Chen the Widow was so angry her face turned pale. She spat on the ground and shamelessly said, "Peh! That IOU doesn’t count. It was Gu Jin who forced me to put my fingerprint on it!"
Chen Hong sneered, "It’s all written in black and white, and the fingerprint is yours. There’s a receipt for the county’s inspection fee as proof, so don’t even think about dodging the debt!"
She glanced at the two women beside her, "And don’t you think you can dodge the debt either. Fifty bucks per family, nobody’s getting away with paying a cent less!"
Upon hearing this, the two women burst into tears, "Where could our family possibly find the money? We can hardly make ends meet."
"If my husband finds out, he would beat me to death..."
Chen Hong felt no sympathy for them. When these three came to her door during the day, they didn’t have this attitude.
"If you knew this was coming, why didn’t you manage your brats better? Now something’s happened and all you can do is cry. You think crying will make the debt go away? Such a cheap deal! If it were me, I’d strangle them!"
As soon as she said that, Chen the Widow’s eyes darted around, and she grabbed her own son and began slapping him hard.
"Waa waaa waaa..."
The child cried out immediately in pain.
"You troublemaker, causing nothing but trouble for your mother, you little wastrel!"
"Ah! Waa waa... mom, it hurts!"
The child, being beaten by Chen the Widow, could not escape and had to take the beating quietly, while still pleading for mercy.
The other two women, seeing this, also started beating their children.
The three women cursed and struck their children, each putting all the blame on them.
"Stop hitting them, Dahai’s mom, your child is turning white-eyed, stop it!"
"Li family’s sister-in-law, stop hitting..."
The people around saw the children getting hit and began to intervene.
Chen Hong just leaned against the doorway, watching the three women beat their children.
The children in the village were all raised like this; almost none grew up without beatings. It’s just a regular occurrence.
Seeing Chen Hong unfazed, Chen the Widow hit even harder.
"Mom! Stop hitting, it hurts... it hurts!"
The son cried out, but Chen the Widow acted as if she didn’t hear, hitting harder each time. She was the most ruthless among the three women in beating her child.
"Chen, you wretched woman! How dare you beat my grandson!"
Suddenly, an old woman came running over, swearing as she came.
Hearing this familiar voice, Chen the Widow froze completely, gripped by fear.
The old lady running over was her mother-in-law, who was notorious in Qingshan Village as a vicious mother-in-law.
The old woman picked up the wronged, sobbing Dahai and kicked Chen the Widow’s behind with her foot.
Chen the Widow was kicked to the ground and opened her mouth reluctantly, "Mother—"
Chen Hong, seeing the situation, straightened up. She couldn’t be bothered with them, so she went home and shut the door, isolating herself from all outside disturbances.
She would never admit to being afraid of Chen the Widow’s mother-in-law.
The old lady was one of the most difficult people in Qingshan Village; whoever tangled with her was in for bad luck. Better to wait for another day, with the IOU in hand in black and white, there was no fear of not being able to trouble them to death.
Amid the outside clamor, in the kitchen, Gu Jin had already started making egg pancakes.
Eggs, flour, salt, and scallions were mixed together with water.
Oil was poured into the hot pan, as spoonfuls of the batter were added, sizzling as they hit the hot oil, a faint fragrance permeated the air.
The aroma of the scallions, eggs, and flour frying in hot oil made An Mingji, sitting on a small stool nearby, swallow his saliva.
Gu Jin used a spatula to flip the egg pancake in the pan, making the rich aroma even more enticing.