The villagers started asking around about the temple where they could get amulets.
Some of them had grandchildren who were pale and thin, and often suffered from minor illnesses; others were old and wanted to ask for a talisman to prolong their lives.
Tang Suxiang looked at her father and said veiledly, "Dad, tell them which temple they came from, so that no one will say you swallowed his daughter's things."
Grandpa Tang gave a vague answer, "I'm too old, I've forgotten which temple it is. I'll tell everyone when I remember."
“Uncle, you’re really getting senile!” Song Yinhua remained polite and courteous throughout. “The only temple in town was demolished a few years ago, and now it’s all farmland.”
Grandpa Tang immediately explained, "I prayed for it before the demolition, and gave it to my second child after he was born."
"What's the name of that temple?" Song Yinhua asked. "You've forgotten too? It's called Yunhe Taoist Temple!"
"I haven't forgotten, it's called Yunhe Taoist Temple!" Old Master Tang panicked a bit, his age making it hard for him to keep up with the younger generation's thinking. "I prayed to that Taoist temple from the wandering Taoist priest. Now that temple has been demolished, and the priest has gone on a wandering journey. You can't pray to him anymore, what a pity."
Song Yinhua immediately turned around and said, "Uncle, I was just talking nonsense. There is no Yunhe Taoist Temple in the town at all, only a dilapidated little temple."
When Grandpa Tang realized he had been tricked, he angrily scolded Song Yinhua, "You ill-mannered brat! I'm your elder, and even your father has to call me uncle. How dare you lie to me?"
"You are an elder, yet you tricked my father, a junior, into giving you the jade pendant I found, and then you turned around and slandered me, throwing mud at me. What do you call this? Disrespectful to elders?!"
“The jade pendant you picked up was a fake. I returned it to your father. I didn’t cheat your family out of anything.”
Upon hearing this, Song Erzhuang became agitated again, "You took that jade pendant and haven't returned it to me! I swear on my life!"
Song Yinhua asked Grandpa Tang, "My father dares to swear an oath, Uncle, do you dare?"
Old Master Tang certainly wouldn't dare; the older he gets, the more he cherishes his life.
He then changed his story: "I have never seen any jade pendant that your father sent, and your father has never shown me anything."
"Grandpa, you keep saying you took the jade pendant and then returned it to my father, but then you say my father never showed you the jade pendant. Which statement is true?" Song Yinhua patiently coaxed, exposing the truth of Grandpa Tang's words.
Old Master Tang kept changing his story.
He told so many lies that he himself couldn't even remember what he had said before.
Everyone present, not to mention the villagers, even Tang Suxiang and her son Song Hanwen, could tell that Old Master Tang wasn't telling the truth at all.
Song Dazhuang stepped forward at this moment to help his father-in-law out of the predicament.
“My father-in-law is old and his mind isn’t what it used to be. How could he possibly remember things from over a decade ago? Today, it was my son Hanwen who was in the wrong; he shouldn’t have hit his second uncle.”
Song Dazhuang intentionally steered the conversation toward a conflict between uncle and nephew, downplaying the fact that his father-in-law had slandered Song Yinhua.
"Hanwen, why aren't you going inside to pour your second uncle a glass of water? Kneel down and kowtow to him to apologize!"
Tang Suxiang was displeased, "Erzhuang is going to chop Hanwen up with an axe, why should we give it to him..."
Song Dazhuang glared fiercely at Tang Suxiang, then quickly winked at his son, Song Hanwen, who immediately went in to pour tea and knelt down to apologize to Song Erzhuang.
Song Dazhuang comforted his younger brother, "Erzhuang, Hanwen is young. You should be magnanimous and not stoop to his level. I'll make him kneel down and kowtow to you. You drink this cup of tea, and that's the end of it for today. No one is allowed to mention it again."
To quell his younger brother's anger, Song Dazhuang kicked his son and scolded him for being outrageous and fighting with his own uncle.
