Ho Laidi sneered coldly, "Kinsfolk? Well, as long as you know, Chiang Laoer, don’t you forget, with all the trouble Qingzhu caused back then, if your elder brother and I hadn’t resolutely stood by your side, if our whole Chiang family hadn’t banded together, could Qingzhu have survived? Could Chiang Xiao have grown up in Siyang Village?"
Just then, Chiang Baohe chimed in fiercely: "Qingzhu, that cheap wench, brought shame on our Chiang family! If my parents hadn’t protected her, she should have been drowned in a pig cage, made to wear a man’s underwear and paraded through the streets to be publicly shamed!"
A woman who lost her chastity at that time would be made to wear a scoundrel’s underwear, tied up, and dragged through the streets for public shaming.
It was said that there once was an unmarried woman in Yangkeng Village who gave birth and was paraded in this manner; during the parade, she was subjected to all manner of ugly insults and filth being poured into her ears, people threw rotten vegetable leaves, flung cow dung, and splashed water they had used for washing feet at her, and some ruffians in the crowd even snatched the chance to grope her.
The torment inflicted on both body and soul was something most people couldn’t bear.
That woman hanged herself that very night.
Therefore, Chiang Qingzhu’s ability to safely and smoothly give birth to Chiang Xiao, and Chiang Xiao’s own silent gratitude, were not without reason.
But now, listening to Ho Laidi and Chiang Baohe, had they really helped out back then?
Chiang Xiao truly didn’t understand the events of those years.
In her previous life, her parents had never come to find her even before her death, and she had no desire to ask about their affairs, subconsciously feeling that they probably had died long ago. However, now she suddenly very much wanted to understand what exactly had happened back then.
Chiang Qingzhu had run away from home when she was two years old; in those two to three years, had she really never spoken to her parents?
Who could her father be, after all?
As Chiang Xiao’s mind wandered, Chiang Songhai’s face had already turned from green to white from what Ho Laidi had said. He felt anger welling up in his chest, stifling him to the point where he could neither vent it nor swallow it, only feeling a continuous aching in his chest.
Ge Liutao was also pale and quietly shedding tears.
"Baohe, Qingzhu is still your cousin after all!" He couldn’t say anything to his sister-in-law, but Chiang Baohe’s insults and malice toward his daughter made Chiang Songhai’s anger surge to the brim.
"Ptui, that wench still has the face to be considered my sister?" Chiang Baohe spat out fiercely.
Chiang Songhai felt everything go dark before his eyes and couldn’t help but raise his hand. Chiang Qingzhu was his beloved daughter, pampered for nearly twenty years; others might insult her and he had no recourse, but what was Chiang Baohe? In a fury, he wanted to give Chiang Baohe a fierce slap.
But as his raised hand had yet to come down, Ho Laidi had already stepped in front of her son, lifting her face and glaring furiously at Chiang Songhai.
"You dare to hit? Come on, do it! I want to see if you have the guts to slap me!" she yelled loudly, leaning her face in closer, "Slap across your sister-in-law’s face! Chiang Laoer, you’ve really grown bold! If you have the guts, just slap! Later, let your elder brother see the kind of ungrateful creature he saved!"
Her saliva almost sprayed onto Chiang Songhai’s face.
Chiang Xiao clenched her fists, unable to hold back any longer, and immediately flung open the door curtain and charged out.
"Ho Laidi! You’re the one with the heart of a wolf and the lungs of a dog!"
Just as Chiang Xiao had called out Ho Laidi’s name, Chiang Songhai sharply shouted at her to stop.
Ge Liutao also quickly grabbed her, preventing her from charging over.
"Little Little, listen to your grandpa, Little Little..." Ge Liutao begged her in a low and anxious voice.
Chiang Xiao’s originally pale face was now flushed red with anger.
"Well, well! Such a little girl dares to curse me by name!" Ho Laidi howled, forcefully slapping her thigh, wailing as if heartbroken, "Caijiao, go! Call your grandpa, call our clan’s elder uncle! Let them see what sort of creature has come out of our family!"