Chapter 269 - 261: Extortion
Chapter 269: Chapter 261: Extortion
Zhao Lan’s words, however, gave Liu and Old Mrs. Bai an idea. Seeing the man protecting Zhao Lan as they were about to leave, the two women rushed forward and deliberately ’fell’ to the ground just a couple of steps away from her.
Old Mrs. Bai, half-lying on the ground, began her theatrical performance, wailing and crying to the heavens.
"Owww—Everyone, come quick and look! A daughter-in-law is beating her mother-in-law! This is an offense against nature! My leg, my arm, oh, my old back! Zhao Lan—how could your heart be so venomous? I’m at my age, already with one foot in the grave. My time is almost up! Are you really that eager to see me dead? Someone, help! A daughter-in-law is trying to kill her mother-in-law—"
A Wu stared, wide-eyed. ’This old hag can really act,’ he thought. ’Is she really trying to frame us? We didn’t even lay a finger on her!’
Liu craned her neck to look around. She saw that while the workers at the construction site were all sneaking glances their way, not a single one approached. They all just stood in the distance, watching the spectacle as if it were a play.
Realizing they couldn’t count on the onlookers, Liu said to Old Mrs. Bai, "Mother, grab onto them! Don’t let them leave. I’ll go get the village chief to pass judgment. She hurt you, and now she thinks she can just walk away like nothing happened? Not a chance."
Old Mrs. Bai shot Liu an appreciative glance. ’This daughter-in-law of mine has finally learned a thing or two,’ she thought.
Liu scrambled up from the ground and hurried off toward the village chief’s house.
Old Mrs. Bai then lunged forward and latched onto Zhao Lan’s leg, refusing to let go no matter what.
’It seems ’borrowing’ silver from Zhao Lan is impossible now,’ she thought. ’But I absolutely cannot go back empty-handed. Dazhu’s leg needs treatment, and I can’t touch the money in my cash box.’
A Wu moved to pull her off, but Zhao Lan quickly stopped him. "Don’t touch her. It’s better if you stand further back. I want to see if a trick like this can actually get any money out of me."
A Wu nodded and quickly moved several steps away.
Just then, Song Gong walked over to A Wu, an empty bowl in his hand, and asked in a low voice, "What’s going on here?"
A Wu shook his head with a wry smile. "Extortion. Aunt Lan and I didn’t even touch a corner of her clothes. She threw herself on the ground in front of us and is insisting we hit her. Now they’re even getting the village chief to pass judgment. Can you believe the nerve?"
Song Gong placed his bowl back in the bucket and patted A Wu’s shoulder with a smile. "Don’t worry. There are plenty of us who saw everything. How could we let her get away with it?" As he spoke, Song Gong gave A Wu a wink.
A Wu got the message, instantly understanding Song Gong’s meaning, and he felt a little more at ease.
Before long, Liu came back, dragging the village chief with her.
While still a ways off, Liu began shouting signals to Old Mrs. Bai. "Mother, how are you? Are you okay? Hang in there, the village chief is here!"
Hearing Liu’s voice, Old Mrs. Bai quickly released Zhao Lan’s leg and resumed her previous pose—half-lying on the ground, propped up on one hand. She immediately began to groan, "Oww... oww..."
The village chief walked up and saw Old Mrs. Bai on the ground with Zhao Lan standing before her.
Zhao Lan’s expression was grim; she was utterly exasperated. ’I should just give this old hag a good kick,’ she thought, ’make the accusation real, and toss her a few silver to be done with it.’
She took a deep breath. ’No, I can’t let them get away with it. If I do, who knows how many more times they’ll try to pull this stunt on me in the future.’
The village chief frowned and asked, "What exactly happened? How did things get to this state?"
Old Mrs. Bai immediately began to wail her story. "Village chief, you have no idea how vicious Zhao Lan is! My Dazhu got hurt, so my eldest daughter-in-law and I came to borrow a little silver for his treatment. It would have been one thing if she’d just refused, but no, she had to start hitting people! Look at what she did to me! I’m so beaten I can’t even get up."