Chapter 190: Rebirth in the '90s: The Tyrant Flower, Chapter 191: Framing Someone

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Chai Chunfang and Sun Yuguang stood outside the Chai family old house, chatting on the surface but actually dodging around the issue of Wang Huirong having no money.

Anyway, whenever Wang Huirong mentioned she had no money, Chai Chunfang would turn a blind eye.

Sun Yuguang started acting possessed by a spirit, spouting nonsense about Confucius.

Who knows if Confucius is busy, saying "the Master said" every day—wouldn't the heat of this scorching day give the old man heatstroke?

But smoke still rose from the kitchen stove inside the house, and Chai Zhongxiao wasn't too happy about Chai Chunfang and her husband's endless chatter.

After all, a son-in-law is still an outsider, so he couldn't say anything too deep. With smoke coming from the house and not knowing what was going on, he said: "Stop talking about all this nonsense. My daughter and son-in-law are back, it's already noon—let's cook some rice and eat."

As for Wang Huirong's facial injury, it wasn't particularly serious.

Though it might cause risks like bacterial infection, people in this era generally didn't think about such things.

And even if a wound on her face had been contaminated with chicken manure and could lead to infection, without money it was useless to say anything.

Right now, eating was what mattered most.

The others had nothing to say, so they bustled into the house.

Since Chai Zhongxiao's room had just been lit and was smoking, Sun Yuguang, as a son-in-law, was invited by Chai You De to the West Wu Zi of the old house.

After all, the West Wu Zi hadn't been lit.

Chai Erwei was also handed by Wang Huirong to Chai You De and went to the West Wu Zi.

Chai Zhongxiao thought for a moment and also went to the West Wu Zi. Entering the room, Chai Zhongxiao immediately frowned tightly: "Third son, why does your room reek of wine dregs? And urine? Have you been eating and relieving yourself in bed?"

Chai You De didn't blush; he had indeed been eating and relieving himself in bed recently.

Asked, it was leg pain.

Not asked, he was too lazy to go out.

Fortunately, the glass had broken early, so ventilation was decent, otherwise they'd have smoked Chai Zhongxiao into collapse.

Just as they entered, Chai Zhongxiao said again: "Great-grandson, go tell your grandmother to heat some water and brew tea."

Sun Yuguang quickly said no need to be polite, but didn't move.

Chai You De helplessly held the child and told Wang Huirong to heat water.

Wang Huirong immediately frowned tightly upon hearing this: "Is your father blind? The whole room is smoking—how to light a fire? Besides, the firewood is almost gone; should I burn my bones for fire? Drink tea? I think he's the tea water."

Wang Huirong naturally didn't dare complain in front of Chai Zhongxiao, but when Chai Zhongxiao wasn't around, she was still fairly hard.

"Eldest Sister, then what do you think we should do?" Chai You De directly tossed the pot to Chai Chunfang.

How would Chai Chunfang know what to do?

She'd been married for over ten years; though she knew about family matters, she didn't pay much attention.

Crucially, she hadn't returned to her mother's family for just over a month.

Has her mother's family become like this?

What's going on?!

No firewood left for cooking?

How are we supposed to live?!

"Mom, how does our family not even have firewood?"

Wang Huirong hesitated, then began complaining about Chai Youqing: "It's all because of your big brother, that white-eyed wolf! The family land is all worked by him, but lately I don't know what madness has taken him—he won't work. All day I don't know what he's up to, just not living properly. I've raised him for over forty years for nothing."

Anyway, Wang Huirong wouldn't admit her own fault, just kept complaining about Chai Youqing.

"The family has no firewood to burn, but his own house isn't short of firewood. When I went there this morning, I saw several bundles of corn stalks piled in his courtyard, and he wouldn't give me any. His firewood is all mine. That wolf-hearted, dog-lunged scoundrel has taken my firewood, won't give it to me, and even deliberately dumped a basket of chicken manure to ruin me. Chunfang, you tell me—is there anyone so inhuman under this sky?"

Before Chai Chunfang could speak, Chai You De said: "Not only has Big Brother turned bad, his daughter Chai Mi is even worse. I reckon the thing about dumping a basket of chicken manure to ruin our mother was her idea. And last night, our glass was smashed by someone, and they still haven't caught the culprit. I say, it's a family thief... If it were an outsider, with so many people last night, they'd have caught that person long ago. As it is, they were busy half the night and didn't see a single shadow. I say it was Chai Mi. With her build, she runs like the wind—she smashed our glass with her front foot, went back to sleep with her back foot, and we can't catch her."

Chai You De's analysis was sound and well-founded, and he added: "Eldest Sister, you know, Chai Mi has been strong since childhood, a good hand at work. Quick-eyed and quick-handed. Most importantly, she has good stamina and runs fast... I reckon this glass was smashed by her."

