Liu Ge's mother cried out, "Village chief, you heard it all, didn't you? It's clearly not my son's fault. It's all because this little bitch is unreasonable and beat my son up like this."
Mu Lianrong quickly scratched her, then was shielded behind her by her two daughters-in-law:
"You old slut, who are you calling names? My daughter has hands and feet and can carry water by herself. If she can't, she has her father and two brothers. She doesn't need some outsider to fawn over her."
Liu Ge's mother only had one son and one daughter. Her daughter had long since married out of the family, and her husband had died of illness years ago. With no one to protect her, she didn't dare to step forward again and could only retort from where she stood.
“That was because my son was kind-hearted. He saw that it wasn’t easy for her as a woman and wanted to help her. Who knew that his good intentions would be taken for granted by your fat daughter…”
"So what if my daughter is fat? We raised her on fine rice and flour since she was little. Your son's body is like a skeleton stripped clean of meat. He's so skinny he can barely fill out his clothes. If he carries water and breaks his back, will you blame my daughter and make me pay for your son's back treatment?"
"You, you shrew! Our family is a scholarly family, we have no place with you..."
"Pah, a family of scholars? Do you even know what that means? Your family has been toiling in the fields for generations, and your son is the only scholar who has been stuck at the lowest level for years. Ask your son if he'd be embarrassed to admit that your family is a family of scholars."
Unable to argue with Mu Lianrong, Liu Ge's mother sat down on the ground and started crying: "I don't want to live anymore, village chief! You can't let her bully us orphans and widows just because your two families are cousins!"
Xiao Changxing's expression changed. Were these words implying that he was unfair in his dealings?
More than 60% of the villagers in Xiaqu Village are surnamed Xiao, and they are all related by blood or marriage. He believes that in all his years as village chief, he has always been fair and just to both members of the Xiao family and people from other families, and has never shown favoritism to anyone.
Mu Lianrong said, "Don't try any of those 'crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide' tricks on me. I'm the one who wants to get justice for my daughter. The village chief hasn't said a word yet, and you're already blaming him. What? So the village chief is being unfair and biased towards his relatives just because he doesn't help you? Why don't you say you're the one in the wrong?"
Xiao Changxing felt relieved; his cousin's wife was reasonable enough to have spoken his mind.
However, it seems that my cousin's wife's daughter is really in the wrong in this matter.
Someone nearby said, "The village chief didn't say anything, but your daughter ignored him too."
"Exactly, do you think it's right for your daughter to hit someone?"
Mu Lianrong put her hands on her hips and said, "I don't believe the nonsense these two are spouting. You only saw my daughter hitting someone, but do you know why she hit someone? My daughter has never fought with anyone in the village since she was a child. It must be that Liu Xiucai did something to anger her. You don't know the reason, but you believe Liu Xiucai's lying mouth. Anyway, I don't believe it. I only believe my daughter."
Those who were gathered around thought about it and agreed. Xiao Yunying did have a bad temper, but apart from scolding and beating her children, she had never laid a hand on anyone in the village.
Once, she overheard someone speaking ill of her, and she simply argued back, then avoided that person and tried to have as little contact with the villagers as possible.
Xiao Changxing didn't ask the two people involved, but asked the people around him, "Do you know why Yun Ying hit Liu Xiucai?"
The people surrounding them didn't dare to make a sound. They had only seen Xiao Yunying hitting someone from afar and didn't really know why she was hitting someone.
"I know."
A girl of about eleven or twelve years old stepped forward. The woman behind her tried to pull her away, but she brushed her off and pointed at Liu Xiucai, saying:
"This guy came and immediately tried to grab the water bucket from this woman, saying he would help her carry it. She wouldn't let go and asked him to let go, but he wouldn't let go and insisted on grabbing it. Then she let go, but he lost his grip and fell down with the water bucket on him. It wasn't the woman who fell on him."
The older sister fetched water again and walked back. He changed his clothes and came back. Before they could exchange more than a few words, the woman suddenly came over, kicked over the older sister's water bucket, and slapped her.
This scholar Liu looks like he's trying to break up a fight, but his hands... his hands are always..."
The young girl was too embarrassed to continue; she worried that saying this might tarnish her older sister's reputation.
Xiao Yunying is someone who cares about her reputation, so she spoke up herself: "Let me tell you, he kept pulling my collar. If I hadn't reacted quickly, we wouldn't be discussing my hitting someone right now, but rather whether I, having lost my innocence, should drown myself or hang myself."
Mu Lianrong's face turned pale: "This man is truly shameless! He actually dared to lay a hand on my daughter. He's supposed to be a scholar, but all his education has gone to waste. If my daughter hadn't reacted quickly, he would have gotten away with it!"
Liu Ge didn't expect Xiao Yunying to dare to say this herself. Did she not care about her reputation?
My mind was in a panic, and all I could do was keep saying, "She's lying, I didn't grab her collar, did anyone see that?"
The others shook their heads and waved their hands, confirming that Xiao Yunying had been facing away from the well while fighting, so no one had seen her.
Liu Ge knew this, which is why he dared to take action.
The little girl said, "I saw it."
She and her mother arrived late and were at the very back of the line. Her mother carried two buckets of water back first, while she stayed behind to fetch two buckets of water and waited, so she wouldn't have to queue again when she came back. She happened to witness the entire process of both events.
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