Chapter 63: Chapter 62: Creating a Stir Chapter 63: Chapter 62: Creating a Stir Manager Luo snorted coldly, “Just because my young mistress is a girl, she must play with your granddaughter? What a joke! You claim to be their grandmother, yet you berate their family in front of them. Is this how you behave as an elder?” He was loath to waste words on this village woman and waved at Dabao, “Dabao, come on, my sister is getting impatient.”
Dabao uttered an acknowledgement. After a glance at Mrs. Hu and Dahu, he called for Qi Qi and Hui Hui, and Zhui Feng to follow Manager Luo.
In an instant, only Mrs. Hu, Dahu, and a crying Daya were left in the courtyard.
Mrs. Hu did not expect this. She felt both shame and anger. She grabbed Daya and began to smack her on the buttocks, berating her as she did, “I’ll beat you to death, you useless girl! You’re always yapping away, acting so competent, but when it matters you’re just useless.”
Daya was both scared and in pain, her screams grew louder.
Frustrated, Mrs. Hu began to loudly curse at Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang for their ingratitude and gluttony in the courtyard, accusing them of neglecting their relatives and hiding the satin. She even attracted a few villagers to come and watch the spectacle.
As the crowd grew, she grew more excited.
Chen Ming heard Mrs. Hu’s abuses and the villagers’ laughter from inside the house. Anger gnawed at him, but as a younger brother-in-law, it wasn’t appropriate for him to go out and argue with his sister-in-law.
Chen Alu, leaning on crutches, emerged from the east room only to be stopped by Chen Ming. “You’re a man, you shouldn’t argue with a shrew. What if she pushes you over and you break your leg again?” Chen Ming advised him.
Mrs. Wang was absolutely furious, but since Dabao said she had work to do, she didn’t feel right going out.
Afu couldn’t stand Mrs. Hu’s distortion of the facts and was ready to quit her work and confront her. She really didn’t want to argue with a shrew, but she wouldn’t let Mrs. Hu blindly tarnish Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang’s reputation in the courtyard. She intended to go out and directly face her.
When Mrs. Wang saw Afu about to leave, she quickly pulled her back. “Afu, don’t go. As a young lady, it’s not proper for you to argue with your aunty. Let Mrs. Hu vent, she will stop when she gets tired.”
She dared not let her own daughter go out. Mrs. Wang herself could go out and argue, even Alu could argue, but Afu definitely couldn’t. Afu was not off Chen’s bloodline, if The Chens were to lose their face, old Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye would surely blame Afu.
Afu said, “No, I can’t stand her insulting my parents. Don’t worry, mother. I won’t quarrel with her; I intend only to reason with her.”
Mrs. Wang anxiously said, “When you go to lay out the truth, Mrs. Hu will think it’s a provocation and will pick a fight, maybe even a physical fight. If the Chen family is publicly disgraced, your ‘milky’ and ‘uncle’ will not be pleased with you. They can punish Mrs. Hu, but won’t tolerate you disrespecting her. Moreover, we can’t afford to offend Hu Laowu. Just a few days ago, a man who offended him found his courtyard splattered with fecal matter in the middle of the night, and his child was injured by a stone thrown at him as soon as he stepped out of their house. The man had no option but to pay up 1,000 cents and apologize to Hu Laowu to make him spare his family. Think about Dabao, he doesn’t have Chen’s bloodline. If your ‘milky’ and ‘uncle’ stop protecting him, we can’t prevent Hu Laowu from any ill intention. And you, you have just established yourself as a female and you’re quite attractive…”
Thinking of Dabao, Afu had no choice but to sit down, fuming. She’s too weak now, incapable of protecting herself, let alone picking a dispute with the main family, who always protected the second family, and arguing with that vicious woman, Mrs. Hu.
It’s a pity that Jin Bao isn’t around…
Mrs. Hu, becoming more and more riled up, kept on attracting spectators in the courtyard.
