Chapter 16
In a hurry, Ye Zhang dragged Ye Jia away. The Zhang family members were all tall and strong, and Ye Zhang was a whole circle bigger than Ye Jia when they stood together. At this time, she was pulling hard on her, and Ye Jia couldn't break free at all.
Before Ye Jia could say anything, she was dragged out of the village.
Yu let go of Ruijie'er's hand and ran after her, but Ye Zhang was walking so fast that she couldn't catch up at all.
In truth, Yu was somewhat afraid of the Ye family. The Zhou family had married into the Ye family, and no one from the Ye family had even come to see them, whether it was their son's accident or their daughter-in-law's drowning. Who would do that to their daughter? They'd assumed they wouldn't interact with her. But the family also remembered that when their third daughter got into trouble, she ran away faster than anyone else. Ye Jia's eldest sister-in-law had visited several times, but each time, she didn't come to apologize or show concern, but instead to ask Ye Jia to intercede for her sister.
After these few exchanges, Yu Shi hadn't left a good impression of the Ye family. "Hey, hey, hey, what are you trying to do? You're dragging people down without even explaining anything clearly. How can you do things this way?"
Yu walked slowly. When she reached the village entrance, she held her chest and gasped for breath. The aunt and sister-in-law had already walked a long way away.
"Mom, go back." Zhou Jingchen hadn't known when they caught up, his eyes fixed on the two people's retreating figures. "I'll go take a look."
When Yu heard this, she nodded quickly and told him to go quickly.
Ye Jia was dragged to the town's tile market by Ye Zhang. It was truly admirable. Others would only manage a morning's worth of breakfast stalls, but the Zhang family had been setting up their stall all day. Worried that the ten cents they paid in the morning weren't worth the money, they had to make a good profit from the venue fee.
It's true, although the food he makes may not taste as good, it's cheaper. After a full day of selling, he's made so much money that he's smiling. But he can't smile now. A crowd gathered in front of the stall. Ye Jia, pulled into the crowd by Ye Zhangshi, saw Zhang Chunfen, her clothes torn to shreds, slumped on the ground, crying. A group of people were pointing and talking, while the Zhang brothers and their wives stood there, speechless, like a sawed-mouthed gourd.
As Ye Jia walked in, he saw a handsome young man.
The young man had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, was tall, and wore a neat shortshort outfit with a short knife at his waist. The material of his clothes was several grades higher than the dusty people around him. Surrounded by a group of young people dressed similarly, his cold and stern appearance was quite intimidating. However, when the young man looked up and saw Ye Jia, his eyes suddenly lit up.
He wanted to come over, but seeing the crowd around him, he stopped and looked at her from a distance, across from Sister Zhang Chunfen.
"What happened?" Ye Jia was not blind, and judging from the boy's appearance, it must be Cheng Er.
This question naturally prompted an interested person to explain. It turned out that Zhang Chunfen had caused this trouble herself.
It's what she deserves. Zhang Chunfen has been dressing up cutely and strolling around town lately.
Dressing up wasn't a big deal, but somehow, a rival saw her. Zhang Chunfen wasn't the only one who thought her distasteful; there were plenty of girls in Ye Village who didn't get along with her. The other man, jealous, remembering how Zhang Chunfen had always stolen Ye Jia's clothes and jewelry, reported the incident to Master Cheng.
The so-called "Second Master" of the Cheng family was actually Cheng Feng. He had always been arrogant and never interacted with the girls in the village or town. The only one who had his eye on her was Ye San. He was so fond of Ye San that he would happily find good things for the girls while escorting them to please them. However, the things he had painstakingly found were stolen by an ugly idiot, and the original owner was left wearing tattered clothes every day, which was unbearable for anyone.
Master Cheng had a bad temper and was known for his rough behavior. He didn't know what the man had whispered into his ear, but it had provoked Master Cheng to come to him. He didn't care that Zhang Chunfen was a girl, so he resorted to violence.
When the matter was exposed, people around pointed fingers and said something. One woman said directly that who would dare to marry such a shameless girl? She would not be willing to marry her even if she was offered money.
When Zhang Chunfen heard this, her square face turned red and purple, and her eyes were swollen like walnuts from crying.
Ye Zhang was heartbroken. She wiped her tears, sat on the ground and cried, "...I just wore a few of his clothes and asked him for some jewelry. Mr. Cheng is so stingy that he actually sent people to strip my poor sister's clothes in the street!"
