novellhall Chapter 179 Wrongful Conviction, Gentleness, and Bias
Chapter 179 Wrongful Conviction, Gentleness, and Bias
Zhu Wenying was stunned. She was not as strong as Sister Wang, who had been doing farm work all year round. She was pulled by the hair and screamed in pain.
"Ouch, that hurts so much! Wang Guixiang, let go of me!"
Of course, Sister Wang wouldn't let go. She grabbed Zhu Wenying by the hair and dragged her out.
Hearing the commotion, other residents in the family compound also came out to see what was going on.
Wenrou was stunned by what she saw. She hadn't expected that Sister-in-law Wang would actually stand up this time.
"Zhu Wenying, you're so old, aren't you ashamed? Stealing food from a child, aren't you afraid of getting a sore mouth?" Wang's wife angrily slapped her twice more across the face.
At this point, the others finally understood what had happened.
I never expected that Aunt Zhu would steal the little girl's food. Why is she so greedy?
Sun Mei stood aside, showing no intention of helping.
She was actually ashamed too. Zhu Wenying was really something, doing such a disgraceful thing at her age. She deserved to be beaten.
However, Wang Guixiang taking the initiative to come to her door was something she hadn't expected.
I heard Zhu Chao say that Wang Guixiang is soft-hearted, but isn't she quite capable? She even dared to hit Zhu Wenying. Isn't she afraid that Zhu Chao will come back to settle scores with her?
"Wang Guixiang, even if you want to hit someone, you should at least consider where you are. You dare to hit a military family member, aren't you afraid of being taken away?" At this moment, Sun Mei crossed her arms and spoke with a cold face.
Before her divorce, Wang's wife was considered a military family member, but now that she and Zhu Chao are divorced, she has no connection with the military family compound anymore.
Her sudden intrusion and attack on the military family members is indeed a very serious problem.
Hearing Sun Mei's words, Sister Wang finally let go of Zhu Wenying.
Zhu Wenying looked utterly miserable at this moment; not only was her face swollen from being slapped, but a lot of her hair had also been pulled out.
Upon hearing about the incident, Feng Yumei also came over.
"Wang Guixiang, why did you hit someone?" As the women's director, she could only deal with these trivial matters. Only in this way could she demonstrate her value as an official.
"She's shameless, stealing my little girl's food. She's so old and bullies a child. She deserves to be beaten." In front of everyone, Sister Wang revealed all the things Zhu Wenying had done.
Anyway, it's not her who's embarrassed; she just wants everyone to know how shameless Zhu Wenying is.
At this point, even the people around them couldn't stand it anymore.
"Yes, Aunt Zhu, why are you stealing that little girl's food? Don't you have food to eat at home?"
"If it were me, I wouldn't do something so shameful as to fight with a child for food."
"Me too, no wonder Sister-in-law Wang is so angry!"
Hearing what the people around her said, Sun Mei's expression changed slightly.
She was feeding Zhu Wenying corn porridge, but unexpectedly, she went and stole Xiao Ya's food.
If the people in the family compound find out that she's not giving her food, there will be a lot of gossip, and Zhu Chao will be unhappy when he comes back.
After all, she had just married Zhu Chao when rumors of her abusing her mother-in-law surfaced, which damaged her reputation.
"How could we not have any food? We ate quite a lot at noon today," Sun Mei said hurriedly.
When Wenrou heard Sun Mei's words, she just smiled.
The reason she was so eager to explain was probably because Aunt Zhu really had no food at home; otherwise, why would she have gone to steal the little girl's food?
"Alright, although both of you are at fault in this matter, even if Aunt Zhu took Xiaoya's food, you can't just rush in and start hitting her. This is a family compound, not a place for you to fight and curse each other."
Feng Yumei already knew what had happened, but as the women's director of the family compound, she would naturally speak on behalf of the military families.
Now that Sister Wang is no longer a member of the family, she no longer takes her seriously.
Hearing Feng Yumei say this, Sister Wang had no choice but to give up.
She was brought in by Wenrou, and not wanting to cause her any trouble, I had no choice but to take Xiaoya and leave first.
When Wenrou saw that Sister-in-law Wang had left, she was about to go home when Feng Yumei called her back.
"Gentle girl, this is a military compound. I hope you won't bring any unrelated people in here in the future. If something happens, you'll be responsible."
