“You’re lying!”
Yu Tingwan was neither hurried nor slow: “Can you let go of me?”
“You’re just relying on your age to pull seniority and bully the younger, even if you pull my arm off, it’s impossible for me to be scared by you into opening my eyes to speak nonsense.”
Old Lady Wei: ???
Then what are you doing right now!
She was so angry she couldn’t say a single word.
Yu Tingwan flung her off and took a few steps back to pull some distance.
“I do live next door, but I can’t be considered familiar with Aunt Hui either. Today is the first time I came over, and it’s also with a thick face to buy vegetables. Why would I help lie?”
She was steady and calm, and what she said was very persuasive—after all, she was still holding tightly in her arms a few fresh and watery Chinese cabbages.
Old Lady Wei never imagined Yu Tingwan would lie with eyes wide open. She raised her hand fiercely, ready to slap: “You little thing born of a mother but not raised by one…”
Wei Shouzhong pulled Yu Tingwan behind him. He didn’t hit back, nor did he dodge, and took the slap for her.
Pa! A crisp sound.
The strength wasn’t light. His head was knocked to the side.
Old Lady Wei still felt it wasn’t enough—like a mad wild dog, she directly lunged to scratch at his face.
“Ah! You’re all in it together, aren’t you!”
The Wei family elders couldn’t sit still anymore.
“Enough!”
“Do you even look like a mother! If people didn’t know, they’d think Shouzhong was your enemy.”
Shugong (Great-Uncle) Wei’s face sank: “At that time, there were only a few people in the house. Can that not be clearly investigated? Hui Niang, what happened, speak every single thing from beginning to end.”
He actually wanted Wei Zhao to speak, but Wei Zhao ignored people.
“If your mother-in-law is slandering you, us old bones naturally stand on your side. But if your whole family bullies her for being old, we won’t allow that either.”
Hearing him say that, Old Lady Wei felt much better.
She raised her chin high and proud—let’s see how Hui Niang spins silver out of her tongue!
Just now Yu Tingwan wanted to leave, but Old Lady Wei wouldn’t let her. Now no one was stopping her… heh, she just wouldn’t leave now.
Yu Tingwan had a smile that was not quite a smile.
Hui Niang was honest, couldn’t lie, her face flashed with panic, stammered and didn’t know how to speak.
“I’ll speak.”
Yu Tingwan stepped into muddy waters on her own: “At that time, Aunt Hui went to the cellar to get vegetables for me. She wasn’t present.”
“Uncle Shouzhong and a few elders were together. The one who acted certainly wasn’t him.”
Seeing that a few people looked over and didn’t mean to interrupt her, Yu Tingwan continued on in a clear and orderly manner.
“It wasn’t me either.”
“I have no grievances or grudges with her. Her character is bad, I can’t even avoid her fast enough, how could I deliberately provoke and butt heads with her? It’s not like after finally moving in and having peaceful days, I’d go find trouble for myself.”
That was reasonable. The lizheng [village head or local administrator] nodded.
He turned and said to the Wei family elders: “This girl doesn’t like to get into conflicts with people. She’s always had a good temperament.”
In his view, the falling-out between Yu Tingwan and Wang-Shi was clearly because Wang-Shi went too far.
What he didn’t know was—Yu Tingwan’s temper was indeed pretty good, but it was because she rarely put others in her eyes and couldn’t be bothered to fuss over things.
But if someone touched her sore spot, Yu Tingwan would definitely fight to the end.
The things the lizheng said, the Wei elders believed.
But one by one, as they ruled people out… then… wouldn’t that only leave…
Impossible, right? Could it be someone else was there at the time?
“Actually, I also found it strange.”
Yu Tingwan’s voice was soft and delicate: “That old lady came over at the time and started cursing from outside. Seeing we didn’t respond, she got uncomfortable.”
“Like she was possessed, she burst in aggressively, provoked us again and again, and then suddenly picked up the decoction that was still cooking and dumped it right over her own head.”
She spoke with utmost sincerity and even remembered to pat her chest as if frightened.
