Chapter 21: Are You Trying to Bully Me?

Normally, Song Yan had pretty good social skills, but today, surprisingly, no one stood up to speak for her, making her feel extremely embarrassed.

And what she didn’t expect was that something even more upsetting was yet to come. Jiang Duo’er actually walked out from the crowd at this moment.

Jiang Duo’er was a notoriously heavy sleeper, so she had missed the morning’s commotion. She slept until she naturally woke up, then followed the flow of people and discovered that Yan Huan was surrounded, and that pitiful little Song girl was also in the middle.
She quickly squeezed into the crowd and happened to hear Yan Huan’s words.

Although Jiang Duo’er was straightforward, she wasn’t stupid. Upon hearing this, she knew Yan Huan was being bullied, and by that Song girl she had always thought was rather pitiful.

How could this be allowed? How wicked was she? Learning to bully people at such a young age?

At this moment, she naturally understood that the girl had been putting on an act in front of her all along. Deceiving her was one thing, but bullying Huan’er was unacceptable.

Jiang Duo’er strode angrily forward, grabbed Song Yan, and demanded, “You said last time that your father died, your mother was unwell, and your family was so poor they couldn’t even afford to eat. I kindly gave you a big pot of meat. That pot of meat, even with our Jiang family’s big appetites, could last us for a while.”

“So what? Did a bunch of starving ghosts take up residence in the stomachs of all the women and children in your Song family? It’s only been a few days, and it’s gone already? You even asked Huan’er for more, and when Huan’er didn’t give it to you, you held a grudge?”

“How can you be so vicious at such a young age? Do you think we’re all suckers? Oh, so only your Song family is precious. Only your Song family needs to eat meat, and no one else does. Should we just hand over all our food to your family?”

A man nearby, hearing this, didn’t look too good. He muttered softly, “Song Qian also came to my house two days ago and took two bowls of meat. I thought their family really didn’t have any meat to eat.”

The woman next to him heard this and fiercely pinched his waist, saying angrily, “All you know is how to pity the fairer sex, giving away the meat at home to that vixen, not caring about your own wife and children. I was wondering where the meat went. I thought it was carried away by mountain rats. I didn’t expect it was you, the house rat, who stole it.”

Song Qian was Song Yan’s older sister, the same age as Yan Huan, fifteen this year. She was also very pretty, with gentle eyes and a charming smile that could make anyone, man or woman, want to take a second look.

Another woman said, “That Song Zhirou went to my house yesterday crying, saying she was raising several children and life was too hard to go on. I even gave her a piece of meat. It seems all the women in the Song family are bloodsuckers. On the surface, they all know how to act pitiful and gain sympathy, but secretly they live more comfortably than any of us.”

Song Zhirou was Song Yan’s mother. The situation had developed to this point, completely beyond Yan Huan and Jiang Duo’er’s expectations. They had only thought Song Yan was disgusting, but they hadn’t expected that the entire Song family was in on it, their actions crooked from top to bottom. Song Yan also hadn’t expected to get burned. Everyone had been denouncing Yan Huan just now, so how did the spearhead, focus of attack suddenly turn to her?

Even though she was somewhat mature, she was still just a teenager. For a moment, she was at a loss. After reacting, she quickly turned to find her mother.

She wanted to ask her mother why everyone was saying it was their fault, when they were the ones who willingly gave them things.

She clearly remembered that whenever her mother cried, those men would voluntarily offer delicious food with both hands.

Later, she also saw her older sister crying to others, and her sister would always return with generous gains.

Then, she also tried crying to people, and they reacted in the same way, with concern, care, and most importantly, a lot of delicious food. Those people willingly gave it to her. She didn’t steal it, so what was wrong?

Jiang Duo’er saw her trying to leave, grabbed her arm, wanting to ask for the pot back.

Song Yan stumbled from the pull, looking at her with teary eyes, her nose slightly red, which really made her look pitiful.

“Are you trying to bully me? What kind of skill is it to bully a child? Isn’t it just that I ate a few pieces of your meat? Do you have to be so aggressive? Fine, fine, I’ll return the pot to you in a moment!”
The meat had already been eaten, so it couldn’t be returned. The pot was still there, conveniently unwashed. Returning it would also disgust her, to see if she would still try to bully her.

Song Yan’s pitiful appearance would probably have aroused sympathy in anyone else, but she was facing Jiang Duo’er.

Jiang Duo’er curled her lip and said impatiently, “Stop acting pitiful, as if someone bullied you. Don’t you know in your own heart who exactly is bullying whom? Your Song family goes around pretending to be pitiful to others to get supplies, exploiting other people’s sympathy. Don’t you feel even a little bit of guilt?”

“Stop acting! I’ll just consider that meat as feeding the dogs! Return the pot!!! Immediately!!! Now!!!”

“I don’t trust anything the Song family says. Give me the pot right now, or you’re not going anywhere.”

The scene was extremely awkward. In the end, it was Song Zhirou who arrived in time and returned the pot to Jiang Duo’er, only then did Jiang Duo’er let her go.

Yan Huan watched Duo’er carry the pot, holding her head high and swaggering over like a triumphant warrior, and couldn’t help but laugh.

She wasn’t worried about Duo’er suffering any losses at all. From childhood to adulthood, she had never suffered a loss, nor had she allowed herself to be taken advantage of.

The pot was naturally returned clean. Song Yan was still young and didn’t understand things, but Song Zhirou still had to live in the future. Returning a dirty pot in front of so many people would be like offering the Song family’s face for others to slap. If Jiang Duo’er made a fuss, then she really wouldn’t have any face left.

With the pot returned, Jiang Cen looked delighted and frantically winked at Yan Huan to express his gratitude. Yan Huan’s brothers watched with twitching eyes, each suspecting that Jiang Erlang had taken a liking to their younger sister. They grabbed him and dragged him to a nearby small forest to “bond.”

By now, the show was almost over, and the surrounding people slowly dispersed. Although the matter had come to a temporary end, Yan Huan knew that people probably still felt that this was a dirty trick, and without the issue being resolved, it was like a ticking time bomb, and no one knew who the next unlucky person would be.

Because they needed to investigate the truth, the group decided to rest here for a day.

The officials sent people to scout the forest.

Because Yan Huan and Jiang Duo’er frequently went in and out of the forest, the higher-ups asked Zhao Song to find them to lead the way. Zhao Song had no choice but to deliver the message again.

They had just told them to go into the forest less in the future, and now they were immediately going back on their word. Zhao Song himself felt a little embarrassed and quickly said, “This is the higher-ups’ intention. We won’t ask you to do it for nothing. The forest is dangerous, and it’s indeed not very kind to ask you two girls to lead the way. The boss said we owe you a favor.”