Chapter 648: The Five-Zero Daughter-in-Law System (5)

Qiu Caohua grumbled to herself the entire way home, returning with a sullen face.

Upon entering the door, she nearly fumed with rage.

"Who gave you permission to use up all the hot water? Doesn't your father need to wash his face when he gets back? Don't I need to soak my feet at night? Get out here! Go fill the water vat first, then boil another pot."

That was right; as soon as Xie Yang returned, she had scooped the full pot of water boiled on the stove into a bucket, carried it to the woodshed, and taken a bath. She then casually washed the dirty clothes she had changed out of, hung them up, and returned to the woodshed to bolt the door, preparing to sleep.

Dinner? She had eaten her fill on the mountain.

Hearing Qiu Caohua's harsh cursing, Xie Yang spoke through the broken fence window of the woodshed, her voice tinged with tears: "Mother, I injured my leg and it hurts too much to walk. I heard my father say before that it takes a hundred days to recover from a bone or tendon injury. For the next three months, I need to properly nurse my injury; the housework will have to be hard on you, Mother."

Qiu Caohua was so angry she nearly keeled over backward.

What did this little wretch say? She was going to be a hands-off manager for the next three months just like today?

"No way!"

Xie Yang didn't care whether she agreed or not. Sitting on a makeshift bed constructed from two wobbly benches and a broken door panel, she used the dim, yellowish daylight filtering through the leaky woodshed roof to write two letters of denunciation.

She then used the Printing Integrated Machine in the Main System's built-in space to scan the family letter Zhuang Mingcheng had written, printed two identical copies, and placed one with each denunciation letter.

Afterward, she spent some points to have the Main System deliver them to the office of the top leader at Zhuang Mingcheng's workplace and the office of the Women's Federation chairwoman in this county.

Perhaps because a highly competitive peer had appeared, the Main System was more proactive than ever, getting it done in minutes.

Next, Xie Yang just had to wait for these two units to come down and verify the situation.

Using her foot injury as an excuse, she stayed holed up in the broken woodshed and rarely came out.

Seeing that she had truly laid down her burden, Qiu Caohua angrily threatened not to give her food and forbade anyone else in the family from saving any for her.

Xie Yang hadn't intended to eat that coarse-grain porridge, which was so thin one could see their own facial features in it and which scratched the throat, so she was happy not to go out. She hid in the woodshed, practicing the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden Technique daily and cooking her own private meals three times a day.

Of course, she didn't dare eat anything with a strong smell; she just had two bowls of Nanyang Bird's Nest soup every day, and if she was hungry, she ate a few pieces of exquisite, pretty, and tasty pastries.

Having hoarded supplies across several planes, she still had quite a lot of ready-to-eat snacks saved up.

Even if she finished them, wasn't there the Smart Farm's Magic Processing Workshop? When the time came, she would just have the workshop process more to replenish what she had eaten.

As for not eating, it was equivalent to saving grain for the Old Zhuang Family... The Main System had long ago told her where the Old Zhuang Family hid their grain. Before she left, even if she didn't empty them out, she would at least get back every bit of grain the original owner had missed out on over these ten years, along with compensation for working like an ox or a horse!

"You have the guts to hide in there and never come out! Hmph! What 'nursing an injury'! I think you're just deliberately being lazy!"

That morning, Qiu Caohua got up and began a new round of harsh cursing when the courtyard gate was knocked upon, and the Women's Director of the township, Cao Guihua, walked in with several women with unfamiliar faces.

"Auntie Zhuang, who are you saying is being lazy?"

"Oh! It's Director Cao! A rare guest, a rare guest!" Qiu Caohua hurriedly welcomed them into the house.

Although her son was a Cadre in Beijing and Cao Guihua was only a township-level Cadre, she understood the principle that a local official is more effective than a distant one.

"Auntie Zhuang, this is Chairwoman Lin from our Hongqi County Women's Federation."

Cao Guihua pointed to the woman who looked like a Cadre beside her and made an introduction.

Before Qiu Caohua could speak, the woman with ear-length short hair, a round face, and wearing a crisp Lenin suit got straight to the point: "I have come this time on behalf of the Women's Federation to verify one thing: did your family buy a Child Bride ten years ago?"

Qiu Caohua didn't realize anything was wrong at this moment; she only felt that the other party's aggressive tone of questioning made her feel displeased.

Her son was a Cadre in Beijing, after all. As the mother of a Cadre, was she to be spoken to in this tone?

"Since when does the Women's Federation manage the private affairs of commoners' families?" she muttered impatiently.

The Women's Federation chairwoman's expression became even more solemn: "So, it is true that your Zhuang family bought a Child Bride? Then the second question: is it also true that your son has established a small family in Beijing?"

"What exactly are you trying to do! I already said, this is a private matter for our Old Zhuang Family!" Qiu Caohua's voice rose by eight degrees.

What Women's Federation, what women; these were family matters behind closed doors, what business was it of these people! Truly a dog catching mice—meddling in other people's business!

The fact that her son had married a city girl in Beijing was only known to her and her old man... oh, and the old uncle who helped them read the letters. But the old uncle lived with his son in the city; no one in the village should have guessed they went to him to read the letters.

With this woman shouting, wouldn't the whole village know?

Then would she still be able to hide it from that dead girl?

Qiu Caohua glanced guiltily toward the woodshed.

"Auntie Zhuang, just answer my question!"

"Oh my, I don't know! Who told you my son got married in Beijing? His father and I don't know anything about it, where did you get this news?"

"Someone reported that your family bought a Child Bride and provided conclusive evidence indicating that your son has already married in Beijing. The letter asked you to return the Child Bride, but not only did you fail to disclose the truth, you also wanted to keep her at home to work like an ox or a horse and serve your family. If the situation is true, your family has not only violated the newly promulgated Marriage Law but is also suspected of human trafficking."

"..."

Qiu Caohua finally realized that something was terribly wrong.

Who!

Who exactly reported their Old Zhuang Family?

Could it be someone who was jealous that her son had become a Cadre in Beijing and was deliberately trying to ruin their Old Zhuang Family?

As for why she didn't suspect Xie Yang, in Qiu Caohua's eyes, this girl had been in the Zhuang family for ten years; let alone the County, she hadn't even been out of Shili Village. Usually, besides working in the fields, she was at home doing chores; she probably didn't even know the way to the city.

"Chairwoman Lin, listen to me..."

"Auntie Zhuang!"

The village Cadre hurried over, leading the township switchboard operator:

"This comrade just received a call from Beijing, saying they are here to investigate the marital status of your Mingcheng... Auntie Zhuang, when did your Mingcheng get married in Beijing? Doesn't he already have a wife? The Xie girl entered your family ten years ago, no wonder the investigation team says your Mingcheng committed bigamy by doing this..."

"What! Mingcheng got married in Beijing? Then, what am I!"

Xie Yang opened the woodshed door at the right moment, leaning on a wooden stick, clutching her chest, and shaking her head with a deathly pale face, indicating she didn't believe it:

"No! He can't treat me like this! Mother! Didn't you say Mingcheng hasn't established a firm foothold in Beijing yet, and told me to stay home and serve you and Father first, and that once he had established a foothold in Beijing, he would come to take me to Beijing to enjoy life? Mother, you wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

"..."

Hearing the barrage of questions, Qiu Caohua felt her temples throbbing. Suddenly, everything went black before her eyes, and she nearly fainted.

At this moment, she actually wished she would just faint completely; then she wouldn't have to face this chaotic mess.