"My dear in-laws, my nephew," Chief Xie said with a beaming smile, "let's talk this out. What's going on here?"
I had a feeling that the Huang family had ill intentions, and seeing that they hadn't made any moves, I thought they were holding back.
It turns out, it's because they haven't taken any action yet.
It seems they really angered someone.
Indeed, this family is rather shameless. Fortunately, their daughter-in-law's family is not so brazen.
"What else is there to say?" Huang Lao Er looked at Xie Shi with heartache, then said coldly, "The matter is very clear. Search the entire Great Zhou. Apart from people who have no sons to see them off at their deathbeds, who else would have a son-in-law hold a funeral for his father-in-law? If you don't return the money, give us the person. Otherwise, keep Xie's daughter. It's that simple."
After saying this, he secretly glanced at Xie, who was kneeling on the ground, his eyes filled with guilt.
Honey, this is what the mistress told me to say. You can settle accounts with him later. It has nothing to do with me.
"It would be fine to pay back the money the family gave to my second sister-in-law for her health treatment," Huang Xiaosan added.
It's really very simple.
After all, everyone in Xiaoxie Village knew that Xie Shi had no dowry when she got married, and the money was indeed from the Huang family.
But the key issue is that Boss Xie is unwilling to pay it back.
"How about this," Chief Xie said with a forced smile, "give me some time, and I'll try to persuade them."
He refused to believe that he, as the clan leader, was so lacking in authority.
"We've been trying to reason with them all afternoon," Huang Xiaosan said, dissatisfied. "If persuasion had been effective, would things have turned out like this?"
These words were practically an open accusation that Chief Xie was incompetent.
Chief Xie was furious, but dared not refute because he was in the wrong. He could only vent his anger on Xie the eldest, "I'll ask you one last time, are you going to return the money or not?"
"I won't return it," Xie Laoda gripped the hem of his clothes tightly. "If the Huang family wants to divorce, then divorce them. Anyway, I won't let Yaoni into the house."
It would be best to die outside.
"Since that's the case," Chief Xie said with a dark face, "then don't blame me for being ruthless!"
He didn't want to open the ancestral hall until the very end.
The Xie family is different from other places. Although the clan leader has prestige, he is not the only one in charge. Most of them are outside the five degrees of kinship and their hearts are not united. There are many people waiting to see their lineage make a fool of itself, and it is not impossible for them to take the opportunity to seize the position of clan leader.
However, the Huang family was so aggressive that he had no other choice.
We can't let things escalate and implicate the whole village. Otherwise, he'll lose not only his position as clan chief, but he himself will also be in trouble.
"The clan chief wants to open an ancestral hall?" Elder Xie's face was very ugly. "It's a family matter, there's no need to make such a fuss."
"Bullshit!" Chief Xie couldn't help but curse. "A family of brainless idiots, making such a fuss over five taels of silver? They're counting on their daughters to get married after their fathers' funerals. Anyone who didn't know better would think the Xie family had died out."
"You bastards! You don't even want your own fathers! Why doesn't God send lightning to strike you dead, you heartless scoundrels? This is your last warning: pay up, or your whole family will get out of Xiaoxie Village!"
If you make my life difficult, I'll make sure you all have no way to survive.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nuan smiled.
Sure enough, it only hurts when it's your own flesh that's being cut. He had been trying to smooth things over, but when he saw the knife falling on him, his attitude immediately changed.
These words startled Old Mrs. Xie. "I was just asking my daughter for some filial piety, how could I be expelled from the clan? Don't you have any sense of reason?"
"I'm unreasonable?" Chief Xie finally understood the Huang family's feelings. "If I were unreasonable, I would have had you drowned in a pig cage long ago."
What a bunch of heartless bastards, yet he's protecting them like this and saying so many nice things to them.
I should have known better than to care about their lives.
"I haven't done anything wrong," these words provoked Old Lady Xie, who was now most afraid of not having a good end. "Why should I be drowned in a pig cage? Is there no law anymore?"
"No mistakes?" Chief Xie laughed in anger at these words. "You have tried to kill your own daughter time and time again. Do you really think no one knows? Why did it always fail? It's not that your daughter is lucky. It's that I don't want the Xie family to commit a murderous sin and suffer retribution. So I've been keeping an eye on things."
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Xie's expression changed drastically.
He was deathly pale and covered in cold sweat.
She had no idea that what she had been trying so hard to hide would be discovered, and she never imagined that her every move was being watched.
"Harming offspring, do you think you deserve to be drowned in a pig cage?" Chief Xie said expressionlessly. "What a piece of trash! Even if my Xie family's daughters are lowly, they are still far superior to you. If it weren't for your old man pleading for you, how many lives would you have to pay for it?"
These words surprised Xie.
She said, "Why is it that every time something happens, someone just happens to be there? I used to think it was just good luck, but it turns out..."
Immediately, I felt incredibly conflicted.
Hearing this, Jiang Nuan scoffed, "You make it sound so nice, but you just think girls are worthless. Otherwise, would you let her make those moves again and again?"
Actually, I just let it go half-heartedly.
If they had been severely punished the first time they were caught, none of this would have happened.
To get others' attention, tsk tsk, are you so sure you can always catch up perfectly?
Isn't it strange that such a big thing, instead of nipping it in the bud, is being made to be on guard?
Having his thoughts exposed, Chief Xie was immediately at a loss for words.
A girl will eventually marry into another family. He has already done more than enough by asking people to keep an eye on her. Does he really want to create a rift with his clan over a girl?
But these words cannot be spoken.
Upon hearing this, Madam Xie froze.
He stared at Chief Xie in disbelief, his mouth opening and closing, before finally lowering his head in silence.
Even if she asked, what difference would it make? She didn't want to hear any answer.
But my heart ached terribly. I tried to blink and hold back my tears, but they just wouldn't stop flowing.
Perhaps, she was born a mistake.
Seeing Xie's condition, Jiang Nuan felt extremely distressed and grew increasingly dislikeful of the Xie family.
I always thought the Xie family patriarch was clueless, and I thought he was just a little short-sighted, but I never imagined he didn't even have the most basic conscience.
“Don’t try to play the sympathy card,” Jiang Nuan said, looking directly at Chief Xie. “If this matter isn’t resolved today, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
Why bring it up now of all times? They're just trying to use the debt of saving their lives to force the Huang family to back down.
Unfortunately, he miscalculated.
Jiang Nuan couldn't imagine how much malice her second daughter-in-law had endured without her knowledge, just to have her life saved.
A living human life was so disregarded by the entire Xie family; upon reflection, it is truly outrageous.
Upon hearing this, Chief Xie's face turned green.
"Don't worry, Madam Huang," he said defiantly, "I will open the ancestral hall in a little while and give your Huang family an explanation."
Even after all this effort, the Huang family still won't back down.
For a moment, Chief Xie couldn't help but feel resentful, and even regretted helping the Xie family survive.
If I hadn't meddled in other people's business back then, I wouldn't be in this predicament today.
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