Brother and sister Wang Dapao were arguing with Director Guo, threatening to demand money for funeral clothes.

They hadn’t noticed Chen Siyu yet, but Mao Mu was sharp. She said as soon as she saw Chen Siyu, “Little sharp one, you sneaked around and didn’t come for so long. You and Xuan’ang must have set fire to my funeral clothes, right? You want to burn me alive over a few months’ rent! Da Pao, report this to the police and have them arrest Xuan’ang and this little sharp one.”

Xuan’ang clenched his blistered hand tightly and didn’t dare speak.

Compared to the seasoned Mao Mu, he was still too inexperienced.

Chen Siyu remained calm, coughing as she feigned confusion. “Grandma, Xuan’ang and I just came from the troupe.” She looked at Director Guo, “I was with the troupe leaders five minutes ago. Why don’t we go confirm the alibi?”

Mao Mu’s eyes narrowed like a black hen’s as she stared at Xuan’ang. After all, he was her grandson. With his hair standing on end, he looked like he’d done something bad.

Just then, Wang Da Pao spotted a coal ember on the ground and said, “Mom, look—there’s still a coal ember here. Where did it come from?”

Xuan’ang saw it too—it was what he’d fired with his slingshot—and the child’s breath froze.

Mao Mu turned to look as well.

But Chen Siyu couldn’t let them realize what it was. Thinking quickly, she preemptively accused, loudly saying, “Director Guo, we came here to visit the sick. Xuan’ang’s grandma is just trying to frame us because she wants more money. How much do they want us to pay? Let them name the price, and we’ll pay.”

By pulling Director Guo in, they formed a united front and distracted Mao Mu’s family.

Sure enough, upon hearing Chen Siyu willing to pay, Wang Dapao was diverted. He dropped the coal ember and said, “My mom’s funeral clothes were made as backup for the Empress Dowager in the palace. Without at least a thousand kuai, we won’t settle.”

As he turned away, Chen Siyu crushed the coal ember underfoot and kicked it into the ashes.

Evidence destroyed.

Now she had to turn the situation around, so she raised her voice: “Good heavens, it was the Empress Dowager’s funeral clothes! If Old Lady Mao wears them, even the King of Hell would have to show respect and call her ‘Empress Dowager, may you be blessed!’”

Speaking of which, Mao Mu was heartbroken and lamented, “When I bought it, it cost me three hundred silver dollars. Oh my, three hundred silver dollars! That’s worth thousands, even tens of thousands today.”

Director Guo’s scalp tingled—he only earned 28 yuan a month. How was he supposed to compensate for a funeral robe worth over a thousand?

Wang Dapao started calculating slyly: “Chen Siyu pays 300, Director Guo pays 300, Accountant Qiao pays 300—that adds up to exactly 1,000.”

His math seemed like something he learned from a gym teacher.

Chen Siyu snapped at Wang Dapao, her voice sharp: “Wang Dapao, are you out of your mind?”

“I… what illness could I have?” Wang Dapao retorted instinctively.

But how pathetic was he? While speaking, he sneakily pulled out a candy from his pocket and showed it off to Chen Siyu.

Was he trying to bribe her with a White Rabbit candy like he once did to the original owner, hoping to soften her up?

Chen Siyu pointed to the ashes laced with gold and silver threads, her voice rising: “You’ve got ill intentions, pretending to be a big shot telling everyone your mom’s funeral robe was part of the Four Olds and that you wanted to burn it to destroy the old stuff. Then after regretting it, you turn around and extort a thousand yuan? Why don’t you just rob a bank?”

The neighbors watching instantly responded with “Oh!” and nodded vigorously—this explanation was very believable.

Director Guo suddenly realized that lately the city’s youth had been on a spree burning Four Olds.

So Wang Dapao was trying to make a heroic gesture without losing money—he staged the burning of the funeral robe himself and planned to have others foot the bill.

He got angry: “Wang Dapao, it’s fine you want to burn the Four Olds, that shows your awareness, but asking me to cover the costs isn’t right.”

Wang Dapao panicked and pointed at Chen Siyu: “Leaders, don’t believe her. She’s just a kid who only recognizes candy, not people. If she gets candy, she calls you ‘brother,’ no candy, she flips out—this little sharp fruit is just talking nonsense.”

