"Twenty... no, thirty yuan." Old Su huffed angrily at Su Qing. "You damned girl, you have to give me thirty yuan for Lihui's medical bills today. If you don't, I'm not leaving your house."
Looking at Su Lihui whimpering in pain beside her, Old Su's heart ached. She wanted to give Su Qing a vicious beating, but after seeing Tian Aixiang get stopped earlier, she knew that wasn't realistic. 'If I can't beat Su Qing today,' she thought, 'I'll at least tear a pound of flesh from her.'
"Aunt Su, are you trying to extort someone?" Someone had already gone to notify Zhao Youcai. As soon as Zhao Youcai heard that Old Su and her lot were picking a fight with Su Qing again, he rushed over without even finishing his meal. The first thing he heard upon arrival was Old Su's exorbitant demand.
"Briga... Brigade Leader!" Seeing Zhao Youcai, Old Su immediately deflated, though she was also a bit indignant. 'This is a matter for the Old Su Family,' she fumed silently. 'Why is the Brigade Leader always sticking his nose in our business?' "Wh-what are you doing here?"
"If I hadn't come, you'd be ready to ascend to the heavens," Zhao Youcai said with a huff. Although he was supposed to call Old Su "Auntie" out of respect for her generation, Zhao Youcai simply couldn't stand her behavior. To call it malicious would not be an exaggeration.
But Old Su was not happy. 'How am I ready to ascend to the heavens?' she thought. 'Su Qing beat my precious grandson. What's wrong with me asking her for money for his medical bills?'
In fact, Old Su felt she was asking for too little. For years, because of her granddaughter's original, unresisting personality, Old Su had always lorded it over her, forming a fixed impression of Su Qing. Even though Su Qing had thrown a fit to separate from the family yesterday and had actually succeeded, she still believed Su Qing was weak and easy to bully. The only reason Su Qing got her way yesterday was because Zhao Youcai and Wang Xuehong had been there to back her up.
"Brigade Leader, I didn't come looking for this damned girl for no reason. This damned girl beat my Lihui. Are you going to do something about it or not?" Old Su demanded angrily. "You tell me, she beat my Lihui, so shouldn't she pay for his medical expenses?"
"Where did she hit him?" Zhao Youcai asked.
Old Su was taken aback. Where did she hit him? She couldn't really say right now, mainly because there were no visible wounds on Su Lihui.
Tian Aixiang, blocked by the crowd and unable to get at Su Qing, saw Old Su at a loss for words and quickly shouted, "My Lihui is covered in red marks from the beating!"
"Right, lots of them," Old Su added, thinking, 'Even if they're not on his arms, they must be on his body.'
Immediately, Old Su lifted Su Lihui's shirt, and then...
Old Su: ...
Tian Aixiang: ...
The crowd: ...
Where were the injuries? The red marks? There was nothing to see.
Old Su felt something was wrong. At home, she had clearly seen all those dense red marks. How could they have all disappeared in such a short time?
Impossible!
Refusing to believe it, Old Su rubbed Su Lihui's skin again, causing him to screech in pain, "OUCH! It hurts so much!"
The crowd was once again speechless. 'This kid is way too good at faking it, isn't he?'
He didn't have a single injury, yet he was screaming as if he were undergoing the Ten Great Tortures. He was even more of a drama queen than his grandmother!
Zhao Youcai was furious. "Aunt Su, if you people keep this up, I won't be so polite anymore."
Then, he turned to someone next to him and said, "Go, go get Uncle Su. I don't get it. They're so close, and it's not like Uncle Su is seventy or eighty and hard of hearing. How can he just sit calmly in his house? And get Su Shengli over here, too. What a mess."
Hearing this, the onlookers all glanced scornfully in the direction of the Old Su Family's house. It was true; Tian Aixiang had been pounding on the door for ages, and with her booming voice, half the village could hear her. Old Su and Su Shengli really had some nerve, staying put in their house through all that.
Hearing this, Old Su was ready to fly into a rage. "Brigade Leader, it was that damned girl Su Qing who beat my Lihui! I'm telling you, he was covered in red marks before!"
"Hmph!" Zhao Youcai couldn't even be bothered to argue with this pestering old woman.
Before long, Old Su and Su Shengli arrived.
"Uncle Su, Shengli, are you just going to let Aunt Su and Tian Aixiang cause this much trouble?" Zhao Youcai demanded, his face stern, as soon as he saw Old Su and Su Shengli.
"Well, it's because our Lihui was bullied by Erya," Old Su said quickly. "My old woman and Shengli's wife were just too angry to let it go, so they came to demand an explanation from Erya."
Although Old Su had heard the commotion from inside the house, he wasn't entirely clear on the specifics. He had seen the red marks on Su Lihui's body earlier, so he spoke now with the full confidence of someone in the right.
"Uncle Su," someone in the crowd said with a laugh, "you can stop talking nonsense. That Su Lihui doesn't have a single red mark on him. If you're going to pick a fight with someone, you should at least make it look a little convincing."
"Yeah, that's right! You can't just try to get something for nothing like this."
"HAHAHAHAHA..."
The crowd erupted in another round of laughter.
Only then did Old Su realize that the red marks on Su Lihui's body were gone. He was instantly furious—furious at his wife and Tian Aixiang for being too slow, and furious at Su Qing for coming back too late. If she had just come back a little earlier, with those red marks still on Su Lihui, Su Qing wouldn't have been able to deny a thing.
Although Old Su also found Su Lihui's story about Su Qing hitting him a bit ridiculous, getting some money out of Su Qing was the real goal. As long as the red marks were there, it meant Su Qing had bullied Lihui. Even if it wasn't true, it would have been!
Unfortunately, now that the red marks were gone, they no longer had a leg to stand on, no matter what they said.
"Ah, well, it was just kids fooling around. We thought Erya, as the older cousin, had really bullied her younger cousin. Since it was a mistake, let's just forget it," Old Su said quickly with a smile.
Hearing Old Su's words, the crowd couldn't help but feel a little contemptuous. But after the events of yesterday, Old Su had become somewhat immune to their disdainful gazes. Pretending not to notice, he said to his wife and Tian Aixiang, "Hurry up and take Lihui home."
With Old Su having given the order, Old Su and Tian Aixiang had no reason to keep picking on Su Qing. Reluctantly, they prepared to leave with Lihui.
But the moment they touched Su Lihui's arm, he immediately started howling, "OW, MAMA! IT HURTS SO MUCH!"
Seeing this, Old Su and Tian Aixiang's hearts ached for him, and they shot a vicious glare at Su Qing.
"Oh, look at him, still faking it. This kid's gotten addicted to acting," the crowd jeered.
Old Su saw Zhao Youcai's face darken even more and roared, "Get back home, now!"
Old Su and Tian Aixiang had no choice but to take the wailing Su Lihui back to the old family house.
Zhao Youcai then turned to Old Su and said, "Uncle Su, I don't want to see something like this happen a second time. Su Qing has already separated from your family's main household, so don't go too far. No matter what, she is your own granddaughter. Back when Sheng Jun was alive, he showed you and Aunt Su plenty of filial respect. Even if it's just for the sake of Su Qing being Sheng Jun's only child, if you can't treat her well, you can at least mind your own business and leave each other in peace, can't you?"