When she heard they were planning to marry their daughter off to Wensheng, Jiang Lin didn’t get angry; instead, she laughed. “You all really know how to think positively. Regardless of whether your daughter is good or bad, just because she has parents like you, I don’t want anything to do with her for the rest of my life!”

“Do you think you can live happily without cultivating moral virtues? Your actions shame your parents and ruin your children’s future.”

To put it bluntly, even when buying a pig, you still inspect the pen!

With parents like you, who would dare to marry into your family?

Mr. and Mrs. Liu turned purple with anger, feeling as humiliated as if they had been slapped in the face.

Mr. Liu angrily said, “How unreasonable you are, Madam. We were willing to settle privately with you by marrying our daughter to yours. Why do you still reject us? It was your men who ruined our daughter’s innocence. You are not taking responsibility, so who else can we marry her to?”

They didn’t say a word about saving our lives, as if life-saving was more important than innocence.

His wife also echoed, “We don’t want your money, nor do we despise your family’s fool. You’re ungrateful, and still humiliating us.”

Guo Minying also shouted, “Meet the officials and see who’s afraid! Rogues are going to die with guns…”

Before she could finish, Jiang Lin slapped her hard and said, “Get out of here and shut up!”

Liu Honghua clenched her fists, feeling satisfied that they also had to endure her slap, which was very painful, her face and ears hurt!

Guo Minying didn’t expect Jiang Lin to suddenly hit her and immediately rushed up to scratch her.

Jiang Lin wasn’t afraid of her scratching.

Before Guo Minying’s arm reached out, she kicked her first, knocking Guo Minying to the ground.

“How dare you hit people! Bullying!” Immediately, the Liu family members surrounded them to support each other.

Someone grabbed Cheng Ruhai and Liu Honghua and started fighting again, turning the situation into a brawl.

No one dared to approach Jiang Lin, though, because Wensheng was standing beside her.

As men and women rushed forward, Wensheng kicked them aside one by one.

They were only seven or eight people, while there were many neighbors nearby.

Wensheng knocked them to the ground one by one and clapped his hands. “Bullying my mom, I won’t let you get away with it!”

Jiang Lin chuckled. “Stay down, then we can talk like civilized people!”

At this moment, Cheng Yulian and the village security officer arrived after hearing the news.

Jiang Lin explained how Wensheng had saved the drowning girl, only to be tricked and accused of being a rogue by the girl’s family, who then wanted to marry their daughter to him.

Cheng Yulian was furious. “Do you think our Shuihuai Village is easy to bully? You saved their daughter and they didn’t even come to thank you, yet they come here to coerce and force you to marry their daughter!”

Cheng Yulian didn’t know what else to say. Even if a normal person came to propose, Jiang Lin wouldn’t agree.

She had asked Jiang Lin before and said that Wensheng was stable and fit to marry, so why not let him have a wife and child?

Today, Liu Xiaoxia was washing clothes by the river in the afternoon.

To dry them quickly, she hung them on branches by the river as soon as they were washed.

By the time all were washed, some were almost half dry, ready to be taken back and hung up again to finish drying.

Today, the wind was strong. One piece of clothing she hung fell into the river.

Worried, she rushed to retrieve it, but slipped and fell into the water herself.

She had stained her pants during her period and didn’t have spare ones to change into, so she borrowed a pair from her grandmother.

The old lady’s pants were wide at the waist and didn’t have a drawstring, so she could only tie them tightly around her waist.

As she struggled in the water, although the belt stayed on, the pants were washed off her wide waist and big legs by the water.

Meanwhile, Wensheng and his friends were by the river catching bugs and grasshoppers in glass jars to feed the chickens and collect eggs.

They also picked wildflowers to bring back for Grandma and Jiang Lin.

The riverbank was lush with water plants, and various wildflowers were in full bloom, attracting many bugs.

They were playing there.

They happened to witness Liu Xiaoxia falling into the water.

Wensheng and his friends hurried over.

They saw a woman in the river struggling and shouting for help.

Wensheng’s friend immediately shouted for help with his hands cupped around his mouth, but no one came.

The woman in the river splashed and then sank.

Wensheng quickly took off his coat and pants and wore shorts to save her.

His friend pulled him back. “Wensheng, Mom told you not to swim.”

Although Wensheng could swim, Jiang Lin was afraid of him having an accident in the water, so she wouldn’t let him swim, even in the summer.

Wensheng said, “She’ll drown!” and jumped into the water.

He was a good swimmer and quickly rescued Liu Xiaoxia from the water.

Just as three men from her village passed by, “Who fell into the water?”

Wensheng carried the semi-conscious girl ashore.

“Oh my, why is she naked!” one man exclaimed, and the others quickly came to look.

They looked at her awkwardly and greedily, especially because she was a village beauty, and seeing her could be shown off for a year.

Wensheng was too focused on rescuing her to notice.

His friend hurried to fetch clothes from the shore to cover her.

Wensheng placed the girl on the bank but didn’t know what to do next.

He looked at the other three men.

Several men chuckled at him.

Adult men often make suggestive jokes in private.

Now with such an opportunity, they were eager but lacked the courage to act alone.

One of them nudged Wensheng, “Why don’t you feel her heartbeat?”

Thinking they wanted him to help the girl, Wensheng moved to comply.

But Da Bao ran over, grabbing his hand. “Put your clothes on quickly, or you’ll catch a cold!”

Wensheng pointed to the girl who had nearly drowned. “Is she dead?”

Da Bao looked uncertain.

He glanced at the men, puzzled by their strange expressions. They seemed both eager to look and hesitant, their eyes shifting slyly.

