"How can you get Erbao's protective charm? Name your price, but saving Erbao's life is the most important thing." Old Master Tang's tone revealed a sense of forbearance and greatness.
Tang Suxiang chimed in, "Yinhua, this is a matter of life and death! Quickly take out Erbao's amulet. If anything happens to Erbao, you'll become a murderer!"
"Aunt, don't try to pin this on me. If you have evidence that I switched the items, then show it. Don't just rely on your words. Isn't this blatant bullying?"
Grandpa Tang was so angry he could only watch helplessly. "What a sharp-tongued girl! Erzhuang, look at the girl you raised, she has no manners at all!"
"Uncle, if you're so well-mannered, then don't slander me!" Having experienced life's trials in her previous life, Song Yinhua no longer feared her elders and could now look them in the eye as equals. "If you're so well-mannered, then please show everyone the jade pendant, whether it's real or fake. Don't just blame me with your words. You can't produce any evidence, and you can't even produce the jade pendant. Are you trying to get something for nothing? Are you using this as an excuse to extort money from my family?"
"Your family is so poor, who would try to extort money from you?" Tang Suxiang sneered.
"Then show us what you call fake amulets!"
Song Erzhuang was also curious about what kind of talisman was so precious. "Yinhua is right. What kind of talisman is it? Show it to me so I can see it too."
"Dad, let them see it!" Tang Suxiang couldn't stand it anymore. "It's a fake jade pendant, and they're treating it like a treasure! Fine, let them see it! Tang Bao, bring the jade pendant over here..."
"What are you doing, talking so much!" Old Master Tang shouted at Tang Suxiang.
Tang Suxiang is forty-five years old, and her granddaughter is already a few years old. She was still scolded by her own father in front of the younger generation, which made her very embarrassed.
"Grandma, the jade pendant!" Her granddaughter ran out while playing with the jade pendant.
"Who gave you permission to give this to the child to play with?" Old Master Tang angrily reached out to take the jade pendant, but Song Yinhua beat him to it.
“This jade pendant is exactly the same as the one Erbao broke when he was playing at my house that day. I don’t know how it became fake?” Song Yinhua examined the jade pendant in her hand.
Song Erzhuang stared at the jade pendant. "I feel like I've seen this somewhere before."
Song Yinhua presented the jade pendant to her father, "Dad, have you seen this before?"
Song Erzhuang racked his brains to recall what it was, and the more he looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.
“Isn’t this the jade pendant that my eldest sister picked up in the cave behind the mountain?” Song Baogen interjected. “Dad, have you forgotten? More than ten years ago, Hanwen and his friends tricked Caixing, causing her to fall into the cave. My eldest sister fell into the cave while trying to save Caixing!”
Song Baogen was seven years old at the time and has some memory of this incident.
"That day you and Mom went to Grandma's birthday party and didn't come back until very late. You didn't realize your eldest sister was missing until the next morning..."
“Yes!” Song Erzhuang remembered, “It’s the same as the jade pendant in Yinhua’s hand.”
That year, he and his wife went to celebrate his mother-in-law's birthday. They were worried about their children, so after the banquet, which ended very late, they rushed home that same night.
Because I was too tired and it was too late, I went home, washed up, and went to bed. It wasn't until the next morning that I discovered my eldest daughter was missing.
When he found the cave in the back mountain, he saw the young woman curled up inside, clutching a jade pendant in her hand.
During summer vacation, the children from relatives in Tangzhuang would stay at my older brother's house. Grandpa Tang was there at the time, so I took the jade pendant to him to have it appraised.
Grandpa Tang said it was a fake product sold by a street vendor, so he didn't take it seriously.
He thought that if it were truly a priceless antique, it wouldn't be left lying around in a cave for a child to find.
He immediately forgot all about it.
“Uncle…” Song Erzhuang looked at Old Master Tang, hesitating to speak.
Old Master Tang's expression flickered with unease, but he stubbornly insisted, "There are plenty of similar things in the world. This jade pendant was personally obtained from the temple in town, and it cost me a lot of money. It's not some fake thing your daughter picked up!"
Song Yinhua pressed further, "Which temple in town did you get it from? I'd like to get one too!"
