Chapter 332: Reborn in the 90s: The Tyrant Flower Chapter 333 Second Aunt

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Chai Mi and Song Qiushui had just arrived home and were preparing to put the things in the storage room at Song Qiushui's house. Before they could even enter, they heard someone talking.

"Big Brother! Say something! That's my son-in-law! His legs are practically ruined now! He's lying in the County Hospital rolling in pain! Your family's Song Qiushui... how could she be so vicious! Is that chicken trap something you can just set down casually? Isn't that trying to kill someone?!"

Song Qingshan's voice was muffled, hard to make out; he seemed to be defending himself.

"Vicious?" Song Qiushui took one step into the courtyard and immediately blew up, cursing: "Second Uncle, aren't you just bored out of your mind coming to pick a fight? What, did my Cousin Sister put you up to this? Make you come?"

Normally speaking, Song Qingshu definitely wouldn't come.

Their brotherly relationship is still very good.

Usually they're especially close too.

Of course, this matter is somewhat big after all. Song Qiushui didn't even need to think — it was definitely that side's Song Qiuping going back to her mother's family to nag and complain.

So Song Qingshu came to find Song Qingshan to talk it over.

"Second Uncle, not that I'm saying anything, but you're not young anymore, why do you meddle in everything? That chicken trap was set for the thief who climbed the wall to steal chickens. Who told Chai You Fu to not use the perfectly good front gate and insist on climbing over my family's back wall? And right at the time we'd just lost twenty chickens? If he wasn't being a thief, could that trap have caught him?"

Song Qingshu whipped around, eyes bloodshot, pointing at Song Qiushui: "You... you! Song Qiushui! Even if he stealing chickens was wrong, you can't... can't harm someone like this! If that leg is really ruined, how's he supposed to live afterwards? What about Chai Min?"

"Second Uncle." Song Qiushui wore a couldn't-care-less expression, even laughing: "What? You want me to support him? I can barely support myself. He brought this on himself. Whatever happens, happens. Worst case my Cousin Sister finds another son-in-law... this world has plenty of men..."

Song Qingshu was choked up by her words, almost unable to catch his breath: "You... don't talk nonsense! That... that still doesn't mean you can maim someone to death!"

"Maim to death?" Song Qiushui coldly laughed, "Second Uncle, do you think if I really wanted him dead, he'd still have the life to howl on a donkey cart for half the night? The chicken trap is dead, people are alive. If he didn't have a guilty conscience from thieving, climbing the wall in the dead of night, how could he have stepped on it? This thing, if you want to blame someone, you can only blame his own insatiable greed, his thieving hands and feet! Can't blame others for being ruthless!"

Song Qingshu trembled all over with rage, yet couldn't utter a word of rebuttal. In the end he could only stomp his foot, voice choking with tears as he shouted at Song Qingshan: "Big Brother! Look! Look at your daughter! Does she have any respect for elders left? Any regard for the law?!"

Song Qingshu squatted in the corner, hugging his head, saying in a muffled voice: "Qingshu... this matter... Chai You Fu was in the wrong first... Song Qiushui she... was also trying to help the Old Song Family catch the thief..."

"Catch the thief?" Song Qingshu's voice suddenly rose: "Catching a thief means crippling someone? Qiuping said if no one cares about this, she'll go to the township government to file a complaint."

As he spoke, he turned and rushed for the exit.

Chai Mi walked over, taking one step to block his path, voice: "Da Lao Song, my Second Aunt is muddleheaded, are you muddleheaded too? You want to file a complaint, go ahead. The Police Station's gates are wide open. But let me remind you one thing. Chai You Fu committed burglary, caught red-handed with the goods, evidence is ironclad. The footprints in Song Huiji's back courtyard and the footprints on the trap he stepped on last night are exactly the same. The township technician comes and can verify it. This injury of his was self-inflicted during the burglary. You go complain, what are you complaining about us for? Complaining we caught the thief too accurately? Or complaining the chicken trap has no eyes and caught the wrong person?"

Song Qingshu's footsteps halted abruptly, his face instantly turning ashen.

Chai Mi's words were like a basin of ice water, directly cooling him down considerably.

Song Qiushui also said: "Second Uncle, isn't that overthinking? You still want to blow this up? Who loses face? Chai You Fu! Him, a teacher, being a thief! And the father-in-law with a thief son-in-law! And Chai Min... you want her at school to have people pointing at her spine saying 'her dad's a chicken thief who got his leg caught and crippled'?"

Song Qingshu's body swayed, his vision going black in waves.

"Then... then what do you say... we do?" Song Qingshu's voice completely collapsed, the man also a bit bewildered. "Your Cousin Sister is still at home... ai, how am I supposed to tell her."

"Eat as usual, drink as usual. You hurry home, otherwise I'll have my Grandmother judge right and wrong?" Song Qiushui pursed her lips in dissatisfaction: "You still go find my dad, I haven't gone to find you yet, that's already not bad. Alright alright, go do whatever you need to do. With this effort, you'd be better off bringing something to the hospital to visit him."

