Chapter 17: Bumping into a Solid Chest in the Dark

Xie Shuangxiu finally reacted.

This girl had been mentioning the house deed from the very beginning; it turned out she was deliberately waiting here to trick someone!

Others were whispering among themselves, their tone full of disdain: “To use even the inheritance left by Xia Laosan to threaten someone, what a vicious woman…”

She quickly shouted at Xia Li with red eyes: “Pah! Don’t speak nonsense! When did I take your house deed?!”

Then she glared darkly at the old village chief, “Uncle Chen, this girl is talking nonsense! She’s learned to deceive! I’ve never taken her house deed, how could I threaten to burn it?!”

The old village chief only waited for her to shout and argue, standing with his hands behind his back, his cold gaze questioning her.

Word by word, he said: “Xie Shuangxiu, are you really trying to bully this girl to the point of losing your senses? Do you think you can bully an old man like me too?”

“The house deed of Xia Laosan was taken by you and Xia Laosan right in front of me, and you said it was to keep it safe for your niece until she grew up and could have it back.”

“Are you so blinded by greed that you can’t even tell a lie?”

Xie Shuangxiu opened her mouth, her eyes wide in disbelief.

…She had completely forgotten.

When dealing with Xia Laosan’s belongings, the village chief had witnessed it all; she had held the house deed in her hands for so many years that she had long considered it her own. Now that Xia Li suddenly brought it up and spun this lie, her instinctive reaction was to deny having taken it!

“I didn’t take it…! It was, it was taken by Xia Laosan!”

“But I never said I would threaten to burn her house deed! This girl is truly vicious; how dare she lie in front of everyone!”

“Uncle Chen, listen to me…” she said, exasperated.

But no matter what Xie Shuangxiu said, no one believed her anymore.

After such a scene, she had made a fool of herself in the village, and now, under the pressure of the old village chief and several villagers present, she had to hand over Xia Laosan’s house deed from inside the house to Xia Li.

Xie Shuangxiu was not one to back down easily; she initially wanted to cling to the deed and claim she had lost it.

However, Xia Laosan was a man who cared about his reputation, and seeing his wife cause such a ruckus for everyone to point and stare at, he was humiliated!

With a grim face, he crawled under the bed to pull out the house deed and handed it over, then awkwardly said a few words to the village chief, claiming it was all a misunderstanding within the family, and that he would make it up to his niece Xia Li and treat her well in the future.

After closing the door, the couple naturally had a fierce argument, pots and pans crashing to the floor.

Scared, Xia Yingzhen hurriedly packed her bag and went back to school; that’s another story.

That night, Xia Li listened to Xie Shuangxiu making a scene in the house and instantly came up with this idea.

Was she just taking advantage of the original owner’s meekness and bullying her? Was that why she was becoming more and more outrageous?

So she simply decided to take this opportunity to let all the villagers see her aunt’s disgrace in bullying her own niece, and then to expose the truth about the house deed, reclaiming it all at once.

For Xie Shuangxiu, who had long claimed the house deed as her own, this felt like a painful loss.

After all, the original owner was a timid village girl, afraid of offending her elders and worried that her reputation would be tarnished as a stubborn and ungrateful person, making it hard for her to marry in the future.

Facing off against someone like Xie Shuangxiu, who was a shameless shrew, was naturally futile. Every time she was scolded, she would endure it in silence without making a fuss.

Xia Li certainly didn’t care about things like marriage reputation. Besides, she had done well tonight; her restraint was written all over her face.

She even heard some aunts expressing sympathy as they left, saying that this girl was usually so filial and gentle, but this time she had been pushed to her limits, which was not easy…

The old village chief comforted her, saying that this incident was indeed caused by her uncle and aunt, and that if anything happened again in the future, she should come find him. There was a hint of guilt in his words.

Xia Li thanked him, her expression conveying a strong sense of resilience, which made him feel a pang of sadness.

This girl had indeed had a hard life, especially with such an uncle and aunt. Sigh.

The old village chief said a few more words.

Before leaving, Xia Li called out to him, somewhat awkwardly mentioning the incident of going to the police station today and bringing back the man who was injured.

The old village chief hesitated, considered for a moment, and said that the young man could stay in the village for now, temporarily residing in the abandoned thatched cottage behind the village.

After all, they had reported the case to the police station, and it wouldn’t be long before the police found some clues to bring him back.

Xia Li planned to help the man treat his wounds first; it would be better if he had a place to stay.

“But you’re still a young girl, so you need to guard against gossip. Just say he’s a distant relative from your mother’s side.”

The old village chief appreciated Xia Li’s kindness; he thought more carefully.

He continued, “I see that young man is tall and strong; he looks like someone who can endure hardship. You’ve brought him back to help him; although he may not be very bright, being honest is good. If he’s willing to follow you, it’s fine for you to put him to work in the future.”

He seemed to have something in mind as he walked away with a smile.

“Willing to follow you?”

Xia Li sluggishly returned to the house, locked the door, and thought about how that sounded a bit strange.

The lights in the room were off.

After the commotion, the night returned to silence.

As she turned her head, she bumped into a solid chest in the dark.

Xia Li let out a soft cry, and the man quickly took a step back, afraid of hurting his little wife.

At the same time, he reached out to steady her, “Li…”

The man paused for a moment.

Xia Li was stunned.

Her face suddenly flushed a light pink, and her almond-shaped eyes glared fiercely at him.

With a “smack,” she swatted away that large hand, and a sharp voice echoed in the room.

“Where are you touching?!”