Chapter 176: Such a Hard Heart

Chapter 176: Chapter 176: Such a Hard Heart

The moment he stepped over the threshold, Yang Tian jutted out his chin.

"Pay up!"

Song Pengfei and Zheng Cuiyun weren’t pushovers, either.

To settle that business with the police station earlier, the family had sold half a pig and borrowed money from three different relatives.

Now, with Yang Tian showing up to demand those two hundred yuan, their anger instantly flared.

They’d had to grit their teeth and pay the money the police station demanded.

But Yang Tian?

Hmph, no way!

Zheng Cuiyun immediately jumped forward, hands on her hips, her finger nearly poking Yang Tian in the nose.

"Pay up? What money?"

"Who owes you money? Have you no shame?"

"SLAP!"

Yang Tian swung his arm, his wrist whipping through the air, and landed a crisp slap across Shen Yujie’s face.

"Cat got your tongue? Speak!"

Tears streamed down Shen Yujie’s face as she clutched her stinging, red cheek.

Yang Tian rolled up his sleeves, about to grab Shen Yujie’s arm again.

Song Pengfei quickly stepped in, grabbing his wrist with his left hand and blocking his chest with his right arm.

"Hey, hold it right there!"

No matter how you looked at it, Yang Tian was a son-in-law who had married into the family.

Strutting around his in-laws’ house like this clearly showed he had no respect for Song Pengfei, his brother-in-law.

If Song Pengfei just stood by and said nothing today...

...the villagers would probably not even bother calling him "Brother Pengfei" anymore.

Without another word, he stepped forward with his right leg, lowered his stance, and slammed his shoulder forward.

He rammed into Yang Tian’s left shoulder, knocking him off balance. Yang Tian stumbled to the right, nearly toppling the enamel washbasin stand by the door.

"What do you think you’re doing? Are you drunk?"

"You really think you’re something special?"

Song Pengfei lifted his gaze, his eyes fixed on Yang Tian’s flushed face.

"This is my courtyard, not the Yang Family’s threshing ground. No matter how precious your rice is, you can’t spread it out on my bamboo trays meant for drying peppers."

A few nearby relatives from the Song Family clan also took the opportunity to chime in and try to calm the situation.

"Yujie’s husband, can’t you talk things out nicely? What’s all this shouting about? The grass on your father’s grave is three feet high, and you’re still here smashing pots and bowls?"

"Exactly. This is a private family matter. Why drag it out to the front gate for everyone to see? Does it bring you honor to let outsiders laugh at you?"

"Just look at how swollen Yujie’s eyes are! She’s been married to you for so many years. How many full meals have you let her eat? How many times has she been properly clothed against the cold? When she washes clothes in the winter, her fingers crack and scab over. Have you ever even handed her a bar of soap?"

A chorus of voices, all directed at Yang Tian.

Yang Tian glanced at Song Pengfei and his wife, Zheng Cuiyun.

Seeing the ’what are you going to do about it’ look on their faces, his heart went completely cold. ℯℯ𝑙.

He definitely wasn’t getting the money back.

His mouth twitched, and he nodded at the couple three times in a row.

"Fine, fine, fine..."

After speaking, he suddenly raised a hand and pointed straight at Shen Yujie.

"You remember this! If you don’t cough up this money, I’ll break your legs the next time you dare set foot in my house!"

Having made his threat, he turned and left.

Shen Yujie stood frozen, her mouth open but no sound coming out.

"Husband! Husband!"

Wiping her tears, she tried to follow, but her fingers had just touched the doorframe.

Yang Tian whipped his head around.

"You dare take one more step?"

Shen Yujie froze on the spot.

She turned to look at her younger brother, Song Pengfei, but he immediately looked down and started picking at his nails.

Shen Yujie rushed over to him in a few steps, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

"Pengfei, I’m not just crying poor to you. Look, you saw it with your own eyes! Yang Tian is a monster! If I can’t get that money back, he’ll really beat me to death!"

Song Pengfei sighed and spread his hands.

"Sis, you’re asking me for money, but who’s going to give me any? I haven’t even been paid for last month. The account books are in the cabinet, you can go look for yourself."

Zheng Cuiyun planted her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest, nearly poking Shen Yujie in the nose.

