Hearing the villagers pointing and whispering about her, Zhou Yan covered her ears and shook her head frantically, "Stop talking, stop talking!"
Seeing that Zhou Yan was not in a good state, Zhou Dasheng quickly gave Liu a look, telling her to take Zhou Yan back first.
Ning Huan raised an eyebrow, thinking of Zhou Yan's arrogant demeanor, she was afraid that Zhou Yan would be too ashamed to show her face in the village in the future.
Although Zhou Yan is gone, Niu Dadan's business is not over yet.
Zhou Dashan's face was gloomy. He stepped forward and kicked Niu Dadan twice. Then he said to the village chief, "Village chief, he did such a thing to my daughter. I demand that he be punished immediately according to the clan rules."
To everyone's surprise, the village chief simply shook his head.
Yao said in a shrill voice, "Village chief, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to protect Niu Dadan?"
The village chief was already annoyed by the Zhou family's affairs. Tonight's matter was originally between Ke Ruxiu and Niu Dadan, but it ended up being caused by the Zhou family again.
Seeing Yao's face, he knew that his previous instructions to Zhou Dashan had been in vain.
“It’s not that I want to protect Niu Dadan. Zhou Yan and he were consensual, so I don’t need to say anything more about that. Since he didn’t falsely accuse your Zhou Yan or force her, he won’t be executed.”
"Moreover, regarding what happened tonight, Niu Dadan also said that he did not do anything to Xu Xian's wife. According to the clan rules, he should be severely beaten, and then he should go to the Xu family to apologize or compensate them."
Although the village chief's punishment was correct, and some elders in the village knew that the village chief had not protected Niu Dadan, Yao felt that the punishment was too lenient.
"Village chief, Niu Dadan ruined my daughter's reputation. Should we just beat him up instead of executing him?"
The village chief said somewhat impatiently, "If what Zhou Yan said was true, and Niu Dadan bullied her, then the village would immediately execute Niu Dadan. But whether Niu Dadan lied about this matter or not, I think you know better than I do."
"Therefore, the affair between Niu Dadan and Zhou Yan is something that is considered shameful to talk about."
When the word "despicable" was uttered, Yao's face instantly turned pale. She asked in a shrill voice, displeased, "Village chief, what do you mean by that!"
At this moment, Zhou Dashan, whose face was flushed red, looked like an erupting volcano. He roared, "Enough! Shut up! Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough already?!"
Then he rushed towards Niu Dadan and kicked him hard twice, then grabbed him by the collar, pulled him up from the ground, and punched him a few times.
His furious appearance silenced everyone, and it seemed that Niu Dadan was about to be beaten to death by Zhou Dashan.
Zhou Dasheng rushed forward to stop him: "Dad, Dad, that's enough! Stop hitting him! If you keep hitting him, he'll die. It's not worth risking our own lives for someone like him!"
Although Zhou Dasheng also wanted Niu Dadan to die, if Zhou Dashan beat Niu Dadan to death, then in the end, it would be the Zhou family that would suffer.
Coming to his senses, Zhou Dashan shoved Zhou Dasheng, who was blocking his way, and shouted, "Let's go home!"
He then ignored everyone's gaze and hurriedly left.
Zhou Dasheng, with Yao Shi wailing in his arms, left with Zhou Dashan. As they were leaving, they seemed to catch a glimpse of a faint smile on Ning Huan's face.
Ke Ruxiu, still tightly wrapped in Xu Xian's clothes, said weakly, "This really has nothing to do with me, I really didn't..."
Now everyone knows that this matter has nothing to do with Ke Ruxiu. Xu Xian comforted her, and the expressions of Bai Shi and Xu's father softened a little from their previous extremely ugly looks.
Bai said, "You child, don't run around like that."
Since Niu Dadan didn't do anything to Ke Ruxiu, and the two of them had no personal relationship, the Xu family naturally had no reason to punish Niu Dadan. They could just deal with him according to village rules and clan laws.
Tonight's farce ended with Niu Dadan being taken away and dealt with by the village chief and other elders.
On the way back, Zhou Lan felt a little embarrassed: "Third sister-in-law... the misunderstandings the villagers had about you before have finally been cleared up."
Ning Huan nodded: "Yes, but I didn't expect that my second sister had such a reason for disliking me."
She had previously thought that the reason she was not well-liked by the Zhou family might be because she had offended some people in her interactions, or because her younger brother and sister-in-law and aunt were not on good terms.
When Zhou Lan and Ning Huan returned home and told Zhou Jing'an about Niu Dadan's actions that night, they both concealed the real reason why Zhou Yan had plotted against Ning Huan.
Ning Huan pouted and said, "My second sister just couldn't stand me, so she actually sent Niu Dadan to slander me."
Zhou Lan realized that she hadn't told Zhou Jing'an why Zhou Yan wished he would die sooner; she was probably afraid that Zhou Jing'an would be upset if he heard it.
But after comforting Ning Huan a few times, she said, "It probably won't be peaceful at home tonight. I'm afraid my parents will disturb Grandma. I'll go back and check on things now."
Hearing this, Zhou Jing'an nodded and replied, "Big sister, Grandma is getting on in years, don't upset her. You must take good care of yourself."
Zhou Lan nodded and replied, "Don't worry."
After Zhou Lan left, Ning Huan said to Zhou Jing'an, "I told you before to believe me, right? I have nothing to do with Niu Dadan."
Hearing the hint of smugness in Ning Huan's words, Zhou Jing'an chuckled softly.
The smile was so slight that you wouldn't notice it unless you looked closely; he had just subtly tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Seeing that Zhou Jing'an didn't speak, Ning Huan didn't say anything more either, and turned back to wash fruit for the four little ones.
Inside the room, Zhou Jing'an carefully recalled Ning Huan's actions today. He vaguely felt that tonight's events were inextricably linked to this woman, Ning Huan.
However, tonight's Zhou family did indeed turn out just as Zhou Lan had imagined.
Inside the house, Zhou Dashan furiously smashed things, then yelled at Zhou Yan, "I've raised you for so many years, I don't ask you to marry into a wealthy family, I just hope you can live a peaceful and stable life!"
"And this is how you repay me and your mother!"
"How could I have raised such a dissolute child? You're not even married yet and you're already having an affair. How will you ever face anyone again!"
Then Zhou Yan was hiding in the corner, her face covered with red and swollen handprints, and her hair was disheveled.
She cried out, "I told you I was forced! Go tell others! Go tell the village chief!"
Although Yao felt sorry for her daughter, she was also furious. She never expected Zhou Yan to be so confused.
She had been hoping that Zhou Yan would marry into a good family so that she could also rise to prominence, but now that hope was all gone.
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