"How old is my sister? She's only seventeen! She's still a virgin!" Ye Zhang's voice was shrill, and her mournful wailing made people's heads buzz. "Look at this, is this what a human being would do? How could a human being strip a young girl's clothes in the street? Our Chunfen's body has been seen by others. How can we talk about her in the future?!"
Cheng Feng frowned and immediately got angry: "Today I will not only strip her clothes, but also take her life!"
As he said this, he ordered someone to pick up Zhang Chunfen and throw her into the river at the entrance of the town.
Zhang Chunfen, who usually has a bad temper, howled like a pig being slaughtered.
"..." Seeing this, Ye Jia probably understood. Cheng Er stripped the man of his clothes and pushed him into the water. It was obvious that someone had told Cheng Er about Zhang Chunfen pushing her into the water. Was this young man doing this to help her get revenge?
Ye Jia huddled at the edge of the crowd, but before she could move, Ye Zhang pulled her out: "Jia Niang, Jia Niang, go talk to Cheng Er! You used to get along well with Cheng Er, he'll definitely listen if you go and talk to him... The water is so cold in April, a girl who can't swim will sink if she falls in. After all, you grew up with her, and we've been sisters for so many years, please save Chunfen!"
Ye Jia's advice was pointless! If Zhang Chunfen could do something, she should have thought about it. She got all the benefits, and others cleaned up the mess: "I'm sorry, sister-in-law, your brother is still standing there, why don't you go find your own brothers to stop him? I see that the Zhang brothers are all tall and strong, and they can carry 300-400 kilograms of radishes for ten miles without even breathing. If they can't protect it, I, with my small body, will not be able to do it either."
After saying this, people looked over at the stall and saw that the Zhang brothers were being stopped by their wives.
Ye Zhang was so embarrassed by this sight that she wanted to curse, but cursing in public would be embarrassing for her brother. Ye Zhang was furious. She was angry at her brother for being useless. She was also worried that Zhang Chunfen would be thrown into the water.
His face turned blue and purple, and he was so angry that he didn't care about pretending. "Don't bully me! My brother lives by his wife's mood, and my two sisters-in-law are both black-hearted. Otherwise, would I run so far to the Zhou family to find you? I have no choice! I came to find you so desperately, and now you are still trying to make excuses? How can you be so hard-hearted?!"
Ye Jia was so confused by her scolding? Her own brothers didn't help her, so she was heartless because she didn't help an outsider?
Die of laughter. Ye Jia blinked and thought, she must be hard-hearted today, so what? She won't go!
But Ye Zhangshi was not going to let her off easy. Seeing that she was not listening, she immediately flew into a rage. She thought, "If you don't let me off easy, I won't let you off easy either." She started accusing Ye Jia of having an affair with Cheng Er, saying that Cheng Er was acting this way to avenge Ye Jia.
"Who in Yejiazhuang and Wangjiacun doesn't know that you and Cheng Er are having an affair? Ye Jia, who do you think you are? Don't deny it! When your husband was still doing corvée labor in Xichang, you ran to the town every day. You would be gone for the whole day. Who doesn't know that you came to see Cheng Er? Now you pretend to be innocent and let your mistress deal with my sister. I was thinking of giving you face for the sake of our family, but you are shameless!"
Ye Zhang spat on the ground and dragged Ye Jia to attack: "Just go when I tell you to. You whore, you still dare to act like that!"
Her strong grip almost broke Ye Jia's arm.
Cheng Er was watching them and was about to come over to help. He quickly covered Ye Zhang's mouth, and the arm that Ye Zhang was holding Ye Jia was removed by a white hand.
Ye Zhang screamed miserably, and then a tall young man slowly walked out of the crowd.
The young man said calmly, "Jia Niang."
He stood up and the crowd quieted down.
Ye Jia wasn't surprised to see him. Ye Zhang had been clamoring so loudly earlier that he should have heard it if he wasn't deaf. Seeing that he wasn't using his crutches, Ye Jia shook his arm and asked, "Can you walk without them?"
"Yeah." He just stood there silently, the bright spring light shining on his whole body, making him look as white as jade.
