“She swears in front of the whole village that she will never bully others again, and she will never try to seduce other women’s men! As long as she does that, I can pretend this never happened and never mention the five hundred yuan again.”
Xu Xinghe added, "This is only because of Uncle Li."
Actually, she never intended to go to extremes.
What she wanted was never money, but to make Ah Cui pay the price she deserved and to let the other party know that there are some bottom lines that cannot be crossed.
Uncle Li will be living in this village for a long time. If she really pushes the village chief too far, Uncle Li will inevitably be implicated in the future, which is not what she wants to see.
Upon hearing this, the village chief's face immediately lit up with joy, and he quickly turned around and said, "Ah Cui! Quick! Quickly kneel down and apologize to Miss Su Xiao!"
Compared to the previous three options, this last one offers absolutely no loss other than losing face!
That couldn't be better!
A Cui suddenly raised her head, her eyes red as she looked at Xu Xinghe, biting her lip tightly.
Making her kneel down and apologize to this ugly man in front of the whole village, and even swear an oath, is more painful for her than being beaten up!
But she knew she had no choice.
You either kneel down, pay compensation, report it to the authorities, or... take off your clothes!
She clenched her teeth tightly.
The surrounding villagers held their breath, all eyes fixed on her, and the murmurs gradually subsided.
Ah Cui's face was extremely pale. In the end, she couldn't withstand the pressure and knelt down in front of Xu Xinghe with a thud.
With so many villagers watching her being caught red-handed, still holding their belongings, and her house ransacked, she had no way to defend herself, even if she had a hundred mouths!
Tears streamed down his cheeks, mingling with the mud, making him look utterly disheveled.
She gritted her teeth, her voice trembling with tears, "I'm sorry, Su Xiao, I was wrong."
After saying that, she took a deep breath and, as Xu Xinghe had asked, swore word by word, "I, Acui, will never bully anyone again, and I will never try to seduce anyone's man if I ever do. If I break this oath, may I be struck by lightning and despised by everyone in the village!"
Xu Xinghe gave her a cold look, said nothing more, turned around and went straight into the house, slamming the courtyard gate shut, cutting off all the gazes and discussions outside.
Seeing this, the village chief finally felt relieved, knowing that Xu Xinghe had truly let them go.
He quickly pulled up Ah Cui, who was still slumped on the ground, grabbed her arm, and hurried towards his home, afraid that if he was any later, Xu Xinghe would change her mind again.
When the villagers who had been watching realized there was no more excitement to be had they dispersed in twos and threes, but they continued to chatter as they walked along the road.
"Do you think Su Xiao actually has that five hundred yuan?"
"I don't think so! It's obviously just to scare Ah Cui and teach her a lesson. If it were really five hundred yuan, such a large sum of money, how could she just let it go like that?"
"That's right! Su Xiao deliberately used five hundred yuan to pressure Ah Cui into admitting her mistake because she thought Ah Cui was going too far. Ah Cui deserves it; she didn't have a good life and had to go and mess with other people's men, even climbing over walls and breaking into houses. Anyone would be angry in that situation!"
As for the three girls who were with Acui, their families were already extremely anxious. They rushed forward, each grabbing their daughter and pulling her home, pinching her hard and scolding her in a low voice.
"I told you not to mess with Su Xiao, but you wouldn't listen! Now look what happened, you've embarrassed yourself by hanging out with A Cui! You're never allowed to play with her again!"
"Exactly! Even if she didn't steal the money, she definitely seduced her man! Otherwise, why would she climb over the wall into Su Xiao's house? She said she wanted to see something, but couldn't say what. She clearly just wanted to see Su Xiao's man! Ugh, shameless!"
"She's so good at seducing men at such a young age. She'll never be a peaceful person in the future. You stay away from her and don't tarnish our family's reputation. Otherwise, you'll have a hard time getting married!"
Although these villagers had little formal education, they were very perceptive about human relationships and social dynamics.
Ah Cui's little scheme couldn't escape the eyes of the villagers.
She had been obsessed with Yi An for a while, and now she's set her sights on Su Xiao's fiancé. She even did something as stupid as climbing over a wall and breaking into a house. Anyone with eyes can see what she's up to.
The girls were scolded by their families and dared not utter a sound. They lowered their heads and secretly regretted their actions.
I'll never dare to meddle with Ah Cui again!
This Su Xiao is really not someone to mess with!
The murmurs in the village gradually subsided, and Li Bo's courtyard returned to peace.
Xu Xinghe stood at the door, listening to the discussions outside, her face expressionless.
What she wanted was not five hundred yuan, nor was it to make Ah Cui kneel down; she just wanted her to truly remember this lesson so that she would never dare to act recklessly again.
Whether the villagers believe in the existence of that 500 yuan or not is no longer important.
Most importantly, after this incident, no one dared to provoke her easily anymore, and she could peacefully wait for Jiang Linchuan to return in the village!
In the following days, A-Cui completely locked herself in her room, never venturing out.
She wasn't afraid of Xu Xinghe, but rather terrified of the strange looks from the villagers.
Every gaze that fell upon her felt like a needle pricking her.
She spent her days hiding under the covers and crying, her tears soaking her pillowcase, filled with regret and resentment.
Around noon,
The village chief pushed open the door, carrying a bowl of steaming hot food, and gently placed it on the table.
He looked at his daughter, who was huddled under the covers, her face pale, and sighed heavily. "Don't cry, hurry up and eat, or the food will get cold."
Ah Cui didn't respond, but simply wrapped herself up even tighter.
“I’ve already spoken to the villagers and told them to stop talking about you.” The village chief sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), his voice tinged with weariness. “You can’t stay at home forever; life goes on. You should go out and get some fresh air; things will get better.”
He took out his pipe and said, “I’ve found you a family. They’re two hills away from here. They’re honest farmers, and their family isn’t bad off. After a while, you can marry into their family. You’ll be in a new place, and nobody will know what happened before. You can start over.”
A-Cui suddenly peeked out from under the covers, her eyes red and tears streaming down her face. "I won't marry him! I don't want to marry someone so far away!"
If she really marries someone so far away, even if her in-laws bully her, she won't be able to seek justice from her father.
She should marry someone from the village, that way she'll be close to home and no one will dare to do anything to her!
"Then what do you want?" The village chief's tone turned serious. "You've completely lost face now. Are you going to stay in the village and be pointed at and gossiped about for the rest of your life? Besides, no one in the village dares to marry you now! This is the best solution. Just do as I say! I'm your father, I won't harm you."
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