"That’s right! What are you crying for? It’s your own mother we’re saving. If you don’t put in the effort and the money, who will?"

"It’s only two hundred yuan and you’re playing dead? Why didn’t someone just strangle you as a kid? Wetting the bed at five, stealing fruit offerings at six, smearing stove ash on my face at eight—how come you didn’t starve to death back then?"

Zheng Cuiyun’s voice rose, and she jabbed a finger into Song Pengfei’s chest.

"You tell me, when has my family ever owed your Song Family anything? When haven’t we split the last bun on our table in half for you?"

"If you’ve got the guts, go cry to that rich young miss!"

Song Pengfei had just opened his mouth when Zheng Cuiyun cut him off with a torrent of words.

"The day she came back in that sedan, why didn’t you go to the village entrance to greet her? She walked into the village in high heels, and you didn’t even offer a single word of welcome. And now you remember to complain about injustice?"

Someone immediately chimed in.

"I heard Song Yao really is back! Came in a car, her clothes were so bright they hurt your eyes. She looks like a completely different person!"

The two villages were close to each other, so any bit of news, no matter how small, traveled at lightning speed.

Zheng Cuiyun immediately raised a hand and pointed in the direction of Wu Family Village.

"You won’t go? Then I’ll take you there myself!"

She grabbed Song Pengfei’s arm.

"The legs are on your body, and the mouth is on your face. You may be afraid of her, but I’m not. If she dares to deny her old debts, I’ll dare to spell them out for her one by one in front of the whole village!"

The crowd of onlookers started buzzing with discussion again.

"Tsk, that Song Yao is so cold-hearted. Shen Yujie’s family raised her, feeding her mouthful by mouthful, and what’s the result? She finds her real parents, gets rich, and not only does she not help them out, she turns around and gets Yujie’s mother thrown in the police station?"

As soon as the words were spoken, three middle-aged women pursed their lips and shook their heads at the same time.

"Aiyo, her heart must be made of stone!"

An old man in a blue cotton jacket, leaning on a cane, shuffled half a step forward.

"Back when she had a forty-degree fever, Yujie’s mom stayed up all night, sponging her down with alcohol, fanning her, and giving her water. It was during her own postpartum month, and she was so devoted she didn’t even take the time to nurse her own baby."

Shen Yujie’s eyes reddened, her mouth twisted, and she started to wail.

"I’m not making this up! What did she eat in our house when she was little? What did she wear? Without my mom, could she have grown up so safe and sound?"

"And what’s the result? Her wings grew strong, and she turned around and said my family kidnapped her!"

Shen Yujie took a sharp breath, her nails digging into her palms.

"The day her real mother came to pick her up, she didn’t even look back once. She didn’t let us pack her schoolbag, just grabbed a shabby plastic bag and left."

"And she forced us to pay a huge sum of money... Because of that, our family can barely even afford to celebrate the New Year!"

Shen Yujie suddenly yanked up her sleeve, revealing several faint, brown scars on her forearm.

"These are from when my mom’s hands were shaking while chopping meat after all the money from selling our pig was taken last year."

Someone nearby immediately chimed in.

"Yujie, stop crying. She clearly doesn’t appreciate your kindness, so why are you still trying to kiss up to her when she’s giving you the cold shoulder? Just go to Wu Family Village and shout it from the rooftops! Let the whole village hear what kind of person this Song Yao really is! Otherwise, she’ll really think she’s some kind of phoenix who can just step on your family to fly to the heavens!"

"Isn’t that the truth! You raise an ungrateful wretch, only to get bitten in the end!"

"Without the Song Family looking after her for all those years, her life would’ve been long gone from hunger, even if her parents had mountains of gold and silver!"

"That’s right!"

At these words, Shen Yujie turned and slapped her thighs in front of Zheng Cuiyun and Song Pengfei.

"Let’s go find her!"

She snatched the bamboo broom from beside the door and swung it fiercely through the air twice.

"She loves to act all high and mighty, doesn’t she? Today, I’ll make her spit out every last thing she ate, wore, and used from us, right on her own doorstep! She’s living the high life now, driving a car and living in a new house, but what about my family? We can’t even afford to hang two strips of cured meat for the New Year. How are we supposed to get through the winter?"