Chapter 112: This Method Works [seeking All Kinds Of Votes]
Strangle, strangling?!
Gui Shi was instantly scared pale, her lips moving several times without making a sound.
Gao Laotai pulled her back; after all, she had eaten for dozens more years and wasn’t so easily frightened.
“Don’t say these things to scare an old woman like me.” She sneered at Xiao Huan, “You hugged and embraced my Qi in public, your reputation is already ruined. Who else would want you besides marrying my Qi?”
“Pah! Shameless old hag!” Xiao Huan spat at her, “I’d rather stay single forever and become an old maid at home than let your scum grandson take advantage!”
“You little wench!” Gao Laotai angrily grabbed her cane and swung it at Xiao Huan.
Shang Wan grabbed it in return and pushed hard backward. If Gui Shi hadn’t supported her in time, Gao Laotai would have surely fallen flat on her butt.
“Watch your mouth. If you dare to strike again, don’t blame us for not holding back!”
“Ow, you’ve beaten this old woman to death!” Gao Laotai clutched her waist and wailed, “Help! Someone’s been beaten to death!”
“Mother!” Gui Shi instantly wailed like she was at a funeral, “If anything happens to you, how are Qi and I supposed to live?!”
Shang Wan curled her lip; besides playing the age card, throwing tantrums, and playing the victim, what else could these two do?
But some people fell for it.
“Xiucai Scholar’s Wife, the old madam is an elderly person after all. How can you strike an old woman?”
“Young people nowadays have no respect for elders at all.”
“Talk it out properly, don’t resort to violence.”
“I think Gao Laotai has a point. A young lady has to marry anyway, so who she marries doesn’t matter, right?”
Shang Wan looked at the woman speaking; she remembered she had a daughter who was just a year away from coming of age.
“Since marrying anyone is the same, why doesn’t Aunt marry your own daughter to the Gao Family? You two families are close anyway, so a marriage alliance would be perfect and save her from harming others.”
The woman choked, did she not know what kind of person Gao Qi was? How could she let her own daughter jump into the fire pit?
Remembering that man’s ordeal just now, she hurriedly shut her mouth and didn’t dare chime in anymore.
“Village Chief Lin is here!”
Someone ran to invite Village Chief Lin over.
Village Chief Lin’s arm was still slung up on one side, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. “What’s going on? Why are you all gathered here? No work at home or in the fields?”
“Village Chief, you’ve come just in time. You must give this old woman some justice.” Gao Laotai’s back was instantly fine; she quickly stood up to complain, embellishing the earlier dispute.
More and more villagers rushed over to watch the excitement, nearly crowding the small area. He Sizhi worried that Shang Wan’s family would suffer a loss, so he specially brought two apprentices to bolster their presence.
After Gao Laotai’s tearful complaint, Village Chief Lin’s face grew colder and colder, repeatedly casting reproachful glances at Shang Wan, as if she had committed some unforgivable evil.
Shang Wan sneered inwardly: the Gao Family could scheme against her family, but her family couldn’t scheme back?
Wasn’t the Gao Family trying to make them swallow their anger? She would return an even bigger one to the Gao Family.
The Gao mother-in-law and daughter-in-law’s weeping complaint came to an end. Village Chief Lin sighed, “I know about this matter. It’s not easy for you orphans and widows; I will surely give you justice.”
He scanned the villagers, “Everyone heard this clearly. It’s not that I’m favoring anyone; the ones at fault are indeed the Xiucai Scholar’s family. The matter of striking someone, since no one else saw it, will be set aside for now. But failing to properly discipline your family and causing a scandal by the riverside—this smears the face of everyone in our village.”
The villagers didn’t expect that just watching the excitement would involve them; they all quieted down to listen to Village Chief Lin explain in detail.
Village Chief Lin patiently persuaded them, “Everyone think about it: if this gets out, what will people from other villages think of our village’s young ladies? How will the girls marry in the future? How will the young men in our families take wives?”
The villagers followed his line of thinking and felt there was some reason to it.
“Sigh, ever since the Xiucai Scholar’s family moved here, our village hasn’t had a moment’s peace. Others fear going to court, but they want to drag every matter there. It’s hard for me as village chief too.” Village Chief Lin sighed deeply, furrowing his brows with a worried look.
His words were pointed; some understood and looked at Shang Wan and the others with a hint of strangeness, while those who didn’t understand showed no reaction.
“Village Chief, I don’t agree with that.” Wu Mingli said, “Before the Xiucai Scholar’s family moved here, our village had plenty of quarrels and disputes. How can you blame it all on them?”
Aunt Yao chimed in, “My son is right. We common folk, when we can’t sort out a matter, don’t we have to go to court? Since when is going to court a crime?”
The crowd’s thoughts, led astray by Village Chief Lin, were pulled back a bit, and quite a few spoke up in agreement.
Village Chief Lin cursed the Wu mother and son inwardly for ruining things, but on the surface he feigned helplessness.
“Because of the disaster relief grain matter, I know everyone has some opinions about me, and nothing I say works. But I’m still the village chief now. On this matter today, I hope everyone judges by reason, not by relation, and gives justice to the Gao Family.”
He was just short of outright saying that the Wu mother and son were deliberately siding with Shang Wan because of their good relationship.
The crowd immediately started discussing; those who had seen the whole thing supplemented with Shang Wan and Xiao Huan’s defense.
Some stood with the Gao mother and son, others with Shang Wan and the rest; for a time, the dispute was unresolved.
Someone suggested, “Stop arguing. Can’t we just bring Gao Qi here and ask to clear it up?”
What could resolve it faster than a confrontation between the two parties involved?
Someone else suggested checking if Gui Shi had injuries, which could prove whether Gao Qi had hit her.
“Village Chief, do you think these two methods are feasible?”
“Xiucai Scholar, do you think these two methods are feasible?”
Two voices rang out almost simultaneously, and Village Chief Lin’s face instantly turned green.
He wasn’t dead as village chief yet!
Lu Chengjing’s lips curved slightly as he looked at Village Chief Lin, “I think this method is feasible. What does the village chief think?”
Village Chief Lin: “…”
Of course this method suited his intentions perfectly, but if he agreed just like that, wouldn’t he be echoing this Lu fellow? It would feel like he was ceding ground to this Lu.
He was the village chief!
After hesitating a moment, he still gritted out two words, “Feasible.”
Thus, the villagers split into three groups: one to find Gao Qi, one to check Gui Shi for injuries, and one to stay and wait for the results.
“I have no injuries!” Gui Shi refused to go with Aunt Yao and the others. “My son didn’t hit me.”
“We’re all women; whatever you have, we have too. Worst case, we’ll strip our clothes for you to see once.” Aunt Yao grabbed Gui Shi’s arm and dragged her away with several other aunts.
“Mother! I won’t do the check!” Gui Shi panicked and sought help from Gao Laotai.
Gao Laotai looked at her displeased and thumped her cane heavily, “It’s not like you’re being tortured. Go quickly!”
Gui Shi called out to Village Chief Lin, but he didn’t even turn his head, whether he truly didn’t hear or pretended not to.
Shang Wan stared at the backs of the aunts dragging Gui Shi away and felt Gui Shi’s attitude was somewhat strange.
That Gao Qi hit her was something she made up to muddy the waters, but seeing Gui Shi’s reaction, could this actually be true?
