Chapter 38: Dogs Devouring Each Other
The county jail was different from any place the Chen family had ever imagined.
There was no sunlight here, only a hint of grayish white light leaking through a small window high above. The air was filled with a thick, stench of mold, urine, and rotting straw, making one dizzy and swollen. The cold, damp ground seemed to penetrate the thin prison uniform and seep into the bones.
With a clang, the heavy iron door was locked behind them. The sound seemed to knock on everyone's heart, announcing their complete isolation from the outside world.
Old Man Chen, Chen Kangzhong, and Chen Kangshu, three grown men, had been dealing with the land all their lives and had never suffered such humiliation. Their legs went weak on the spot and they collapsed on the cold ground, their faces ashen.
Mrs. Chen was frightened at first, but soon the deep-seated venom and resentment took over. She looked around the place, unable to find a clean place to sit, and her anger flared up.
As soon as she turned her head, her poisonous triangular eyes locked onto Feng Lan and Chen Kangbo who were in the same cell.
"Unlucky star! You damn unlucky star!" She sat down on the dirty straw, stretched out a dry finger, pointed at Feng Lan's nose and cursed, "Look at what you have done! Did our Chen family dig up your ancestral graves or kill your parents? You want to hurt us like this! You brought our whole family to this damn place! What are you thinking? Ah? You are just a debt collector! You will not be satisfied until everyone in our Chen family is killed, right?"
She cursed with spit flying everywhere and her voice was sharp, echoing in the closed cell and was particularly harsh.
In the past, Feng Lan might have endured it, or perhaps endured it silently. But today, after experiencing the life-and-death game in court, looking at Daya, who was still in shock in her arms, the last bit of respect she had for this "mother-in-law" in her heart had long been crushed.
She didn't stand up, or even raise her voice, but just looked up coldly at the crazy old woman, with a sarcastic arc at the corner of her mouth.
"Mother, you're wrong." Feng Lan's voice was calm, yet sharp as a knife, each word piercing through her. "It wasn't me who 'invited' us here, it was the county magistrate. It wasn't me who tied you up like a dumpling, it was the government's chains. If you want to curse, you should curse the county magistrate for being blind and the law for being ruthless. Why curse me? How could I, an unarmed woman, have such power?"
"You...you dare to talk back!" The old lady was so angry that her chest heaved violently.
"I'm not talking back, I'm being reasonable," Feng Lan continued. "Just now in court, weren't you crying and shouting that no matter how bad you were, you wouldn't sell your own granddaughter? How come you've forgotten that after only half an hour? Didn't you say that if our Chen family's ancestral tomb was dug up, it would be my fault? I'd like to ask, who on earth, for fifteen taels of silver, would throw away the reputation of your ancestors and force your own granddaughter into the fire? Who was it that, in court, in front of the county magistrate and the entire city, cursed your own granddaughter as a 'little bitch' and a 'little bastard', shouting that they should have been drowned in the chamber pot? I didn't force you to say that, did I?"
With every word Feng Lan spoke, the old lady's face paled. Her ability to distort right and wrong seemed so vulnerable in the face of Feng Lan's clear, calm, and to-the-point questions.
"I... I was mad at you! I was just saying that in anger!" The old lady was still being stubborn.
"Oh? Angry words?" Feng Lan smiled. "Don't worry, the county magistrate doesn't think they were just angry words. The clerk took note of every word you said. It's written in black and white. When the verdict comes, you'll have to read it carefully to see how many years of imprisonment your 'angry words' are worth."
"You...you..." The old lady pointed at Feng Lan and kept saying "you" for a long time, but she couldn't say a word. She could only breathe heavily.
Chen Kangzhong and Chen Kangshu, who had been huddled in the corner, listened to this exchange with a mixture of shock and fear. They were shocked by how their normally submissive sister-in-law had suddenly become so sharp-tongued, her words so sharp they chilled them to the bone. They were also terrified by the fact that every word Feng Lan said was true, pointing to one fact: their Chen family was truly doomed this time, and completely.
Every moment in the cell was torture.
After an unknown amount of time, there was a sound of footsteps and the rattling of chains outside. A jailer was holding a half-dead lantern, followed by two people carrying several wooden barrels.
"Dinner is ready!" the jailer shouted gruffly.
At the word "dinner time," the Chen family's eyes lit up. They had been busy all day, not eating or drinking, and were already starving.
However, when the jailer opened the small door to the trough and scooped out something, everyone's faces dropped. It was a dark, unrecognizable paste, emitting a rancid smell. The so-called vegetables were just a few wilted, rotten vegetable leaves floating on top.
Even so, Chen Kangzhong and Chen Kangshu didn't care anymore and picked up the broken bowl and wanted to put the food into their mouths.
At this moment, the jailer's snobbish eyes swept around the cell. When he saw Feng Lan's family, he was stunned for a moment. Then he saw the tied-up old lady and the men in shackles, and an expression of impatience appeared on his face.
"What are you arguing about? I just heard the screams of ghosts and wolves in your cell! You're almost deafening me, your Excellency!" He banged on the iron bars with an iron spoon. "Old woman, you're the loudest, aren't you? Fine, if you have the energy to curse, you must not be hungry. You're all going to lose tonight's dinner!"
After saying that, he closed the small door of the trough with a clang and turned to leave.
"What?!"
This time, everyone was shocked.
"Sir! Sir, please don't leave!" Chen Kangzhong was the first to panic, and rushed to the railing. "We were wrong, we won't do it again! Please give us some food!"
"Yes, sir, we haven't eaten for a day. Please spare us this time!" Chen Kangshu also pleaded.
Old man Chen burst into tears: "Sir, please be kind, please be kind..."
However, the jailer didn't even turn around, only coldly saying, "You're imprisoned with a man who's a favorite of the county magistrate, and you still dare to cause trouble? You'll have to bear the consequences!"
Celebrity? What celebrity?
The Chen family was momentarily stunned, but the fact that they had no food to eat was crystal clear.
When the old lady heard that she couldn't even eat rotten rice, she collapsed on the spot, sat down on the ground, slapped her thigh and started crying loudly: "Oh my God! What kind of world is this! I can't live anymore! I'm going to starve to death in prison! What sin have I committed..."
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