Chapter 359

He turned and walked away.

"Stop!"

"If you dare to walk away, we dare to dump it here."

"Aren't you afraid of freezing or starving to death?"

Jia Zhangshi rushed up, grabbed Wan Ping'an’s sleeve, and pulled hard, but couldn't move him.

Jia Zhangshi was so angry she felt like vomiting blood. She felt insulted.

Being ridden on the neck by a Wan Ping'an and having him act so arrogantly—this feeling was driving her crazy.

"You just wait for me," Jia Zhangshi said viciously.

"I’ll wait for you. If you have the guts, just come at me. Let’s see if you dare. I’m not short on money; at worst, I’ll just compensate for the losses."

A group of people followed him. They wanted to see the excitement; what was Wan Ping'an going to do?

Jia Zhangshi gritted her teeth looking at Wan Ping'an, then looked at her son.

"Dongxu, just splash the water here. I want to see what he, Wan Ping'an, can do to me."

Jia Zhangshi didn't apologize to the person who had fallen, and that person followed Wan Ping'an away.

"Mother, I...", Jia Dongxu was a bit conflicted.

"Dongxu, listen to me. Splash the water," Jia Zhangshi said viciously.

"Alright."

He had no choice but to agree, though in truth he knew,

that his mother was deliberately picking a fight. Yet, a nameless fire burned in his heart; he was unwilling to accept the status quo.

He needed change, he needed to get ahead—how ironic that was.

"Mother, I still think we shouldn't do this. Don't think that just because Wan Ping'an left, it's over. He might be preparing to hold a full-courtyard meeting."

"Let him hold it. Do I, Jia Zhang, fear him? He even slapped me just now."

"You are always like this, which is why I can never find a wife. I'm not splashing the water; if you want to splash it, do it yourself. What will you do if you really cause trouble by splashing it?"

"You spineless wretch, you actually talk back to me for the sake of an outsider? What kind of thing is he? You don't help me, but help an outsider?" Jia Zhang was furious.

Jia Dong remained silent, but inwardly he was muttering: what exactly is Wan Ping'an?

"Oh my, you're really splashing it? I see you're trying to force me to my death." Jia Zhang was terrified; she didn't want to invite disaster.

"Oh my, I'm so angry, the child is unfilial, the child is unfilial."

Jia Zhang suddenly began to wail loudly, like a shrew.

"You, you stop being unreasonable. You, get up quickly, I'll take you away from here." Jia Dong panicked.

He had never seen his mother like this. Jia Zhang was relentless, insisting on staying put.

"Fine, I'll splash it, I'll splash it, is that enough?" Jia Dong had no choice; he knew he couldn't win against his mother.

"Mm, I knew you were filial to me, good son, I love you to death! You're truly great."

Jia Zhang broke into a smile through her tears and hugged Jia Dong.

Jia Dong felt a chill and quickly pushed her away: "Let go, I'll leave as soon as I finish splashing."

Having said that, he took the wooden bucket and splashed it toward the well by the water vat under the eaves.

Splash! Splash! It poured toward the doorway. The neighbors passing by looked at Jia Zhang with nothing but disgust.

On the other side, Wan Ping'an gathered everyone for a full-courtyard meeting to address Jia Zhang's behavior today and to provide an explanation to the resident who had fallen because of her splashing water.

After all, this was the first matter Wan Ping'an had managed since becoming the First Master. If he didn't handle it well this time, Jia Zhang would dare to be this arrogant again next time.

He had already decided that if such a thing happened again, he would make Jia Zhang get out.

He believed that without a mother-in-law as troublesome as Jia Zhang, the Sihe Academy would be much more peaceful.

"Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me for a moment." Wan Ping'an coughed twice.

Immediately, everyone quieted down and looked at Wan Ping'an.

"I called you here today mainly because of Jia Zhang pouring water at her doorway today. I express my apologies and promise to handle this matter seriously. As for the resident who fell, Jia Zhang must provide compensation, and I will provide a subsidy of one yuan to every household so that everyone can repair the drainage ditches at their doorways," Wan Ping'an announced solemnly.