Ultimately, this matter is also related to Wenrou. If she hadn't brought Wang Guixiang in, she wouldn't have gone to Zhu Wenying's house to beat her up.
Seeing this, Sun Mei chimed in, "Yes, Wang Guixiang isn't even a resident of the family compound anymore. What do you mean by bringing her in? If my mother-in-law is alright, that's fine, but if anything happens to her, I'll never forgive you."
After she finished speaking, she glanced at Zhu Wenying beside her and saw that the person who had been so energetic just moments before had suddenly fainted on the ground.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Sun Mei stepped forward and shouted loudly, pretending to be worried.
"My mom fainted. It must have been Wang Guixiang who hit her earlier. You need to find someone to take her to the hospital right away."
Those who witnessed this scene were also startled.
Even though Zhu Wenying is already old, the way Wang Guixiang hit her just now must have caused her problems.
"Quickly, a few people, let's get this person to the medical station first," Feng Yumei said to the others.
Wenrou watched as Zhu Wenying pretended to be dead on the ground. She had already embarrassed herself enough because of what had just happened, so pretending to be dead was a way for her to get away with it.
However, Wenrou realized that her behavior didn't seem like a simple case of feigning death; she was trying to extort money from her and Sister-in-law Wang.
"Wait a minute." Wenrou sneered inwardly, then walked to the side, picked up the swill bucket placed in front of Zhu Wenying's house, and poured it all over her.
It was the middle of summer, and the stench of the swill bucket immediately wafted from Zhu Wenying.
Everyone who saw this frowned and covered their noses, suppressing their nausea.
Zhu Wenying was splashed with swill and jumped up from the ground in disgust. She was no longer the weak woman who needed to be rushed to the hospital.
"See, she's alright now, isn't she?"
She finished speaking with a gentle smile, then turned and pushed her bicycle home.
Sun Mei did indeed want to extort money from Wenrou and Sister-in-law Wang through Zhu Wenying, but now, their plans have all been thwarted by Wenrou.
Seeing Wenrou's smug and triumphant departure, Sun Mei was furious.
She ignored Aunt Zhu and went home.
At this moment, Feng Yumei and the others saw that Aunt Zhu was alright, so they all turned around and left.
The swill smelled absolutely disgusting, and they all ran home.
When Wenrou arrived home, she put down her bicycle and went inside. She saw Li Xiuying sitting in a chair in the living room, and no lunch had been prepared.
Seeing her like this, and her face full of anger, Wenrou was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "What's wrong? Did a thief break into the house?"
Seeing her return, Li Xiuying coldly questioned, "Tell me honestly, since Xiaobao came here, have you taken good care of him?"
"Who told you I didn't take good care of him?" Wenrou knew from Li Xiuying's expression that someone in the compound must have been gossiping behind her back.
She frowned slightly, recalling Sun Mei's earlier visit, and asked, "Did Sun Mei tell you that?"
She knew without even thinking that Sun Mei was someone who never forgot what she had learned.
"No matter who said it, Xiao Bao was almost kidnapped. Why didn't you tell me? And you, you make him do chores all day and cook for him. If you can't stand him, I'll take him back to the countryside and raise him myself tomorrow." Li Xiuying started nagging Wenrou endlessly when she heard about this.
Wenrou looked at her with a slight headache. "If you don't believe me, just go back. No one will stop you. Besides, if I really treated Xiaoyan badly, why would he still be willing to stay here with me?"
Li Xiuying is brainless; she doesn't believe anything she says, but she believes everything others say.
After saying that, Wenrou ignored her and turned to go into the kitchen.
"I... I was just asking, right? Xiao Bao is already pitiful, and he's not your biological son. Who knows if you'll be biased?" Li Xiuying knew she was in the wrong, but she still stubbornly insisted.
He looked at her gently, a mocking smile on his face. "Don't worry, I'm not as biased as you are."
"You...you child, I was just asking, why are you so angry?" Lee Soo-young felt even more guilty after being gently rebuked.
"Mom, can't you use your brain? If I were really biased, why did I bring him along, spend money on him, and send him to school? Was I just looking for trouble?"
At this moment, Li Xiuying was also awakened by the gentle words and realized that she shouldn't doubt her because of what an outsider said.
"Also, I make Xiaoyan do chores because if I don't give him something to do, he can sit in the room reading all day. Do you want him to become a bookworm?"