Mao Mu shouted loudly, “Right! This Chen Siyu, you don’t know her, but I know her well! She’s got a bunch of love-struck boys chasing her behind her back, her morals are terrible, and she often takes candies from my Dapao.”

Wang Xiuer, a bit clueless, chimed in, “Pfft, these female hooligans are shameless, they eat candy and then let my brother grope their butts.”

Oh dear!

Mao Mu looked like she wanted to rip her daughter’s mouth off, but her words backfired, making the situation worse.

Chen Siyu seized the opportunity and raised her voice even higher, “No way! I’ve heard people say there’s a stinky hooligan in the state-run store who tricks girls into letting him grope their butts with candy. So it’s you, Wang Dapao! Everyone, look! He really has candy in his hand—could it be he wants to bribe me with it?”

Wang Dapao was so scared, he quickly stuffed the candy back into his pocket.

Chen Siyu took a few steps away, and those sharp almond-shaped eyes belonging to the eldest daughter glared sideways, eyebrows raised and full of anger. She pointed a slender finger, her voice loud enough to be heard from three miles away: “Dapao, I used to call you brother, but you’re really that kind of person.”

The neighbors looked at each other and nodded vigorously, thinking, “Exactly. Though Mao Mu is working-class, Dapao is just a hooligan.”

But even if his true nature was a hooligan, no one wanted to admit to being one these days.

Wang Dapao nervously defended himself, “I didn’t, I’m not.”

Chen Siyu spun her finger around, “I’d like to believe you, but that’s what your sister said.”

Embarrassed and angry, Wang Dapao grabbed Xiuer’s hair and slapped her.

Chen Siyu had never seen Wang Dapao hit anyone before. Though she was used to rough situations, she was still shocked. She expected Mao Mu to scold her son or protect her daughter, but Mao Mu didn’t even blink as her daughter’s face swelled from the slaps.

The neighbors seemed used to this and didn’t care. Luckily, Director Guo, tall and strong, pulled Wang Dapao away.

Wang Dapao protested, “Director Guo, I’m just disciplining my sister, don’t block me.”

“Enough!” Director Guo thundered, then added, “Accountant Qiao, I don’t think Mao Mu’s illness is serious. Don’t give her the 30 yuan, give it to Siyu. Let her manage the money herself.”

Wait—so not only was the 300 yuan gone, but the 30 yuan too?

Serves her right!

Seeing Accountant Qiao hand the money to Chen Siyu, Mao Mu was furious, shouting, “Guo, you’re abusing the working people, abusing the White-Haired Girl! At the next complaint meeting, I’ll accuse you of your evil deeds.”

Director Guo immediately backed down because being accused would make him the bad guy and subject to criticism.

But he softened his tone, standing firm on principle: “Comrade Mao Mu, you can ask us to do whatever you want, but the money must go to Siyu because even at the ideological committee, I insist your illness is not serious.”

In this era, people with integrity and a commitment to justice were never lacking.

Seeing Chen Siyu clutching the three big bills, fire flared in Mao Mu’s eyes as she ordered, “Find a small car to take me to the Ink Factory. Since Chen Siyu took the money, she must serve me until I can stand again.”

Qiao Guiyun and Director Guo exchanged glances and both rejected the request: “The Ink Factory is a tiny place, we don’t have a car, and we came by bus. Where would we find a car for you?”

“Then Chen Siyu should give me all the money. I’ll hire a car myself and go,” Mao Mu insisted.

Chen Siyu sneered, “So Grandma, you’re not sick at all. You’re just faking illness to extort money.”

Mao Mu didn’t directly accuse her of faking, but Chen Siyu turned the tables anyway.

“Little sharp fruit, I know you’re a demon disguised in human skin, an evil ghost, but just wait. When we get to the Ink Factory, in front of the leaders, I’ll slowly peel off your skin. Sooner or later, I’ll strip away your mask!”

Chen Siyu had been trying to act weak but saw there was no need.

After the fire, which burned away Mao Mu’s facade, whether she was sick or not didn’t matter anymore.

She could shed the sickly persona and fight back: “Butt-groper, now that the Four Olds are being destroyed, stop talking about gods and ghosts. Haven’t you heard? Nowadays, all the demons and monsters are being stomped underfoot—trampled millions and millions of times!”

