Seeing her son protect his wife, Li Ying grew bolder. Hands on her hips, she opened fire on Luo Guifen: “Your eyes hurt because my son and daughter-in-law sleep in the same bed? Mind your own business! Instead of chewing worms with that idle mouth of yours, why don’t you worry about your plague-ridden pigpen! Built it behind my house, did it backfire? Bet you even fed your son’s two ounces of meat to the pigs! A barren family, that’s what you get!”
This completely ignited Luo Guifen’s anger; her eyes turned red. “Bah! If your son hadn’t been messing around, would my son have suffered this innocent disaster? Just wait! Someone’s coming soon to arrest you two scoundrels!”
“Hahaha!” Li Ying laughed like she’d heard the funniest joke, slapping her thigh. “That lame son of yours? He was thrown into the pigpen by that little bitch Ruan An’an herself! He wanted to cause trouble, but what happened? A girl taught him a lesson! Haha, a crippled man can’t beat a little girl—what a laugh!”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Luo Guifen ground her teeth. “How could my son ever harm An’an? And besides, that frail body of hers—how could she lift a grown man? If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable!”
Li Ying, flustered and angry, shot back without thinking: “You lowlifes don’t understand a thing! That little bitch is devious! Otherwise, how could she have caused my whole family such misery?”
Her words dragged Mrs. Liu into the fray too. The two old women were furious, stars practically spinning before their eyes, wanting to rush and tear her mouth apart.
Xu Yanli, being slightly more tactful than his mother, knew he couldn’t confront them head-on. He quickly stepped forward, putting on a “reasoning man” facade.
“Aunt Luo, Aunt Liu, my mom’s words may be rough, but there’s truth in them. It really was Ruan An’an who harmed Brother Wang. Last night, Brother Wang sneaked into An’an’s courtyard, and An’an, in anger, reacted… sigh.”
He sighed, his tone tinged with “helplessness.”
Since Ruan An’an no longer cared for old feelings and sided with outsiders, he might as well expose her past!
She used to love him so much, and now she’d let him die?
Heartless! She had to be taught a lesson!
Seeing Luo Guifen’s face filled with shock and doubt, Su Qingyue immediately seized the opportunity, timidly adding fuel to the fire. Her voice was soft, like a mosquito, yet each word clear: “Aunt… it’s true. I… I saw it with my own eyes. Brother Wang… he entered Ruan An’an’s house…”
Then, she seemed to use all her strength to lean weakly into Xu Yanli’s arms.
“What… what?!” Luo Guifen’s mind went blank, like she’d been struck by a hammer.
Her son had indeed whispered to her before that Ruan An’an’s delicate little face was enchanting, and sleeping with her would be worth dying for.
Could it be… that reckless boy had really been so brazen, only to be thrown into the pigpen by Ruan An’an?
Mrs. Liu was also shocked and skeptical. Wang the cripple… this actually sounded like something he could do!
At that moment, a military-green jeep kicked up dust as it rolled in.
Thanks to Lingquan water, Ruan An’an’s senses were sharp; she could hear all their filthy words from afar.
Hah, these three really know how to twist black and white flawlessly.
They described it so vividly, as if they were on the scene.
Fine, the stage is set. Let’s see how I make this play even better!
A faint, almost imperceptible cold smile curled at her lips.
The jeep had just stopped when Ruan An’an, holding an oil-paper-wrapped package, obediently ran to Mrs. Liu and Luo Guifen with a perfectly timed expression of delight: “Oh! Aunties, you’re both here? That’s wonderful!”
She enthusiastically unwrapped the paper, revealing the glossy, aromatic half of a braised pork hock.
“Here, brought back from the military district guesthouse, still warm! Aunties, share it and taste it!”
She deliberately turned to Luo Guifen, speaking with concern: “Aunt Luo, is Brother Wang feeling any better? I heard this bone is the most nourishing. Take it home and make him a soup to restore his strength!”
