With this in mind, Song Jiaojiao couldn't help but feel a bit wary of Song Lan.
"Apologize."
Although Song Lan did not know the specifics of what had happened, the fact that Li Jumei could lay a hand on Zhu Guihua, coupled with the "useless" look that Song Jiaojiao gave Zhu Guihua from the crowd, and the fact that Song Lan's appearance in Shisong Village today had not brought good results for Song Jiaojiao, made it all seem to Song Lan that nothing was unexpected.
—It's nothing more than Song Jiaojiao ruining her reputation while she was at work in the afternoon, and taking advantage of the discord between Zhu Guihua and Li Jumei to escalate the situation, making her unpopular in Shisong Village.
Isn't this also a blow to Song Sanhe and Li Jumei?
See? How can your own daughters compare to me!
"On what grounds?"
Suppressing her nervousness, Song Jiaojiao met Song Lan's gaze with feigned toughness.
"Just because you've ruined my reputation in the village, don't say you didn't, I won't believe you, and I don't mind asking everyone else."
Song Lan's clear, peach-blossom eyes were filled with indifference. She said, "You think I didn't know about the trickery involved in using a movie screening to scheme against me? You don't think I was unaware of the rumors circulating in the residential area, do you?"
"You...you're spouting nonsense!"
Song Jiaojiao bit her lip; she would never admit it.
"You're not going to apologize, are you?"
Song Lan asked.
"I didn't do anything wrong, why should I apologize to you?!"
Song Jiaojiao continued to be stubborn.
Unexpectedly, the next moment, a crisp "snap" sounded!
Song Lan slapped the other person and said coldly, "This slap is for you scheming against me under the guise of watching a movie." She slapped him again and said, "This is for all the rumors and gossip about me."
She quickly slapped Song Jiaojiao twice more, ignoring her bewildered expression. Song Lan's lips curled into a slight smile: "These two slaps are for what you did today, and for the interest I'm collecting. Now listen to me carefully: it's your freedom to like whomever you want, go ahead and do it, but you'd better not provoke me again, otherwise..."
Leaning close to Song Jiaojiao's ear, Song Lan whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "I'll make you regret this!"
"...You hit me? Song Lan, you dare to hit me?"
After a long while, Song Jiaojiao recovered from her shock. She couldn't believe that Song Lan would lay a hand on her. Whether she was a rich second-generation or not, she had never been slapped by anyone, not even her parents. Yet now, she had been slapped four times by a despicable person she looked down on. Did Song Lan think she was easy to bully?
"I'm going to hit you, take it or leave it!"
Song Lan uttered a remark, then glanced around at the onlookers and said calmly, "I believe everyone already knows what kind of relationship I have with Song Jiaojiao. Today, Song Jiaojiao is just stirring up trouble and ruining my reputation in our village."
She believes that I stole her life of luxury for more than ten years, but the truth is that the mistake of being switched at birth was caused by the negligence of the medical staff at our county hospital at the time. If you don't believe me, you can go to the county hospital to inquire.
Besides, I do live a good life in the city, but everyone knows how my parents treated Song Jiaojiao in our village. Otherwise, my parents wouldn't have named her 'Jiaojiao,' which shows how much they cherish this daughter.
Therefore, regarding the incident of being switched at birth, neither Song Jiaojiao nor I have any issue of who benefited from whom. She ruined my reputation today to vent her anger, so I hit her, and that's the end of it.
From now on, there will be no further involvement between her and me. I hope everyone will refrain from gossiping about my personal life to avoid causing trouble for my parents! Please!
Bowing deeply, Song Lan shifted her gaze to Zhu Guihua: "Auntie, is there anything you want to say?"
Feeling utterly ashamed by Song Lan's words, Song Jiaojiao suddenly burst into tears and ran towards the educated youth compound.
"That girl Jiaojiao probably feels too ashamed to face anyone!"
"She brought it on herself. In our village, everyone knows how much the accountant and his wife dote on their daughter. Besides, we all knew beforehand that the two babies were switched at birth because of a problem at the county hospital. Why should she resent the accountant's own daughter?! And she ruined the accountant's daughter's reputation on our village's turf. She deserves to lose face now."
"Da Wang's mother is really something. If you say she doesn't get along with the accountant's wife, she always calls her 'Big Plum' and likes to get close to her. But if you say she gets along well with the accountant's wife, she always has to argue with her whenever they meet. Today, she even spread the word about Jiao Jiao to everyone she meets. No wonder the accountant's wife hit her."
"It's really not Da Mei's fault! What she did worst was speaking ill of Da Mei's daughter in front of her. If it were me, I would definitely have slapped her a few times too!"
"By the way, you guys are saying that Da Meizi's son-in-law isn't actually a living dead person, is he?"
"It's best to say things like that less often."
...
The onlookers whispered amongst themselves, while Song Lan's gaze remained fixed on Zhu Guihua.
"I... I shouldn't have listened to Jiaojiao's nonsense in front of your mother, but she can't just hit me for that! Look at my face, look what she's done to it!"
Feeling guilty, Zhu Guihua didn't dare to look Song Lan in the eye. She touched her sore face and said, "And you, how come you, a little girl, have so much strength? Look at how you beat my sons so badly they're lying on the ground howling!"
"Zhu Guihua, do you have any shame?"
Li Jumei said angrily, "If you hadn't ruined my Lanlan's reputation, would I have hit you? Let me tell you, those few slaps were nothing. I originally wanted to tear your mouth apart, to see how you'd talk nonsense to everyone without that thing!"
As for your brothers Dawang and Erwang, if they hadn't made the first move, would my Lanlan have bothered to knock them to the ground? Besides, your Dawang, Erwang, and Sanwang are grown men.
Even Siwang and Wuwang are just teenagers, and the five of them together couldn't beat my Lanlan. Everyone saw it; don't you feel ashamed?"
Well, Zhu Guihua did feel very ashamed. Her five sons had never even beaten a girl, and she was afraid that it wouldn't be long before they would be known as "cowards."
Especially Dawang, Erwang, and Sanwang, they are all tall and strong. If things go wrong, the villagers might say behind their backs that they are "good-looking but useless" and are just pretenders!
"No matter what, you can't hit people! Putting aside the fact that we're neighbors, just look at you, Da Meizi, we've grown up together since we were little. Didn't you feel even a little bit of heartache when you hit me?"
Zhu Guihua's eyes were filled with resentment as she looked at her. Li Jumei spat on the ground and said, "Pah! You should have hit me first, that's why I'm upset!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
