Chapter 55: Lying Children Get No Candy
“What are you going to do?” Chen Guifang glared warily at Shang Wan, afraid that Shang Wan would suddenly strike and hurt someone.
Er Ya also timidly hugged her mother’s neck tightly, hanging her little head, not daring to look directly at Shang Wan’s eyes.
“Don’t be afraid, I just want to ask this little witness a few questions.” Shang Wan reached out to lift Er Ya’s chin, her gaze fixed on the little girl’s dodging eyes.
Er Ya only felt that the beautiful aunt in front of her was scary, and a layer of moisture gradually appeared in her eyes.
“Ask me if you want to ask. Why intimidate a child?” Lin Jianshan was worried that Er Ya would ruin things and did not want Shang Wan to have contact with Er Ya.
“Are you a witness?” Shang Wan gave him a cold glance, “If not, stay aside.”
Shang Wan’s gaze made Lin Jianshan shudder. He clenched his fist and secretly glared at Er Ya, scaring the little girl into shrinking her neck. Tears were about to fall but didn’t, looking pitiful.
“I don’t know who is intimidating the child.” Shang Wan blocked Lin Jianshan’s line of sight toward Er Ya, turned her wrist, and like magic, three candy pieces appeared in her palm.
She smiled with her eyes and brows, asking softly: “Er Ya, do you want to eat candy?”
The candy was also plucked from the Lu Family, not the inferior kind with little sweetness, but the kind sold at a good price in the candy shop. Up close, it had a sweet fragrance mixed with fruit scent.
Although the Lin Family was a wealthy household in the village, the price of candy was expensive, and they usually wouldn’t bear to buy it for the children. Even if bought, Liu Shi wouldn’t let Er Ya touch it, giving it all to Tie Dan.
Her eyes were fixed on the candy pieces in Shang Wan’s palm. Er Ya tried hard to sniff her reddened nose, with “greedy” written directly on her face.
Shang Wan smiled faintly: “As long as Er Ya answers my questions, all these candies are Er Ya’s.”
“Really?” Er Ya looked up timidly at Shang Wan.
“Of course.” Shang Wan decisively pinched off a corner of a candy piece, crushed it into powder, and smeared it on the little girl’s pale lips.
Er Ya stuck out her tongue to lick it, and her eyes suddenly lit up. So sweet!
Instantly, her gaze toward the candy pieces became even more eager, her eyes locked on them, unable to resist swallowing saliva.
Shang Wan felt the timing was right and smiled as she asked: “Er Ya, after all the adults in the house went out this morning, did Tie Dan play with you?”
“Yes.” Er Ya nodded her little head.
“Good girl.” Shang Wan gave her a candy piece and continued asking only after she took it, “How long did Tie Dan play with you?”
These questions had nothing to do with what Uncle said, so Er Ya answered readily, “A little while.”
After saying that, she stared eagerly at the two remaining candy pieces in Shang Wan’s palm. Seeing that Shang Wan had no intention of giving them to her, she looked up at Shang Wan in confusion.
Shang Wan held the candy piece and continued asking: “Why did Tie Dan only play with you for a little while?”
“Big Brother Tie Dan went out.”
“Where did he go?” Shang Wan asked while nudging the candy piece toward Er Ya.
The little girl’s eyes were full of candy, and she obediently answered, “I don’t know. Uncle told Big Brother Tie Dan to go out, and Big Brother Tie Dan was also holding a red…”
“Er Ya!” Lin Jianshan shouted sharply, scaring Er Ya’s little body into trembling. Her small hand tightly grabbed Chen Guifang’s collar, she bit her lips, and tears fell pattering down.
Shang Wan turned back to look at Lin Jianshan, “You won’t even let Er Ya finish speaking. Are you afraid everyone won’t see that you’re guilty?”
“Who’s guilty?” Lin Jianshan straightened his back, “Asking these questions is just delaying time. You… urgh!”
The tall body collapsed softly to the ground. Shang Wan withdrew her hand and faced the crowd’s astonished gazes with a very amiable smile.
