Huang Tao hadn’t expected her to go back on her word at the last minute, and with bulging eyes she spat out hatefully, "Sister-in-law Jianjun, your words are as unreliable as farts, changing every moment, are you freakin’ taking benefits from the Shen family or not?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Take your mom’s benefits, you just can’t stand to see our family do well, behaving like a stinky ditch mouse, full of vicious intentions. You’re a mother yourself, yet you’re so cruel to someone else’s child, not afraid of retribution hitting your own kid," Shen Yixia spat, pointing her finger at Huang Tao’s nose as she cursed.

Huang Tao’s face turned dark. She turned to look for Fu, the village widow’s boy, a twelve-year-old young lad, who had also been confined at home by his mother, who got wind of things and wouldn’t let him out.

Failing to find a third witness, Huang Tao insisted stubbornly, swearing that she had seen it, "I went out last night looking for my dog. My second boy had let it out in the yard, trying to get it back to eat, and after calling for it a few times without any response, I was worried it might have fallen into a snowdrift and couldn’t get back. So I went out with a torch, and right in front of the Shen Family’s courtyard wall, I saw a bloody ghost face, and handprints as well, all real blood, dripping wet, scared the daylights out of me, and I ran back home, barely slept all night. In the morning, I went to the village head to carry water and heard everyone talking about it, so I let slip a few words. If it’s about cursing children, that’s a real injustice against me. I know last time I borrowed your bike and didn’t take good care of it, scratching it up, but I wouldn’t be so ungrateful as to badmouth your family."

"You talk like it really happened, but how come no one in our family saw it?"

"Who can say for sure? Maybe I was just unlucky."

"I think you’ve been up to no good."

Huang Tao: "You..."

Shen Yidong glared at her, "You’ve got some nerve bringing up the bike. We haven’t even settled that with you. Everyone, come and judge this for yourselves. Who would be so gullible to lend a brand-new dowry bicycle to someone who can’t even ride? Isn’t that just ruining the bike? Who else would make such a large gesture? Nobody’s money comes blowing in on the wind, right? Huang Tao sure knows how to sweet-talk, fooling my mother who didn’t know she couldn’t ride. Everyone knows what kind of person my mom is, the kindest heart, but that doesn’t mean she should be taken advantage of just because she’s good-natured, letting Huang Tao charm her into borrowing the bike. Then what? The bike got so badly scratched, it looked older than if it had been ridden for five years. Have you no conscience? Have you ever thought about my mom? That bike belonged to my sister-in-law. If she were a petty person, wouldn’t that create a rift between my mom and her? And still, my mom was so good to you, remembering that you’re a relative on her sister’s side, always giving you extra care. I never thought you’d turn out to be such an ingrate!"

This tirade was delivered with great rhythm and emphasis, commanding the crowd’s admiration, eliciting almost a round of applause.

Most of the onlookers shook their heads, agreeing that Huang Tao was being unfair and taking advantage of honest people.

You have to understand that a bicycle was a significant possession; anyone who had one cherished it greatly. It wasn’t just the idea of someone else damaging it, but even if you did it yourself, it would be heart-wrenching, let alone this being a dowry item. How could one face their daughter-in-law after damaging it? Borrowing it once in an emergency was one thing, but to repeatedly take advantage like this, treating people as fools was inexcusable.

The majority of onlookers were honest and upright; they couldn’t stand watching this sort of thing happen.

Huang Tao’s face flushed and paled by turns; momentarily, she found herself at a loss for words.

Li Er glared at her resentfully. This woman deserved a beating, always causing trouble! Marrying him, and still she looked in the bowl while eating from the pot—that is, wanting more. He never expected she’d had these thoughts all along, fooling him into thinking she was close to the Shen family. Chen Guizhi doted on her, treating her like a daughter, saying that Chen had pushed these benefits on her. Their Shen family didn’t care about material things. He saw that she had set her sights on their belongings long ago, and regretting marrying him now, was shaming him in front of everyone. He swore to teach her a lesson later!

"No response? Well, let’s settle it like this. The bike was originally worth 150 yuan, but considering all the scratches, the pedals being half gone, and the brakes not working right, we won’t even ask for extra. Just compensate us 30 yuan. And don’t pretend you didn’t damage it—I’m sure you weren’t practicing at night, and there must be witnesses. If you aren’t bothered, I can go and find them to confront you. Plus, clear up this morning’s rumor. Our family doesn’t have any ghosts, and apologize to my sister-in-law. Whether it’s the bike or the rumor you spread today, you’ve almost made my mother sick. You’ll have to pay the medical bills; let’s call it 20 yuan. Together with the bike, that’s 50 yuan. Bring it quickly, or else we’ll report you to the authorities." This was what she had planned beforehand; beating up someone like this might not make a difference, it wouldn’t teach a lesson, and they needed to hit where it hurt the most—money was a real weak spot for a cheapskate like Huang Tao. So let her cough up the money, let it hurt so badly she’d feel it in her guts, Shen Yidong declared, chin raised, calm and collected.

Upon hearing this, Huang Tao blew up, her voice shrill, "What? Fifty? Why don’t you just go and rob someone? This is extortion! I have no money, but if it’s life you want, I have only one to give." In the end, she stood firm, making it clear she had no intention of paying.

"Fine, if you don’t want to pay, that’s okay. Then we’ll just go in and start smashing things up, and the Li family will stand to lose much more than just fifty yuan," Shen Yidong said dismissively, glancing at Mrs. Li and the Li family’s eldest daughter-in-law.

Mrs. Li couldn’t hold back upon hearing this, "You Shen family are just too bullying. This is pushing this old woman to death! It’s just telling the truth, and now we face extortion. We’ll take our case to the authorities and let them deliver justice..."

"My mom is right. There’s no evidence for these accusations, just random guesses leading to extortion. We haven’t even asked you to cover the medical fees for the injuries on my wife," Li Er said defiantly.

"Li Er, you defend your wife like this, but do you know if she defends you the same way in her heart? You don’t know that she’s out there disparaging you? She says you’re incompetent, crude, petty, bad-tempered. She regrets marrying you so much," Shen Yidong taunted him with a smirk.