The expressions on everyone's faces were priceless. They had assud Tian Sangsang had given Aunt Tian so soy-braised at, but listening to Tian Sangsang's account, it turned out Aunt Tian had sneakily helped herself to the at while no one was ho. How could soone act like this? Even if you're relatives, you can't behave this way! They imdiately recalled Aunt Tian's character—her hands couldn't quite keep to themselves. Whenever she visited soone's house, she'd quietly pocket sothing if she had the chance. Being from the sa village, so folks had seen her do it but felt too embarrassed to bring it up. After all, she's not a kid, right?
Truth be told, they had disliked Tian Sangsang in the past because she was truly ugly—dark-skinned and overweight. But they didn't particularly like Chen Guilan's family either.
As the saying goes, there's no such thing as "least disliked," only "more disliked," isn't that right? Comparing the two, of course Tian Sangsang was the more disliked one. Moreover, the Tian Family had Tian Tian, their little darling, which made the villagers instinctively overlook the family's other flaws. But today, this incident had certainly reminded them.
Tian Sangsang sighed and said slowly, "Aunt was in such a rush that day, I didn't even get the chance to tell her not to eat so much soy-braised at at once. That's half a jar, weighing four to five pounds of pork if you asure it. Eating too much can be life-threatening, you know. Grandma, just letting Aunt lie down isn't going to cut it—we should get a doctor to take a look."
Grandma Tian sneered, "Take a look at what? What's there to see? I think you deliberately set Aunt up. Now Aunt's sick and needs money, so you have to pay compensation."
"I don't even know what kind of illness Aunt has. Besides, I don't have money to compensate her. She ate the braised at at my house on her own, and my son and I ate it without any problems."
"You say you have no money, yet what were you doing in town the past few days? Don't try to pull a fast one on —pay up! You could even drag Tian Tian's reputation into this ss—there's nothing you wouldn't do!"
"Fine, I can pay." Tian Sangsang paused and suddenly spoke up.
The crowd was taken aback—why did they feel as though Tian Sangsang was being bullied? She shouldn't pay! Pay for what?!
She continued, "But I want to go inside and see Aunt's condition before deciding how much compensation to pay."
Grandma Tian imdiately refused, "Not a chance!"
"If I can't see her, how can I tell if Aunt is really sick or just pretending? How can I be sure she's not scamming ?" Tian Sangsang looked calmly at Grandma Tian, her expression unchanging. But it was precisely this composure that made everyone see a different side of Tian Sangsang—a quiet confidence.
"Big sis, what are you talking about?" Tian Tian widened her eyes, looking pitiful as she erged from the house holding a packet of dicine. "This is dicine Dr. Li prescribed for Aunt. No matter what, Aunt wouldn't fool you."
Tian Sangsang glanced briefly at the dicine but didn't take it to examine. Instead, she shook her head and said, "I still want to see if Aunt's condition is serious. Unless I see it with my own eyes, I won't pay up."
The crowd began to stir. Truth be told, they weren't stupid—they also thought the situation seed odd. Sneaking at from soone else's house, then falling ill because of it? What kind of sickness was this? They were curious! In the past, they'd only heard of people getting sick from eating grass roots, tree bark, or dirt—never from eating at.
"In any case, unless I see it with my own eyes, I won't pay up." Tian Sangsang repeated.
"Grandma, let Big Sis go in and have a look." Tian Tian gently tugged at Grandma Tian's clothes.
Grandma Tian snorted loudly and exchanged a glance with Chen Guilan before yelling into the house, "Hey, second daughter-in-law! Tian Sangsang is here to see you!"
Tian Sangsang entered and imdiately saw Aunt Tian lying in bed. It was midsumr, yet Aunt Tian was covered with a thin blanket, her forehead dotted with sweat. Her cheeks were flushed, and she didn't look ill at all.
Aunt Tian's entire body was wrapped under the blanket. She slowly opened her eyes and weakly said to Tian Sangsang, "You! You wretched troublemaker! What did you feed ? My stomach still hurts!"
"Does Aunt's stomach hurt? What kind of pain is it?" Tian Sangsang stood by the bed, calmly observing her. Normally, soone with stomach pain would be rolling and curling up in bed from the discomfort. But Aunt Tian lay too straight and still.
"What kind of pain? Just pain!" Aunt Tian snapped, glaring at her angrily.
"And where does it hurt?" Tian Sangsang reached out, trying to touch her stomach.
"What are you doing, Tian Sangsang!" Chen Guilan tried to grab her hand, but Tian Sangsang nimbly dodged.
Her hand quickly reached under the blanket, and she asked with a smile, "Is it here, Aunt?"
"You little wretch! You—ah—haha—ah-haha-haha—stop it—stop tickling—" Aunt Tian burst into laughter, flopping and flailing out of bed like a fish. She quickly jumped to the floor.
"Wait, wasn't she supposed to be bedridden?"
"Wasn't she sick?"
"What's going on here?"
"..."
The villagers gathered at the door started whispering. Tian Sangsang smiled and asked, "Aunt, does your stomach still hurt?"
Aunt Tian instantly realized she had exposed herself. With a cry, her face turned bright red, especially in front of so many neighbors.
Tian Tian softly exclaid "Oh," as if she had just figured everything out. She put on an expression of betrayal and weakly said, "Aunt, weren't you sick?"
"I..." Aunt Tian started to speak.
"What do you an 'I'? Is your stomach still hurting? I'm asking if your stomach still hurts! What kind of daughter-in-law have I married—trying to fool even , her mother-in-law!" Grandma Tian angrily tapped her cane on the ground and sat down crying. "One by one, you all want to turn against —trying to drive to my grave! Oh, Tian's father, how could you be so cruel? Why didn't you take with you when you left!"
"Mom, Aunt didn't an it," Chen Guilan tried to comfort her. "Maybe her stomach hurt before and got better now. Stomach pain can co and go suddenly—it's not always reliable."
Tian Sangsang quietly watched as they turned on each other.
Aunt Tian looked incredulously at the group—she knew perfectly well this was their idea, yet now they were shifting the bla to her. Just as she was thinking of what to say, Dr. Li's voice ca from outside: "I heard soone's critically ill. Where are they?"
Aunt Tian froze as her eyes t Dr. Li's. She wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
She didn't dare look him in the eye, nervously stamring, "Why are you here, Dr. Li? There's no illness—my stomach doesn't hurt anymore."
Dr. Li shook his head in disappointnt, saying, "Diseases of the body can be treated; diseases of the mind cannot."
The scene instantly beca lively. Tian Sangsang glanced around the crowd for ng Shuyan but didn't see him. She finally squeezed through the people and headed ho.
Watching her retreating figure and then looking at the Tian Family's yard, Chen Ying complained quietly to Chen Ming, "Absolutely shaless. Faking illness to extort money—who even cos up with this stuff? It's good Tian Sangsang didn't fall for it, and thank heavens Dr. Li showed up. Otherwise, they might've really gotten away with it!"
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