“Too noisy, let him be quiet for a while. Everyone don’t worry, I went easy. He’ll wake up in at most a quarter of an hour.”
The crowd: “…”
Lin Jianshui stepped forward two steps. Shang Wan looked at him and lightly turned her wrist, “Do you also want to be quiet for a while?”
Lin Jianshui… retreated.
Liu Shi and Zhou Shi both turned their heads to glare at him. Useless club!
Lin Jianshui: Going up means getting beaten, why don’t you go yourselves?
Seeing that Lin Jianshui was sensible, Shang Wan didn’t press further or really strike. She turned to wipe Er Ya’s tears, handed over a candy piece, and comforted her: “Good girl, he can’t yell at you anymore. Let’s continue.”
Er Ya tightly gripped the candy piece in her hand, looked at Lin Jianshan lying on the ground, then at the friendly-smiling Shang Wan, and gently nodded her little head.
“Did you see Tie Dan holding a red something and going out?”
“I don’t know.” Er Ya stretched out her small hand and gestured, “Bulging, this big.”
Shang Wan handed her the last candy piece and asked while she reached out to take it: “When did Tie Dan come back?”
Er Ya was focused on taking the candy piece and casually said: “He didn’t come back.”
Shang Wan held onto the candy piece without letting go, staring at her, her voice turning cold, “Since Tie Dan didn’t come back, how did you personally see me abducting someone from the Lin Family?”
Realizing she had let slip, Er Ya’s hand holding the candy froze. She looked at Shang Wan in terror and hurriedly explained, “He came, he came back. Big Brother Tie Dan came back.”
Shang Wan tossed the last candy piece into her mouth, her gaze sweeping over Er Ya’s other small hand clutching the candy, “Children who lie get no candy.”
Er Ya immediately protected her food by holding her hand to her chest, worried that Shang Wan would take back the candy she was given, and stubbornly repeated: “He came back. Grandfather and Uncle said Big Brother Tie Dan came back.”
“You mean Tie Dan didn’t come back, but they made you lie and say he did?” Shang Wan made a move to take the candy Er Ya was protecting. Er Ya immediately hid the candy behind her back, nodding and shaking her head randomly.
She wanted to listen to Grandfather and Uncle, but also wanted to eat candy.
Even if Chen Guifang was foolish, she understood. She subconsciously looked toward Lin Jianshui, but saw him staring dazedly at Lin Jianshan on the ground, not knowing what he was thinking. He didn’t even react when Liu Shi pinched him.
“I said my younger brother’s wife isn’t that kind of person.” Rong Niangzi spat toward the Lin Family, “Teaching a child to lie is not good. Bah!”
The villagers weren’t fools either. Connecting it to Lin Jianshan digging up a piece of red cloth that morning but shouting that he found silver, they pondered a bit and understood that the Lin Family was up to a frame-up.
Now the Lin Family had lost their own child through their own misdeeds, yet they blamed it on the Xiucai Scholar’s Wife. Truly shameless!
Many villagers showed contempt on their faces, their view of the Lin Family dropping to rock bottom. They even couldn’t remember why they had elected Old Man Lin as Village Chief back then.
Tomorrow they needed to get two doses of medicine from Yuan Langzhong to clear the eyes and fire.
Zhang Er hugged his arms and looked toward the Lin Family, his tone mocking, “Your house is fine, but you keep making pointless trouble trip after trip. We folks don’t have that much free time to indulge you.”
Liu Cheng raised his hand to beckon the villagers: “Disperse, disperse. Everyone go back to work. More work, more pay.”
“Two people come with me to fill that crevice at the village entrance.”
“Anyone going up the mountain to chop trees? Together.”
“I’m going up the mountain. Which family has an extra axe? Lend it to me.”
The villagers left one after another. The Lin Family couldn’t leave nor stay. The three women all looked toward Lin Jianshui, waiting for him to decide.
Lin Jianshui didn’t know what he was thinking and sat down on the spot: “Wait for Big Brother to wake up before leaving.”
