Chapter 525: Why Doesn't Bangeng Move?

Wang Yaxiong questioned Jia Zhangshi's words.

That was also what everyone present wanted to express.

Toward the Jia Family.

Really not catching a cold.

Say something without fear of offending anyone.

In the past, upon seeing Jia Family members, they couldn't even be bothered to glance at them.

If Shazhu hadn't stepped forward, the Jia Family's fate would truly have nothing to do with the neighbors; hearing of the Jia Family's misfortune, the neighbors wouldn't feel sad but would secretly rejoice—just look at Jia Zhangshi's habit of picking up her bowl to eat, then putting it down to curse her mother; the Jia Family would never prosper.

His heart was filled with strong anger.

His gaze also turned hostile.

Previously, Qin Huairu was still helping to smooth things over.

Because of the Huaihua incident, Qin Huairu also began to resent Jia Zhangshi, wishing in her heart to use the neighbors' hands to give Jia Zhangshi a proper lesson.

"Wang Yaxiong, you little brat, how dare you speak to your elders like that?"

Jia Zhangshi saw Wang Yaxiong clench his fists.

Worried about getting beaten.

She didn't dare to cause a scene.

She could only adopt the airs of an elder, scolding Wang Yaxiong for not knowing how to respect the elderly.

"I'm this old, about the same age as your grandmother, and you say I eat feces? You've been to school too—did all your learning go to a dog's belly?"

"Even if my schooling went to a dog's belly, I'm still stronger than you, an old ingrate who doesn't know gratitude."

"You dare to scold me?"

"Can't you scold us? We, a big group, started helping your Jia Family look for Huaihua at nine o'clock, searching until two in the morning—five hours, without even drinking water or eating rice. We don't ask Jia Zhangshi to think well of us, but you can't say we're the ones who caused your Jia Family to lose Huaihua. We didn't spare effort to help you find Huaihua, yet you demand we hand over Huaihua—are you Jia Family members beasts, able to drive Huaihua away?"

"How did we force Huaihua away?"

"And how did we force Huaihua away? Let's not talk about anything else—just look at Bangeng. As neighbors, we've all been helping to search, but Bangeng has been hiding in your Jia Family the whole time. This is your Jia Family's attitude—treating the whole courtyard's neighbors as fools to be deceived?"

The neighbors in the courtyard.

This was also thanks to Wang Yaxiong's reminder.

Only then did they recall this matter.

Bangeng seemed never to have gone out to look for Huaihua from beginning to end.

Their gaze quickly shifted from Jia Zhangshi to Shazhu.

Shazhu stepped forward.

He said to Jia Zhangshi, "Jia Zhangshi, you're really something—you're the first person in this siheyuan to treat me like a fool."

"Shazhu, I don't have it—Huaihua really is missing."

"Still pretending?" Shazhu retorted, his voice rising as he questioned Jia Zhangshi: "Huaihua is missing, yet the unrelated neighbors are all helping, while Bangeng, as Huaihua's brother, hides in your Jia Family. Jia Zhangshi, don't tell me Bangeng is sick and can't go look for Huaihua—I don't believe it, and I think the neighbors don't believe it either."

His right hand reached out.

He pointed at Jia Zhangshi.

"You Jia Family members are really something—designing to drive Huaihua away just to get a house for Bangeng's marriage. If the police come knocking and ask about Huaihua, I, He Yuzhu, will certainly tell the truth."

"We will also speak the truth."

"Jia Family, you've really gone too far—even if Huaihua isn't a descendant of the Jia Family, she's called Jia Zhangshi 'grandma' for years, and you just say 'get out' and she's gone."

The voices of the crowd.

They flew into Jia Zhangshi's ears.

Jia Zhangshi didn't know how to deal with this situation.

The harsh line Shazhu had just dropped deeply frightened Jia Zhangshi.

The police came to the door.

Will Bangeng have to go to jail?

Just as he was about to explain to the crowd, the neighbors led by Shazhu scattered toward their own homes, not wanting to hear Jia Zhangshi's nonsense.

Qin Huairu, who remained on the scene, deeply felt helpless; the trouble lay in Jia Zhangshi's rotten mouth, and she pointed at Jia Zhangshi and spoke a few stern words.

Jia Zhangshi naturally refused to back down, countering with a few sharp retorts.

Words flew back and forth.

Nobody would yield to anyone.

They grappled together.

Qin Huairu grabbed Jia Zhangshi's hair, Jia Zhangshi pulled Qin Huairu's ears, shouting, "Give me a punch, I'll kick you!"

The neighbors of the front and rear courtyards pricked up their ears to listen, but couldn't be bothered to come out.

The neighbors of the middle courtyard merely leaned on the glass to take a glance, then went to sleep.

The Jia Family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, who had been grappling, fought for a while; seeing no one come to break it up, they each let go and went into their own homes, one after the other.

Seeing Bangeng lying on the bed as if nothing had happened.

It was as if he had suffered a 120-point critical hit.

The two opposing sides.

One was his birth mother, the other his paternal grandmother.

Outsiders all glanced over, but Bangeng acted as if he hadn't heard anything.

……

The next day.

Qin Huairu didn't go to work, asked a coworker to help her take a day off, separated from Jia Zhangshi, and searched for Huaihua like a headless fly.

Not found.

Come back in the evening.

Jia Zhangshi repeats her old trick, asking Shazhu to have the neighbors help look for Huaihua, but because a neighbor spoke up, saying Bangeng was still lying inside the house during the daytime.

Jia Zhangshi gives the excuse of not being acclimated to the local water and soil, saying Bangeng feels unwell.

But when someone exposed Bangeng hiding inside and stealing meat buns, Jia Zhangshi's lie collapsed instantly.

Shazhu believes Jia Zhangshi and Bangeng conspired to drive Huaihua away, and now his request for help finding her is just a futile gesture—he wants to clear the Jia family's blame for driving Huaihua away by having Jia Zhangshi go to the police station.

Jia Zhangshi refuses, saying Shazhu is cold-hearted and insists that Shazhu bring the neighbors to look for Huaihua.

Shazhu slaps Jia Zhangshi twice with his hand, then kicks her away with a foot.

After being beaten by Shazhu, Jia Zhangshi wipes her tears while crying out, cursing Shazhu one moment and shouting Huaihua's name the next.

The third day…

The fourth day…

Qin Huairu searched for five days straight, almost scouring the entire Capital City, leaving her footsteps and sweat in every street and alley as she looked for Huaihua.

Neither alive nor dead could she be found.

It was as if Huaihua had never existed in the world.

Because of Huaihua's disappearance, the Jia family daily staged a drama of Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi cursing, hitting, and blaming each other on schedule.

Bangeng always wore an expression of "none of my business," but when You Fengxia returned to the Siheyuan, his eyes would show a hint of something else.

Gradually, two kinds of rumors spread within the courtyard.

First rumor: Jia Zhangshi took a liking to a girl, intending her to be Bangeng's wife, but because that girl didn't get along with Huaihua, they shouted the slogan that Huaihua would not marry into the Jia family as long as she remained there.

For Bangeng to start a family and establish a career.

Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu set a trap, using the pretext that Huaihua was not of Jia family blood, deliberately driving her away.

Second rumor: The Jia family wanted to buy a work quota to get Bangeng a managerial position at the factory, but lacking funds, they set their sights on Huaihua; she saw through it, imitated Xiao Dang, and ran away.

(End of chapter)