Everyone else had left, so it was pointless for the old Chen couple to stay. Even if they had wanted to, they couldn’t. Several members of the Zhao Family worked together to push the old couple and Chen Lin out.

Chen Lin was screaming like a stuck pig. One of the Zhao family members said, "Mr. Chen, don’t you have an ox cart? You should hurry and get it. Your third son’s leg needs to be seen by a doctor. If it’s not treated properly, it could cause permanent problems, and he might not be able to work in the future."

Only then did this occur to Mrs. Fang, and she slapped her thigh.

’We really do need to get his leg treated,’ she thought. ’Otherwise, when we’re old, our youngest won’t be able to care for us. We’ll have to care for him instead! Wouldn’t that mean we raised him for nothing?’

Mrs. Fang didn’t even have time to glare at the Second Aunt. After all, the Second Aunt was the one who had just spoken up and helped Chen Song out of his jam. Otherwise, in front of everyone, Mrs. Fang would have squeezed a pile of Silver from the main branch of the family no matter what.

’But,’ she schemed, ’you can run, but you can’t hide. It won’t be too late to come back and collect the debt later.’ The excuse was ready-made: Chen Song had broken his own brother’s leg, so the old couple certainly couldn’t be expected to pay for it. If he refused, they would dare to go before the county magistrate and accuse Chen Song of being unfilial. ’Let’s see if the magistrate still dares to give him important duties then.’

Mrs. Fang called for Chen Dachang to go get the ox cart.

The Chen family’s old ox cart was a prized possession. Normally, no one could hope to hitch a ride on it, no matter what.

When they first bought the cart, the old lady would accompany it to the county seat every time. If anyone dared to ask for a ride, and they were young, the old lady would say, "You’re young and spry. If you don’t use your arms and legs, they’ll get rusty. Just walk to town. It’s not far. Think of it as exercise."

If they were old, she would tell a sob story. "This old ox of mine is older than you are! It has to pull flour, firewood, and our whole family. It’s already suffering so much. Why don’t you have your children or grandchildren carry you into town on their backs?"

The villagers were so disgusted by her that they eventually stopped asking.

But now, with Chen Lin’s broken leg, the old lady and Chen Dachang couldn’t lift him by themselves. They had no choice but to call over two younger Chen family members, DaHe and Dahai, to ride with them on the ox cart to the county seat.

A neighbor shouted, "DaHe! Dahai! Why don’t you two brothers just run alongside? You’re young, with strong arms and legs. You should take pity on the old ox, it’s getting on in years too..."

Before he could even finish, the crowd of onlookers BURST into laughter.

The old lady, now thoroughly embarrassed, covered her face and told Chen Dachang to drive the cart away quickly.

Only after the family was far down the road did the crowd notice Chen Wanyue standing behind them.

Chen Wanyue’s face was full of resentment, her expression as dark as a storm cloud.

The sky had grown dim, hovering in a state of twilight. A light source happened to be behind her, making her look like a wild ghost hiding in the shadows. For a moment, those who saw her were startled.

Ever since the scandal of "promising one daughter to two families" broke out, the old lady’s reputation was completely ruined, and Chen Lin didn’t fare much better. As the female lead of the drama, Chen Wanyue’s name should have been mud all over town, too. But she had deliberately gone to the riverbank to wash clothes early in the morning, crying as she scrubbed. "What’s the point of me living like this?" she’d wailed. "Why do I have a father like this, and a grandmother like this?"

The tide of gossip turned in an instant. The people of the Zhao Village stopped calling her "blind" or wondering "what on earth she’s thinking all day." Instead, they started saying, "She’s just a child, what does she know?" and "Isn’t it the old lady who calls all the shots in that family? The old lady wanted to marry into a prestigious family. Could a young girl like her say no? Was she supposed to get into a fight with her grandmother?"

Chen Wanyue’s reputation was reversed, and she became a pitiful girl in everyone’s eyes.

But now, seeing the look on her face, the villagers couldn’t help but mutter to themselves: ’Could a pitiful person make such a grim expression? At first glance, she looked just like a ghost; it was enough to make their hearts stop.’

’Either this girl is incredibly calculating and was just putting on an act before, playing us all like fiddles,’ they thought, ’or our eyes are playing tricks on us.’ 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Regardless of what they were thinking, the villagers’ actions were surprisingly synchronized.

"It’s getting late, time to go home for dinner."

"It’s devilishly cold. You have to eat your food the second it’s on the table, or it’ll get cold for sure."

The crowd quickly dispersed until no one was left, leaving only Chen Wanyue standing in the shadows. After a long while, she finally started for home.

’She truly, deeply hated everyone in this family.’

’Her grandmother was good for nothing but shouting. Her father was a degenerate who ate, drank, whored, and gambled; not only did he fail to pull the family up, but he constantly dragged them down. Her mother was full of petty schemes and calculations, always fussing over trivialities. Her brother was a disappointment who didn’t study and was already thinking about women at such a young age... And her grandfather? He was the most useless of them all!’