She won't clear her name; she'll throw away all the scum.

Li Zhuang couldn't hide the panic on his face. "I...I didn't."

Someone else reported: "Li Zhuang went gambling. I saw him when I went up the mountain to cut pig feed that day. He was looking around suspiciously before finally going into that dilapidated house. There were several people inside, including the hooligans from the next brigade."

The villagers were in an uproar.

"Gambling is illegal."

"He even lied and said that the bride price was given to Chen Zhiqing. I think he gambled it all away."

"Chen, the educated youth, is so pitiful. She was beaten and framed. How could she have chosen such a man?"

“Li Zhuang loved to steal chickens and dogs when he was a child, and he became even more outrageous when he grew up, he learned to gamble.”

"I saw those hooligans being taken to the police station a few days ago. What if they come and implicate Li Zhuang in a couple of days, and he gets arrested too?"

The villagers all took a step back, unanimously deciding they didn't want to have anything to do with Li Zhuang's family.

Right now, what everyone fears most is getting into a conflict with the police or higher-ups. They won't call the police if they can resolve things in the village. That's why the brigade leader has so much power; he's the one who upholds justice.

However, the captain also had his own selfish motives and was not always fair, so some people could only suffer in silence.

When Aunt Li saw her son being scorned by everyone, she retorted, "My son would never gamble. He just gave the bride price to Chen Xianghong. That shameless Chen Xianghong sent the bride price to his parents."

"What right do you have to talk about my son? Did you see it with your own eyes? What if someone is spreading rumors?"

“Our family is a native of this village. Chen Xianghong has only been here for a few years, and you’re all helping her. Has she been seducing you all? And you gossipy old women, you should all be careful of Chen Xianghong. Who knows when she’ll bewitch your men.”

If Old Lady Xia could still tolerate these words, she would have become a Buddha on the spot. Anyway, she wasn't from Li Family Village, and she was going to kill this damned woman who was spouting nonsense and trying to frame her Xiang Hong.

Old Mrs. Xia suddenly attacked someone, slapping Aunt Li Wu several times right under the captain's nose.

"I'll beat you to death for spewing filth and slandering my Xiang Hong."

As Aunt Li swung her hand back, she shouted, "With a fierce mother like you, Chen Xianghong, don't even think about stepping into my house again."

Old Mrs. Xia: "Who would dare to enter your house? Who are you insulting? My son, Xiang Hong, is a high school student with impeccable family background. Don't you even know if your family's cesspool is good enough for him? With your son's pathetic appearance, does he even deserve to get married?"

She wanted to hit him again, but someone pulled her away.

The kind villagers comforted her.

“Auntie, we all know what kind of people they are. No matter how much nonsense he talks, we will never connect what he says with Chen Zhiqing. Chen Zhiqing is a good girl, we all know that.”

"Please give the captain some face, hitting people is really not allowed."

"Fifth Aunt, what you're saying is going too far. Chen Zhiqing only works in the fields and picks wild vegetables in the mountains; she never talks to anyone else. If you can spread rumors that she seduces men, then you yourself are always running around arguing with the master, wouldn't that make you even more likely to seduce people?"

"Exactly, exactly. I think my Uncle Li's head is completely green too."

"But did Chen Zhiqing actually receive a bride price?"

"Judging from Li Zhuang's appearance, he has probably really lost everything."

Aunt Li Wu shouted, "Whose side are you on?"

The others replied, "Even if we wanted to help you, you need to be in the right. Your unreasonable behavior is ruining the reputation of our Li Family Village brigade."

Aunt Li Wu sat down on the spot and began to cry loudly, "I can't live like this anymore, you all come to bully me."

Grandma Xia was also annoyed. Seeing that it was getting dark, she suggested that she take Chen Xianghong to stay at the town's guesthouse for the night and come back the next day to discuss the bride price with them.