“Who eloped with someone?”
A voice suddenly came from outside the crowd.
Everyone turned around, and a chorus of screams immediately erupted.
“Ah! A wild boar!”
“Run!”
The women scattered in all directions. Some of the braver men quickly grabbed whatever they could find—bricks, stones, wooden sticks, and anything else they could use as a weapon—and prepared to attack the wild boar.
Yu Huan’s father, Ling Yuan, and Zhao Liye were standing at the back of the crowd. They were still trying to process the sudden turn of events when the wild boar spoke again.
“What are you all doing?”
“Oh, heavens! The wild boar… The wild boar can talk! H-Has it become a spirit?”
An older man holding a wooden stick began trembling so badly that he could barely keep hold of it.
“D-Don’t talk nonsense! How could there be supernatural creatures after the founding of the People’s Republic?” a relatively bold young man instinctively argued.
“Then what is this?” someone else asked.
“This is my daughter.”
Yu Huan’s father pushed through the people blocking his way and approached the wild boar.
“What? The wild boar has turned into the village chief’s daughter?”
One rather dim-witted young man blurted out, still unable to understand what was happening.
A hand immediately smacked the back of his head.
“You idiot! That’s Yu Huan!”
“Ah? Wasn’t Yu Huan supposed to have eloped? How did she turn into a wild boar?”
The people standing beside him were completely speechless.
What an idiot!
“Huanhuan, are you alright?”
Yu Huan’s father looked at the enormous wild boar. Its massive body was so big that it completely obscured his petite daughter’s figure.
Seeing that everyone was practically scared out of their wits, Yu Huan hurriedly threw the enormous wild boar she was carrying onto an open patch of ground.
THUD!
The loud crash startled everyone all over again.
Only then did they realize that the wild boar hadn’t actually become a supernatural creature. There had simply been a person hidden underneath it!
“Oh my goodness! So it was Yu Huan! You nearly scared me to death!”
After hearing the loud crash, the women who had fled earlier worried about their husbands. Those who lived nearby returned carrying rolling pins.
“Didn’t they say Yu Huan had eloped with someone? How come she’s come back carrying such a huge wild boar?”
“Seriously, that wild boar is enormous! It must weigh over a thousand pounds!”
“Is Yu Huan really that strong? How come we’ve never heard about it before?”
“My goodness! With strength like that, who would dare marry her?”
As the women continued chatting, the topic somehow drifted off in another direction.
Yu Huan looked at her father with a puzzled expression.
“Dad, what’s going on here? What elopement? Me? Eloping with someone?”
Her father didn’t have time to ask her anything else. Instead, he quickly explained what had happened.
After listening to him, Yu Huan’s gaze swept meaningfully toward Niu Lanhua, who was hiding behind Widow Niu.
So this was what she had been planning!
The villagers who had previously suspected Yu Huan of eloping now looked at the wild boar on the ground and then at Niu Lanhua.
Those who were quick-witted immediately figured out what had happened.
Niu Lanhua had been lying and deliberately slandering Yu Huan!
But why?
The two of them had practically no connection whatsoever. They rarely interacted, and there had never been any obvious conflict between them.
The last trace of daylight on the horizon finally disappeared.
Some families who had originally planned to help search for the missing person had brought out torches. The courtyard of Widow Niu’s house was now brightly illuminated, almost as if it were daytime.
Most of the villagers were still completely confused. They looked from Yu Huan to Niu Lanhua, unable to understand what was going on.
Yu Huan’s expression remained emotionless. Under the light of the torches, her eyes seemed to burn with flames.
She slowly walked toward Niu Lanhua.
“Sister Lanhua, we’re from the same village. We’ve never had any past grudges or recent conflicts. Why would you deliberately ruin my reputation?”
Yu Huan’s voice carried no obvious anger whatsoever.
However, ever since Yu Huan had appeared, Niu Lanhua had been trembling and hiding behind Widow Niu.
Now, faced with the intimidating presence Yu Huan unconsciously exuded, her mind was in complete disarray.
