Chapter 23

Everyone was stunned when Yun Angge suddenly dropped to her knees—Qin Mother and Qin Mingyue included.

Before anyone could react, Yun Angge sniffled hard twice, her head lowered to hide the cunning in her eyes. In a tearful voice laced with fear and helplessness, she cried,
“Third Uncle, Third Aunt, Fourth Uncle, Fourth Aunt, you have to stand up for me… sob sob…”

Qin Mother, Liu Ying, and Zhang Xianglan immediately rushed to help her up, while Qin Mother comforted her with heartache,
“Angé, get up quickly! The ground is cold—whatever it is, you can tell us while standing. Your mother’s here, and your uncles and aunts are too. If you’ve been wronged, just say so—we’ll stand by you no matter what.”

“Thank you, Mother, thank you, Uncles and Aunts.”
Yun Angge nodded heavily and, with their help, slowly stood up. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand—not to dry tears, but to rub her eyes red and make herself look even more pitiful and wronged.

Meanwhile, Qin Wanquan had run to Qin Feng’s house and was pounding on the door while yelling,
“Wanliang! Wake up… Yingjie’s in trouble…”

But no one at the scene paid attention to that noise. All eyes were fixed on Yun Angge, waiting to hear the injustice she was about to reveal.

“Third Uncle, Third Aunt, Fourth Uncle, Fourth Aunt… I’m scared… sob sob…”
She choked up and paused before continuing,
“I don’t think Luan Yingjie will ever admit to his crime… he might even do what he did a few days ago—flip the story and slander me… I’m afraid he’ll turn into a mad dog and accuse me of having an improper relationship with him, claim he climbed the wall to meet me in secret…”

Luan Yingjie wasn’t dead—just unconscious.

Once he woke up, he was bound to defend himself. And to clear his name, he’d throw all the filth at her. He might even expose their “affair” publicly and claim she seduced him.

So Yun Angge had to strike first and shut down every path he had to redeem himself.

Before the crowd could even digest her words, furious shouting erupted from the direction of Qin Feng’s house.

“Qin Wanquan, what nonsense are you spewing?! I’ll tear that filthy mouth of yours apart!”

“Wanquan, are you sleepwalking? Yingjie would never steal chickens from my mother’s house!”

Upon hearing that Qin Wanquan had said Luan Yingjie had stolen chickens from Qin Lingnian’s house, Li Xian’e and Qin Feng’s faces darkened. The mother and daughter both thought he was raving nonsense.

“If you don’t believe me, go see for yourself… Yingjie’s still buried under the collapsed wall…”

Qin Feng and Li Xian’e froze for a moment, then were the first to bolt out the door. Qin Wanliang, his sons, and eldest daughter-in-law followed closely behind.

Qin Feng ran the fastest, charging into the courtyard of Qin Lingnian’s home. Her eyes immediately locked onto the crowd gathered around the frail, tearful Yun Angge, everyone trying to comfort her.

Yun Angge caught sight of Qin Feng out of the corner of her eye but pretended not to.
“It was my fault for being too naïve… lending Luan Yingjie money and gaining nothing but trouble in return… I never imagined he’d come steal chickens from our home out of spite…”

“Yun Angge, you lying whore!”

“You dirty tramp, shut your filthy mouth!”

Qin Feng and Li Xian’e’s faces twisted with rage—Li Xian’e even tried to rush forward and hit Yun Angge.

But to everyone’s surprise, the usually timid Qin Mother suddenly stepped in front of Yun Angge, straightening her back and facing the furious Li Xian’e head-on.
“Auntie, you can protect your own, but be reasonable. The evidence is right here—it was Luan Yingjie who came to steal chickens from our home!”

“Steal chickens, my ass! What f*ing evidence?! You saw it with which eye?!”**

Li Xian’e was infamous in the village for her sharp tongue—no one could out-shout her in an argument.

