Chapter 51: Old Lady Su Almost Died

The smell was awful, like the scent of grave soil.

Little Su Huan burrowed into Old Lady Su’s arms, pinching her nose as she looked at Zhang Lishi, her eyes filled with a hint of doubt.

This person didn’t smell this bad the last time we met. Where has she been these past few days? She’s covered in so much yin energy.

Feeling her granddaughter’s distaste, Old Lady Su scowled. “Li Shi, what are you doing here? You’re not welcome!”

Zhang Lishi, supported by her eldest son Zhang Laoda, walked in step by step. “You Su family are holding my and Hongzhuang’s divorce banquet. As one of the parties involved, can’t I come?”

While speaking, she kept staring at Old Lady Su, her malicious gaze making Old Lady Su feel uneasy.

Zhang Laoda noticed the heavy purse in Zhang Hongzhuang’s hand, filled with what seemed like a lot of money. His eyes lit up, and he walked over. “Father, this much gift money should be handed to me, don’t you think?”

Little Su Huan slapped his outstretched hand away and glared at him.

Zhang Laoda, humiliated and furious, shouted, “Hey, you little wretch! How dare you hit me?”

He raised his hand to slap Little Su Huan.

Old Lady Su roared, “Tiegen! Try laying a hand on my granddaughter!”

Just as the words left her mouth, a sharp pain stabbed at her chest, as if someone had thrust a knife into her.

Immediately, Old Lady Su began to tremble uncontrollably, her face turning pale, and she almost collapsed.

Her cousin’s method worked!

Zhang Laoda’s face changed, and he quickly pulled Zhang Hongzhuang away. “Father, don’t get too close to her! She’s been possessed!”

Possessed?

Everyone was startled by this news.

A flicker of glee passed through Zhang Lishi’s eyes as she said in surprise, “Oh dear, I almost forgot to tell you. The house you bought is unclean! With your face looking so bad, could it be that something filthy has attached itself to you?”

As she spoke, she took a couple of cautious steps back. The villagers, feeling a chill, hurriedly threw down their chopsticks and backed away from the table, no longer daring to touch the dishes.

Chen Daniu and Chen Dali, the brothers, weren’t scared. They scolded, “Aunt Zhang, stop making nonsense! It’s broad daylight, the sun’s shining, and you’re talking about some dirty thing?”

Zhang Lishi, leaning on her cane, retorted, “Who knows? Maybe it’s because the Su family is unlucky. If all of you are tough and not afraid of this house’s bad luck, then stay and keep drinking. I won’t stop you. Son, let’s go!”

“Mom! Are you okay?”

Su Er and Su Si were alarmed and hurriedly gave Old Lady Su some emergency medicine.

After she took the medicine, the protective talisman in her chest began to heat up. The cold, eerie energy around her gradually faded, and she slowly regained her senses, sitting up straight and standing firm. “Who says my house has something filthy? I just had a little heart pain because of my old condition. Li Shi, could it be that you’re jealous of how well our banquet is going and want to make trouble? Everyone just gave my brother a gift, and we haven’t even had a drink yet. What’s the point of stirring up trouble here? If you’re envious, go home and throw your own party!”

She looked calm, completely different from the fragile person she had been just moments ago.

Zhang Lishi and Zhang Laoda were taken aback and both looked confused.

Brother Lin immediately stood up, dissatisfied. “Aunt Zhang! This isn’t right. Your two families are still relatives. Even if you and Hongzhuang have divorced, there’s no need to come to our banquet and cause trouble. I’ll be honest—I don’t believe there’s anything dirty about this house. If there were, the Su family would’ve already had problems! How could we wait until today?”

The villagers, who had initially been scared by Zhang Lishi’s words, now felt that Lin’s words made sense and indignantly agreed, “What Brother Lin said is right! If something bad was going to happen to the Su family, it would have happened long ago! I think Zhang is just trying to make people uncomfortable. Don’t listen to her!”

“Exactly, we’ve given the gift money. If we had left just now, that would have been a loss!”

Zhang Lishi snapped back to reality, beads of cold sweat appearing on her forehead. She gripped her cane and retorted, “Impossible! Zhang Zhaodi must be pretending! Wait and see, she’ll—”

Zhang Hongzhuang, sensing something was wrong, suddenly pulled his eldest son away from his grip, his face turning ashen. “Tiegen, did you do something to your aunt?”