Without waiting for a reply, she shoved half the hock into Luo Guifen’s hands and gave the other half to the still-stunned Mrs. Liu.
Although leftovers, in this era, this shiny, meaty braised pork hock was like heavenly dragon meat to them.
Not to mention half a hock—even the big bone, when used to stew cabbage, would make it incredibly fragrant!
Luo Guifen looked at the heavy, greasy hock in her hands, speechless.
Mrs. Liu exclaimed with delight: “Oh my! An’an girl, is… is this really for us?”
“Yes!” Ruan An’an nodded vigorously, her big eyes sparkling with sincerity.
“I purposely saved it for you Aunties; I barely even let myself eat a few bites!”
At that moment, *** arrived with the guards. Seeing the scene, he sincerely praised the two women: “Comrade Ruan truly has a heart of gold! She spares herself, but remembers you neighbors. In these times, such loyalty is rare!”
The suspicion Luo Guifen had been harboring, stirred by the Xu family, was instantly shattered by this tangible “hock gesture” and the officer’s testimony.
She suddenly lifted her head, pressing the hock into Mrs. Liu’s arms like an enraged lioness, glaring fiercely at the Xu family trio.
“Listen! Listen! See how good An’an is to us, her heart kinder than a Buddha’s! She could harm my son? Absolute nonsense! Only Ruan An’an could be this kind. If it were me, I’d have swept you black-hearted, shameless scoundrels out eight miles away!”
Spittle nearly hit Xu Yanli in the face.
Su Qingyue looked at the glossy hock and the surrounding people instantly switching sides, a surge of panic gripping her.
It was over! That wretched woman was at it again! That hock… those words from the officer… the tide had completely turned!
Her face turned even paler. Clutching Xu Yanli’s arm to feign weakness, her mind went completely blank.
Li Ying, seeing her precious daughter-in-law “frightened” to the point of losing color, felt heartbroken and pointed at Luo Guifen, cursing: “Bah! You barren, lowly wretch! What right do you have to say such things to us?”
“Who the hell are you calling barren?! Who the hell are you calling lowly?!”
Luo Guifen, her pent-up rage fully ignited, let out a roar, rolled up her sleeves, and, like a cannonball, charged forward, yanking at half of Li Ying’s gray hair.
She delivered four crisp, sharp slaps in rapid succession.
“Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!”
Fast and forceful, Li Ying’s head rattled like a drum, her screams sounding like a slaughtered pig.
To Ruan An’an’s ears, the slaps were more delightful than Beethoven’s symphonies.
“Good! Hit her harder!” her inner self cheered.
Outwardly, though, she exclaimed, feigning alarm, rushing forward to intervene: “Ah! Stop hitting! Aunt Luo, please, calm down! Let’s talk it out!”
Mrs. Liu, quick and alert, grabbed Ruan An’an’s arm and urgently explained to ***: “Sir! Sir, see for yourself! It’s not that Guifen loves fighting. It’s just that the Xu family pushed things too far! They slandered An’an, claiming she threw someone into the pigpen! Isn’t that immoral?”
Ruan An’an timely widened her innocent eyes, full of bewilderment and grievance: “Aunties, who are they saying I… threw into the pigpen?”
By now, Luo Guifen, exhausted from hitting, let go and, pointing at the cowering Su Qingyue in Xu Yanli’s arms, shouted angrily: “It’s her! That little bitch Su Qingyue! She said my son wanted to harm you, so you threw my son into the pigpen! She even claimed she saw my son crawling into… into your bed! Shameless whore, spouting lies!”
*** had originally thought rural women squabbling and pulling each other’s hair was common and didn’t intend to interfere.
But when he heard the words “crawling into the bed,” his face instantly turned ashen!
His gaze flashed like lightning, shooting at the Xu family trio, his commanding voice thunderous with rage:
“How dare you slander the purity of a military spouse? You truly have guts!”
Military spouse? Ruan An’an’s engagement to Xu Yanli had already been broken—so how was she a military spouse?