The Chen family members were brought in quickly, and Du and Ma looked away somewhat.
"Second son, do you recognize this person?" The village chief pointed to Xichun's aunt and asked the simple-minded boy to identify her.
"Auntie, that's Auntie. Mom said we'll call her Auntie from now on." The silly boy said with a grin. Madam Wu had been trying to signal him to stop talking with her eyes, but the boy was really stupid and didn't understand any hints.
"Du, is this how you act as an aunt? How could you collude with outsiders to bully your niece?" The village chief, having received an affirmative answer, immediately questioned Du.
"I don't know anything. Whose silly boy is this? I'm not his aunt." Du had just received her mother-in-law's instructions and didn't reveal a word.
"You don't even recognize your own relatives anymore? You're really my own grandmother and aunt, yet you conspired with others to harm me. The facts are right in front of you, and you still try to deny it. Fine, you can deny it, huh? I've found the evidence too."
Xi Chun stared intently at the two of them. A moment later, Uncle Zhang, who had run out ahead of time, arrived with another family from Wu Family Village. They lived next door to Madam Wu's house. They had witnessed everything that happened when Madam Du came to the Wu family. After a slight hint of benefits, the family agreed to testify.
“Our family has no grudge against your family, yet you're siding with outsiders! You're ungrateful wretches!” Upon seeing their testimony, Madam Wu immediately lost her temper, jumped up, and started cursing.
“We’re telling the truth. Do you think the villagers don’t know? We’ve all heard from the second son that your family has arranged a marriage between your family and the Chen family, and you’re going to find a daughter-in-law who’s a businesswoman.”
"Mother, I want a wife! I want a wife! Didn't you say that if I gave the money to my aunt, I could marry a wife and have her have babies for me?" Madam Wu didn't want to admit it, but little did she know that this silly boy would get scared when he saw so many people and expose the relationship between their two families.
“Silver, I remember now. That day, Du’s son said that his mother had received silver and secretly hid one tael in her straw sandal. He tried to take it and was beaten.” One of the boys also remembered this incident, and as soon as he said this, everyone’s eyes were fixed on Du.
Upon hearing this, Ma realized that her sister-in-law's eagerness to do things was actually to hide some money from her. She got angry and started arguing with her sister-in-law, saying that she was too eager for her.
“Sister-in-law, I was wondering why you were willing to give six taels of silver to Mother that day. It turns out you secretly kept one tael for yourself. Ah Xiao, tell me quickly, where did your mother hide it? Hand over the silver now.”
Ma's loud voice immediately exposed the matter. When Old Mrs. Chen saw that her youngest daughter-in-law had messed things up, she immediately disregarded everything and slapped Ma, saying, "How could I have such a stupid daughter-in-law like you?"
This is terrible. Before outsiders have even done anything, they've started fighting amongst themselves and shouting insults at each other.
"Enough! Aren't you ashamed enough?" The village chief was furious at their behavior. He yelled at them, and no one dared to make a move.
“Du, Ma, I, Wang Lanhua, have not offended you. Why would you do this to my daughter? How can you be so cruel!” Wang cried as she walked over, wanting to hit the two women.
However, just as she was about to step forward, Old Mrs. Ma ran out and stopped her daughter-in-law, saying, "Don't go, I'll do it. Don't hurt my little grandson."
Grandma Ma stood there and launched a barrage of personal attacks at Grandma Chen, hurling extremely offensive insults. She also berated Madam Du and Madam Ma, essentially saying things like, "Even I, an outsider, am not as vicious as you two. How dare you treat your own granddaughter like this?" Her insults left the women speechless and unable to lift their heads.
“Village chief, uncles and aunts, today you all witnessed how my grandmother, aunt and uncle treated me. I don’t want my marriage to be used by them anymore, so I want you all to witness that I want to sever ties with them. From now on, I don’t need them to take care of me in my old age, sickness and death, and they can’t ask me for any benefits.”
Old Mrs. Ma cursed until her throat was dry, and only then did Xichun call the village chief and everyone else to be witnesses.
The Chen family really went too far. No one in the village was willing to stand with them, so when Xichun said those words, no one objected. In fact, they all thought that what Xichun said made sense.
“Xichun, you need to think this through. If you really sever ties with your family, you won’t be able to enjoy any of the benefits the Chen family provides. And if you encounter any difficulties, they won’t help you.” The village chief was naturally on Xichun’s side. Seeing them do such a disgusting thing, he also supported Xichun in severing ties with her family.
If they were to openly and honestly find someone for Xichun to marry, then even if they accepted the betrothal gifts, the villagers wouldn't dare to stop them, as it's a private matter. But doing this is just disgusting.
"I promise I won't beg them again."
“Chen Xichun, your father is my son. If you want to sever ties with him, did you get his consent? Besides, your father was responsible for raising me. Now that he's gone, it's natural for you to support me. We're accepting this betrothal gift as a way for your father to give me money for my old age.”
Seeing how determined she was, Old Mrs. Chen anxiously stepped forward and spoke up.
“If you want my father to agree, then go to my father. If you want my father’s retirement money, then go to my father. What am I in your family? Am I a money-losing burden or a cash cow? And you still have the audacity to ask for retirement money. Fine, go to my father and ask him. It was agreed when we divided the family property that if you don’t agree to an equal division, then the remaining land will be considered my father’s retirement money for you.”
"Yes, you did talk about dividing the family property back then, so why are you asking Xichun for retirement money now? Your Chen family shouldn't treat others like dirt." Aunt Zhang also stood up to defend her.
"Yes, that old lady Chen is so biased. She didn't treat her granddaughter like a granddaughter before, but now that she wants money, she treats her like family." The villagers started talking about them.
“Your family has really gone too far. Today you conspired to frame Xichun. I’ll let Xichun decide how to handle things. If she says she’ll report it to the authorities, then you can go to the yamen.” The village chief was giving Xichun a hint, implying that she could use this as a threat.
“The village chief is right. I’m going to report this to the county government. We must put all these bad apples in jail. Since you were unjust first, don’t blame me for being unjust too.” Xi Chun had the same idea as the village chief.
"No, no, don't declare it to customs. We'll just compensate you with money." Upon hearing this, Madam Wu dared not be stubborn anymore and immediately gave in.
“And what about you, especially Aunt? You were seen with your own eyes, and you instigated him. You are accomplices and will also go to jail.” Xichun looked at Du Shi.
"No, Mother, I don't want to go to jail. Let's break off the marriage with her. She's a jinx to fathers. Maybe things will get better for our family if we break off this marriage." Madam Du didn't dare to go to the authorities and quickly begged for mercy.
Finally, the Chen family agreed to sever ties, and Xichun got what she wanted from this farce.
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