In truth, Qin Mother wasn’t good with words and had always been meek—there was no way she could win a shouting match with Li Xian’e. Especially when Li Xian’e opened her mouth with the foulest curses imaginable, ignoring logic altogether. She could leave a person fuming just from her insults.

Qin Wanfang, Zhang Xianglan, and Qin Wanku had intended to step in, but the moment they opened their mouths, Li Xian’e cursed them so viciously they were left stunned.

“All of you, butt out and mind your own damn business! Don’t think I don’t see through you—you just want to suck up to Qin Lingnian now that he’s made it big in the army!”

Yun Angge was actually amused—Luan Yingjie must’ve had some real good karma in a past life to land a future mother-in-law like this, one who defended him before he’d even married in.

Once Li Xian’e was nearly out of steam from her tirade, Yun Angge calmly and coldly asked:
“Auntie, you keep saying we’re falsely accusing Luan Yingjie. So tell me, what do you think happened? Are you saying that we dragged him all the way from the Educated Youth courtyard, tossed him onto our wall, and then me, my mother-in-law, and little Mingyue—three weak women—pushed the wall down on top of him? Is that what you’re claiming?!”

Though her tone wasn’t angry or loud, her pointed, direct question left Li Xian’e speechless.

She glared at Yun Angge, her mouth opening and closing several times, unable to form a single coherent word.

Qin Feng, too, was stunned—staring at Yun Angge with an uneasy, almost fearful look. At that moment, she suddenly realized this woman, now protected by Qin Lingnian, no longer feared anyone.

“Ow… oww…”

Just as Qin Feng was furiously trying to think of a comeback, a painful moan echoed through the courtyard—it was Luan Yingjie.

Only now did the family remember that he was still buried under rubble.

Regardless of whether he came to steal chickens, just being at Yun Angge’s house in the middle of the night was already suspicious.

Qin Feng was furious.

But no matter how angry she was, hearing him moan so pitifully still tugged at her heart.

“Dad, big brother—we have to dig Yingjie out, quick!”

Qin Wanliang looked toward the ruins, his brow furrowed tightly. Then he turned and gave Yun Angge, Qin Wanfang, and Qin Wanku a long, cold stare—saying nothing, he led his sons to start digging.

The more he thought about it, the more fishy the whole thing felt.

Was this all some kind of trap for Yingjie?

He could believe that Luan Yingjie, out of spite, would try to get revenge—but stealing two old hens? That didn’t sound like him.

Then again, Yun Angge was right—if Luan Yingjie didn’t want to come, those three women wouldn’t have had the strength to tie him up and toss him onto the wall.

Forget it—they’d dig him out first and hear what he had to say.

Qin Wanquan’s three sons had already started digging, but neither Qin Wanfang nor Qin Wanku’s families offered any help.

By now, many neighbors had been woken up by Li Xian’e’s shouting and had come out to watch the commotion.

Thanks to Zhang Xianglan and Liu Ying quietly spreading the story, the gossip-hungry crowd quickly pieced together the truth and were absolutely stunned—but no one dared to mock Luan Yingjie publicly.

After all, he was still Qin Feng’s fiancé and Qin Wanliang’s future son-in-law.

And with Li Xian’e around, anyone who called him a thief to her face would get cursed into the next life.

With over ten strong men helping out, Luan Yingjie was soon dug out.

But as soon as they lifted him up, the two hens were discovered as well—lifeless and limp, clearly long dead from suffocation.

“Sigh, poor hens…”
Qin Wanfang, ever one to stir the pot, held one hen in each hand and said with exaggerated sorrow.

Originally, Qin Feng’s family and Qin Wanquan’s sons had all pretended not to notice the dead chickens—until Qin Wanfang decided to make it painfully obvious.

“Sob… those were our hens…”
This time, Yun Angge didn’t need to prompt her—Qin Mingyue burst into tears, scooped up a dirt clod from the ground, and threw it at Luan Yingjie.

“You thief! Give back our hens!”