Zhou Jingchen's gaze fell on Ye Zhang's face, her mouth hanging open in astonishment. The onlookers were all vendors from the Tile Market, and they all recognized him. It took them a moment to realize that the two were the owners of Xishi's stall. He glanced curiously among the group. Cheng Er, standing nearby, retracted his raised arm. He stood straight to the other side, squinting his eyes as he studied Zhou Jingchen.
Needless to say, anyone with eyesight knows who this person is.
Ye Zhang took a moment to react, her eyes darting around as she stared at Zhou Jingchen. She'd been in such a hurry to get to Zhou's house earlier that she hadn't noticed her brother-in-law. Seeing his expression, it seemed as if he'd heard what she'd just said. But even after hearing her mention his wife's affair with a man from town, his expression remained calm, giving no hint of what was going on.
Ye Zhang's arms drooped, wincing in pain. She looked up and saw her sister not far away. Cheng Er hadn't actually meant to throw her into the river, otherwise he wouldn't have dragged her back and forth.
At this moment, the two young men who were carrying Zhang Chunfen had not left yet, and were staring at this side with wide eyes.
I don't know what's wrong with Ye Zhang's brain, or is she really so confident? Even at this moment, her sister is still being dragged around. She doesn't care about these things, but is angry that Ye Jia doesn't give her face, and wants to teach Ye Jia a lesson in public.
She paused, then grabbed Zhou Jingchen's arm and said in a sinister tone, "Third brother-in-law, right? I'm Ye Jia's eldest sister-in-law, you can just call me sister-in-law. You came late, I'm afraid I don't know what happened, I want to talk to you in detail. You are an unfaithful woman. You have been hooking up with people in town while you were away! And now her lover is looking for someone to bully a decent girl to vent her anger!"
Ye Jia was speechless. At this time, he was still thinking of causing trouble for her?
She went up and knocked Ye Zhang's arm down. Before she could say anything, Zhou Jingchen glanced at Ye Jia's movements, then looked at Ye Zhang and slowly spoke. His voice was as cold as the wind, and it made people sober as soon as he spoke: "Sister-in-law, you should take care of your own sister first."
Ye Zhang's sarcastic face froze and she choked.
Zhou Jingchen didn't say much, just glanced around quietly. His eyes fell on Cheng Feng's face, and then returned to Ye Jia in a moment.
Their eyes met, and the woman who had been caught cheating on him showed no shame at all, staring back at him openly. Not only was she not guilty, but she also looked at him with a detached gloating pleasure.
Zhou Jingchen: “…”
After a long while, he lowered his eyes and walked over to hold Ye Jia's wrist: "Madam, let's go. Didn't you say you have something to do this afternoon?"
Ye Jia looked down at the wrist he was holding, then looked up at the guy again.
Zhou Jingchen's face was calm, his eyes lowered, and his body straight. As if this action was perfectly normal, he raised his slender hand, slightly bent his index finger, and naturally smoothed the loose hair at Ye Jia's temples.
Ye Jia: “…”
Of course he didn't shake it off, he nodded without looking away.
The couple left like that. After they had walked quite a distance, Zhou Jingchen turned around to look at the tall and strong young man in the crowd.
The young man's eyes were unusually bright, like a ferocious bird circling in the sand. It was quite interesting.
The two returned to the Zhou residence and were greeted by an anxious Yu at the door. Yu rambled on with questions, and Ye Jia vaguely mentioned that Zhang Chunfen had caused trouble again and asked her to mediate. Yu, upon hearing it was Zhang Chunfen again, remembered that it was this girl who had pushed her daughter-in-law into the water and nearly killed her last time, and she couldn't help but curse.
She also doesn't know how to curse, just a few polite words like "bastard".
Rui Jieer followed suit, stomping her legs and saying in a baby voice, "Asshole!"
Ye Jia couldn't help laughing when she heard this. "Mom, don't meddle in other people's business. Zhang Chunfen has nothing to do with our family. Take some time this afternoon to go to a few villages and ask who has eggs to share. If it's convenient, catch a few sheep and bring them back to raise."
It’s not a good idea to always buy goat milk, it’s better to raise it at home.
Ye Jia finished her words and turned to leave. Zhou Jingchen, standing beside her, frowned as he watched her walk away. After a long moment, he couldn't help but laugh.
This Ye, how bold is she? He didn't ask, and she really dared to fool him like this, without even a word of explanation?
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