Everyone was clamoring to divide up Xu Lanzhi's belongings, as if those things originally belonged to them.
Tang Yongnian suddenly walked out of Erzhuzi's house with a dark face, followed by Tang Yongqiang, the village's barefoot doctor.
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He cleared his throat and said, "Is Tangjiagou about to undergo a major upheaval? They're just framing someone with some random crime and trying to take away their family property?"
Tang Yongnian's sudden appearance startled everyone, but Li Cai'e was the most upset. She never expected that the village chief would also be at Erzhuzi's house, with the incorruptible Tang Yongqiang by his side.
They had seen everything she had done at Erzhuzi's house. Li Caie felt like dying, and she didn't dare to say another word.
None of the villagers wanted to take the blame, so they all made Li Cai'e take the blame. She swore that she saw Xu Lanzhi and Erzhuzi doing illicit things. Tangjiagou values a woman's chastity the most, and this was a serious crime.
Someone said, "Village chief, a widow's immorality is a serious crime. Xu Lanzhi is not a virtuous woman, but we are just following the rules."
Tang Yongnian snorted and said, "Which eye of yours saw that Lanzhi had misbehaved? You believe everything you hear. This isn't the first or second time you've slandered Lanzhi. She's a young woman, and you're deliberately trying to kill her. Don't think you can just let this go this time!"
The villagers were unhappy: "They say there's no smoke without fire. Li Cai'e's story is so detailed and convincing, so we can't be blamed."
One of the bolder ones even said, "That's right, the village chief is indeed biased; he probably received benefits from Xu Lanzhi as well."
Tang Yongnian was so angry that he blew his beard and glared: "You bastard, is that how you talk? Your Uncle Yongqiang and I saw everything clearly just now. Li Caie deliberately framed me!"
Li Cai'e, tell me yourself, what happened?
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Li Cai'e argued illogically, "Even if they didn't do anything just now, what about before? Otherwise, why would a widow go out of her way to deliver food to a bachelor!"
Tang Yongqiang, who had been silent all along, glared at Li Caie and said, "Erzhuzi was injured, and Brother Yongnian asked everyone to take turns looking after him. What did you say? You said he did it to save Cuixi and Xu Lanzhi, so they should be the ones taking care of him."
Those two wolves were killed by Lanzhi's dog and Erzhuzi. So what if they got the wolf pelts? You guys, you're always backing down when it comes to doing things, but you always try to take advantage of others. And you still think you're right?
Everyone was speechless, but Li Caie said with dissatisfaction, "That's true, but the wolf skin was stripped from the mountain by my family, and it was brought down from the mountain by everyone. How come we didn't get any benefit at all?"
Tang Yongnian shook his head and said, "Fellow villagers, it has always been the rule in Tangjiagou that if anyone is in trouble, everyone contributes money or effort."
"Li Cai'e, after all this fuss, it turns out you came up with this vicious idea just because your family helped skin the wolf and didn't get anything in return. Have you forgotten how the whole village helped you when your ox got stuck in the swamp last year? From now on, don't expect anyone from the villagers to help you with anything."
After saying that, he turned to everyone and said, “You’re kicking Wang Dasao and Lanzhi when they’re down. Don’t you know that without Lanzhi’s father-in-law, it’s hard to say whether Tangjiagou would still exist? I’m telling you that Lanzhi is innocent today. If you don’t believe me, then let Uncle Yongqiang, who never lies, tell us what happened today.”
Tang Yongqiang was the only doctor in the village, and he was known for his integrity and uprightness. Tang Yongnian was somewhat tactful in managing village affairs, but Tang Yongqiang's words always carried weight.
He recounted the whole story, exposing Li Cai'e's ugly face in public. Li Cai'e was utterly devastated and slunk away.
Tang Yongnian dismissed everyone. Xu Lanzhi thanked Tang Yongnian and Tang Yongqiang and took Tang Qiqi back.
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Although Xu Lanzhi wasn't framed, Tang Qiqi wasn't happy at all. Xu Lanzhi was too weak at heart; she let Li Caie go so easily, which was infuriating.
When Wang heard that Xu Lanzhi had an accident, she rushed over to check on her. Seeing that Xu Lanzhi was safe and sound, she breathed a sigh of relief.
After finding out the whole story, Wang was furious. She slammed her hand on the table and said, "This is outrageous! Li Cai'e is a terrible person! Come on, I'll take you to find her. I'll not be a Wang if I don't curse her ancestors for eight generations."
Xu Lanzhi stopped Wang Shi and said, "Mother, why get angry? Everyone says that widows attract a lot of gossip. You can shut Li Cai'e up, but can you shut the whole village up? We've done the right thing, let them be. But we're so grateful to Qiqi today, that child was so anxious that she started talking."
Wang looked at Tang Qiqi with affection and said, "She's really our little lucky charm. Why did you call Tang Yongnian over?"
It turned out that Xu Lanzhi had taken a detour to Tang Yongnian's house. She said that none of her children were home today, and it wasn't appropriate for her, a woman, to deliver the food. So she asked Tang Yongnian to go with her to deliver the food to the second assistant and check on his wounds.
Wang said with satisfaction, "You're so quick-witted! Do you think this matter might also be related to Cuixi?"
Xu Lanzhi pondered for a moment and said, "I have the same suspicion. If she really got involved in this matter, it would be truly disheartening."
As the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were talking, Jiedi brought Baogen over. Xu Lanzhi hurriedly asked with concern, "Baogen, are you alright? Your mother said you weren't feeling well today, so she asked Jiedi to keep you company."
Jiedi quickly chimed in, "What exactly is Aunt Cuixi up to? When I went over there, Brother Baogen was building a rabbit hutch as if nothing was wrong. I told her I was going back to deliver food to Uncle Erzhu, but she kept pulling me aside and talking about this and that, just to prevent me from coming back."
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But right now, Aunt Cai'e went to her house, and Baogen and I were engrossed in watching the rabbits. She insisted that Baogen take me back, but who would take me?
Wang blurted out, "That heartless Cuixi, I knew she was up to no good. You helped her and Baogen so much, and she still conspired with Li Caie to frame you. This time, we can't let her off easily."
Xu Lanzhi was afraid that these words would hurt Baogen's feelings, so she kept giving Wang Shi meaningful glances, but Wang Shi was so engrossed in scolding that she didn't notice.
Baogen's face suddenly changed, and he was breathing heavily with anger. Even as a child, he knew how good Xu Lanzhi was. How could his mother be so oblivious?
Xu Lanzhi quickly comforted him, saying, "Don't listen to your grandma's nonsense, it's not true. Besides, your mother is your mother, and you are you. Your aunt knows that our Baogen is a good boy."
Baogen wouldn't listen at all. He clenched his little fists and ran away in a flash.
Knowing she had misspoke, Wang looked at Xu Lanzhi apologetically and said, "Oh dear, I was so angry that I didn't know what would happen to Baogen. He's a hot-tempered boy, I'm afraid something might have happened to him. He always listens to you, so you should go and check on him."
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