"I...I didn't quite understand the situation, that's why I came to ask you."
As Li Xiuying spoke, she followed Wenrou into the kitchen, took the vegetables from her hands, and said with a smile, "Alright, I'll cook today. You go and look after the children."
Wenrou also knew that she was being taken advantage of by Sun Mei because she cared too much about Jiang Yan.
She simply handed the kitchen over to her and went inside to check on the children.
Although Li Xiuying was angry, she took good care of her three children and hardly had to worry about them.
At this moment, Jiang Yan, who was studying in the house, heard Wenrou and Li Xiuying arguing about his own affairs, so he went to the kitchen and reached out to tug at Li Xiuying's clothes.
"What's wrong, Xiao Bao?" Li Xiuying turned around and saw Jiang Yan standing behind her at some point.
"Grandma, Aunt Xiaorou is very good to me. She doesn't show favoritism. Please don't argue because of me."
Jiang Yan knew in his heart that both Li Xiuying and Wenrou were very good to him and very important people, so when the two of them quarreled, he only felt guilty.
"Okay, Grandma will listen to Xiaobao. After all, you're Grandma's good grandson. What do you want to eat later? Grandma will make it for you." Li Xiuying asked, affectionately rubbing Jiang Yan's cheek.
"I'm fine with anything, I like anything Grandma makes," Jiang Yan said honestly.
Li Xiuying's cooking is indeed very delicious; he used to love eating it when he lived in the countryside.
His words made Li Xiuying even happier. "Oh my, Grandma's little treasure is so precious. Your words are as sweet as honey."
"I'm telling the truth." Jiang Yan wasn't good at flattering people, and he wasn't lying to Li Xiuying.
"Alright, alright, Grandma knows you're telling the truth. Okay, go play with your little sisters, Grandma will cook." Li Xiuying's smile never faded after Jiang Yan's words.
Jiang Yan was relieved to see that she was no longer angry.
Meanwhile, on the Zhu family's side...
Sun Mei lost face today because of Zhu Wenying, but she couldn't let others know that she treated Zhu Wenying badly and didn't let her eat.
She had just married into the Zhu family. If the people in the compound found out that she had treated his mother badly while Zhu Chao was away, her carefully maintained image as a good daughter-in-law would be ruined.
She looked at Zhu Wenying, frowned, and said speechlessly, "Mom, why are you doing such shameful things at your age? There's plenty of food at home, why did you have to steal the little girl's food?"
Zhu Wenying looked aggrieved. "What kind of food is this? My son gave you so much money when he passed away, and you give me corn porridge infested with worms? How was I supposed to know that Wang Guixiang would come looking for me because of this?"
I never saw Wang Guixiang like this when she was at home.
At that time, no matter how much I beat or scolded them, they would endure it.
But today, she has witnessed firsthand how formidable Wang Guixiang is; she's just unlucky.
To her surprise, in just a few days, Wang Guixiang seemed like a completely different person, and her blows were so heavy that they hurt her terribly.
Because of this incident, Sun Mei had no choice but to take out the money she had to buy food for Zhu Wenying.
Just then, the guard at the gate handed Sun Mei a letter, saying it was addressed to her.
Upon seeing the letter, Zhu Wenying walked over to her. "Was this a letter from Xiao Chao? What did it say?"
When Sun Mei saw the name on the letter, her expression changed immediately. Before Zhu Wenying could even look at it, she put the letter away.
"It wasn't him; it was sent by my family."
"Why are you hiding the letter your family sent you?" Zhu Wenying was baffled by Sun Mei's behavior.
However, she didn't think much of it and went to town with the money Sun Mei gave her.
After she left, Sun Mei quickly closed the door, went inside, and opened the letter.
Her family also found out about her divorce from Wu Li. Not only that, her child got sick and was sent to her parents' home by her former in-laws.
Her family didn't want to take care of the child either, saying they would abandon the child if she didn't.
Upon seeing this, Sun Mei's face turned extremely pale, and she felt a growing sense of unease.
In order to marry Wu Li, she lied and claimed that although she was a divorcee, she had no children.
She lied to Wu Li and his family at the time. In fact, she had a child, a boy, who was being raised by her first husband.
At that time, she would also send some of the money Wu Li gave her over.
But she didn't expect that the family would become increasingly demanding, asking her to send more and more money, and even saying that if she didn't send money back, they would bring their child to the army base to find her.