“Jiang Hua, you’re already married, you shouldn’t keep bothering Ah Xuan. Besides, tigers are ferocious beasts, this could be fatal!” Xu Wanli suddenly said.
What?
Jiang Hua almost thought she had misheard. Looking at Xu Wanli's gaze, she realized she hadn't misheard.
"Village chief, it's a bit too hasty to believe someone's one-sided story without even finding out the whole story," Jiang Hua said casually.
"Since I married Jiang Xingzhou, when have I ever bothered with Zhou Yingxuan? What's there for me to miss about that useless man!"
"I won't allow you to talk about Brother Xuan like that!" Lin Shuyan shouted, her eyes red.
"Tsk, there were more than just the two of you there yesterday, so why wasn't my husband seriously injured?" Jiang Hua said, glancing at Jiang Xingzhou.
"If you hadn't gone mad and shouted yesterday, how could the tiger have been alerted? Zhou Yingxuan was clearly injured while saving you, so why are you blaming me for his injury?"
Jiang Hua looked at the aggrieved Lin Shuyan and asked, word by word.
"Yan Yan, is what Jiang Hua said true?" Xu Wanli frowned slightly after hearing Jiang Hua's words and looked at Lin Shuyan with some disbelief.
“Village Chief, Yan Yan screamed because she was scared. Who wouldn’t be frightened when they see a tiger!” Madam Xu stepped forward to explain to Lin Shu Yan.
That seemed to make sense, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Oh right, it was almost evening yesterday when Huahua told me she was going up the mountain to find Xiaojiang, and she even brought the child over for me to look after," Aunt Liu suddenly said.
That means that before Jiang Hua even reached the mountain, Lin Shuyan and the others encountered a tiger.
"If they hadn't been so foolish, they wouldn't have stumbled into the tiger's territory."
Jiang Xingzhou, who had been relatively unknown, looked at Village Chief Xu and spoke.
"If my wife hadn't arrived in time, we would have been killed by the tiger long ago."
“How is that possible?” Lin Shuyan was the first to retort.
“That’s right, I’ll believe you if you say that wretched girl is going to her death,” Madam Xu chimed in from the side.
Jiang Hua's eyes suddenly turned cold as she looked at Madam Xu, who kept calling her a "little bitch."
When Madam Xu met Jiang Hua's gaze, she immediately shut her mouth, since her chin was still dangling.
"Village chief, Zhou Yingxuan has woken up!" the village's old doctor shouted in Zhou Yingxuan's courtyard.
"What? Brother Xuan is awake? I have to go see him." With that, Lin Shuyan had already run back towards Zhou Yingxuan's house in small steps.
"Xu, what's wrong with your chin?" Xu Wanli then noticed Xu, who was pacing around in front of him, looking at him for help.
"Village chief, it was all this girl's doing! She actually laid a hand on her own mother! I think she'll be struck by lightning sooner or later!" Madam Xu hurriedly stepped forward to complain.
"Go and call Doctor Zhang to help her put her chin back on," Xu Wanli said to the villagers behind him, looking at Xu Shi's drooling and disgust in his eyes.
"Auntie, I'm entrusting this to you."
"It's alright, I'll bring it to you when it's ready," Aunt Liu replied.
Seeing that everything was alright, Jiang Hua invited Jiang Xingzhou to go back together. The next time she saw Zhou Yingxuan was seven days later.
"Huahua, something terrible has happened."
One day, Jiang Hua was drying herbs in the courtyard when Aunt Liu rushed over.
"Auntie, what's wrong?"
"Your mother and grandmother came and took all the fabric you bought, and they even took back the two sets of clothes they made for you," Aunt Liu said with a bitter face.
“I was busy in the kitchen when your mother and grandmother came straight to the door and took it. I couldn’t stop them.”
As she spoke, Aunt Liu was furious again. "In broad daylight, they just came to our door and robbed us. What's the difference between them and robbers?"
"Go and take a look. If it doesn't work, report it to the authorities," Jiang Hua said, standing up.
“I’ll go with you,” Jiang Xingzhou said, putting down his axe as he chopped wood in the yard.
On the Xu family's side, several people were greedily stroking the cloth they had just snatched back.
"Grandma, Aunt, if you take Jiang Hua's cloth, she'll be angry," Lin Shuyan asked worriedly, looking at the fine cloth on the table.
However, her gaze never left the two sets of clothes that Aunt Liu had made. Since her family fell into decline and she came here, although Madam Xu and the others had never mistreated her.
However, they couldn't afford such good fabrics for themselves. Most of the nice clothes they wore were brought from home, and most of them no longer fit.
"Yan Yan, what are you afraid of? As a daughter, isn't it normal for her to show filial piety to her family?" Madam Xu picked up a set of clothes from the table and held them up against Lin Shu Yan.
"Yan Yan, this outfit looks good on you. Your aunt will alter it for you later."
"That's not a good idea," Lin Shuyan said hesitantly, declining the offer.
“What’s wrong with it?” Madam Xu interrupted, “This color is perfect for Yaozu, he can wear it when he goes to school.”
"Grandma, hasn't Yaozu come back yet?" Lin Shuyan asked.
"They should be back by now," Xu muttered, getting up to open the door and go check on them.
"ah--!"
As soon as she opened the door, Xu saw Jiang Hua and the others standing at the entrance and screamed in fright.
"What are you yelling about? Are you trying to kill me?" Madam Xu said, holding a piece of cloth in her hand.
"Mother-in-law, that brat is here." Madam Xu quickly turned around, not daring to meet Jiang Hua's gaze.
"So what if they're here? It's no big deal." Madam Xu reluctantly put down the fine cloth in her hand and waddled out.
"You stole the cloth I bought?" Jiang Hua asked coldly, looking at the two women, the eldest and youngest, Xu.
"Cousin, how can you say that!" Lin Shuyan stepped forward to persuade her.
"Do we know each other that well?" Jiang Hua took a step back imperceptibly, glancing at Lin Shuyan with an indifferent expression.
"Yan Yan, come back! Why waste so much time talking to her!" Madam Xu pulled Lin Shu Yan behind her.
"The cloth is right here with me, so what! Isn't it only right that you show us respect? It's just a few bolts of cloth, and you're coming to make a scene?" Madam Xu said sarcastically, hands on her hips.
"So, you're saying you stole it, right?" Jiang Hua asked again.
"So what if it is? You ungrateful wretch, you earn money but don't know how to give it back to your family," said Madam Xu again.
"Either return it or report it to the authorities."
"Report to the authorities? Who are you trying to scare!" Madam Xu spat.
“Madam Xu, you can’t report this to the authorities. Your Yaozu is a student who has passed the imperial examinations. He will need to take the exams to obtain official rank in the future. You can’t leave a criminal record.”
"Yes, Madam Xu, you should return the cloth to Jiang Hua. After all, she's married now," the women who had come to watch advised one after another.
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