Chapter 92: Sophistry

Li Peach Blossom grabbed Tang Mingxiu’s arm. “Does it hurt? Where does it hurt? Are you bleeding?”

Tang Mingxiu wailed, “It hurts! Let go of me…”

Qin Huiyin pressed down on Tang Mingxiu’s shoulder, letting Li Peach Blossom roll up her sleeve to reveal the spot where she claimed to have been bitten.

“What are you doing? Let go of my daughter!” Madam Wang shrieked, rushing over, only to be blocked by Tang Dafu.

Madam Wang plopped herself on the ground, bawling and making a scene. “You’re bullying us just because you outnumber us!”

“We don’t climb over other people’s walls in the dead of night, so naturally, no one bullies us,” Tang Yixiao said with a cold laugh.

“Village chief, look—there’s not even a scratch on her arm. She’s clearly pretending,” Li Peach Blossom said to the village chief.

The village chief frowned. “You have nothing better to do? Sneaking over someone’s wall at this hour, then trying to frame them on purpose.”

“You little brat, you weren’t bitten?” Madam Wang pinched Tang Mingxiu’s arm.

“I—I…” Tang Mingxiu began to retch.

“Village chief, look, they’ve beaten my daughter so badly she’s suffering internal injuries!” Madam Wang screamed. “You must give us justice!”

Tang Mingxiu hung her head and dry-heaved repeatedly. The dog really had lunged and bitten her just now, and it hurt terribly. She wasn’t sure if the skin was broken, but with pain like that, she was sure there must be blood. Who would have thought that such a painful bite would leave no mark at all? She had made a scene on purpose, hoping to extort something, never expecting there would be no trace whatsoever. Now, nervous and guilty, her discomfort only grew.

Madam Wang’s claim of internal injuries became a new pretext for extortion. So Tang Mingxiu simply kept retching, trying to disgust them.

Li Peach Blossom cursed, “Shameless! Trying to blackmail us.”

Tang Yixiao and Tang Luwu each held a torch.

Qin Huiyin took a torch from Tang Yixiao and stepped forward, waving it in front of Tang Mingxiu’s face.

“What are you doing?” Madam Wang snapped, fierce as ever. “Are you trying to burn my daughter alive?”

“I just think that if she’s feeling so unwell, we ought to call a doctor to have a look,” Qin Huiyin replied. “It’s late now, not convenient to travel, so why not wait until morning and have the doctor from Stone Family Village come and take her pulse?”

“No need, just pay us some money and it’s fine,” Madam Wang said.

“That won’t do. If it turns out to be serious, we’ll have to pay her medical expenses as well,” Qin Huiyin said calmly.

Li Peach Blossom tugged at Qin Huiyin’s sleeve. “Daughter, they’re clearly trying to swindle us.”

“Mother, calm down. Don’t worry,” Qin Huiyin patted her hand gently.

The village chief hadn’t expected Qin Huiyin to be so reasonable. She agreed to bring in a doctor for Tang Mingxiu, and none of the rest of the family objected; clearly, this young girl held considerable influence in her household.

“Well, since you’ve all agreed, there’s nothing more for me to do here,” the village chief said. “I’ll be off, then?”

“Village chief, we can put aside the matter of her injury for now, but we still haven’t addressed their trespassing,” Qin Huiyin said. “Sneaking into someone’s home in the middle of the night is the act of a thief.”

“I told you, we were just looking for something we dropped.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s so dark—how could we see?”

“No matter. We can wait here until dawn. When the sun comes up, you can look for your little jacket. If you really do find it, we’ll consider this a misunderstanding.”

Madam Wang was feeling guilty, and Tang Mingxiu even more so.

They had come over the wall to snoop into the Tang family’s business—there was no little jacket that had flown over here. If they’d known they’d be caught, they could have thrown one over in advance.

“What color is the little jacket? We’ll help you look,” Li Peach Blossom sneered. “If we can’t find it, we’ll have to report you to the authorities.”

“Maybe we remembered wrong,” Madam Wang said. “Whatever the reason, my daughter’s suffered internal injuries, and you’re still responsible.”

“We’ll take responsibility, but you still owe us an explanation for climbing our wall,” Qin Huiyin insisted. “Village chief, what do you think?”

“Madam Wang, Tang Mingxiu—whatever the reason, you shouldn’t have climbed their wall. That’s wrong. You must pay compensation of twenty eggs, apologize in front of the villagers, and promise never to do it again,” the village chief decreed.

“No way! Why should we give them twenty eggs?” Madam Wang shouted in fury.

Tang Mingxiu, for her part, was more concerned about having to apologize publicly to Qin Huiyin and the others. That would mean the whole village would know she and her mother had climbed the Tang family’s wall in the middle of the night!

“It’s always these petty squabbles. I’m sick of it,” Li Peach Blossom muttered. “If you can’t take the consequences, don’t mess with us. I, Li Peach Blossom, am not to be trifled with. Push me too far and I’ll make sure you can’t get out of bed.”

“Go ahead, hit me! Go on!” Madam Wang stuck out her chest and taunted her.

“You think I won’t dare?” Li Peach Blossom rolled up her sleeves, ready to pounce.

Qin Huiyin quickly pulled her back. “Mother, don’t let them anger you. It’s not worth harming your health.”

“Daughter, why should we pay for a doctor for them?” Li Peach Blossom grumbled, thoroughly displeased.

Qin Huiyin took her mother aside, whispering a few words in her ear.

Li Peach Blossom looked surprised. “Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?”

“Trust my judgment,” Qin Huiyin replied.

Li Peach Blossom’s anger vanished. When she returned, she looked at Madam Wang with the air of bestowing a favor. “We’ll do as the village chief says. As long as you pay us twenty eggs and apologize, we won’t pursue why you came over the wall.”

“Village chief, twenty eggs…” Madam Wang protested.

“They’re going to get a doctor for Mingxiu, aren’t they? If her injuries are serious, they’ll owe you more than twenty eggs,” the village chief said coolly.

Madam Wang fell silent, calculating how best to profit from the situation.

In front of the village chief, Madam Wang handed over twenty eggs to Li Peach Blossom. These were eggs she hadn’t managed to sell; if she’d known it would end like this, she would have sold them cheaply instead.

As for the public apology, that would have to wait until daylight.

In addition, Qin Huiyin was still to bring a doctor to examine Tang Mingxiu.

“Uncle Tang, why don’t you take the village chief inside to rest for a while? There’s still some time before dawn,” Qin Huiyin suggested.

“We’re supposed to go to town tomorrow for business,” Tang Dafu said. “How are we going to manage that now?”

“My mother and I can stay behind. The rest of you can go for the day. Will that work?” Qin Huiyin asked.

Tang Dafu looked at Tang Luwu and Tang Yixiao.

Tang Luwu and Tang Yixiao could handle most of the food preparation, but the new stir-fried noodles were still tricky for them.

Tang Dafu could collect money and sell the spicy hotpot, but he couldn’t cook the dishes.

Li Peach Blossom, seeing Tang Dafu’s clueless expression, snapped, “You stay here with me. My daughter can take them to run the business.”

Madam Wang was nothing to worry about—Li Peach Blossom could handle her easily. Besides, her daughter had just told her Tang Mingxiu’s secret, which made things even simpler. Let them wait and see how this drama unfolded—she was more than ready for it.

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