Chen Ming couldn’t stand listening anymore and, with a stern face, he stepped out. He held back his anger and said, “Big sister-in-law, please go back. If there are any issues, let my elder brother discuss them with me. You’re making such a fuss at my house, making everyone see the spectacle we Chens are.”
Mrs. Hu retorted, “What am I afraid of? Let them see, it’s not me who’s ungrateful…”
“A Gui’s mother, you may have no shame, but we Chens do, as do my son and grandson.” A loud voice cut in, old Mrs. Chen had arrived. She saw Daya and Dahu crying in the yard, while Mrs. Hu was loudly complaining about how virtuous and hardworking she was.
At old Mrs. Chen’s rebuke, Mrs. Hu faltered a bit. Thinking quickly, she insisted she was in the right and said hastily, “Mother, I was just angry on your behalf and my husband’s. You may not know this, but yesterday Manager Luo sent some beautiful satin to the second family. They hid it, only giving you some broken candy treats and a few feet of old cloth…”
Upon seeing old Mrs. Chen’s arrival, Afu quickly stepped forward and clarified, “Aunty, you’ve misunderstood. The satin was Manager Luo’s request for my mother to sew something for his young mistress. How could we dare to abscond with it and give it away?”
Alu, supported by crutches, hopped out and roughly recounted the incident: Mrs. Hu wanted Dahu and Daya to go to Tang Garden, Manager Luo refused, Mrs. Hu felt humiliated and started scolding everyone. By the end of it, he was weeping, “Grandma, aunty badmouthed my father so viciously, kept saying that my father was ungrateful and doesn’t save money to honor her. She’s so powerful, if you didn’t come, sis and I wouldn’t dare to step out.”
Old Mrs. Chen was enraged hearing all of this. Mrs. Hu was a greedy, shameless woman who caused a huge stir at Chen’s house without understanding the situation.
She asked Afu, “If your aunty misunderstood, why didn’t you go out and explain it to her?”
Afu replied with a wronged tone, “Aunty was so angry, I was afraid that she wouldn’t believe me. Arguing would just make things more difficult.”
Mrs. Hu shouted out, “Of course I don’t believe your lies, do you think I’m as easy to deceive as your grandmother? If it was really just for making gifts, why didn’t you say so when we came to your house yesterday? You must have wanted to keep us in the dark until I found out, that’s why you’re using this excuse.”
Afu sighed, “If aunty doesn’t believe us, we can go to Tang Garden and ask Manager Luo if I’m lying.” Turning to her grandmother, she added, “Grandma, we’re just ordinary villagers, insignificant as ants. Why would the young master of Tang Garden favor us with such beautiful satin? Indeed, Manager Luo asked us to make something for his young master. He didn’t give us much, only about three rolls.”
Of course, she wouldn’t mention that there were actually five rolls, fearing Mrs. Hu would renew her attempts to extort them.
Chen Ming, still gasping for breath, said to old Mrs. Chen, “Mother, you should have guessed why we dared not tell anything.”
Old Mrs. Chen looked at Chen Ming. His face was pale, and his lips were turning a bit purple. She was terrified and quickly supported him, “My son, you aren’t having a relapse, are you? Come, go back to the room and rest.”
As they all entered the west room, Mrs. Hu was somewhat apprehensive. If Chen Ming fell ill due to her, she would be in trouble. Quickly, she took Dahu and Daya and ran off. The crowd outside The Chens’ house slowly dispersed as well.
Hearing that her husband was ill, Mrs. Wang quickly rushed over.
Chen Ming was groaning on the bed. Old Mrs. Chen held his hand and soothed, “You know what Mrs. Hu is like, why would you stoop to her level? Don’t be angry, let your elder brother handle her.”
Mrs. Wang couldn’t hold back any longer. She revealed how Mrs. Hu had been secretly begging Chen Shi for a house while shedding crocodile tears. Not only had she begged for a house, but she also swindled Mrs. Zhang’s clothes, silver hairpins, gold cloves…