Jie You threw grapes at her. It wasn’t very harmful, but it was extremely insulting.
Sun Dexiang was from the countryside but had never done any farm work. She didn’t stand a chance against Xu Chunyan. Instead, Xu Chunyan straddled her and slapped her face relentlessly.
Xu Chunyan wasn’t particularly strong either. It was only because Sun Dexiang had hit Jie You, sparking her maternal instincts, that she gained the upper hand.
"Ah! Mom, help me!" Sun Dexiang wailed as she was being hit, yelling for Sun’s mother.
Sun’s mother was inside, enjoying the fan while listening to the radio. When she heard her daughter’s cries for help, she assumed Qin Mei was bullying her daughter again and stormed out of the house in a rage.
"Qin Mei, are you bullying..." Sun’s mother’s voice died in her throat. It wasn’t Qin Mei. It was a strange woman straddling her precious daughter, slapping her relentlessly. The sight made her own heart ache with every blow.
Without a second thought, Sun’s mother rushed in to help. She was strong from her daily labor earning work points in the fields. She shoved Xu Chunyan off Sun Dexiang and started punching and kicking her. "You bitch! How dare you hit my daughter! I’ll beat you ’til you’re spitting teeth!"
"Ah!" The tables had turned. Xu Chunyan was getting beaten badly.
Seeing two strangers beating his mother, Jie You was scared to tears. He ran forward to help but was shoved aside by Sun Dexiang. When Jie You saw Jie Jingchen standing at the kitchen doorway, he immediately begged for help. "Fourth Uncle, they’re hitting my mom! You have to save her!"
Jie Jingchen had no intention of getting involved in a women’s fight. He turned around, went back into the kitchen, and continued cooking.
"Fourth Uncle!" Jie You shouted in desperation.
Hearing the little one call Jie Jingchen "Fourth Uncle," Sun’s mother and Sun Dexiang exchanged a look. They had pretty much guessed Xu Chunyan’s identity.
"Mom, Little Sis, stop!" Jie Jingling called out.
Sun’s mother let go of Xu Chunyan’s hair. Sun Dexiang also got off Xu Chunyan, her own cheeks stinging hotly. She kicked Xu Chunyan a few more times to vent her anger.
Xu Chunyan lay on the ground, playing dead. Seeing his mother beaten black and blue, Jie You threw himself on top of her, wailing. He cried out, "You’re bad people! You killed my mommy!"
Hearing Jie You’s words, Sun’s mother and Sun Dexiang froze. ’Did we kill her?’
"Hey, get up! Stop playing dead," Sun’s mother said, kicking Xu Chunyan as she lay on the ground.
"Waaaah, you killed my mommy!" Jie You sobbed loudly.
Sun Dexiang was terrified. She grabbed her mother’s hand, her voice trembling. "Mom, what do we do? We didn’t really kill her, did we?"
They knew how viciously they had just beaten her. While they didn’t quite believe they had killed her, the thought that they might have crippled her seemed plausible.
Whether they killed her or crippled her, things would not end well for them. This wasn’t their village, after all.
"No way. She must be faking it." Sun’s mother crouched down and pressed hard on the pressure point under Xu Chunyan’s nose.
It was excruciatingly painful, but Xu Chunyan forced herself to endure it, showing no reaction. Sun’s mother pressed even harder, drawing blood, but still, Xu Chunyan didn’t respond. A wave of fear washed over Sun’s mother.
"Hey, hey, hey! Wake up!" Sun’s mother slapped Xu Chunyan’s face.
"Mom, what do we do? We really killed her!" Sun Dexiang panicked.
"Jing Ling, quick, save her!" Sun’s mother’s voice trembled as she pleaded with Jie Jingling for help.
Jie Jingling, also worried a life might have been lost, stepped forward to check on Xu Chunyan. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief. When she looked up and saw her mother-in-law and sister-in-law’s panicked faces, and realized Xu Chunyan was still pretending, an idea formed. She would use this chance to scare them, to teach them a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget.
"Jing Ling, how is she?" Sun Dexiang asked anxiously.
"Sigh..." Jie Jingling sighed and shook her head.
Sun’s mother and Sun Dexiang were so scared they collapsed onto the ground. Sun Dexiang grabbed her mother, her face a mask of terror. "Mom, what do we do? We really killed her!"
Sun’s mother was also in a complete panic, not knowing what to do.
Even if they weren’t executed for murder, they would be sent to a labor camp.
Jie You was crying so hard he could barely breathe. Xu Chunyan’s heart ached for him. She wanted to give her son a signal, but worried he would give her away, which would mean she had been faking it all for nothing.
Qin Mei looked at Jie Jingling, knowing exactly what she was thinking. There were some things Jie Jingling couldn’t say, so she would say them for her.
"Call the police," Qin Mei said, walking out of the house.
Hearing the words "call the police," Sun’s mother and Sun Dexiang turned deathly pale. Sun Dexiang said frantically, "You can’t call the police!"
"Someone might be dead. If we don’t call the police, how do you propose we solve this?" Qin Mei demanded coldly.
"You just can’t, that’s all!" Sun Dexiang insisted stubbornly.
"Amie, we’re family. We can’t call the police. We can handle this privately," Sun’s mother said, trying to play the family card.
"Handle it privately? How?" Qin Mei asked, her brow furrowed.