Song Qiushui didn't look at him again, turning to Song Qingshan: "Dad, go collect the rabbit snares and remaining traps in the back courtyard. Matter's settled, keeping them is bad luck."

She finished, turned and entered the house, leaving the courtyard in dead silence.

Song Qingshu stood in place for a long while, then sighed: "What kind of mess is this."

Finally left, planning to go back and comfort his own daughter first, then go to the hospital to check,

Song Qiuping came crying to the house early this morning, he as a father had no way.

Song Qingshu didn't want to come, but had no choice.

Came and got retorted at a few sentences, feeling stifled inside.

And still no solution, just very worried.

Chai Mi also didn't want to entangle with them too much, afterwards simply went home on her own, made lunch, then slept a while.

After waking up, her spirits improved a bit. Chai Mi simply washed up.

Her hair has grown slightly longer again now; washing her hair has become the most agonizing thing. If she cut it short, she'd be a bit reluctant to part with it.

Finished washing up, Chai Mi put her hair up, prepared to mince some dumpling filling for wrapping dumplings tomorrow.

Su Wan also came over to help wash Chinese cabbage. Chai Xiu was bored, pretended to help pick vegetables.

Chai Mi had just sharpened the kitchen knife when outside the courtyard gate came Second Aunt Song Qiuping's howl with a crying tone: "Chai Mi! Chai Mi come out! Your Old Chai Family has no good people! You Fu is your real Second Uncle after all! How could you deal such a death blow!"

The Chinese cabbage stalk in Su Wan's hand fell into the water basin, splashing water everywhere, her face turning pale: "She... Second Aunt... how did she come..."

"Came at just the right time." Chai Mi said: "Sooner or later she'd come, early is efficient. Go see what my second trial says......"

Chai Xiu was quick-witted, nimbly put down her work and followed out.

The courtyard gate pulled open, Song Qiuping's hair disheveled, eyes swollen like peaches. Seeing Chai Mi, her crying grew even more shrill: "Chai Mi! Your Second Uncle's leg... that leg's almost been severed by the trap! How can your hearts be so vicious! Even if he was wrong, you can't maim him to death!"

Chai Mi hugged her arms leaning against the door frame, eyelids not even lifting: "Second Aunt, words must be clear. The trap was set for the thief who climbed the wall at midnight to steal chickens. If Second Uncle didn't climb Song Huiji's wall, didn't steal those twenty chickens, no matter how fierce the trap, it couldn't catch an honest person, right?"

Song Qiuping was choked speechless, then slapped her thigh wailing: "Who stole chickens? Who saw? He... he was just drunk and walked in a daze! You're deliberately harming him! I'm telling you Chai Mi, if You Fu has any mishap, I... I won't let this go with you!"

"Won't let this go with me?" Chai Mi sneered, "Second Aunt, the one you should find is the Old Song Family who set the trap, the victim Song Huiji. You run to my place to howl, went to the wrong temple gate, right? Or do you think it was me who instigated Second Uncle to climb someone's wall in the middle of the night?"

"You!" Song Qiuping's face flushed crimson, "If it wasn't for you... if it wasn't for you all..."

"If it wasn't for us what?" Chai Xiu poked her little head out from behind Chai Mi, crisply interjecting: "Second Aunt, Second Uncle climbed the wall and stepped on the trap last night, everyone saw it. His trouser legs even had the fresh grass-wood ash from the Song Family's back courtyard stuck on them. If he wasn't guilty, why'd he run? And run so fast he couldn't even brake when he stepped on the trap?"

Neighbors hearing the commotion gathered in twos and threes, pointing and whispering.

"That's right Qiuping, this matter... really is Chai You Fu not in the right."

"Stealing things and getting caught red-handed, leg injured is his own doing..."

"A teacher being a thief, tsk tsk..."

Song Qiuping burned with shame from these discussions, her voice dropping half an octave, but still stubbornly holding on: "That... that still can't maim someone to death! That chicken trap is so vicious! Now the person's lying in the hospital, setting bones costs money, shots and medicine cost money, the family has no money left! Chai Mi, you... you're making money now, right? Your Second Uncle is your elder no matter what, you can't just watch and not care, right?"

As she spoke, she wiped tears again, this time with a pleading tone.

Chai Mi hadn't spoken yet when Chai Xiu snatched the words again: "Second Aunt, accounts aren't calculated like that. Second Uncle stole those twenty chickens, took the whole pot, that was our family's capital for selling tomorrow. Who pays for that money? Song Huiji's newly built storage room attracts thieves, who bears that bad luck? We haven't even found Second Uncle to settle accounts yet, you come first demanding medical fees? So being a thief has no cost, but failing means the victim has to pay for the injury instead?"

Song Qiuping was left speechless by Chai Xiu's rapid-fire questioning, her lips trembling: "Th-that..."

