Chapter 20: Arguing? My Mom’s an Expert

Su Nianzhi walked along the path with a big smile on her face, lovingly watching her little lambs.

Chen Wei originally wanted to tease her, but when Qin Xiaoyun shot him a side-eye, he immediately shut his mouth.

The three of them quickly made their way down the mountain.

Su Nianzhi supported her waist with one hand and kept patting her chest with the other. Out of breath, she said softly, “You two go ahead, I’ll catch up in a minute.”

Qin Xiaoyun calmly set the lamb he was carrying onto the ground.
“I’m a little tired too. Let’s rest a bit.”

Chen Wei looked at him in disbelief, eyes wide.
Bro, weren’t you the one who climbed three mountains and walked dozens of miles yesterday without even breaking a sweat?

Thinking back to yesterday, Chen Wei muttered, “Bro, I was tired yesterday, and you didn’t even flinch.”

But under Qin Xiaoyun’s disdainful glare, he still had to stand up.

Last night, his legs were shaking like crazy when he got back, and Qin Xiaoyun acted like nothing happened. And now he’s saying he’s tired?

Bro, do my legs not count as human legs or what?

Su Nianzhi glanced at Qin Xiaoyun, sitting upright despite the break.
He seemed like a decent guy. She wondered how someone like him would end up dead.
Thinking about how he had helped her, she figured maybe she should help him in return.

After resting for a while, Su Nianzhi’s pale face regained some color.

The three of them took a roundabout path back to the village.

“Huh, that’s weird,” Chen Wei mumbled. “Where are all those gossiping old ladies today?”

Just as they reached the entrance to the Su family home, they saw a huge crowd gathered there.

“Chen Wei, take the lamb to my place,” Su Nianzhi said.

Receiving a look from Qin Xiaoyun, Chen Wei quickly picked up the lamb and ran off.

“I’m going to check what’s going on.”

Su Nianzhi saw that the crowd was packed three layers deep—she couldn’t squeeze in even if she tried.

From inside the crowd came her mother Wang Guihua’s furious voice:
“Ma Chouzui, I’ll fart on you!”

“You’re the murderer, you son of a bitch!”

Ma Lamei screamed, “Wang Guihua, you’re just holding a grudge because Liu Fen said your sickly daughter was a money sink who you treat like a treasure! Everyone in the village knows you baby that sick girl like she’s royalty!”

Hearing someone bad-mouth her beloved daughter made Wang Guihua’s eyes turn red with rage.

She charged forward and pinned Ma Lamei to the ground, slapping her twice—smack smack!

While beating her, she cursed,
“You foul-mouthed hag! How dare you curse my Zhizhi! I’ll beat your filthy mouth into next week!”

No one watching dared step in.

Only Sun Daniu twisted her waist and said in a shrill voice,
“Looks like karma to me. Even Heaven couldn’t bear to watch anymore.”

Su Nianzhi sneered,
“Then Heaven really does have eyes. That’s why you and your son got punished first.”

“Oh, your mouth works now?”

With just that cold remark, Sun Daniu visibly trembled.

She had only just recovered her ability to speak. Remembering how people used to laugh at her made her furious.

“You sickly bitch, who are you calling out?”

Before she could finish her sentence, a shoe came flying at her—
SMACK! It landed right on her face, leaving a clear shoe print.

Wang Guihua, still kneeling on top of Ma Lamei, spat.

“Sun Daniu, shut your damn mouth! Your son tried to rape and kill my Zhizhi, and you think paying 300 yuan solves everything? If you piss me off again, I’ll go to the cops and have him locked up! Think he can still go to college? Pah! He’s disgraced the whole village!”

Sun Daniu looked around at the neighbors, their eyes hot with condemnation. Her hands trembled with rage.

Su Nianzhi’s gaze turned cold. Without hesitation, her psychic energy shot out and disrupted Sun Daniu’s nervous system.

One moment she was trembling with rage, and the next she let out a shrill “Aaaaahhh—!” and collapsed straight backwards.

“Oh my god, Sun Daniu’s paralyzed! Someone from the Sun family, help carry her back!”

The daughter-in-law who had been enjoying the show sheepishly stepped out of the crowd and could only resign herself to dragging her back.

“Karma, I tell you. Could it be… the old Su man…?”

People whispered among themselves, casting uneasy glances at the Su family courtyard.

Ma Lamei, who had just been so full of herself, now trembled too.

She stammered, “I—I only said you and Liu Fen didn’t get along. I never said you killed her…”

“Bullshit. You and Big Mouth Liu both talked trash about my Zhizhi. What, do you think I’m going to kill everyone who gossips about her? Liu Fen’s badmouthed every family in the village—what, are we all murderers now?”

Ma Lamei had no comeback.

“Exactly! Liu Dazui even said my dog ate her chicken once!”

“She also made up stuff about her niece, said she was too ugly to marry in the city unless she seduced a factory worker.”

“She claimed her mother-in-law had a fetish for smelly socks!”

Now Su Nianzhi finally understood. A loud-mouthed woman named Liu Fen had died, and everyone suspected the Su family.

“Zhizhi, don’t listen to their crap,” said Wang Guihua, standing up and pulling her daughter toward her. Her sweet, clean girl didn’t need to hear any of this filth.

Su Erhe also came out, holding a wooden pole. He hadn’t stepped in before because it was a women’s fight, and his wife could hold her own.
But if anyone dared say a word against his daughter, he’d fight them to the death.

Su Nianzhi looked at her parents shielding her from harm, standing protectively in front of her.

Her heart felt warm.

“Hey, what are you all still standing around for? The village chief went with the police to arrest Er Laizi!”

“What?!”

At the news of a fresh drama, the crowd dispersed in seconds.

“Mom, what on earth happened?”

Wang Guihua picked up her shoe and sighed.

“This morning, Uncle Deaf found Liu Dazui’s body by the river. It was so swollen it was unrecognizable.”

“Then the police came and took her body away.”

She was still fuming.
“And just after they took her away, Ma Chouzui started spreading rumors that Liu and I argued last night.”

“Made me so mad!”

Su Nianzhi nodded. She was starting to piece it together.

“Seriously, isn’t it ridiculous? Who hasn’t argued in this village? You think someone would kill over a few words? Who knows who Liu Dazui pissed off.”

“Alright, old woman, let’s burn some paper for her later,” Su Erhe said.

Su Nianzhi thought of Qin Xiaoyun outside and stepped out.

“Uh… Qin Xiaoyun…”

“I saw Er Laizi and Lu Shanshan sneaking into the haystack together.”

“What?” Su Nianzhi blinked, stunned.

A moment later, she asked,
“You think Lu Shanshan killed Liu Fen?”