Seeing her daughter behaving this way, Widow Niu’s heart sank.
Could it be that her daughter really had made up the whole story and deliberately ruined someone else’s reputation?
“You little brat! Say something already! Explain yourself properly!”
Widow Niu pinched Niu Lanhua’s arm and scolded her angrily.
Feeling the pain in her arm, Niu Lanhua finally snapped out of her daze. Her voice trembled as she spoke.
“I… I was standing quite far away… Maybe I saw the wrong person. I… I really didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Just because you say you didn’t mean to do it, does that mean you can spread rumors about anyone you want? And why didn’t you accuse someone else? Why did you specifically claim it was me and damage my reputation?”
Yu Huan looked at Niu Lanhua’s frightened expression.
She then asked, “Tell me the truth. Did someone put you up to this?”
“No! No one told me to do it! I simply mistook someone else for you!”
Niu Lanhua shook her head repeatedly, her voice noticeably louder as she immediately denied it.
Thinking about the threats that person had made, Niu Lanhua didn’t dare admit that someone had instructed her.
Before Yu Huan could say anything further, she hurriedly took several steps toward Yu Huan’s father.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Village Chief! My eyesight isn’t very good. I didn’t see the person clearly and ended up talking nonsense.”
“I’m sorry! Please, don’t report me to the police and have me arrested!”
Niu Lanhua repeatedly apologized and bowed to Yu Huan’s father.
Her explanation actually dispelled some of the villagers’ suspicions. Perhaps she really did have poor eyesight and had simply made a mistake while trying to help.
Meanwhile, Song Yujie had stayed at the Yu family home and managed to calm Yu Huan’s mother down. However, he hadn’t been able to stop several other women from coming over.
Yu Huan’s mother had heard from Sister-in-law Wang that her daughter might have eloped with someone. She immediately followed Sister-in-law Wang and the others over in a panic.
She had only just arrived when she heard Niu Lanhua apologizing.
Her anger immediately flared.
She rushed forward and confronted her.
“You couldn’t see clearly, so you just made up whatever you wanted? If you had really ruined my daughter’s reputation, what would she have done with her life afterward?”
“You can take something that never happened and invent an entire story about it. What other lies are you incapable of making up? You ruin someone’s life and then simply say you didn’t mean to do it. Do you think that’s acceptable?”
“Today, you must apologize to my daughter in front of everyone!”
Yu Huan’s mother was furious. Her expression was stern, and her tone was unusually harsh, a complete departure from her normally gentle demeanor.
Seeing how angry her mother was, Yu Huan quickly stepped forward to support her. Her father also came over.
For a moment, the entire courtyard fell silent as everyone watched Niu Lanhua.
Widow Niu hurried forward, grabbed her daughter’s arm, and dragged her in front of Yu Huan’s family.
“Village Chief, I’m truly sorry. Lanhua knows she was wrong. I’ll make her apologize to Yu Huan right now.”
As she spoke, she gave Niu Lanhua’s hand another painful pinch.
“I’m sorry. I was standing quite far away that day and couldn’t see the person clearly. When I heard that the village chief was looking for someone, I remembered that the person was wearing clothes similar to Yu Huan’s. So I assumed it was her. I didn’t actually know who the person was. I was just talking nonsense.”
Niu Lanhua spoke through her tears.
At this point, she only wanted to settle the matter as quickly as possible and calm the village chief’s family’s anger.
Whether this incident became something serious or was simply brushed aside depended entirely on the Yu family’s attitude.
“Huanhuan, Sister really didn’t do it on purpose. I just spoke without thinking. I’m sorry. Please forgive me!”
Seeing Niu Lanhua crying pitifully and offering what appeared to be a sincere apology, the surrounding villagers began speaking up in her defense.
“Village Chief, I think Lanhua already knows she was wrong. As long as everything is explained clearly, that should be enough.”
“That’s right. Lanhua rarely comes back to her parents’ home, and she isn’t very familiar with your Yu Huan. It’s understandable that she might have mistaken someone else for her.”
The older women and aunties continued taking turns trying to persuade the Yu family.