Zhang Laoda, unable to deny it, swallowed nervously. “Father, what are you thinking? My mother was just concerned about Aunt’s health, so she said that. And besides, this house is already unlucky. If Aunt really is being haunted by something filthy, my mother can always find a Taoist master to help her!”

“Not needed! Get out of here! Don’t cause trouble!”

Zhang Hongzhuang didn’t believe a word of it and angrily pushed Zhang Laoda and Zhang Lishi out the door.

Zhang Lishi staggered a few steps before steadying herself with her son’s help, then furiously said, “Fine! I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen. Let’s see how long you can last! When something bad happens, don’t come crying to me!”

“Eh-eh-eh~”

Little Su Huan stuck out her tongue at her.

Old Lady Su smiled and quickly wiped her granddaughter’s mouth. She hugged Little Su Huan and said to Zhang Lishi, “Our Su family is blessed by Heaven. We don’t need you to worry.”

Zhang Lishi gritted her teeth and angrily said, “Son, let’s go!”

Zhang Laoda hurriedly helped her leave.

After they left, Old Lady Su resumed calling everyone back to eat.

Village Chief Wang Baorui came over with wine and draped his arm around Zhang Hongzhuang’s shoulder, smiling. “Old brother, don’t mind them. Your sister specially held this divorce banquet for you. Don’t you want to drink a few bowls with us? Come on, let’s sit down and enjoy the dishes! Your niece’s cooking is so good, it’s on par with the chefs in the city!”

Zhang Hongzhuang glanced at the large bowl of sorghum wine and hurriedly waved his hand. “No, no, no, I never drink alcohol.”

Brother Lin stood up, joining in the fun, “That won’t do! You’re the host, and hosts can’t avoid drinking.”

Old Lady Su pushed him out, laughing, “Go on, I’ll get your nephews to replace you.”

“Well, just one sip? My body’s still injured, so I can’t drink too much!”

Zhang Hongzhuang reluctantly changed his tune.

“Ha-ha, fine!”

Wang Baorui pulled him to the wine table while Brother Lin vacated his seat.

“That won’t do. Since the village chief is drinking, our old brother Hongzhuang must also drink!”

The others immediately got up to toast Zhang Hongzhuang. In the blink of an eye, the atmosphere at the table became lively again, and no one paid any attention to the fact that Zhang Lishi and her son had ruined the mood earlier.

Old Lady Su hugged her granddaughter and returned to her room. She touched the spot on her chest where she had felt the heat earlier, took out the protective talisman from her pocket, and was horrified to see that the symbols on it, just like those on Su Laowu and Zhang Hongzhuang’s, had disappeared and turned into an ordinary piece of white paper. Her face turned pale with shock.

Heavens, she had almost died!

That pain in her chest wasn’t a coincidence. Thinking back to what Zhang Lishi had said earlier, how could she be so certain that something bad would happen to her?

Could it be that the pain in her chest was caused by her?

But she hadn’t had any private contact with Zhang Lishi. How had she harmed her?

“Eh?”

Little Su Huan touched her hand in concern.

Old Lady Su quickly tucked the white paper away, smiling as she hugged her granddaughter and kissed her on the cheek. “Grandmother’s fine, it’s thanks to my good granddaughter’s protective talisman that saved my life! Let’s go check what Third Aunt made for us to eat!”

“Eh!”

Little Su Huan glanced at the talisman that was now hidden away, cheered, and followed Old Lady Su to the kitchen.

To avoid the villagers scrambling to take leftovers when the banquet was over, Su Er, Wu Chunhe, Su Si, and Liu Yingying had already prepared soup bowls and large containers to help distribute the remaining food. They divided up the leftover sorghum flatbreads and brown rice for the villagers to take home.

Those who hadn’t left yet were invited by Su Si to the main room, where they set up a table and brought out some leaf games for them to play. They stayed until it was nearly dark before the guests finally left.

Brother Lin helped the Su family put away the tables and chairs, then smiled and went to find Old Lady Su. “Old Aunt, this banquet was really great. I have a relative who’s planning to host a big banquet for an elderly person’s 80th birthday on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month. I was wondering if your family could take on the job?”