Chapter 52 : He is a thief

Looking at Song Shiwei standing in front of him like a hen protecting her chicks, Zhou Cheng tightened his grip on the bucket.  

He had never imagined that one day, she would stand up for him so unhesitatingly.  

At that moment, the middle-aged woman, Jiang Fengqin, stared at the fair-skinned and beautiful young wife in front of her, her eyes widening in surprise.  

“Who are you? Why are you meddling in other people’s business? This little thief stole from my house, and I’m here to settle the score! What now? You steal and still have the nerve to be rude to me? What kind of logic is that?”  

Sun Meimei hurried forward.  

“Sister-in-law Jiang, listen this ‘thief’ you’re talking about is Captain Zhou Tingyue’s child, and this is his new wife. We all live in the same compound. Let’s talk this through properly!”  

Jian Qiu quickly added, “Yes, exactly! We’re all neighbors. Why not just sit down and discuss things instead of making such a scene?”  

Perhaps Song Shiwei didn’t know, but all the older residents of their compound were well aware Jiang Fengqin was notoriously unreasonable.  

She had never gone to school, had never read a single book, and was an expert at throwing tantrums, crying hysterically, making a scene, and even threatening to commit suicide to get her way.  

Even the wife of the compound chief was afraid of her.  

After all, people had encountered unreasonable folks before, but no one had ever met someone this unreasonable.  

If you provoked her, she would sit at your doorstep and curse you for three days and three nights without stopping!  

So at this moment, Sun Meimei, Jian Qiu, and Wang Chunxiang were all worried. How had Song Shiwei ended up clashing with such a troublemaker?  

But who was Jiang Fengqin? Would she just back down after hearing a few soft words?  

Of course not.  

She shoved aside the people trying to hold her back, planted her hands on her hips, and started shouting,  

“Get out of my way, all of you! I want to see who dares to protect this little bastard today! How dare you steal from me? Do you even know who I am?”  

“You shameless little thief! Always sneaking around, never learning your lesson! Aren’t you afraid of divine retribution? I bet your whole family is nothing but a bunch of lowlifes—”  

The more she spoke, the nastier her words became.  

But suddenly—  

“BANG!”  

A black ball of something flew straight at her face.  

The entire crowd froze.  

Jiang Fengqin’s voice stopped abruptly.  

On the other side, Song Shiwei calmly patted the mud off her hands while staring at the stunned people in front of her.  

“If you don’t know how to speak properly, then don’t speak at all!” she said coldly.  

“A mouth is for eating food, but I think you use yours to eat shit! The problem is, if you’re going to eat shit, at least don’t spray it everywhere it’s disgusting!”  

She took a step forward and continued in a sharp tone,  

“Listen up others might be afraid of you, but I, Song Shiwei, am not! You told us to go out and ask around about who you are? Well, why don’t you go out and ask around about who I am? You bully others just because you can, and now you dare to target our family? Aren’t you afraid you’ll fall into a cesspit one of these days?”  

Song Shiwei had dealt with her share of troublemakers in her own family. Her grandmother and aunt were no different from Jiang Fengqin always causing trouble, always trying to overpower others with their shamelessness.  

And through that experience, she had learned one important lesson:  

To deal with people like this, you had to be even tougher than them!  

Women like Jiang Fengqin acted powerful because they relied on their shamelessness, knowing that most people wouldn’t dare fight back.  

But if they met someone even more aggressive than them, they would back down!  

It was just like a vicious dog, it only bites people who show fear.  

The more you cower, the more it will chase you.  

But if you pick up a brick and show it you’re not afraid to fight back? It’ll tuck its tail and run!  

Under everyone’s shocked gazes, Jiang Fengqin trembled as she wiped the slimy, wet mud off her face.  

Her face was now completely filthy beyond recognition.  

And the best part?  

This mud had just been watered by Song Shiwei that morning.  

Nice and wet.  

Perfectly disgusting.

“Pah! Pah! Pah! Pah!”  

Jiang Fengqin spat furiously, her face contorted with rage. She had been cursing with her mouth open when the mud hit, and now it was inside her mouth!  

“You little bitch, how dare you hit me?! Let me see how I deal with you!”  

She rolled up her sleeves, about to charge forward, but the crowd quickly stepped in to hold her back.  

No one had expected Zhou Tingyue’s new wife, who looked so gentle and kind to be this fierce when protecting her child!  

She had actually dared to throw mud directly at Jiang Fengqin!  

Now, this troublesome woman wouldn’t be easy to get rid of.  

But Zhou Cheng couldn’t hold back any longer.  

Carrying his bucket, he stepped forward.  

“Who are you calling a thief? What did I steal? You better have evidence before you start accusing people! When did I ever steal anything from your house?”  

Song Shiwei’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Jiang Fengqin coldly.  

“If you keep spewing shit everywhere, I’ll make sure you get a mouthful of the real thing. Do you believe me?”  

Her voice wasn’t loud, nor was her expression particularly fierce. But the sheer weight behind her words made everyone shudder.  

Even Jiang Fengqin instinctively raised a hand to cover her mouth.  

Realizing what she was doing, she quickly dropped her hand and snapped, “Oh, so now you’re denying it? My neighbor Guizhi saw it with her own eyes! You stole the wheel from in front of my house, you little thief!”  

At her words, all eyes turned to Zhou Cheng.  

He thought for a moment, he had taken a wheel from near her house.  

But it wasn’t what she was claiming!  

“Yes, I picked up a wheel from outside your house,” he admitted. “But it was just a broken, rusty, half of a wheel. It looked like junk that no one wanted! I didn’t think it belonged to anyone, so I picked it up.”  

The moment Jiang Fengqin heard his admission, her eyes lit up.  

“Aha! So you finally admit it! You did steal our wheel! You even know how to sell it for money, huh? What, you think we’re stupid? That we don’t know its value?”  

“You stole it! You’re a thief! A thief!”  

She turned to the crowd, her voice shrill.  

“Everyone, listen! This little thief just admitted he stole from us! He’s a thief! A dirty, sneaky thief!”  

Before she could continue her tirade, Song Shiwei took a step forward, grabbed another handful of mud, clamped Jiang Fengqin’s chin, and shoved it into her mouth.  

The entire crowd gasped.  

Jiang Fengqin flailed, her eyes wide in horror.  

“Mmmmph!”  

Song Shiwei let go, and Jiang Fengqin collapsed to the ground, retching violently.  

“Ughhhh!!!”  

“Vomit!!”  

“Vomit!!!”  

Song Shiwei casually dusted off her hands, her voice sharp and clear.  

“Didn’t you hear me the first time? Or are you just stupid?”  

“My son picked it up. He didn’t steal anything from you on purpose! If he took it by mistake, he can return it. But who are you calling a thief?”  

“You’re trying to ruin my son’s future over a piece of scrap metal. Do you really think I’d sit back and let that happen? No choice, then—I had to shut up that nasty mouth of yours!”  

The crowd murmured in agreement.  

Sun Meimei and Jian Qiu, who had been watching in shock, couldn’t help but admire Song Shiwei’s boldness.  

And truthfully? There was something incredibly satisfying about watching Jiang Fengqin finally get put in her place.  

Sun Meimei stepped forward, trying to reason with the fuming woman on the ground.  

“Sister-in-law Jiang, don’t you think you’re overreacting? We all watched Zhou Cheng grow up, he’s not that kind of child. If he accidentally picked up something from your place, that doesn’t make him a thief!”

Jian Qiu nodded.  

“Exactly. And he’s not even denying it! He’s willing to return it. So why are you making such a big deal out of this?”