“Hei, you little sow, who are you calling a butt-groper?” Mao Mu angrily threatened to chop off her hand.

Chen Siyu immediately returned the gesture, “Whoever calls me ‘sharp fruit,’ I’ll call their butt groper.”

Mou Mu snapped at the air, the sound sharp like wind: “You little wild sow, sooner or later I’ll peel your skin off.”

Chen Siyu suddenly softened her voice, looking at Director Guo timidly: “Director, please listen—I’m just a humble young performer in the cultural troupe, yet people call me a demon, a little wild sow, how can I possibly bear this?”

Director Guo felt sympathy for Chen Siyu and annoyance toward Mou Mu, wishing he could quickly get away from this old woman.

But someone had to give in, so he said, “Come on, Comrade Mou Mu, I’ll carry you on my back, take you back to the Ink Factory where you can stay, but don’t bully poor Siyu and Xuan’ang, alright?”

Mou Mu replied, “You’re a man, and men and women are different. Since Siyu says to show filial respect, let her carry me.”

She was starting to abuse the reputation of the “White-Haired Girl” to make trouble.

As a leader, Director Guo could decide big things, so he gave the money to Chen Siyu. But for smaller matters, they naturally didn’t want to completely offend a well-connected member of the ideological committee just for the sake of two kids.

Better to avoid trouble, so Director Guo said, “Siyu, why don’t you go find a car to give Mou Mu a ride?”

Ha, rent a car to cart an old witch off so she can be skinned?

Chen Siyu, of course, wouldn’t spend a single extra cent on this stubborn old woman.

To intimidate Mou Mu, she said, “I’ll ask my brother at the military district to send an Air Force ambulance to take Mou Mu to the hospital for an X-ray, to check her heart and see if she’s truly a member of the suffering masses—or a demon and evil spirit.”

“Little brat, you’re just making up lies. You only have a younger brother at the military hospital, no older brother,” Mou Mu sneered.

Chen Siyu raised her voice: “I not only have an older brother, but my brother Leng Jun is a top commander of a flying squadron. He can order an ambulance and get you an X-ray. Your true nature will be revealed in the X-ray. I suspect you aren’t really a suffering commoner at all—you were the Hu family’s wet nurse, eating their delicacies and wearing their fine silks. You pretend to be the White-Haired Girl, but you’re actually a tool of the bourgeoisie. If you’ve got the guts, let’s go get that X-ray and reveal your true identity!”

When it comes to labeling someone, Chen Siyu was really good at it.

The neighbors gasped and instinctively kept their distance from Mou Mu.

Mou Mu was shaken and alarmed, quickly asking her son: “Dapao, what’s an X-ray? Can it really reveal a person’s nature?”

Wang Dapao had seen one but didn’t quite understand it, so he described it as: “It’s just like taking a photo, snap! A flash.”

“That’s not called taking a photo, it’s called ‘exposing demons.’ Demons, evil spirits, and the old things all reveal their true forms in front of it,” Chen Siyu said, making a camera shape with her hands, leaning toward Mou Mu, and suddenly saying, “Snap! Demon exposed!”

Mou Mu was so scared her face changed color, almost toppling over.

Chen Siyu, now in a playful mood, turned to Wang Xiuer: “Don’t think X-rays only expose demons. They can expose idiots too. Snap! The words ‘idiot’ will appear on the film.”

Xiuer took it seriously, panicking and covering her face with her hands: “Ah, I’m not an idiot!”

“Snap! Hey, the rogue’s exposed!” Chen Siyu then pointed at Wang Dapao.

Wang Dapao shrank back in fright, but seeing Xiuer laughing at him with hands on her hips, he became angry and turned around to hit her again. Luckily, Director Guo was ready and blocked Xiuer. Even so, Wang Dapao spat in Xiuer’s face.

Chen Siyu took out a handkerchief, ready to wipe it off, when someone called out behind her: “Chen Siyu.”

That voice was gentle but carried a hint of helplessness—and sounded surprisingly pleasant.

Chen Siyu startled the whole courtyard as she ran about boasting, but when she heard the call, she turned back, her smile freezing.

Her pretend “big brother,” Leng Jun, stood at the gate, his expression complex.

As the saying goes, speak of the devil and he appears—but Chen Siyu didn’t really need to call out for her brother to show up!