Chapter 149 Performing Magic Tricks
Where are they?!
"Where's Xia Qianqian? She was just here a moment ago..."
Gasps of shock rose and fell among the crowd. How could they have watched him die so suddenly?!
Xia Wenwen couldn't hide her smile. Xia Qianqian must have panicked and acted rashly, actually using the power of Peach Blossom Spring in public! Now let's see how you deny it!
But the next second—
"Giggle!"
A crisp laugh suddenly rang out.
"Mommy! This is so much fun! I want to play again!"
It's Er Ya's voice!
Everyone was stunned and looked in the direction of the sound. They saw Er Ya holding Xia Qianqian's hand, emerging from behind the black cloth. Her little face was rosy and her eyes were as bright as stars.
"Still want to play?" Xia Qianqian gently pinched her little nose, her eyes filled with laughter. "If you keep playing, your sister will get worried."
Er Ya stuck out her tongue, turned around and waved her little hand towards the courtyard gate: "Sister, come quick! Mom says this is called 'The Great Disappearance'! It's so much fun!"
Outside the courtyard wall, Xia Wenwen's smug smile froze instantly, as if someone had doused her with a bucket of ice water.
A miraculous transformation?
Play?
What on earth is going on?!
Daya, still somewhat skeptical, hesitantly moved over, only to be pulled by Erya's arm and led halfway around behind the black cloth. A moment later, Daya exclaimed with a laugh, "Oh my! So that's how it is! How come I didn't see that coming!"
These words were like a hook, putting everyone's hearts in their throats. What kind of trick was this?
Xia Qianqian gestured with her chin towards Lu Zheng: "Give me a hand."
Without saying a word, Lu Zheng stepped forward and ripped off the large black cloth, revealing an empty vegetable basket about half a person's height behind it.
"Er Ya, let's do it again."
"Okay!" Er Ya replied crisply, skipping and hopping like a happy little sparrow to the vegetable basket.
Everyone stared intently as Er Ya walked to the basket, suddenly squatted down, and shrank inside, the height of the basket just enough to completely hide her.
It turned out that the large basket was piled high with winter vegetables in front, and the back was completely covered with a black cloth, which was actually a trick!
Everyone was so focused on the black cloth that no one noticed the basket's presence, which is why they truly believed it had vanished into thin air.
Just then, Er Ya popped out of the basket, dusted herself off, giggled, lifted the black cloth, and walked out, making a face at everyone: "Look! I'm back!"
The villagers outside the courtyard wall were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"Oh my goodness! This little brat almost scared the soul out of me!"
"Exactly, exactly! Using a vegetable basket as a 'Shangri-La'? Xia family girl, you're really good at making things up!"
Xia Wenwen stood there, her face turning red and white in turns, as if she had been splashed with dirty water, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
How could this be? How could it be a vegetable basket?!
Xia Wenwen bit her lip, feeling the taste of blood in her mouth. She was certain that Xia Qianqian had done this on purpose!
Regardless of her expression, Er Ya skipped over to Xia Qianqian's side, tilting her little face up to boast, "Mommy, look! Did I act well?"
"Good, very good." Xia Qianqian smiled and flicked her nose, but her eyes swept coldly over Xia Wenwen. "Some people, instead of trying to improve themselves, just spout nonsense all day long..."
These words were like a slap in the face to Xia Wenwen.
She opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a single word. The evidence was irrefutable; anything she said now would sound like she was just being unreasonable!
Lu Zheng walked to Xia Qianqian's side and casually put his arm around her shoulder: "Fellow villagers, you can all see clearly, this is the 'Peach Blossom Spring' that Xia Wenwen mentioned."
He glanced at Xia Wenwen, who stood there dumbfounded and silent, and sneered, "Now, shouldn't you kowtow to my wife and admit your mistake?"
"No!"
Xia Wenwen screamed, her eyes bloodshot, "This is all an act! You clearly have your own Peach Blossom Spring! Xia Qianqian, you bitch! You deserve to die a horrible death—!"
"Smack!"
The crisp sound of a slap echoed throughout the courtyard.
Xia Qianqian's movement was swift and ruthless. Xia Wenwen was struck as if her bones had been removed, her body swayed violently, and blood instantly seeped from the corner of her mouth.
She lost her balance, but then she saw a pair of hands reaching out to her.
Looking up, I saw it was Da Ya.
Daya walked up to her without her noticing, placed her small hand on her arm, and gave her a hard shove.
Thump!
Xia Wenwen was already unsteady on her feet, and with this push, she fell heavily to the ground like a broken sack. Her tailbone hit the bluestone slab, and she howled in pain like a pig being slaughtered.
"Apologize to my mother! You bad woman!" Er Ya rushed forward with her hands on her hips, her little face puffed up with anger, her little mouth spitting out like a little chili pepper. "You dare to curse my mother and wrong an innocent person! Why didn't you break your bones? This is all your fault, you deserve it!"
Xia Wenwen was filled with shame and indignation when Er Ya pointed her finger at her and cursed her. She wanted nothing more than to pounce on her and tear her mouth apart!
But when he caught a glimpse of Lu Zheng's icy eyes out of the corner of his eye, all his anger instantly froze into ice shards.
She was as if nailed to the ground, not daring to move an inch.
Frustrating! Infuriating!
But she dared not resist, for she was afraid that Lu Zheng would really kill her.
"Qianqian! How dare you beat your sister like this!"
Upon receiving the news, Madam Xia rushed over and saw Xia Wenwen lying on the ground with blood at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes instantly turned bloodshot, as if she wanted to devour someone. Pointing at Xia Qianqian's nose, she berated, "Our Xia family raised you all these years, and this is how you repay us? Huh? You even killed your own sister—"
Before she could finish speaking, a sharp "smack!" rang out, and Madam Xia was sent spinning in place by the slap, her face burning with pain.
The one who hit someone was Lu's mother!
Normally, Lu's mother was all smiles and wouldn't even step on a chicken, but now she was pointing at Madam Xia's nose, trembling with anger.
"You have no right to insult my daughter Qianqian! Control your own daughter! You brought people into a private residence and dared to accuse my daughter-in-law of using sorcery. This is not over!"
Mrs. Xia covered her face, completely bewildered.
Instead of helping her, some villagers outside the courtyard whispered among themselves, "Don't they know what kind of person their own daughter is?"
"You think it's justifiable to raid someone's home in the middle of the night?"
"Serves you right! Well done!"
Upon hearing these words, Madam Xia suddenly looked at Xia Wenwen on the ground. Ever since her daughter was found, she had never had a moment's peace!
A thought popped into my head uncontrollably: how much better it would have been if I hadn't found her back then.
Madam Xia shuddered, startled by her own thoughts, and broke out in a cold sweat.
No! How could she think that? This is her own daughter!
Looking at Xia Wenwen, Madam Xia felt a surge of guilt growing wildly in her heart. She grabbed her daughter's arm, pulled her up, and hugged her tightly, as if that would make her forget the thoughts she had just had.
"Oh dear, it's no big deal!" Hearing the villagers' increasingly unpleasant chatter, she quickly forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, turned to Xia Qianqian, and said insincerely, "Qianqian, your sister was just joking with you! She's just a child, why did you take it so seriously?"
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