Su Xiaofeng met those gazes with a calm expression.
As a striving youth from the countryside, she was all too familiar with such looks.
In modern terms, these people were just onlookers, uninvolved and indifferent, with only a few genuinely concerned about her.
Listening to Hu Xiulan's words, Su Xiaofeng curled her lips into a smile, "Auntie, why not start by telling us why your daughter Taozi tricked me into waiting for her on the hillside, only for Liu An to show up instead?"
Hu Xiulan's face changed, and she spat out, "Su Xiaofeng, it's not my Taozi's fault that you lack modesty. You believe the nonsense some hooligan made up? Ridiculous."
"Everyone here heard it, Liu An said it himself, so how could it be wrong?" Su Xiaofeng sneered.
"Right, why would Liu An randomly involve your Taozi if she weren't involved?" He Ximei, seizing the opportunity, did not hold back against Hu Xiulan.
"Xiulan, why not have your Taozi come over and ask her ourselves? If it's true, it's truly wrong of her." A villager chimed in.
"Nonsense." Hu Xiulan cursed, "My Taozi is close friends with Xiaofeng, she would never do such a thing. Even if she did, it would surely be Xiaofeng's own idea, it has nothing to do with my family."
At this point, Hu Xiulan looked aggressively at Su Xiaofeng, "Su Xiaofeng, do you dare tell everyone whose child you're carrying? If you won't say, then you are just messing around, and we can completely justify kicking you out of the village." What use is a shameless woman in the village?
"That's right, Xiaofeng, you're still young. Think carefully before you answer," Zhang Jiuying advised.
"Xiaofeng, has anyone else bullied you? If so, tell everyone and we will support you," Uncle Qi said.
"No matter who bullied you, being pregnant is a fact. Say who it was."
"Who else could it be? Like her mother, she sees a rich man and thinks to latch on, just trying to be a wealthy woman by showing up pregnant." Hu Xiulan scoffed.
Su Xiaofeng tried to stay calm, reminding herself this was the 1990s; they still couldn't accept an unwed pregnancy, so she absolutely couldn't make a mistake in her next steps.
A misstep might not lead to death by drowning like in ancient times, but at its mildest, she would be ostracized by her family, and at worst, expelled from the village.
Being new and getting kicked out of the village, even surviving was an issue, let alone providing for the child inside her, so for now, she had to stay in this family.
"Xiaofeng, if you really can't speak up, just go back to your room. I'll drive them away. These people are just too idle, fussing over others' affairs all day," He Ximei whispered persuadingly to Su Xiaofeng.
Unless the father of Xiaofeng's child himself steps forward, her pregnancy will remain the focus of the villagers.
Of course, He Ximei did not want Xiaofeng's situation to escalate since she still hoped to marry Xiaofeng off to a younger brother of the Li Family.
As for He Ximei's intentions, Su Xiaofeng was not interested in them for now. She glanced coldly at Hu Xiulan who, meeting her gaze, scoffed, "What, you want to hit me or something? Su Xiaofeng, I didn't say anything wrong; you're just like your mother."
"Hu Xiulan, are you being ridiculous now?" He Ximei raised her voice again, "Everyone, go home. Xiaofeng is still hurt; she might be out of her mind. Let her father and I have a thorough talk about this matter, and we'll surely invite everyone to celebrate soon."
"Right, Xiaofeng lost a lot of blood today and is a bit out of it. She surely doesn't remember some things clearly. Don't worry; if Xiaofeng was messing around, I'd drive her out myself. Everyone, please go back home," Old Man Su said, who was normally prideful; today's event had been truly embarrassing.
"Right, let the family handle it first; we should head home," Uncle Qi agreed, as it was ultimately their private matter.
"This does need a proper discussion," Hu Xiulan, twisting her hips, walked back, "Such a big matter must be thoroughly discussed."
Fortunately, the villagers were reasonable and did not persist, slowly dispersing one after another.
Once the villagers had gone, Old Man He called Su Xiaofeng back home, pointing at the portrait of Guan Yu in the center of the living room's screen, and shouted, "Kneel down."
Su Xiaofeng glanced at the screen behind the dining table, adorned with an image of Guan Yu.
"Old Man," He Ximei glared at Old Man Su, "Talk nicely to Xiaofeng."
"There's no nice way to talk about this." Just having kept his composure in front of others, the moment he was home, Old Man Su was livid, his face almost blue as he shouted again, "Kneel down."
Su Xiaofeng looked at Guan Yu and slowly knelt.
Old Man Su tightened his grip on the bamboo whip, "Su Xiaofeng, before you went looking for your mother, asking her to take you to the Lin Family, I didn't take it seriously. But now you're doing the same shameful things as she did, just to leave this family. I ought to beat you to death today."
Su Xiaofeng, with no emotional attachment to the mother mentioned by Old Man Su, recalled from the original owner's memory that when Su Xiaofeng was three, Luo Yuzhu went to the county for work and never returned.
It emerged later that Luo Yuzhu, considering the Su family too poor, had taken up with a wealthy man whose wife had just died, and he married Luo Yuzhu. From then on, Luo Yuzhu never set foot in this house again, and regarding her daughter Su Xiaofeng, she never spoke of her externally, as if she had never had this daughter at all.
The original owner had looked for Luo Yuzhu a few times, either being carelessly given some money to send her away or told to not ever come to Lin Family again.
Essentially, she was a mother who for her own luxury and wealth abandoned her biological daughter.
Thinking this, Su Xiaofeng spoke indifferently, "I didn't plan to leave this family."
The original might have considered it, but she hadn't had time to think yet.
Old Man Su raised his hand holding the whip, but hearing Su Xiaofeng's voice, he slammed it down on the table and snorted coldly, "I'll ask you only once, whose bastard is that child?"
"Xiaofeng, this is no small matter; you must think it through," He Ximei, looking complexly at Su Xiaofeng, thought that if Xiaofeng agreed to marry the Li Family's younger brother, everything would be resolved.
Su Xiaofeng, kneeling upright in the center, did not answer Old Man Su's question, instead saying directly, "Dad, I want to protect you and this home for a lifetime."
She didn't care whose child it was; it would be best if it were solely hers, so no one could fight her for it.
He Ximei, struck by Su Xiaofeng's words, looked incredulously at her, "Is... that really true?"
Protecting this home for a lifetime meant not marrying.
But that was out of the question.