Su Wan, listening in the courtyard, couldn't bear it any longer and timidly stepped out, speaking softly: "Her Second Aunt... why not... why not first tend to You Fu's injury... the matter of money... can be discussed slowly later? Chai Mi and the others... aren't exactly well-off either..."

"Mom!" Chai Mi interrupted her, "Don't get involved in this matter."

She turned her gaze to Song Qiuping, her tone as flat as if speaking of someone else's affairs: "Second Aunt, the medical expenses—not a single cent. If you truly have no money and want to borrow some for my Second Uncle's medical treatment or whatnot, I can do that."

Borrowing money is fine, but extorting money is absolutely not allowed.

Seeing Chai Mi say this, Song Qiuping's face alternated between red and white, completely devoid of the spirit to make a scene, left only with wailing.

"You... you are trying to drive our whole family to death... with You Fu down, how are we supposed to live at home..."

"Second Aunt, you say my Second Uncle was muddle-headed and stole things, yet we haven't made an issue of it. We didn't go to the police, nor did we say anything about beating or scolding, and we even kindly sent my Second Uncle to the hospital. Isn't that enough? What else do you want?" Chai Mi was also growing impatient.

This matter certainly couldn't mean spending our own money to treat Chai You Fu, could it.

Chai Mi had already given Chai You Fu enough face; if it were someone else, they would have long since called the police and had them taken away.

You know, that chicken meat was worth at least three or four hundred yuan, and that amount was still quite a lot in this era.

Not to mention more, detention alone would be enough for at least half a month.

"After all, he's your own Second Uncle..." Song Qiuping said.

"Then let's do this..." Chai Mi took out twenty yuan and handed it to Song Qiuping: "I'm really too busy; just consider this money as buying some fruit for my Second Uncle."

Song Qiuping was left with no choice and didn't take the money, walking away huffing and puffing.

Watching Song Qiuping's stumbling figure as she ran away, the neighbors gathered at the doorway to watch the excitement chattered incessantly, the buzzing like a beehive that had been kicked over.

"Tsk tsk, truly unreasonable and still trying to shift blame..."

"A teacher stealing chickens, breaking his leg is well deserved!"

"That girl Chai Mi, she's really sharp-tongued, not letting herself lose out at all..."

Chai Mi listened to these discussions with an expressionless face, then turned to the nosy Chai Xiu: "What are you looking at? Go back home and sort your vegetables." Chai Xiu stuck out her tongue and hurriedly shrank back into the courtyard.

Chai Mi closed the courtyard gate, shutting out the noise from outside.

Su Wan stood by the water basin, her face still somewhat pale, holding wet cabbage stalks in her hand, and asked anxiously: "Your Second Uncle is also muddle-headed... if this... this reputation spreads, it won't sound good..."

"Mom, don't worry." Chai Mi walked over, picked up the sharpened kitchen knife again, and said calmly: "He's not muddle-headed at all; why didn't he go cause trouble at someone else's house? It's just that he had nothing to do, heard that sickly one go home and make false accusations, and as a father, he wanted to stand up for him. Plus, last time, Song Qiushui went to their doorstep to deliberately make things difficult for him, so he's been holding a grudge, which is why he did this."

Su Wan looked at her daughter's calm and composed appearance and felt somewhat reassured, but sighed: "Sigh, they're all relatives, and it's come to this..."

Chai Mi sighed and also felt that being parents wasn't easy.

The Chai family was just like this, in complete chaos.

Although Chai You Fu wasn't a good person in his previous life, he is also not a good person in this life, but he can't be considered a truly bad person.

If Chai Mi made things too stiff, that wouldn't be good either.

"Let's do this." Chai Mi called out to Chai Youqing, who was playing dead inside the house: "Dad, come out."

Chai Youqing had just been at home, but was too embarrassed to come out, and had been playing dead in the house.

Hearing Chai Mi call him at this time, Chai Youqing came out.

This time Chai Mi took some money from her pocket and counted out two hundred yuan. Then she took out another fifty for Su Wan.

"Dad, give this two hundred to my Second Uncle when the time comes. Mom, this fifty, buy some things." Chai Mi said as she gave the money to both of them: "You two go to the hospital to see him sometime. That's that."

Chai Mi didn't want to go.

"Alright then." Su Wan's attitude toward this matter was acceptable; although not very satisfied, when she was hospitalized last time, Song Qiuping and her husband had also come.

So it could be considered returning a favor.

Chai Youqing thought it would be better to go and see him.

Chai Mi didn't want to say too much, and planned to sell a little less tomorrow. So she didn't pay much attention and continued chopping vegetables herself.

Chai Youqing and Su Wan changed into clean clothes, and then went out; as for taking a car or whatnot, Chai Mi didn't ask.

Since Chai Youqing had left, by evening Chai Mi had Chai Xiu go feed the cattle.

As a result, not long after, Chai Xiu came running back: "Sister, the calf had diarrhea, and there's blood in it..."