Chai Chunfang frowned, feeling extremely dissatisfied in her heart.

But Wang Huirong seemed a bit afraid of Chai Mi, just kept aiming her anger at her own son and didn't dare aim at Chai Mi. She said somewhat seriously: "Third son, things without evidence, better not say them carelessly. Chai Mi, that son of a bitch, is the worst kind of person. She loves to argue with words. If you say she did it without evidence, won't she come over and beat you up?"

Wang Huirong knew Chai Mi's fighting ability all too well. Though Chai Mi had never personally hit her, every time Wang Huirong got beaten, Chai Mi's shadow seemed to be there.

That crazy girl, her strikes are vicious!

Her heart is ruthless too!

Wang Huirong really didn't want to provoke Chai Mi.

"Mom, look at what you're saying." Chai Chunfang felt her mother was a bit weak—this wasn't the Wang Huirong in her memory.

In Chai Chunfang's eyes, Wang Huirong was someone who could curse up and down a whole street by herself. So why was she being so cautious just now when she spoke?

"Even if we have no evidence proving Chai Mi smashed the glass, even if we said it, could she come find you? Besides, since we don't know who did it, everyone is a possibility. I'll go ask in the back courtyard in a moment—was this glass smashed by your Chai Mi? She's a junior, I'm her aunt, asking her is no big deal."

Wang Huirong's eyes darted around, but she didn't refuse.

If her daughter could vent her anger for her, that would be perfect.

Chai You De also wanted to watch the excitement, so he incited: "Eldest Sister, let me tell you, that Chai Mi is a bully of the weak and coward before the strong. If you go ask her, you really should go ask her... I felt this morning that there was something wrong with the chimney of Mom's room, it smelled of smoke, maybe it was blocked. Maybe that was also Chai Mi's doing."

"The chimney is blocked?" Chai Chunfang was puzzled.

Just now there was indeed smoke in the room, but it had already lessened as the fire went out.

"Let me try."

Chai Chunfang went out and searched for a long time, finally finding nothing.

Chai Mi: Damn! The family is so poor they don't even have firewood to cook, these old parents are going to starve to death...

Chai Chunfang, helpless, finally ran to the door and stole a few armloads of firewood from the neighbor's house.

Back in the room, she threw it into the stove and lit it.

The firewood Chai Chunfang brought was somewhat damp, hard to catch fire to begin with, and prone to smoking.

It took half a day to get it lit.

Once the fire caught, smoke began puffing out in billows...

Suddenly, all three were choked out again.

Chai Chunfang wiped her tears, coughing: "Mom, your chimney's blocked, right? The smoke doesn't go up at all, it all pours back in. This fire simply can't be burned."

Wang Huirong was also choked badly, but she already had experience, so she didn't end up with tears streaming.

Hearing Chai Chunfang complain, she joined in: "How would I know what's going on? Last night the fire burned with no problem at all, today it smokes the moment it's lit. Your dad won't go take a look either."

Chai Chunfang sighed heavily.

Chai Chunfang knew her father Chai Zhongxiao really was the type who did no work whatsoever. Wang Huirong didn't work because a little more work made her legs and feet give out. After all, Wang Huirong had bound feet, this special circumstance meant she basically couldn't do any physical labor.

But Chai Zhongxiao had nothing wrong with him, he simply didn't want to work.

As for the reason, it was probably that Chai Zhongxiao felt he was old and should enjoy his later years.

And after all Chai Zhongxiao was sixty, heavy physical labor was definitely out of the question.

But Chai Zhongxiao didn't want to do a single bit of physical work.

Before, relying on Chai Youqing to work, whether farm work or housework, Chai Youqing rushed to do it all.

If it were before, with the chimney blocked here, Chai Youqing would probably be up fixing the chimney right now.

Only now things are different from the past.

"Third brother, you go up on the roof and see what's wrong with the chimney?" Chai Chunfang said.

Chai You De shook his head and refused directly: "I can't. Eldest Sister, aren't you making things hard for me? Look at my leg..."

Chai You De stuck out his leg wrapped in a bandage for Chai Chunfang to see: "You tell me how I'm supposed to go?"

Chai Chunfang, helpless, had to go to the West Wu Zi and say to Sun Yuguang: "Mom's chimney might be blocked, you go clear it out."

Sun Yuguang was animatedly giving Chai Zhongxiao a lesson in the Great Immortal's compulsory education, saying this year is Eight Dragons Water Control, next year Five Grains Abundant Year, the year after that a Water Dragon Year where even triangle baskets can't be afforded.

