Chapter 84 : Putting the blame on someone

Chen Jinhua was caught off guard when her hair was yanked, and she screamed as she began to fight back.

But Xiao Lanlan wasn’t someone to mess with. She immediately stepped in to help, grabbing Chen Jinhua’s hand. Mother Xiao took advantage of the moment and gave Chen Jinhua two hard slaps, one on each cheek.

“I’ll beat you into a beast if you won’t act like a human!” she shouted while hitting her.

She didn’t even know the full details of what had happened to Jiang Sui, but since her daughter-in-law had been bullied, it was clear that Chen Jinhua had crossed the line. Regardless of the specifics, she was going to support her and let her vent her anger.

Jiang Qiaoqiao stood in the back, watching in horror. She wanted to step in but didn’t dare. Panicking, she turned to look for her cousin, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing her mother pinned to the ground, she finally rushed forward with a broom in her hands and said weakly. “Let go of my mother! If you hit her again, don’t blame me for being rude…”

At that moment, Zhou stepped in front of Jiang Qiaoqiao, hands on her hips, chest puffed out. Xiao Yi, still holding his hoe, glared at her, and Qiaoqiao immediately chickened out, dropped the broom, and started crying.

She cried and called for her mother, but still didn’t dare to get closer.

Chen Jinhua was being beaten soundly. Mother Xiao and Xiao Lanlan worked in perfect sync, not hitting her face, but pinching and twisting her body, making her scream and cry out. She flailed her legs but couldn’t land a single hit, looking like a flailing old fool.

“Help! Someone’s trying to kill me!” she shrieked.

She couldn’t win the fight, so all she could do was scream. But the onlookers had no intention of breaking it up. In fact, many of them had been quarreled with or taken advantage of by Chen Jinhua before. Now, they clapped and cheered, saying she had it coming.

Just then, Jiang Sui and the old village chief finally arrived. Seeing the chaotic scene, the old village chief thumped the ground a few times with his cane, and his son shouted.

“Stop! Break it up! The old village chief is here!”

Hearing this, Xiao Yi rushed to pull his mother and sister back. The two women were still in the heat of the moment.

“Mom! Lanlan! That’s enough, the old village chief’s here!”

Upon hearing that, Mother Xiao and Lanlan finally let go of Chen Jinhua. The two had gone all in and were both panting hard from exertion.

Chen Jinhua, on the other hand, was a complete mess. Her hair was tangled and disheveled, both sides of her face were flushed red, and the soft flesh around her waist was already bruised purple.

Jiang Qiaoqiao hurried over to support her.

When Jiang Sui saw the scene, the corners of her mouth twitched slightly. She really hadn’t expected her mother-in-law and Lanlan to be this fierce.

But seeing Chen Jinhua in that condition, most of the anger in her heart melted away.

Xiao Hechuan wanted to help, but his third brother stopped him, saying that women’s fights should be handled by women, they just needed to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.

When he saw Jiang Sui arrive, he immediately ran over to her, took her hand gently, and called out in a soft voice, “Wife…”

Jiang Sui’s heart softened a bit. This soft, adorable version of Xiao Hechuan really tugged at her heartstrings.

But back to business, she still had things to settle.

Chen Jinhua saw the old village chief and immediately burst into tears, crying loudly.

“Old village chief, you have to speak up for me! The Xiao family is too much! They barged into my home and beat me for no reason. Look at what they’ve done to me!”

She pointed to her face and wanted to lift her clothes to show her bruises, but then realized she was in public and stopped herself.

“You’re still trying to blame me?” Mother Xiao retorted. “If you hadn’t bullied Suisui, why would I have laid a hand on you? You deserved it.”

“Nonsense! Who bullied Jiang Sui? Wasn’t she just fine?” Chen Jinhua flatly denied everything.

“Hmph! Chen Jinhua,” the old village chief finally spoke, “after all these years, your temper hasn’t changed one bit. Just look around, how many people in this village haven’t argued with you? You’ve offended nearly everyone here.”

The old village chief spoke at this moment. When he arrived, Chen Jinhua’s next-door neighbor even took the initiative to bring him a stool to sit on.

Chen Jinhua couldn’t deny her past behavior, she really had offended all her neighbors.

“You can’t hit people!” she was still trying to argue.

“You know exactly what you did. I never thought you’d be so mean-spirited and unreasonable. You were jealous of the Xiao family’s business. You tried to get the noodle recipe from Jiang Sui several times and failed. So you came up with a despicable scheme and even got your nephew to help you. You threatened him with his reputation and forced him to get the recipe. Do you dare say you didn’t do it?”

As soon as the old village chief said this, the whole crowd gasped in shock.

Mother Xiao, who had just calmed down, instantly flared up again. So that’s how it was. Chen Jinhua had really gone too far.

“You old hag! I didn’t know you were this wicked!” she yelled, rolling up her sleeves, ready to pounce again. Chen Jinhua was so frightened, she retreated all the way back into her own yard.

‘This old woman is nuts! Her beatings hurt like hell. I can’t afford to mess with her. I better hide.’

Mother Xiao was held back by Lanlan, who quickly tried to calm her down.

“Mom, the old village chief is here don’t be impulsive.”

Mother Xiao stopped when she heard this, but she was still glaring fiercely at Chen Jinhua.

Chen Jinhua knew she absolutely could not admit to any of this. If she did, she really wouldn’t be able to show her face in Xianhe Village ever again.

“Old village chief, this isn’t fair! You can’t just take their word for it. Just because she says it doesn’t make it true. Do you have any proof?”

“Proof?” the village chief sneered. “Chen Shu hiding in your house is the proof.”

At this moment, Jiang Sui stepped forward. Now it was her turn to confront Chen Jinhua directly.

Chen Jinhua felt a twinge of panic. Her cowardly nephew was indeed hiding inside the house, too scared to come out. But if he didn’t come out, there was no way she could properly explain things.

There was a window in her house he could escape from, if he got out through there, no one would find him.

So she discreetly nudged Jiang Qiaoqiao with her elbow and gave her a meaningful look. But Jiang Qiaoqiao didn’t get it at all and frowned, whispering. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”

Chen Jinhua nearly smacked her forehead. ‘How did I end up with such a clueless daughter?’

Of course, these little gestures didn’t escape Jiang Sui’s sharp eyes. She recalled a detail from the original Jiang Sui’s memory, Chen Jinhua’s room had a rear window.

She immediately shouted. “Third Brother, go grab Chen Shu! He’s trying to escape!”

Xiao Yi, caught off guard by being called, didn’t even think, his body just reacted. He bolted straight toward Chen Jinhua’s house.

Chen Jinhua panicked and tried to stop him.

“Xiao Yi! If you dare! If anything goes missing in my house, you’ll be paying for it!”

But Xiao Yi didn’t care. Could she actually stop him?

He kicked open the main room door and charged into the left room, just in time to see Chen Shu halfway out the back window. Chen Shu saw him and tried to scramble faster.

But Xiao Yi was too quick. He grabbed him by the leg and hauled him back inside, carrying the small-framed Chen Shu out like a chicken.

When everyone saw Chen Shu, they realized Chen Jinhua had been lying all along.

Jiang Sui seized the moment and told everyone exactly what had happened, how Chen Jinhua and her daughter had lured her to the river and threatened her.

She made a point to mention that the reason she escaped was because of the snake. And if anyone didn’t believe her, they could look at the snake bite marks still on Chen Shu’s face.