Old Master Tang stammered for a moment, and Tang Su'e retorted, "This amulet is expensive; your family can't afford it."
Song Erzhuang was a little annoyed. "Even if my family is poor, we would never cheat others out of their things!"
"Song Erzhuang, what do you mean by that?" Sister-in-law Tang Suxiang asked fiercely. "Who did you say cheated your family out of their things? Your family is so poor that their pockets are emptier than their face. What did they cheat your family out of?"
Song Erzhuang did not argue with his sister-in-law.
He angrily returned the jade pendant, glanced at Old Master Tang, and shouted in his gruff voice, "Come on, everyone go home and sleep!"
Tang Suxiang persisted, "Song Erzhuang, why are you running? Are you scared?"
Walking at the back, Song Yinhua turned around and said to her, "My dad feels sorry for you! Aunt, your granddaughter is about the same age as Erbao. Two years ago, your granddaughter got acute pneumonia and needed money to go to the county town for treatment. She couldn't borrow a penny from her parents' home, but she was willing to spend so much money to get a talisman for Erbao at the temple. Who wouldn't be angry?"
"Don't listen to her nonsense!" Old Master Tang was very dissatisfied with the attitude of Song Erzhuang's family and couldn't help but lash out at Tang Suxiang, "I told you to call Qiao Guilan over, why did you call Erzhuang and the others over?"
“What does Qiao Guilan know? Her family was having dinner in the yard, so I called Erzhuang over.” Tang Suxiang looked at her elderly father, then at her sixth sister, Tang Su’e. “Are you hiding something from me?”
Tang Su'e smiled guiltily, "What could we possibly be hiding from you? Fifth Sister, don't overthink it. Dad always thinks of your family when there are good things. Part of the money for Hanwen to buy the motorcycle was lent to your son by Dad!"
"Your grandson spent a lot of money at the temple to get amulets, much more than the two hundred yuan Dad lent my son Hanwen..."
"Stop arguing!" Old Master Tang shouted. "Can a daughter and a son be compared? If you have to blame someone, blame your wife for not being able to conceive!"
Tang Suxiang's expression immediately turned sour. Two years ago, when her granddaughter needed money for medical treatment, it was her brother-in-law, Song Erzhuang, who secretly sent her the money without telling his wife.
Those debts have not been repaid to this day.
-
When Song Yinhua returned home, she deliberately pressed her father about the whereabouts of the jade pendant from back then.
Song Erzhuang dodged the question, saying he didn't remember at first, then that he had left it in the cave and hadn't taken it.
They just wouldn't tell the truth.
Song Baogen said, "I saw Dad give the jade pendant to my great-uncle, who was living with my eldest uncle at the time..."
"Shut up!" Song Erzhuang shouted angrily. "No one will think you're mute if you don't speak!"
"Is what Baogen said true?" Song Yinhua pressed.
Song Erzhuang dodged the question, saying, "Who remembers something that happened more than ten years ago so clearly? Let's not mention this anymore! Go, go, go back to your rooms and go to sleep."
After seeing her children off, Qiao Guilan asked, "You took that jade pendant to show your uncle to see if it was real. Why didn't you say so? Look how your uncle and your sister-in-law slandered Yinhua. Even if Yinhua really stole the jade pendant, it should still be returned to its rightful owner."
“If I tell him, will my great-uncle admit it? His family is so rich, and our family is poor. No one will believe us if word gets out. If my great-uncle uses this as an excuse to insist that Yinhua stole it, then Yinhua will be unable to clear her name even if she jumps into the Yellow River!” Song Erzhuang explained, “We’re all relatives. It’s not good to make things too awkward. How will we face each other in the future? Besides, Yinhua found that jade pendant in the first place. If it’s gone, it’s gone.”
"What kind of relationship do you have with the Tang family? You've already passed away." Qiao Guilan's tone revealed her dissatisfaction with the Tang family. "Your cousin's family has given your sister-in-law a lot of advice to make fun of our family."
"Then why are you so eager to work for your sister-in-law's family?" Song Erzhuang's words left Qiao Guilan speechless.
After the whole family had fallen asleep, Song Erzhuang secretly got up and left the courtyard.
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