Xiao Yunying deliberately flicked the blood off her knife, startling the three people opposite her into retreating.
Cheng Yue came out from behind the counter and grabbed her arm: "Be careful, don't hurt yourself."
"I'm fine, Sister Cheng Yue, Yingying, are you two alright?"
"We're fine too." Cheng Yue glanced at the crowd of onlookers outside with a troubled expression. "You go wait over there first, I'll close the shop door."
The woman immediately perked up, knowing that Cheng Yue was afraid of damaging her reputation. She jumped up and down and shouted, "Why are you closing the door? You have the nerve to do it but not the nerve to admit it? You promiscuous slut, let everyone judge! My son was killed by her!"
As she spoke, she started crying again, her voice trembling with emotion.
Xiao Yunying frowned impatiently and snapped, "Shut up, you're so noisy!"
When she put on a cold face, she was quite intimidating. Her confident rebuke made the woman tremble, and her wailing stopped abruptly.
The young woman beside her helped the older woman up and said, "What are you shouting for? You've scared my mother half to death! Aren't you going to take responsibility?"
Xiao Yunying was too lazy to argue with them, and said to a waiter next to her, "Young man, run an errand and report to the authorities."
"Wait!"
"Wait a moment!"
Two voices rang out almost simultaneously, one from the young man and the other from Cheng Yue.
Xiao Yunying ignored the man and asked Cheng Yue in confusion, "What's wrong, Sister Cheng Yue?"
Cheng Yue's expression was complicated. She said in a low voice, "Let's not report them to the authorities. Just let them leave."
Duan Yingying said angrily from the side, "Why, Sister Cheng Yue? They come to cause trouble every few days. If you don't report it to the authorities, they will come back to cause trouble again in a few days after they leave today. How are you going to open your shop and do business?"
Xiao Yunying glanced at the three people: "Do they come here often?"
Ignoring Cheng Yue's expression, Duan Yingying nodded and said, "They've come four or five times already. They come in and throw things around and smash things in the shop. Last time they even injured a customer, and Sister Cheng Yue had to pay a lot of money in compensation. Business has suffered a lot lately because of their disruptions, and no one dares to come to the shop to buy anything."
The woman glared at Xiao Yunying, looking her up and down: "Who are you? Why are you meddling in other people's business?"
Xiao Yunying slammed the blood-stained fruit knife on the table: "I am the second owner of this shop, so it is only right that I take care of this matter. You have come to cause trouble many times, causing me to lose a lot of money. Tell me, how do you want to resolve this?"
The woman and the young man exchanged a glance: "You hurt my son..."
Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Yunying interrupted, "I'll cover the medical expenses, but will you cover my losses?"
The three men thought they could extort a large sum of money, but they hesitated again after hearing the second half of the sentence.
I've heard that this shop has been doing very well in recent months. I wonder if they'll try to extort money from me instead.
"Why aren't you saying anything? Then go to the county government office and argue your case, and report it to the authorities."
Upon hearing the words "report to the authorities," the woman immediately raised her voice: "Cheng Yue, you little slut, not only did you kill my son, but now you want to send me to the authorities. Have you no conscience?"
Xiao Yunying glanced at the crowd of people outside the door, thinking that she couldn't just let them leave like that, otherwise Sister Cheng Yue's reputation would be ruined.
"How can you prove that your son was killed by Sister Cheng Yue?"
The woman patted her chest, looking heartbroken: "My son was always healthy, but he started getting sick after he got engaged to this little slut. His condition suddenly worsened just before the wedding, and he didn't make it through. Isn't this just her bad luck!"
Xiao Yunying recalled what Cheng Yue had said when she confided in the original owner. She sorted out her thoughts and said, "When your son got engaged to Sister Cheng Yue, it was the dead of winter. It was cold, so it was normal for him to catch a cold. He was just unlucky and didn't make it through. How can you say that Sister Cheng Yue killed him?"
The woman pointed at Cheng Yue and said, "What about her second husband? He was killed by wolves after only a year of marriage. Why did the wolves bite her husband instead of others? Wasn't it because she was cursed?"
Whispers drifted in from outside, mostly suggesting that the first time was an accident, but the second time was a bit strange.
As Cheng Yue listened to these conflicting rumors, her face grew paler and paler.
Xiao Yunying didn't offer any comfort, but simply turned her back and gently squeezed her hand.
She looked directly into the woman's eyes and said firmly, "Everyone in the village knows that Sister Cheng Yue's husband was killed by a pack of wolves. He was trying to save two other people when he accidentally fell into the wolf pack. Everyone in the village knows that he was a great hero who sacrificed himself for others. How come in your mouth it's because Sister Cheng Yue was cursed to death?"
The discussion outside the door shifted again:
"It turns out it was to save someone."
"So, it can't be said that this girl is the one who brings bad luck."
"His husband is a true hero, selfless and a real man."
"I don't think this family are good people. They're always causing trouble. They probably just want money from this girl now that she's made some."
Seeing that things were not going well, the woman started to play the victim again, sitting on the ground wiping away her tears.
"If my son were still alive, he would probably have passed the imperial examination and become a scholar by now. It was all because of this little slut that he died young. Everyone in the village knows that this little slut killed her mother at birth, and then her father a few years later. She's a jinx..."
"Shut up!" Xiao Yunying took a step forward and said in a low voice, "If you keep talking nonsense here, believe me, I'll cut out your tongue."
Her eyes were filled with such fierceness and murderous intent that the woman immediately fell silent.
The man took a step back, thinking that he couldn't be intimidated by a woman, and raised his voice, "Look everyone, she's threatening people, she cut my hand with a knife, and now she wants to cut off my mother's tongue."
Xiao Yunying's voice wasn't loud, and no one outside the door heard her. However, a man who had been watching the commotion spoke up, saying, "Didn't you try to grab the girl's arm first and that's why she hurt you? You were rude first, so you can't blame the girl for fighting back."
These words resonated with many reasonable people.
Xiao Yunying looked at the person who said this. He was dressed plainly and looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before.
This wasn't the time to think about that. She stepped back to Cheng Yue's side and asked softly, "Sister Cheng Yue, are you really not going to report this to the authorities?"
Cheng Yue lowered her eyelids: "Never mind, let them go."
Duan Yingying stomped her foot in exasperation, then turned away awkwardly, avoiding looking at them to prevent herself from getting upset.
Xiao Yunying roughly guessed what Cheng Yue was thinking.
She may have actually believed the claim that she was cursed to bring misfortune to her family, and her feelings of inferiority and guilt led her to tolerate this family again and again.
But this concession will not stop the other party from bullying her; it will only embolden them to go further and become even more outrageous.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com