The moment they heard Xu Shuning’s voice, everyone in the courtyard turned toward the entrance.
When Xu Hongtao saw her return, his anger immediately flared. Without even thinking, he began interrogating her.
“Where did you go today? Why weren’t you at home?”
Xu Shuning calmly explained, “I was bored at home, so I went out for a walk.”
As she spoke, Zhong Yan came storming toward her.
The moment she reached Xu Shuning, she slapped her across the face without saying a word.
“You little bitch! Tell me, was this your doing?”
Xu Shuning had already noticed what she intended to do. The instant the slap came toward her, she subtly turned her head and let the force carry past her, making sure the blow didn’t actually hurt.
The people around them all sucked in a breath when they saw Zhong Yan hit Xu Shuning.
Someone immediately stepped forward to defend her.
“Mrs. Xu, aren’t you being unreasonable? Shuning just got back. She doesn’t know anything yet. Why are you hitting her?”
Xu Shuning covered her cheek and looked at Zhong Yan in disbelief, her eyes filling with tears.
“Auntie Zhong, why did you hit me the moment I came back? What did I do wrong?”
Her voice was as pitiful as could be, and she looked as though she had suffered an enormous injustice.
Zhong Yan didn’t care what anyone thought.
She raised her hand again, intending to strike Xu Shuning a second time.
“It was you, you little bitch! Tell me, were you the one who robbed this house?”
“When we left this morning, everything was perfectly fine. The moment you weren’t home, the house was robbed. You must have colluded with the thieves, didn’t you?”
“And you hurt my Siyao too! You wicked little bitch! How could you be so vicious? Why don’t you just go die!”
Zhong Yan was genuinely on the verge of losing her mind.
The Xu family’s home had been completely looted, and now something had happened to Xu Siyao as well. She had completely lost her reason.
She lunged toward Xu Shuning like a madwoman, trying to hit her again, but the people around them hurried forward and held her back.
“Mrs. Xu, you’ve been too badly shaken. What does any of this have to do with Shuning?”
Xu Shuning hid behind the others, looking both hurt and bewildered, tears shimmering in her eyes as though she were about to cry.
“Auntie Zhong, what are you talking about? The house was robbed?”
“And Siyao… What happened to Siyao? Did something happen to her too?”
“I just came back from outside. I really don’t know anything. Besides, why would I hurt Siyao? She’s my sister. How could you think something like that about me?”
Xu Shuning brought out the finest acting skills she had developed over two lifetimes.
Every word and every expression was completely sincere.
She portrayed herself as weak, pitiful, and helpless so convincingly that anyone who saw her couldn’t help feeling sorry for her.
Even Auntie Sun, who had been standing nearby watching the spectacle, couldn’t take it anymore.
She stepped forward and said, “Mrs. Xu, why are you taking your anger out on Shuning?”
“Shuning and I ran into each other this morning when she was leaving the house. Your home hadn’t been robbed yet at that time. Besides, she’s just a young girl. How could she possibly empty an entire house by herself? You can’t just blame everything on her.”
The other neighbors chimed in as well.
“Exactly. Shuning has been a kind and sensible child since she was little. And yet Xu Hongtao’s wife is trying to pin all this on her. Does that even make sense?”
“I never would have guessed that Mrs. Xu, who always seems so gentle and approachable, would actually be like this. Looks like that kindness was all an act. Who knows how much she must have bullied Shuning behind closed doors?”
“Xu Hongtao hasn’t said a word this whole time. He’s just standing there and letting his wife bully Shuning.”
“The Xu family must have offended someone and gotten revenge taken on them. Even if they can’t find the culprit, they can’t just take their anger out on Shuning.”
“And Xu Siyao and that man… Maybe the thief caught them doing something they shouldn’t have been doing and knocked them unconscious. They were the ones behaving improperly, yet they’re trying to blame Shuning for it. That’s shameless.”
The neighbors had already formed their own conclusions.
And that would make things much easier for Xu Shuning from now on.
“Shut up! All of you! What nonsense are you talking about?”
Zhong Yan was furious.
These people didn’t know anything, yet they were standing around making up stories.
Siyao couldn’t possibly have done something like that with Zhao Yang.
She had been set up.
Xu Shuning timidly glanced at Zhong Yan, who was still being restrained by the neighbors.
Then she carefully moved around her and approached Xu Hongtao.
She looked at the silent man, a trace of coldness hidden beneath her lowered eyes.
She really wanted to slap this old bastard into the next street.
He must be heartbroken over all those precious belongings.
Too bad.
What could he do?
They were all hers now.
Suppressing the urge to laugh, Xu Shuning stood in front of him and quietly asked, “Dad, what exactly happened here? Why is Auntie Zhong so angry?”
She knew absolutely nothing.
None of this had anything to do with her.
She was completely clueless.
Xu Hongtao felt even more irritated when he saw the innocent expression on her face.
He didn’t have the energy to deal with her right now.
Everything in the house had been stolen, including all the things he’d secretly hidden.
Those were his savings from all these years.
And they had vanished in less than half a day.
How was he supposed to live from now on?
His back was hunched, and he suddenly looked several years older.
When Xu Shuning asked him what had happened, he simply pointed toward the house, signaling for her to go see for herself.
At first, Xu Hongtao hadn’t been without suspicion toward Xu Shuning.
But after thinking about it carefully, he decided it was unlikely.
She simply didn’t have the ability to pull off something like this.
The neighbors made no effort to hide their disdain as they pointed and whispered about Xu Siyao.
The resentment building inside Xu Siyao grew deeper and deeper.
Xu Shuning noticed her condition.
Deliberately, she walked past Xu Siyao.
When she reached an angle where only Xu Siyao could see her, she slightly curled the corner of her lips into a faint smile.
Xu Siyao was already barely holding herself together.
That tiny gesture completely ignited the fury inside her.
She finally lost control.
Under everyone’s shocked gazes, Xu Siyao suddenly sprang to her feet and lunged viciously at Xu Shuning, knocking her to the ground.
She straddled Xu Shuning and began hitting her repeatedly.
Two aunties standing nearby immediately let go of Zhong Yan and rushed over to pull the two women apart.
But Xu Siyao seemed to have found some inexplicable burst of strength.
The two aunties couldn’t pull her away.
“You damn bitch! It was you, wasn’t it? Everything that happened today was your doing, wasn’t it?”
She had just seen Xu Shuning smirk at her.
Xu Shuning had been taunting her.
Today’s disaster had to be her doing.
She must have overheard the conversation between her and Zhao Yang and then plotted to hurt her.
“You bitch! Why did you do this to me? It should have been you with Zhao Yang!”
“It should have been you! You should have been the one everyone pointed at and despised! Why me? Why did it have to be me?”
“How could a piece of trash like Zhao Yang ever be worthy of me?”
“The person I love is Cui Wenzhou! You should have been the one with Zhao Yang!”
“You did this to me! You must have overheard our conversation today and found out that we were plotting against you, so you came after me, didn’t you?”
“Now my reputation is ruined. I’ve lost everything. Are you satisfied?”
Xu Shuning silently nodded in her heart.
Satisfied?
Of course she was satisfied.
But this alone still wasn’t enough.
“You bitch! Why don’t you just die? You deserve to die! You should die!”