It’s been over ten days since Song Wei and his wife left, and there’s been no news.
Granny Song lost interest in everything. She went to the village entrance several times a day, just hoping that by some luck, she’d run into her son coming back, so she could be at ease.
On this day, after finishing her chores at home, Granny Song went to the village entrance and ran into Zhang Er on the village path.
Zhang Er felt guilty and nervous when he saw Granny Song and greeted her softly, "Auntie."
Granny Song didn’t even bother to look at him and brushed past Zhang Er’s shoulder to walk forward.
"Auntie, shouldn’t Erlang be back by now?"
Zhang Er, mustering his courage, asked as he watched Granny Song’s back.
Hearing this, Granny Song got annoyed, "Erlang is my son. Whether he returns or not, what’s it to you? Worried about blocking the road and harming people again? Aren’t you afraid of divine punishment and ghosts haunting you?"
Zhang Er’s face turned pale from her words.
On the day Song Wei went to the prefecture, Zhang Er and his wife were found acting strange by the villagers, and they kept saying they saw ghosts. They knelt on the ground, crying and begging for their life from the "little ancestors."
Some said they lost their souls.
Mrs. Zhang was so anxious she spun in circles and eventually, after hearing advice from others, decided to invite a witch. She spent a lot of silver to call back her son and daughter-in-law’s souls.
Scared out of their wits, Zhang Er and his wife couldn’t hide it any longer and confessed the events of that night, dragging their accomplices down with them. They also said once Song Wei returns, regardless of whether he passes the exams or not, they will personally visit to apologize, because their actions were extreme and invited retribution.
Once Zhang Er and his wife made their intentions clear, the other involved parties had no choice but to follow suit and go apologize to Song Wei.
Three families had a huge confrontation over this, blaming each other and trying to shift the responsibility onto others.
Granny Song only found out through the gossip-loving Second Lang’s wife. It became clear that these people have loose tongues and often spoke ill of Song Wei behind his back, which led to them being targeted by Aunt Xie and subsequently attempting to harm Song Wei out of fear.
Granny Song didn’t mince her words, grabbing a pole and loading two buckets of manure. She directly delivered it to their doorsteps, "Did your whole family grow up eating manure? Can’t stop badmouthing my Erlang behind his back? Is your mouth going to grow maggots?"
A woman, recently married into the family and unfamiliar with Granny Song, stood up to curse back at her, "I can say whatever I want with my mouth. What’s it to you if I talk about anyone? Is Song Sanlang dead or missing a piece of flesh from his body? Are you still not willing to let this go at such an age, sending manure to people’s houses early in the morning? I’m telling you..."
Before she could finish, Granny Song splashed a bucket of manure water right at her face.
The young woman’s scream was more tragic than slaughtering a pig.
With hands on her hips, Granny Song declared, "Seems like you haven’t eaten much at your in-laws’ place, can’t even keep your mouth shut. Here, old lady’s sending you two buckets to teach you a lesson!—Watching me, huh? Go ahead, stare all you want, can’t scare me off, you’re just a cowardly bastard! Not satisfied, right? Fine, let’s see each other in court, and I’d love to ask the magistrate to judge what’s the crime of insulting the Top Scholar he personally appointed. You’ll be eating prison food for a lifetime, till you rot there!"
To this day, Zhang Er never forgot the scene of that young woman fainting from rage, covered in manure from head to foot, thanks to Granny Song.
He longed and longed, just wishing for Song Wei to come back soon so he could apologize early. Otherwise, enduring , whenever he encounters Granny Song, she figuratively stabs him right in the spine. Who could bear that?
"Auntie, I sincerely want to make amends with Song Sanlang." Zhang Er, with a face full of shame, lowered his posture, not daring to look at Granny Song again.
Granny Song glanced at him, "Empty-handed, and you call that sincerity?"