CHAPTER 18: CHAPTER 18: YE MANMAN CRIES AND ACCUSES

As soon as she finished speaking, the expressions on Li Hongmei and her son Tiejun’s faces changed significantly.

Sure enough, someone soon took out a candy wrapper and asked suspiciously,

"Is it this kind of candy wrapper?"

In the palm of her hand lay a colorful, transparent candy wrapper that reflected the light under the dim lamp, looking extremely pretty.

Ye Manman nodded with excitement, "That’s right, this is the candy I bought. Sister, do you know who ate it?"

Her expectant appearance was charming, and the young woman she called "sister" blushed over her sun-darkened cheeks, then quickly pointed out.

"Of course I know. She was the one who bragged to me that she bought a lot of candy for her son. After much persuasion, she gave me this wrapper. Just now, Liu Tiejun was still eating candy, so he must still have some in his pocket."

She pointed at Li Hongmei and Liu Tiejun, and her words were like a bomb tossed into a calm valley, stirring up waves of chaos.

"Wow, was it really stolen by family? How shameless! And to think He Chen is so filial to their family!"

"I’m amazed, I’m amazed. It seems that all the good things she said about He Chen were probably lies. The moment they got married, they picked a lock and stole their daughter-in-law’s money and candy. Hundreds of bucks, that’s no small sum—enough to go to jail, tch tch."

"Hilarious, claiming that Liu Dongliang hunted those rabbits. I wanted to say, with Liu Dongliang’s character, could he even catch a rabbit? Those mountain rabbits are so sly, you can’t even see them. A man who can’t even dig the ground properly claiming to catch rabbits."

The murmurs continued without pause, and faced with the crowd’s complex gaze and insults, Li Hongmei’s face turned red, thinking of a way to rebut. Unexpectedly, her son Liu Tiejun suddenly ran over and pushed the woman who identified them.

"You’re talking nonsense! My mom bought this candy for me in town!"

Though he wasn’t tall, his build was large and his hefty body struck with great force, knocking the woman down to the ground.

Seeing this, the woman’s husband immediately rushed over and punched Liu Tiejun.

"You son of a thief! You dare to bully my wife! Liu Dongliang, get out here and fight if you have the guts, worthless man, even stealing from the family nephew, I spit on you!"

The man helped his wife up, threatening to go in and fight Liu Dongliang.

Liu Dongliang was dragged out by his collar, already having taken a punch, now standing at the forefront of the square without daring to say a word.

Because not only were He Chen and the woman’s husband looking at him unkindly, but all the villagers, whether they received pork or not, cast disdainful glances at their family.

One by one calling them thieves, making Liu Dongliang and Li Hongmei unable to lift their heads.

Meanwhile, their son Liu Tiejun was still sitting on the ground crying, wailing as he cried.

"Boo hoo! I’m not a thief, my cousin’s stuff is mine! This candy was supposed to be for me! Everything in the family is reserved for me alone."

"My mom said all the family’s money should be given to her to manage. If my cousin’s wife doesn’t listen, she deserves it! It’s good she wasn’t hit."

"The rabbit my cousin caught was supposed to be for me to eat. I’m still in school and need the nutrition. My mom just went to take it, why are you calling us thieves! My parents aren’t thieves!"

His constant crying and shouting only confirmed the theft by Li Hongmei and Liu Dongliang.

Li Hongmei had been thinking of other ways to react, but now had no chance, as the spit from everyone’s mouths was enough to drown her.

She regretted so much now, wishing she hadn’t snatched the rabbit, or greedily taken the girl’s stuff. If she hadn’t taken the girl’s things, things wouldn’t be like this!

Who knew she’d be the only one in the village to buy that expensive-looking candy! If only she’d brought some over as a gesture of respect and filial piety.

If she’d given their family candy early on, they wouldn’t have been caught like this...

It’s all her fault!

Had she known, she wouldn’t have agreed with Yang Xiumei’s words that Ye Manman was a pushover, that she’d definitely be under control once married into their family, looking after them along with He Chen.

Damn Yang Xiumei.

All lies!

"Alright, Li Hongmei, hurry and return the money and belongings to their owner. You’re even handling their dowry gifts, what’s going on in your mind? You’re not even the real mother."

The team leader spoke, his expression towards Li Hongmei’s family very unfriendly, clearly displeased with the situation.

If news about this spread, the whole Qingshui Production Team might not be rated as an advanced team, and all his efforts would be in vain.

Li Hongmei blushed deeply with shame after being told off by the team leader, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

But no matter how she checks, she could only come up with two hundred and ten bucks, even this money was stuffed in her socks, giving off a smell when brought out.

Upon seeing this, Ye Manman burst into tears, her tears falling like free-flowing water.

"I don’t want money that’s been stepped on, it’s so stinky! He Chen, take it to wash, wash it clean, boo hoo hoo~"

"Plus, I’m missing two hundred and twenty bucks, why are you only returning two hundred and ten bucks? It’s fine if you ate the rabbit, and let slide the years of deducting He Chen’s money, but now you even want to withhold my dowry, boo hoo~ Team leader, they’re bullying me too much."

Her eyes were swollen from crying, her fair hands cupping her face as if she’d been bullied beyond endurance, sobbing as if she might faint.

In He Chen’s eyes, seeing this made his heartbreak and fury, his fingers squeezing the money so tightly that his knuckles turned white, his eyes staring at Li Hongmei like a preying beast ready to pounce.

Li Hongmei shivered, trembling as she refuted.

"No, I didn’t, when I took it, there was only this much, heaven knows! I didn’t touch a single penny, and about the candy, I’ll give it back to you! Don’t falsely accuse me!"

She quickly pulled out the candy jar from her pocket to return it to He Chen, who shook it and upon opening, found only half a jar remaining.

Hearing the sound, Ye Manman knew there wasn’t much candy left, making her even angrier and even sadder as she cried.

"Team leader, I can’t live like this, guarding against everyone but the family thief. Look, I just got married and already had all my money stolen, and this only got resolved after bringing it to you. If similar incidents happen again and people wise up to avoid detection, how can He Chen and I keep living."

Her voice was a bit hoarse, with evident worry, as if the future held no hope.

Hearing this, He Chen feared she might mean what she said, and if she stopped living with him, he wouldn’t know what to do.

So he quickly said,

"Team leader, while we’re at it today, I wanted to bring something up. I’d like to ask you to help supervise their family to move out from our house soon. They have a home in the village, and my house was left to me by my dad for marriage."

Not seeing any objection from the team leader, He Chen glanced at them again, speaking somberly.

"You’ve seen what happened today. If this continues, we won’t have peace living at home. Also, I’ve been giving all the money I earned over the years to their family, I owe them nothing."