Su Xiumei spoke slowly and deliberately, her voice not loud, but like a thunderclap, instantly silencing the noisy scene.

Then, with a "whoosh," all the bones in the basket were dumped out, a white expanse spread out in front of Mao Xiaoli.

The piles of bones, some resembling animal bones and others vaguely resembling human bones, terrified the surrounding villagers, who turned pale and scrambled back, their cries of alarm echoing throughout the area.

This huge pile of bones looks eerie and has an indescribable eeriness to it.

Meng Shuyun strode forward, grabbed Mao Xiaoli's hair, and slammed her face against the pile of bones. She angrily questioned, "Is this what you're talking about? Does it look familiar? You've become addicted to sneaking into our house and throwing bones. Do you think the Meng family are stupid? That we can't see through your little tricks?"

Mao Xiaoli struggled desperately, but Meng Shuyun's hands were like iron clamps, and she couldn't break free no matter what she did.

Sharp bones sliced ​​across Mao Xiaoli's old face, drawing blood. She kept shouting, "Impossible! Impossible! How could you possibly know?!"

She did it so secretly, always arriving late at night, when even the village dogs were fast asleep. How could the Meng family possibly notice?

Over there, the fake Taoist priest, his face bruised and swollen, couldn't take it anymore and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Stop hitting him! Stop hitting him!"

Meng Kangshun grabbed him by the collar, lifted him up like a chick, and said coldly, "If you tell the truth, we'll stop and give you double the money. Have you thought it through?"

The fake Taoist priest, already beaten beyond recognition, his face swollen like a pig's head and blood still trickling from his mouth, dared not hesitate any longer. He nodded hastily, his hand trembling as he pointed at Mao Xiaoli:

"It was her, it was her! She gave me five yuan to pretend to be a fortune teller. I'm not some Taoist priest from Mount Wushen, I'm just a fortune teller under the overpass. She asked me to talk nonsense!"

Meng Kangshun tossed him aside with disgust, threw him on the ground, and clapped his hands as if they had gotten dirty.

When the truth came out, everyone suddenly realized what had happened and turned their anger towards Mao Xiaoli, hurling accusations at her one after another.

"Aunt Mao, I never thought you were this kind of person! You almost made us believe your lies! You almost got Sister Meng into trouble!"

"Yes, you're just blatantly jealous. You didn't raise your own daughter well, and you're blaming Sister Meng. I think you're the real culprit."

"You can't steal my business, so you resort to this? You're so malicious!"

Su Xiangyang was furious. He kicked the stinky Taoist priest in the leg and said viciously, "Because of you, you've ruined our family's banquet. It's already a favor that we haven't called the police and had you all thrown in jail!"

Su Xiuju, holding Deng Jiaqi's hand, said slowly with a faint, cold smile on her face, "I called the police. They'll be here soon."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a bicycle bell rang, and two policemen arrived on bicycles.

Looking at the chaotic crowd, the police officer asked sternly, "The public reported that someone here is practicing feudal superstition!"

"Officers, these are the two people who are engaging in feudal superstition here!"

"Yes, you should arrest them all quickly. We don't believe in that stuff. They're all in cahoots, deliberately causing trouble!"

The crowd pointed and pointed, automatically making way for Mao Xiaoli and the stinky Taoist priest.

Mao Xiaoli's hair was disheveled, and she looked like a madwoman. She shook her head and held a pile of bones, shouting, "I didn't put these here! I didn't put these here! There was clearly a baby girl here too, why is she gone!"

The Taoist priest, upon seeing the police, was so frightened that his legs went weak and he wet his pants. He cried out that he was innocent, pointing at Mao Xiaoli and protesting, "Officer, I didn't do it! It was this woman who gave me money to say those things on purpose!"

Thus, the two were detained on the spot by the police, and this farce finally came to an end.

After the banquet, the Meng family cleaned up the courtyard, and the whole family sat together to eat the noodles cooked by Su Xiumei.

After a busy day, none of us had a proper meal.

Su Xiuju ate her noodles with gusto, saying with a regretful expression, "It's a pity that my second brother and sister-in-law didn't come back, otherwise it would have been even more lively!"

While feeding Mingyue and Minghui complementary food, Su Xiulan chimed in, "That's right, I wonder how they are doing in Beijing, they've been gone for two months already."

As Meng Shuyun slurped her noodles, she thought to herself, "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings; I have to walk my own path."

Now she can't interfere with so much, she just hopes that Xiaoli and Xiaojuan, along with Mingyue and Minghui, can grow up safely.

Meng Shuyun put down her chopsticks and looked at Su Xiuju and Meng Kangshun, saying seriously, "Xiuju, Kangshun, starting tomorrow, come back to class on time. You still have to take the college entrance exam. The current policy still allows it, but in a year or two, it will be difficult to go to college."

Su Xiangyang, who had been eating in silence, stopped eating when he heard this and looked at Meng Shuyun expectantly. Seeing that she didn't mention him again, he became a little anxious.

He also graduated from high school! Why doesn't Mom suggest letting him go to university too?

He looked at Meng Kangshun, a hint of jealousy and anger flashing in his eyes.

Before, his mother doted on him the most, but now that Meng Kangshun is here, she always thinks of him first when there are good things, and it seems like he has no status in the family anymore.

Su Xiangyang felt a pang of sadness, and his eyes reddened. He chewed the noodles in his mouth hard and said, word by word, "Mom, I want to go to university too."

All eyes turned to him, but after a moment, as if they hadn't heard anything, they went back to eating their noodles.

Without Meng Shuyun speaking, no one in the family dared to utter a sound.

Su Xiangyang got a little anxious, slammed the bowl and chopsticks on the table, and loudly repeated, "Mom, I want to go to university too!"

Meng Shuyun put down her chopsticks and glanced at him sideways.

With just one glance, Su Xiangyang wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.

"I...I was too loud just now..."

“If you want to take the college entrance exam, then go ahead and take it. You’re an adult now, do you still need me to take you to the exam hall?” Meng Shuyun said coldly.

Su Xiangyang was overjoyed, thinking his mother had agreed, but upon closer listening, he realized something was off about her tone.

"Then, the tuition, and the teacher..." There was still a hint of expectation in his eyes.

Meng Shuyun sneered twice, her eyelids drooping, and said, "Who's going to school, you or me? Can't you figure out your own tuition and teachers? Are you brainless?"