“It really scared me to death.”
Old Lady Wei: ???
Wei family uncles were in disbelief.
“But why?”
That old woman had a screw loose and fussed over everything, sure, but if she wanted to splash, she’d splash Wei Shen—not pour it on her own face!
Yu Tingwan: “I was puzzled too. How could someone lose their mind for no reason?”
“But now I figured it out.”
She spoke without hesitation, and even patched up the loopholes.
“First possibility: pouring out the medicine was to stop Wei Shen from getting treated. After all, the eldest branch has many descendants, and they can’t afford to raise more—they need Uncle Shouzhong to help shoulder the burden.”
How much silver does it take for Wei Shen to eat medicine and see doctors? As long as he’s breathing, the eldest branch won’t get any benefits.
Yu Tingwan: “Second, to frame and plant blame.”
“These days she cursed, made a fuss, yet the second branch endured it all and didn’t respond or fight. She kept coming over to be mean and difficult. The one in the wrong could only be her.”
Now the eldest branch didn’t have a good reputation.
In the eldest branch, other than Wei Qintian, the rest were all waiting to marry wives. After this kind of ruckus, who would dare marry their daughter in?
“She’s eaten quite a few closed-door rejections already. Just this once, she got smart and purposely made herself into such a miserable state.”
Yu Tingwan: “Anyone who saw it wouldn’t doubt that it was she herself who did it.”
“The second branch only has so few people—someone has to carry this black pot.” [Note: “背黑锅” (bēi hēi guō) literally “carry the black pot,” means to take the blame for something one didn’t do.]
Everyone was led along by her explanation.
After all, this was the only explanation that made sense.
“Seeing that all the elders sided with Aunt Hui, she turned around in anger and pointed the finger at Wei Shen.”
“Poor Wei Shen—he’s still lying down, and already a crime has been pinned on him. His own blood grandmother wants to ruin him.”
Old Lady Wei: “I didn’t!”
She was so angry she was stomping her feet.
Yu Tingwan: “Look at that. Can’t outtalk me, so now she’s mad out of shame.”
Everyone looked at the honest second branch, then looked at Old Lady Wei.
Over the years, Old Lady Wei never stopped until her goals were met; she had done no small number of bad things. This really did seem like something she’d do. Yet this time, trying to steal a chicken and losing the rice instead—she ended up smashing her own foot.
Shugong Wei asked Wei Zhao: “A’Lang, is that how it was?”
Wei Zhao looked at Yu Tingwan as if in thought, as though he were seeing someone else through her—or maybe just spacing out.
“Yes.”
His pale lips moved.
“Made me suffer.”
Yu Tingwan: …..
You’re so delicate, ah.
Her face turned cold as she looked at Old Lady Wei, and her tone became mocking.
“You better be thankful my parents died early. If they were still here, would you still be standing here with all limbs intact, yelling at me?”
“Back then, when the Yu family caught fire, my mother risked her life to shield me under her. You, old hag, full of bad water—are you even worthy to mention her name?”
She left with a cold face, walking straight back to the old house.
Just then, Wei Shouzhong heavily knelt before the elders.
“Uncles, lizheng, I want to split the family. I ask everyone here to bear witness.”
This one sentence was like a clap of thunder.
Old Lady Wei was stunned: “What? Say that again!”
Shugong Wei’s face darkened: “Shouzhong, do you even know what you’re saying?”
Wei Shouzhong looked at the elders of the Wei family.
“Back then when A’Lang was sent away, Hui Niang fell seriously ill. I made a fuss about splitting the family, but all you uncles said, ‘With parents still alive, there’s no dividing the family,’ and told me not to make trouble.”
“Every time there’s war, the yamen puts up obituary notices. Widow Shi’s son works as an accountant in the county town. If he saw one from our village, he’d help pass the message.”
“On the third year after A’Lang left, Widow Shi’s son came looking for me.”
Wei Shouzhong felt like the sky had collapsed.
“But I didn’t dare bring up splitting the family anymore.”