Da Bao snapped, “What are you doing? Why aren’t you helping?”

One man replied, “Didn’t we just help her out? She’s fine, just choked on water. She’ll be fine after coughing it out.”

Though they were thinking it was a chance to watch, since she couldn’t die after being rescued, they couldn’t do anything, and didn’t dare touch her.

Da Bao asked Wensheng to turn the girl over and help her clear her lungs.

Liu Xiaoxia had choked on water and passed out.

She woke up after coughing it out.

Embarrassed by her waking, the men quickly avoided staring, exchanging glances as if acknowledging Wensheng’s good fortune, then laughing as they left.

Wensheng and Da Bao were relieved to see the girl awake and ran off to continue catching bugs.

Liu Xiaoxia realized she was naked and felt so embarrassed she wished she could disappear.

She managed to put on her wet clothes and hurried home carrying her basket.

Her hair was dripping wet, face pale, and she walked unsteadily.

Aunt Guo Minying saw her and immediately demanded to know what happened.

Xiaoxia said she fell into the river while washing clothes and struggled to climb out, avoiding mentioning the men.

But those three men couldn’t resist bragging to other men about seeing Xiaoxia’s buttocks.

By the afternoon, many men in the village knew.

Word reached Liu’s father and uncle, embarrassing them greatly.

Liu Dapeng returned home furious and without asking anything, grabbed a stick ready to beat his daughter, thinking she was behaving improperly outside.

Xiaoxia had to explain the rescue and the incident with the men.

Liu Dapeng and his wife were more concerned about blaming their daughter than seeking justice.

However, Aunt Guo Minying went to inquire about who rescued her niece.

The men who spread the story reluctantly told her.

They didn’t know Wensheng well but described him as tall, handsome, with two sons who looked exactly like him.

With further inquiries, it was confirmed he was from the brick factory where the men were indeed tall and handsome, with twin sons equally striking.

Guo Minying saw an opportunity for money since the brick factory was wealthy.

She suggested extorting a large sum, more than Xiaoxia’s future dowry, which could support their family.

She discussed this with her in-laws and brother-in-law’s family.

At first, Liu Dapeng and his wife were hesitant, fearing embarrassment if their scheme was exposed.

But Guo Minying assured them, suggesting they accuse the men of misconduct to intimidate them.

Even if exposed, the men couldn’t deny touching Xiaoxia, so they would have to compensate.

Upon hearing they could gain more money than Xiaoxia’s future dowry, Liu Dapeng and his wife agreed eagerly.

Following Guo Minying’s plan, they gathered their uncles, aunts, and brothers-in-law to visit Shuihuai Village, gathering information from the villagers.

They learned the tall man wasn’t from the brick factory but was actually the simple-minded Wensheng from the Cheng family.

Guo Minying investigated further and found out Wensheng, despite his disability, was the eldest son of the Cheng family and would inherit all their wealth in the future.

Moreover, he doesn’t have a wife!

She felt even more proud, saying that Liu Dapeng and his wife took advantage, scaring the other side first by acting like hooligans, and then using marriage to resolve it.

By marrying into each other’s families, Wensheng is a fool, so even after splitting up, Xiaoxia’s decisions still rule?

Little did they know, Jiang Lin actually disagreed.

So Liu Dapeng and his wife, along with Guo Minying, were puzzled and annoyed.

In their family, raising a daughter is meant to exchange for a son’s dowry.

When life improves, the dowry for a son from the countryside increases, becoming complicated and meticulous.

For instance, a piece of cloth previously required one hook, but now it needs two, along with other food, meat, and eggs.

Guo Minying herself has two sons but no daughters, so she’s relying on her elder sister’s three daughters.

Since they still live together without splitting up, she’s working especially hard to arrange things for her niece.

Jiang Lin, however, pays no attention to their plans.

Upon hearing this, Zeng Hongjie immediately rushed over with his camera and snapped photos of Guo Minying and the others. “Alright, I have evidence here. Let’s go straight to the police station and report that you intend to disturb public order and conspire…”

“No no no, that’s not what we meant!” Liu Dapeng and his wife were terrified; they dare not meet with the officials.

They just wanted to marry their daughter to the Cheng family.

Although Wensheng is foolish, he doesn’t hit people and is always cheerful, just like a child.

There’s land and a house at home, as well as a brick kiln factory and embroidery workshop.

Although it’s a second marriage, the children are still young, and the family treats him well.

Marrying him will definitely bring support.

The head of the Shuihuai Village security went to the Mopan Village to find their security head and brought those three men and Xiao Xia over.

Xiao Xia covered her head with a broken handkerchief, looking ashamed and embarrassed, while the three men were as relaxed and happy as if they had eaten immortal fruit, seemingly receiving the worship of the masses.

Xiao Xia felt ashamed and embarrassed, wishing she could find a hole to hide in, but when the security head asked, she had to speak up.

Originally, under Guo Minying’s instructions, they insisted that Wensheng had bullied her and didn’t mention the drowning incident.

But being ordinary members of the society, without any special abilities, they were scared into telling the truth by the brigade cadres.

Where else could they dare to fabricate?

The three men indeed saw Wensheng pulling Xiao Xia out of the river, but as for the claim of him acting like a hooligan, it was all from Guo Minying herself.

Jiang Lin asked a few key questions and quickly clarified the situation.

She scolded Liu Dapeng and his wife, “Do you think everyone else is a fool?

You only heard that your daughter wasn’t wearing pants, but didn’t see she was about to drown?

Do you think, if your daughter can’t marry for money, she might as well drown?”