Chuxia could roughly guess Liu Meiqing's thoughts, and her mind was racing. With an inadvertent glance, she noticed Zheng Sanqiao, despite crying out in pain with "aiyos," had a look of triumph in her eyes. She was momentarily stunned before realizing she had been duped!
It was true that Zheng Sanqiao wanted to hit her, but Chuxia accidentally hurting Zheng Sanqiao was false. Evidently, the scissors piercing her hand was intentional on Zheng Sanqiao's part, most likely aiming to drive their family out of the house.
This is too much!
A shadow crossed Lin Chuxia's eyes, then she softly embraced Zheng Sanqiao's arm, weeping miserably, "Eldest Uncle's Wife... wow wow wow... beat me if you must, but why go for my face?... wow wow wow... I'm already not pretty, and if you swell it up, how can I face anyone? wow wow wow...
I panicked, and just grabbed something to cover my face, wow wow wow... If I had known that you were that strong, Eldest Uncle's Wife, wow wow wow... I wouldn't have blocked it, wow wow wow... after all, I almost died last time, wow wow wow... if I die from being slapped, then so be it, wow wow wow..."
Zheng Sanqiao was astounded, watching Lin Chuxia cry as if her own mother had died, disbelief plain on her face. Since Chuxia was a child, she hardly ever shed tears; making her cry was as hard as getting a rooster to lay an egg. It was exactly because she knew this that she changed her mind at the last second and put her "hand" forward.
"What happened here?"
"Meiqing, what's going on?"
At that moment, the sound of chaotic footsteps and noisy inquiries came from outside the courtyard.
"Second Uncle, Third Auntie, Fourth Master... Chuxia just went crazy, she had scissors and tried to stab my mother-in-law..."
"What's happened? What's happened?" While Liu Meiqing was explaining loudly to the neighbors who had rushed over upon hearing her screams, a plump figure hurried into the courtyard.
Before Liu Meiqing could respond, the plump figure had already entered the house.
"Fat Auntie... wow wow wow..." Seeing the woman, Lin Chuxia, who was crying boisterously, collapsed weakly, "Xia, Xia, hold on, oh dear, what a sin..." Fat Auntie wrapped her arms around Chuxia and frowned at Zheng Sanqiao, "Sanqiao, they're just a few sweet potatoes. Did you really have to snatch them right after Meiying walked out?
If you're really that desperate for a few sweet potatoes, you should control your daughter-in-law and stop her from stealing Chuxia's things. Why do Yulan and Baohe go to work hungry? Isn't it to provide for Chuxia's recovery? Don't you understand why Chuxia is guarding the food so fiercely? Couldn't any daughter be pained to see her parents suffer?..."
Fat Auntie's questioning made the outside onlookers instantly understand the full story. Although most people didn't like the delicate Chuxia, they felt that what Zheng Sanqiao and her daughter-in-law were doing was too much, considering Chuxia's slight build.
Seeing that the tide of opinion was turning, Liu Meiqing got desperate and ran inside, "Fat Auntie..."
"Hold your tongue!" Zheng Sanqiao's rebuke rang out, "Isn't this mess all your doing? You didn't cook sweet potatoes for Shuanshuan when he was hungry, and instead, you just had to steal the ones left for Chuxia by Yulan and Baohe. Is this how you act as a sister-in-law?" Then her voice softened, "Fat Auntie, this needs clarifying. I didn't come here to take sweet potatoes from Chuxia.
I thought about how hard it was for Yulan and her husband, so I gave all our sweet potatoes to Chuxia. But when Shuanshuan started crying, I remembered I hadn't kept any for him, so I thought about taking a couple back.
Chuxia is really protective of her parents; she didn't want to give them up. Seeing her guard the food like that, my heart hurt for her, I just wanted to reach out and pat her."
Who would have thought, she misunderstood and grabbed the scissors to threaten me, and I, fearing she might hurt herself, quickly reached out to snatch them away. But as luck would have it, by sheer coincidence, I ended up piercing my hand.
When Meiching came in, she only saw Chuxia with scissors coming at me, and not daring to approach with a child in her arms, she ran out to call for help. Ah, what a mess this has become."
Fat Auntie let out a sigh and gently persuaded Chuxia, "Chuxia, let's stop crying now. Your Eldest Uncle's Wife's household isn't well-off either, and your sister-in-law just took one of your sweet potatoes, right? Just have her give you two back, give the rest to them, and let's put this matter behind us today. Be good, go take out the sweet potatoes."
Chuxia was flabbergasted as she stared at Fat Auntie, her face a picture of disbelief, at Zheng Sanqiao's incredibly flawed statement, which Fat Auntie actually believed?
Then, the low murmur of conversation from outside confirmed for her that everyone else believed it too.
This... this... Lin Chuxia truly felt like her brain had short-circuited. If people outside believed it, she could barely accept it, but how could Fat Auntie believe it too?
"Listen, Chuxia, later, Fat Auntie will have Meiching bring some over for you." Clearly, Fat Auntie thought Chuxia was sulking because she didn't want to give up her sweet potatoes, so she continued to speak softly and make promises.
"It's not..." Chuxia, rubbing her forehead, looked at Fat Auntie with a pitiable gaze, "Fat Auntie, do you really believe what she said? How could you just believe her? She was just making excuses..."
Chuxia was truly a child of the eighties. Her original home wasn't extraordinarily wealthy but was comfortably off. Both her parents were civil servants, and with her being an only daughter, her parents never spoiled her but also never allowed her to be wronged excessively. Thus, even after half a year in this new era, and having adapted for so long, she still couldn't accept being falsely accused so brazenly.
The tears she shed earlier were genuinely from the heart, feeling devastated just thinking about her once happy life, compared to the arduous days she now faced, sadness welled up from within...
"Chuxia, last time, didn't you almost beat me and Chuqiu half to death over a small frozen sweet potato? Let alone several big ones?" A teenage boy snickered as he barged in, followed by a spitting image of himself.
"I..." Lin Chuxia pointed at herself, "beat you two half to death?" What a joke, right? Her slight frame, beating her brothers, who were much more robust than her, half to death? Haha... that was just too funny, right?
"Really, you forgot? Remember how you turned into Liu Hulan when it came to food?"
"Hehe..."
A chorus of laughter erupted from outside the courtyard.
"Chuchun, Chuqiu, how long ago was that? Don't bring it up again!" Fat Auntie glared at them, "This is none of your business, go play somewhere else."
"Fat Auntie, you spoiled her rotten. Just keep spoiling her like that. If someone really ends up taking her home one day, I'd like to see how you'll get by..."
The half-grown lad's comment made Chuxia's head explode with a "bang." She had never heard of such a thing before. Neither her father nor mother and not even Meiying had mentioned it to her...
One thing after another, how was she supposed to live with this? But what in the world was going on?