The villagers rushed over to pull and stop him, and Song Dazhuang, taking advantage of the situation, stopped hitting his son.
Song Erzhuang had been shouting for so long that his brain was already oxygen-deprived.
After Song Dazhuang comforted him again and then scolded his son in public, he was momentarily distracted and forgot about seeking justice for his daughter's misdeeds. His attention was drawn to the fight with his nephew.
The surrounding villagers also chimed in, saying that Erzhuang had too impulsive a temper, that he started the fight and even cursed at the other man's mother, so it was no wonder Hanwen retaliated.
But Hanwen is still a junior, and he shouldn't have slapped his own second uncle. He was also at fault.
Both sides were at fault; if each of them conceded a little, the matter would be over.
Brothers, family.
Knowing he had a fiery temper, Song Erzhuang felt guilty after being persuaded.
I feel like I'm the one in the wrong.
I shouldn't have impulsively cursed and even hit people.
The surrounding villagers all advised him to take the tea from his nephew and drink it, and that would be the end of it.
Uncle and nephew, don't become enemies.
Song Erzhuang had been yelling all night, but his anger had subsided by now.
The surrounding villagers all said that he was impulsive and shouldn't have started the trouble; they implied that he was in the wrong first.
The simple-minded and physically strong Song Erzhuang increasingly felt that it was his fault.
He reached out to take the tea his nephew offered when he heard the young woman sobbing.
"Yinhua, why are you crying?"
Song Yinhua lowered her head and wiped away her tears. "My great-uncle swallowed my jade pendant and then turned around and slandered me, throwing mud at me. My aunt spread rumors all over the world that I was dishonest, and people in the surrounding villages were talking about it. Some even called me a thief. I'm a young woman who isn't married yet. My reputation is ruined. How am I supposed to get married in the future?"
Han Zhiyuan took the initiative to cooperate, nodding vigorously and saying loudly, "My mother plays cards at the village store. It's always full of people, all saying that Song Yinhua is dishonest and they say really nasty things. Even Hanwen's wife's family knows about it."
Song Hanwen's mother-in-law muttered, "Why are we coming back to this again? I only heard it from my in-laws' mother."
In fact, she heard most of it from her daughter when she went back to her parents' home, but she couldn't involve her daughter, so she pushed it all onto her mother-in-law, Tang Suxiang.
Tang Suxiang often spoke ill of her brother-in-law's daughter in front of her wife's mother, saying she was a jinx and badmouthing her brother-in-law's family.
Now, her daughter-in-law's mother said that she heard it from her, and she really believed that it was all said by her daughter-in-law's mother.
In an attempt to curry favor with Song Yinhua's family, Han Zhiyuan seized the opportunity to say, "Uncle Dazhuang, Uncle Erzhuang has helped your family so much, yet your family has been slandering their daughter behind their backs, ruining her reputation, and deliberately trying to prevent her from getting married. Your family is an ingrate! You are so ungrateful!"
After he finished speaking, he did not forget to incite the surrounding villagers.
"Don't you all agree?"
The villagers looked at each other, as if to say, "Does he even need to tell us? We've lived in this village for decades, we figured it out a long time ago."
Even brothers can be rich or poor, isn't that just how it is?
With a sob in her voice, Song Yinhua said, "My aunt often asks my mother to help with chores at her house, leaving Caixing and me to do the work at home. My mother wants to get along well with my uncle's family, but they bully us so much. They spread rumors and slander me behind my back. How am I supposed to get married in the future? How am I supposed to face people in the village?"
Song Yinhua cried with great grievance and sadness.
Tang Suxiang immediately defended herself, "You are the reincarnation of a jinx who brought death to your grandparents, that's why no one dares to marry you, don't blame everything on my family!"
While wiping away her tears, Song Yinhua said, "Song Erniu and I were born in the same year. My grandparents passed away that year. Why is it that my grandparents, who were considered a jinx, were killed by me? Why can't it be Song Erniu?"
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