved his hands, his heart pounding with panic, his eyes fixed on the gate to his own courtyard.
“Well then, let’s go and sort this out with them.”
“I’m tired. I…”
“Where are you off to?” Chen Shuying grabbed Jiang Fu as he turned to head home. “They’ve been throwing dead rats into our well. Aren’t you going to do anything about it?”
Jiang Fu remained silent.
“Hah.” Xiao’s mother strode over, her eyes brimming with scorn. “Does he dare to do anything about it?”
Jiang Fu’s face flushed crimson. “You Cen woman, don’t push your luck!”
“I wonder who’s really pushing it.” Jiang Fusheng stepped forward, though she remained hidden behind Mrs Xiao, peeking out. “Dad, you threw dead rats into Aunt Xiao’s maize field, causing all that maize to rot. You’ll have to pay compensation!”
“Compensate for what? Why should I pay compensation! I’m not paying a penny!” Jiang Fu gritted his teeth, glaring malevolently at Jiang Fuseng.
That damn girl!
I should have sold her off last night!
Jiang Fusheng blinked innocently. “If you don’t pay up, suppose Aunt Xiao calls the police? Throwing dead rats to spoil the crops isn’t a major offence in itself, but those rats are poisonous. That’s practically the same as poisoning. You’d be locked up for a few days—and that’s not worth the trouble!”
“You!” Jiang Fu was so enraged that his vision went blurry once more.
Chen Shuying, however, let her eyes dart about and drew a logical conclusion. “Well then, when you lot threw that dead rat into my well just now, by your own logic, wasn’t that poisoning too?”
Jiang Fuseng narrowed her eyes slightly. “Who saw us throwing a dead rat into your well?”
Chen Shuying snorted lightly and looked at the villagers. “Didn’t you all see it?”
Everyone nodded in unison.
Seeing this, Xiao’s mother’s expression shifted slightly.
This… by saying that, hadn’t Lai Di just shot herself in the foot?
What on earth were they to do now!
However, Jiang Fuseng wasn’t the least bit fazed. She stretched lazily and said nonchalantly, “Are you sure you saw it?”
The crowd: “We saw it!”
Jiang Fuseng nodded slightly, pursed her lips, and offered a forced smile. “Then you’re all accomplices!”
The villagers were baffled. How had they become accomplices?
“Jiang Laidi, you can eat whatever you like, but don’t go spouting nonsense!”
“I’m not spouting nonsense!” Jiang Fusheng shrugged. “You said you saw it, but you didn’t stop it! Tell me, when someone is committing a crime, who would just stand by and watch quietly?”
No one could think of a reply straight away.
Only Li Mei, in a rare flash of inspiration, suddenly raised her hand and exclaimed excitedly, “That’s exactly what an accomplice is! Only an accomplice would stand by the perpetrator, watching without intervening!”