Hearing Chai Chunfang tell him to work, Sun Yuguang pretended to stir.

Sure enough Chai Zhongxiao immediately stopped him and scolded Chai Chunfang: "The son-in-law just arrived, and you're making him do this and that. The chimney's blocked, let the eldest come over and look."

Chai Chunfang was momentarily speechless.

Thinking Chai Zhongxiao would never go clear the chimney either, she had to go back and tell her mother Wang Huirong the situation.

Wang Huirong also had no way out, but she didn't dare talk back to Chai Zhongxiao, so she instructed Chai Chunfang: "Girl, go find your eldest brother to come help. Clearing a chimney, nobody wants to do that job. When you go, whatever you do, don't alert Chai Mi. That... that girl is utterly unreasonable. Give her a wide berth."

Originally Chai Chunfang didn't have much impression of Chai Mi, after all she was a married daughter, gone to her husband's family for twenty-odd years, though she returned for holidays, her impressions of Chai Mi all came from what Chai Zhongxiao or Wang Huirong told her.

Before Wang Huirong only said: Chai Mi... quite fleshy.

(This sentence must be read in context to convey the meaning. It means Chai Mi's personality is rather stubborn, relatively introverted.)

And Wang Huirong rarely mentioned Chai Youqing's children before, what she mentioned more was how good this eldest grandson Chai Dajun was, how ambitious, how handsome he grew.

Mentions of Chai Mi were extremely few.

How did the style suddenly change?

When Chai Chunfang returned home, she occasionally saw Chai Mi, and didn't feel anything amiss.

Every time Chai Mi saw her she was respectful and deferential, Chai Chunfang actually didn't mind. She genuinely felt Wang Huirong was a bit abnormal today.

Anyway, on this matter of dealing with Chai Mi, Chai Chunfang felt Wang Huirong was making a mountain out of a molehill.

Could it be, she Chai Mi is a tiger, still eats people?!

"Mom, aren't you being a bit oversensitive?" Chai Chunfang said without a care: "It's not a big deal, I'm just going to call my eldest brother to help, clear the chimney for the house. Is that necessary?"

Wang Huirong frowned: Necessary! Absolutely necessary!

These two days Wang Huirong was speechless to death; just today alone, the house glass broke, the window ruined, the chimney blocked, she even ate chicken manure, truly unlucky to the extreme. And not only couldn't she buy things, she tossed about on the ground for two hours, and right now her waist is sore and back aches.

Everything going wrong.

And all this, Wang Huirong felt, had Chai Mi's factor in it.

At least, Wang Huirong was sure the first couple days Song Qiuping came to fight with her, was instigated by Chai Mi.

(Instigated: local dialect, derogatory, means incited.)

If not for Chai Mi inciting that idiot Song Qiuping to come fight me, would the Old Song Family have come to confront us? These years, Wang Huirong hasn't quarreled much with the Old Song Family.

Precisely because of this, Wang Huirong couldn't buy vegetables today.

It's all one link locking the next.

So the culprit who started it all, the bad person, is Chai Mi.

Wang Huirong hated Chai Mi so much her teeth itched.

But Wang Huirong also witnessed Chai Mi's combat power, kitchen knife in hand hacking at Chai You De, midnight putting a sack over Xiao Doubao's head, turning around with a sickle slicing Chai Dajun. If Wang Huirong hadn't run fast, she'd probably have been sliced by Chai Mi with a weapon long ago.

Chai Mi really dares to strike!!!

Can't afford to provoke her!

But, can this matter of being afraid of Chai Mi be spoken aloud?

Obviously it cannot.

So Wang Huirong said: "Anyway you be careful. Go early, return early, it's almost noon, time to cook."

Chai You De listening to the talk of cooking perked up instantly: "Mom, make something good. I'll have a drink..."

Wang Huirong rolled her eyes at Chai You De: Are you blind! There's no vegetables in the house!

Chai You De's brain turned fast, figuring since it's not me going to hell, he didn't care a bit if Chai Chunfang went to hell: "Eldest Sister. Our eldest brother's family has a vegetable garden, you go there and tell eldest brother, conveniently bring some vegetables back. His vegetables are all genuine. In this hot summer, big fish big meat I'm tired of, I just want some green onion with dipping sauce, stir-fried potato shreds, stewed cowpeas, soy-sauce eggplant... and some radish, that goes with alcohol, perfect."

Chai Chunfang didn't hear the subtext between these two, thought Chai You De genuinely wanted vegetables, so she said: "Then you're still waiting for me to go home and cook vegetables for you? You have hands and feet yourself... forget it."

Seeing Chai You De's leg, Chai Chunfang thought he was inconvenienced, so she said, "Then I'll go prepare it; I'll be back in a moment."