"Get out of the way, I’m going to find Xiaxia’s mother."
Mu Dajiang’s eyes were bloodshot as he glared fiercely at Mu Dazhong, then pushed past him and rushed out.
"Dad, look at Old Fourth, he doesn’t listen to me, his elder brother!" Mu Dazhong said helplessly.
Mr. Mu stood up and walked outside.
Mu Xiaxia held her mother’s hand, desperately running forward, only to find herself in Mu Shuangshuang’s yard.
At this moment, Yu Si Niang had already made the second batch of mooncakes, along with fried dough twists and fritters. She was waiting for the third batch of mooncakes to finish so she could fry these.
"Mom, later I’m thinking of sending some mooncakes to Little Yunzi’s aunt, Uncle Er Gouzi, and Grandpa Zhang’s house. What do you think?"
Mu Shuangshuang asked as she added firewood.
"Of course it’s good, dear. We can’t finish all of this anyway."
Suddenly, the yard was filled with commotion, curses, and women’s screams. Mu Shuangshuang immediately recognized Liu Jinhua’s voice and threw down the firewood in her hands.
"Mom, watch the stove, I’ll be right back!"
In the yard, Old Mrs. Mu was wielding a stick, beating Mrs. Liu and Mu Xiaxia. Mu Xiaxia was limping, likely from a beating from Old Mrs. Mu.
"Grandma, what are you doing?" Mu Shuangshuang cried out to stop her.
"You brat, stay out of the Old Mu Family’s business. Today I’m going to beat these lazy, deceitful women!"
Old Mrs. Mu swung the stick again towards Mrs. Liu.
Mu Shuangshuang frowned and stepped forward, holding back Old Mrs. Mu.
"You brat, let go of me." Old Mrs. Mu tried to snatch the stick back, but Mu Shuangshuang’s grip was like an iron clamp, impossible to break.
"Grandma, I can’t let you kill someone in my yard today. It’s a day for family reunion. Our third branch can’t have bloodshed, or how will we celebrate?"
On a day meant for reunion, Mu Shuangshuang wouldn’t allow such misfortune to occur.
Mrs. Lin, rushing over, began to accuse loudly.
"Mom, this brat is in cahoots with the fourth branch! Maybe it was her who told the fourth branch to ruin our mooncakes. Don’t let her off!"
"No, mom, it was the second sister-in-law who knocked them over, it was her..." Mrs. Liu cried, her face swollen and pitiful.
"You’re lying! You were greedy, got caught by me, got scared, and knocked over the mooncakes yourself, then blamed me." Mrs. Lin pointed at Mrs. Liu’s nose, cursing.
For some reason, Mrs. Liu suddenly went berserk, charging at Mrs. Lin and slapping her hard several times.
The power of an honest person exploding is tremendous. Mrs. Lin was so dazed by the hits that it took a while for her to react.
"Liu Jinhua, how dare you hit me, I’ll fight you to the death!"
The two women immediately tangled into a brawl, grabbing necks, pulling hair, pinching flesh, using every trick women know.
Despite this, Mrs. Liu slowly started to lose.
Seeing this, Shuangshuang shouted, "Grandpa, come quickly, Second Aunt is going to kill my Fourth Aunt and my sister Xiaxia!"
"Grandpa, someone’s going to die..."
Mr. Mu had just reached the yard under the big camphor tree of the third branch when he heard the screams and rushed over.
The two women on the ground were already in a frenzy, Mrs. Liu’s hair was undone, and Mrs. Lin’s face was a mess. They looked at each other as if they were mortal enemies.
Old Mrs. Mu was still struggling in Mu Shuangshuang’s grip.
"You all, get apart! It’s a holiday, do you need someone to die to be happy?" Mr. Mu roared angrily.
"Xiaxia’s mother, what’s wrong with you?" Mu Dajiang saw his wife beaten like this and rushed over anxiously.
Just then, Mu Dazhong blocked Mu Dajiang again.
"Old Fourth, your wife hit my wife, you want to help her without asking me?"
"Daddy Gou Dan, you’re just in time, they hit me! Mrs. Liu knocked over the mooncakes herself and tried to blame it on me, they’re so cruel!" Lin chimed in.
The scene was chaotic, and in the kitchen, Yu Si Niang sorted things out, and when she came out, she saw Lin and Mrs. Liu together and somehow found the strength to separate them.
With the two apart, the tension eased a bit, but Mu Shuangshuang still didn’t let go.
"You brat, let go of me!"
Old Mrs. Mu, unwilling to be held by Mu Shuangshuang, cursed and spat at her. If Mu Shuangshuang hadn’t dodged nimbly, the spit would have landed on her face.
But Lin, standing behind her, wasn’t so lucky. The spit hit her face, making her scream and almost retch.
Mu Shuangshuang grew more suspicious. She noticed several times during the fight that her Fourth Aunt hit Lin in the stomach, but she showed no discomfort.
Moreover, throughout the whole thing, she was set on hitting her Fourth Aunt, without an ounce of concern for her stomach.
If, as she claimed, she was carrying a boy, wouldn’t you expect her to show some care for her belly, at least like she did with Gou Dan?
Gou Dan was only for her to discipline.
It could only mean one thing: Lin wasn’t pregnant at all.
Realizing this, Mu Shuangshuang had a sudden clarity.
However, she wasn’t sure if she should expose it. Logically, Lin wouldn’t do such a thing just for fun; she might be up to something.
But this matter didn’t really concern her.
After thinking it over, Mu Shuangshuang decided to keep an eye on things.
"Everyone shut up! Old second, hold your wife! Old fourth, watch Mrs. Liu! Shuang, you take care of your grandma! Anyone who makes trouble again will be thrown out!"
Mr. Mu’s furious yell finally calmed the chaos, and those looking to profit from the mess dared not move.
Now it was Mr. Mu’s turn to take control.
"Now tell me, what really happened today?"
Lin naturally accused Mrs. Liu, elaborately describing everything from entering the house to the incident.
Mrs. Liu and Mu Xiaxia told the truth. Mrs. Liu held back tears, her eyes only slightly reddened, but Mu Xiaxia sobbed uncontrollably, hiccupping incessantly.
"Grandpa, you must believe me and my mom, we didn’t touch the mooncakes."
"Didn’t touch them? The mooncakes were under your butt! Do you think your grandpa and grandma are fools? It’s obvious you and your mom did it on purpose so no one else could have mooncakes." Lin continued to throw mud.
Mu Shuangshuang immediately knew who was lying.
At this point, she had no choice but to speak.
"Second Aunt, earlier you said Fourth Aunt and Xiaxia planned to steal the mooncakes and got scared when you caught them, accidentally knocking them over. Now you say they did it on purpose, so no one else could eat them. Why do you keep changing your story? Or are you just lying?"
Mu Shuangshuang’s words startled Lin.
She started to stutter.
"You... you... you brat, don’t you dare throw mud at me! I’m not afraid of you, I’ll tell you that!"