"What a misfortune for our family," Wang sighed, shaking her head. "Do your second uncle and aunt know?"

Yuan Doudou shook her head and then nodded; now the whole village probably knows.

An Bihuai's yard is located behind Yuan Doudou's house, very close by.

The small courtyard was packed with people.

Qian slumped to the ground, her face ashen, with a conspicuous bruise on her forehead.

"Mother, I don't want to live anymore," Qian said, her voice hoarse as she sobbed.

Zhuang Shuhui, with a mournful face, grabbed Qian Shi's arm and comforted her without tears: "What foolish thing did you do? Ping'er was just out of her mind and fell for that vixen's tricks. I've already beaten him up for you. From now on, you two should live your lives well. I will stand up for you."

Her three sons' weddings had drained the family's savings. If they really got divorced, she would have to make arrangements for Anping's future, which would cost another sum of money.

We absolutely cannot let them leave.

An Bihuai squatted at the door, puffing hard on his pipe, feeling like he was about to be driven to his death by his eldest son.

To dare to do such a shameful thing in broad daylight is to utterly disgrace him.

"Father, I know I was wrong." Anping knelt before An Bihuai, his back straight.

He knew he was unlucky; he was caught red-handed on his first attempt at cheating.

It turned out that on that day, as soon as Yuan Doudou left, An Bihuai went up the mountain with an axe, saying he was going to cut bamboo for the greenhouse.

They bumped into a couple holding hands.

There was nothing wrong with it, but Anping just couldn't behave himself and put his hand on Li Xueqing's place where she shouldn't have.

An Bihuai was so angry that she almost fainted.

An Bihuai glanced at An Ping and the more he looked, the more he saw his lecherous face.

"Anping, I'm so disappointed in you." An Bihuai was so worried he was practically fuming. He was very forgiving of his son's mistakes.

But what he was most worried about was whether Li Xueqing's family would let Anping off the hook.

Anping hung his head, letting his father scold him.

The noise outside the door grew louder.

"The An family are all dead. They can't even control what's in their crotches. They might as well just cut it off."

Before you see him, you hear his voice.

An Bihuai's heart skipped a beat; as expected, disaster was unavoidable.

"Oh, it's Sister Wang! It's lunchtime, I'll go cook a few dishes, please stay and have some." Zhuang Shuhui put on a smile, her mouth stretching to her ears.

Zhuang Shuhui and Wang Cuihua have always been evenly matched in Anping Village, and this time, they are determined to settle the score.

"I wouldn't dare eat at your house. My daughter is threatening to die. I'm here to demand an explanation. What are you planning to do about this?" Wang Cuihua's round body spun around in the yard like a ball.

Zhuang Shuhui chuckled and said, "We know that the child made a mistake and must be feeling bad. I'm thinking of having Anping apologize to her, and that will be the end of it."

Wang Cuihua stared wide-eyed in surprise and anger: "What did you say? This is just going to be over like this?"

Now that the whole village knows, she no longer needs to worry about saving face, and naturally she won't let the An family off the hook.

"Sister-in-law, don't worry."

Zhuang Shuhui was seething with anger, her face flushed red. If it weren't for the desire to minimize the damage and resolve the issue peacefully, she would never have humbled herself like this.

An Bihuai, who was watching from the side, rolled his eyes and kicked Anping.

"Get over there and kowtow to admit your mistake."

Anping's head was buzzing. He was the eldest son, and his father had never laid a hand on him.

Zhuang Shuhui was heartbroken.

"What are you doing?" she scolded An Bihuai.

Anping knelt down in front of Li Xueqing, looking aggrieved, and cried, "Auntie, I was being foolish. You can hit me or scold me as you please."

Wang Cuihua spat, "Pah! I wouldn't even want to dirty my hands to hit you."

The thought that this poor boy had defiled her daughter made her feel nauseous and vomit.

He was poor, which was bad enough, but he was also a married man.

"To tell you the truth, I'm here to seek justice. Your Anping took my Xueqing's body and should have married her, but Anping already has a wife. I will never let my daughter be a concubine."

"Then what do you want?" An Bihuai didn't understand.

Wang Cuihua sneered, "I want your family to pay compensation."

Anbihuai breathed a sigh of relief; spending a little money to avert disaster was a good thing.

"How much?" Zhuang Shuhui asked nervously.

As a woman, she had a bad feeling.

"Twenty taels of silver." Wang Cuihua held up both hands.

An Bihuai's knees buckled, and she almost collapsed to her knees.

Zhuang Shuhui immediately retorted: "Twenty taels? Why don't you just rob me!"

Her fat daughter doesn't deserve it.

Anping remained silent.

His parents wouldn't give him that much money, and he doesn't have any money himself.

Deep down, he felt sorry for Li Xueqing.

"You won't give it to me, huh? Then I'll report you to the authorities right now. I'll sue you for rape," Wang Cuihua said viciously, her triangular eyes flashing with cold light.

Anping was so frightened that his legs went weak, and he clung to Zhuang Shuhui's leg, begging her.

Zhuang Shuhui doted on her eldest son the most, so how could she bear to let him suffer imprisonment?

“Sister-in-law Wang, are you referring to Xueqing’s idea? Perhaps she doesn’t want to. Since she has a marital relationship with Anping, she must truly care for him. She wouldn’t do something so cruel.”

Wang Cuihua's eyes were fixed on Li Xueqing's words; the person she truly wanted to marry was Wang Qiqiang.

But now, it's simply impossible.

Zhang Aiju is someone who cannot tolerate any flaws.

"Don't try to fool me. I'm her mother, and I'm the one who makes the decisions in this matter," Wang Cuihua said coldly and ruthlessly.

When An Bihuai saw that she was determined to extort them, he could only admit defeat and blame himself for having such a good son.

“Wang Cuihua, since you don’t appreciate my kindness, I’ll lay it all out in the open. It takes two to tango. I’ve heard that your daughter took the initiative in this matter.”

Those outside heard a murmur of dismay.

The moral climate is deteriorating; people are truly arrogant to an extreme degree.

Wang Cuihua was so angry that her eyes rolled back and her mouth trembled, unable to utter a word for a long time.

"Speechless now, huh? She's an unmarried young woman, doing something like this. How dare she come to your door and extort money? I haven't even gone after you yet." Zhuang Shuhui said confidently.

"You, you, you, you've really gone too far." Wang Cuihua took half a step back.

Zhuang Shuhui became smug: "What do you mean 'you'? You'd better hurry up and look at your precious daughter, or she might secretly hang herself." Zhuang Shuhui used her trump card.

Wang Cuihua stood still, thinking quietly to herself. Since the matter had already happened, she could only try to find a solution. Seeking connections or using verbal threats were not advisable, as they would ultimately affect her son's resume.

“If you want compensation, fine, ten taels of silver.” An Bihuai stood up and began to bargain.

Wang Cuihua came to her senses and thought that ten taels was not bad, better than nothing.

“But we need to draw up a written agreement, from now on we will sever all ties and not interfere with each other.” An Bihuai wasn’t well-educated, but he knew a few characters.

Anping was the first to agree, nodding repeatedly.