After transmigrating, he supported his family by working at a garbage dump.

Loud and crisp.

The slap was delivered with full force. Zhang He, who was squatting on the ground, was unable to dodge because she was trying to protect her two children, and she took the slap squarely.

Everyone felt sorry for the person who was being slapped and turned away, not daring to imagine how painful it would be.

When Xu Zhuzhu opened her eyes again, she saw a red, swollen five-finger mark on her mother's face. Her nose stung, and she looked at Master Zhang with eyes full of resentment.

This old geezer, attacking women and children, is he even a man?

Even so, that withered, grating voice continued to curse in her ears.

“…You little bitch, you’re just a beggar from out of town, how dare you play tricks on your grandfather’s turf…Get out of here with these two little bastards!”

Some of the words were really harsh, which made her and Xu An furious.

The two siblings were restless in Zhang He's arms, but Zhang He pressed them down several times.

"Mother! He's gone too far!" Xu Zhuzhu's eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Zhang He's swollen cheeks, her heart aching.

“Mother, he is disrespectful to his elders,” Xu An echoed angrily.

Zhang He shook her head again, patiently comforting the two siblings and signaling them not to panic.

Sure enough, at that moment, the Zhang family courtyard, which had been tightly closed since earlier, finally opened its doors.

However, everyone was quite surprised when they saw who it was.

The person was neither Zhang Xiaolin nor Zhang Erye, but Zhang Erye's wife, Zhang Chenshi.

Zhang Chenshi's presence in Laoya Village was not very noticeable. Apart from working in the fields, she rarely left her home. The reason for this was naturally at the request of Zhang Erye.

Strangely enough, the Zhang family wasn't a wealthy family. They were just a respectable one because their ancestors had come early and people respected them because of their ancestors' work in building canals and roads. But over time, they hadn't been able to put on airs for generations, and by the time of Zhang Erye, they had become increasingly pretentious.

He said that the ladies in the city didn't go out often, and he established this rule for the women of the Zhang family.

Of course, when it came time to get people to work in the fields, they never said such things again. The villagers secretly laughed at them, but no one dared to point it out openly.

The reasons behind these points will not be elaborated upon here.

Xu Zhuzhu was also puzzled. According to her father, everything was pretty much the same before. She could understand why Zhang Xiaolin didn't come out, but why was it Zhang Chenshi who came out this time instead of Zhang Erye?

She had no idea that Zhang Erye had been so frightened by her and Xu An's sudden disappearance and reappearance last night that he had fainted and was still unconscious.

Zhang Chenshi had never met Zhang He before. After hearing her son's story last night, she had been hiding behind the door listening since just now, so she naturally knew who was crying outside the door.

She also knew that the Xu family members were not dead. She caught her son stealing, but her son was so frightened that he is now afraid to go out.

Zhang Chen sighed. It was her fault for not raising the child well, but the child was still her own flesh and blood.

Xu Zhuzhu hid in her mother's arms and took the opportunity to sized up Zhang Chenshi.

It must be said that Zhang Xiaolin and Zhang Chenshi are not alike at all.

Zhang Chenshi looked kind and gentle, and at first glance, she seemed like a simple and honest peasant woman. On the contrary, the Zhang father and son had narrow eyes and sharp faces, and looked very mean.

Looking at Master Zhang and Master Zhang, Xu Zhuzhu became even more certain that it was obvious at a glance that the Zhang family had bad genes.

When they saw that it was Zhang Chenshi who came out, Zhang Sanye and Zhang Siye also came over to call her Second Sister-in-law.

There were no major issues with etiquette, but the way the two men looked at each other certainly lacked respect for the sister-in-law.

Zhang Chen smiled and nodded as usual, but her smile seemed a little awkward, which showed that she didn't have much status at home.

Third Master Zhang asked in a gruff voice, "Second Sister-in-law, they've come to our doorstep to bully us, why is Second Brother still staying inside? And where is Xiao Lin?"

This question left Zhang Chenshi extremely embarrassed, unsure how to answer, so she turned to Zhang He, who was squatting on the ground.

He gently advised, "Madam Xu, let's talk things out. It's so cold outside, don't let the two children get cold."

Seeing this, Zhang He didn't give anyone a chance and quickly replied, "Aunt Zhang, I'm not an unreasonable person. I just beg you to let Uncle Zhang return the stolen goods to me, and I'll leave with the child right away."

Once, twice, or three times, if someone keeps saying they're returning something, anyone would become suspicious.

Behind Zhang Sanye, watching Zhang Chenshi's reaction, he saw his second sister-in-law pause for a moment before stammering a response to Zhang He.

Unfortunately, she was really bad at talking and didn't know how to speak properly. She exposed her son in just a few words.

“My Xiaolin stayed home all night and didn’t take anything from you. Don’t cry here. Since you and the child weren’t harmed by wolves, your husband must be alright too. Go home quickly! Your husband must be worried.”

coming!

Zhang He seized upon this loophole and hit the nail on the head.

Her eyes were brimming with tears, and her gaze, fixed on her swollen, red cheek, made her look even more pitiful. Yet, her eyes were sharp and pointed straight to the heart of the matter. "Good auntie, but I didn't say it was something that was lost last night. You must know something, auntie?"

After seeing this, everyone gradually formed a scale in their hearts. One was a pitiful scholar's wife, and the other was a cunning and treacherous village bully's son. They began to lean towards who was right and who was wrong.

Zhang Chenshi felt a chill run down her spine and panicked. She forced herself to say, "I... I just guessed and said it offhand. How would I know when you lost your things if I never left the house?"

Zhang Chenshi's obvious panic was obvious to anyone with eyes to see.

But since it was her own child whom she had carried for ten months, she had to protect him. So she looked at the people around her and said, "If Madam Xu doesn't believe me, you can ask the villagers. Although Xiao Lin has been a bit domineering since he was a child, he has never done anything like stealing chickens or dogs."

When these words were spoken, everyone sighed.

The gossipy woman immediately laughed and said, "I believe what Aunt Zhang said, but Qingming Festival is just a few months away. Aunt Zhang, you mustn't go to see your Zhang family ancestors with blank paper!"

Everyone laughed.

Zhang Chenshi's face turned bright red with embarrassment, and she stammered, unable to speak.

Master Zhang was eager to know what Zhang Xiaolin had taken that made the Xu family so relentlessly pursue him.

In a daze, he recalled that a few days ago his brother had said that his nephew had also learned the Xu family's business and that he wanted to take him to town to enjoy a life of luxury. He had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

He stroked his beard, squinted, and smiled, "I've watched Xiao Lin grow up. He's a filial and honest child. Madam Xu, you can't just make baseless accusations against Xiao Lin."

Zhang He wiped away her tears and said calmly, "Whether it's slander or not, we'll know once we bring Uncle Zhang out for a confrontation."

Master Zhang sighed softly, looking helpless.

"Sister-in-law, call Xiaolin out. This guy even came to our doorstep and threw dirty water at us, why hasn't he come out yet? Could he have really done something wrong and run away in fear? And what about Second Brother? Is he still sleeping?"

After saying this, Master Zhang was about to walk into the courtyard when Madam Zhang hurriedly stopped him, saying, "Your second brother is old and fell ill from the exhaustion of guarding against wolves these past two days. Your nephew kept watch all night and only just went to sleep at dawn. He hasn't even woken up yet!"

"What! Second brother is sick? Why did it take you so long to tell us, second sister-in-law?"

Before Master Zhang could reply, Master Zhang San started to panic and rudely pushed open the courtyard gate to go in, when suddenly someone fell down from behind the gate.

This person was Zhang Xiaolin.