After Wan Ping'an finished speaking, the crowd began to discuss it again. No one had expected Wan Ping'an to make such a decision.

Although everyone had complaints about Jia Zhang, no one wanted to make an enemy of money.

However, this was for the best, to save Jia Zhang from continuing to make a scene.

"Then, First Master, what about pouring water in the future? Should we just pour it into the drainage ditch?"

Wan Ping'an waved his hand: "Yes, the standing water in the drainage ditch is very shallow and not easy to wash away, and the neighbors won't say anything if they see it. Let's do it this way, does everyone think it's okay?"

"No problem, the First Master is definitely right to say so."

"That's right, First Master, this work is quite easy."

Wan Ping'an smiled; this matter was considered settled. Next, it was time for him to explain why he had poured water at Jia Zhang's doorway.

"Everyone, today's incident should not have happened, but Jia Zhang refused to listen to me today and openly ran wild..."

After finishing these words, he took a deep breath, waiting for everyone's response.

"I support the First Master. Since Jia Zhang still treats everyone this way, we should drive her out immediately."

"That's right, the First Master is right. Drive her out quickly; keeping her in the Sihe Academy will be a disaster sooner or later."

"The First Master is truly generous. Not only did he arrange the rules for us, but he also gave every household a yuan."

Just as everyone was talking, Jia Zhang entered the courtyard again, fuming.

"Then this five yuan, I, Jia Zhang, naturally have the right to take it too."

Jia Zhang's face was full of sinister smiles.

Wan Ping'an sneered inwardly: "Hmph! Do you think this money is so easy to take?"

"Aunt Jia, what do you mean by this?" Wan Ping'an feigned ignorance.

"First Master, stop pretending to be confused there. If you don't give me five yuan today, I won't let this matter go."

Wan Ping'an glanced at Jia Zhang indifferently and said:

"If I remember correctly, you said you wouldn't use the drainage ditch, right? You'd just pour it at your doorway. Why are you bringing it up again?"

"First Master, I did say that, but now you are forcing me to do it this way. If there's five yuan to be taken, it would be a waste not to take it," Jia Zhang argued sophistically.

"Oh, is that so? Since you're so capable, go repair it yourself. I absolutely won't stop you. I guarantee that if it weren't for you, this full-courtyard meeting wouldn't have been held!"

"You, you are being unreasonable. I, I tell you, don't think that I, Jia Zhang, am easy to bully. If you don't give me five yuan, I will spread your ugly affairs, so that everyone knows that the dignified First Master has disgraced our Sihe Academy."

Jia Zhang had the attitude of someone who had given up on everything, and her speech became nasty.

Wan Ping'an suppressed his anger and looked at the crowd, saying: "Uncles, how do you think this matter should be handled?"

One of the honest-looking men said: "I think the First Master did the right thing. Jia Zhang is really going too far."

The others also echoed: "The First Master did nothing wrong. We should teach Jia Zhang a lesson."

In the end, only one or two people remained non-committal. These people had been bought off by Jia Zhang before, and seeing the situation was bad, they all fell silent.

Wan Ping'an looked at the remaining few and asked: "Is there anyone else who wants to stand on Jia Zhang's side?"

The remaining few hesitated; no one was willing to step forward and take responsibility, so they all shook their heads and shrank back.

Looking at these cowards, Wan Ping'an felt extreme contempt. He didn't say anything more, but looked straight at Jia Zhang and said:

"Since no one supports you, then Jia Zhang, you can go! You don't need to take this five yuan either. If you like pouring it at the door, go ahead and pour."

When Jia Zhang heard that no one supported her and that Wan Ping'an wouldn't give her the five yuan, she immediately became anxious.

Jia Zhang glared fiercely at Wan Ping'an and said:

"Wan Ping'an, I tell you, if you don't give me this five yuan today, I'm not leaving."

Wan Ping'an gave a mocking laugh and said: "Jia Zhang, can you be any more shameless? Weren't you quite capable just now? Why are you acting like a coward now?"

"I tell you, you must give me five yuan for this matter today, otherwise don't even think about me leaving."

"Hehe, are you threatening me? Fine, I'll see how much ability you have."