Free Web NovelChapter 65: Chapter 65: Reenactment
"AHHH—!" A piercing scream shattered the peace of Xinghua Village.
"Su Li is having an affair!"
The shout that followed was like water splashing into hot oil, and Xinghua Village erupted.
The guests at the Tian Family’s home swarmed toward the Tang Family’s residence. Even those still at the dinner table picked up their bowls and ran to follow. freeweɓnovel.cøm
Seeing that Su Li still hadn’t returned, Tang Yuanxiao, who was holding Little Tang Mo and about to head home, frowned sharply. Before he could even react, the crowd had already swarmed past them, running toward the Tang Family’s home.
"Daddy, what’s ’having an affair’?"
Little Tang Mo asked Tang Yuanxiao curiously.
Tang Yuanxiao, who had just started to walk, stopped abruptly. "What ’having an affair’? You misheard."
After speaking, he gently covered Little Tang Mo’s ears and ran back toward the Tian Family’s house. It was almost empty, with only a few people scattered about. Tang Yuanxiao looked around and placed Little Tang Mo in a woman’s arms.
"Auntie, please watch Momo for me. I’m going back to check."
"Alright, you go on ahead." The woman took Little Tang Mo from him.
Tang Yuanxiao nodded, turned, and strode quickly toward the Tang Family’s home.
At the Tang Family’s home, the courtyard was now packed several layers deep with people. The door to the side room was ajar, and inside, the fool could be seen sleeping naked on the bed.
And Qin Shanshan’s tearful, sobbing voice rang in everyone’s ears.
"I was worried about Su Li, so I followed her over to check. I never thought I’d hear strange noises as soon as I arrived. I called out, but no one answered. The moment I opened the door, I saw the fool."
Mrs. Tang, who had rushed back with everyone else, was so angry she nearly fainted. "What a sin, what a terrible sin!"
"Tang Yuanxiao is right here in the village, how could she do this!"
"This is outrageous!"
"To think she’d go for the fool!"
"I can’t believe it. I’d seen someone entering the Tangs’ house a few times before, but I never thought it would be like this... SOB SOB..."
Qin Shanshan cried, but her words came out extremely fast. In just a few sentences, she had cemented the "fact" of Su Li’s affair.
"On the fifth day of the month, I also saw Su Li arguing with someone at the foot of the mountain. They were even hugging. I thought I must have seen it wrong..."
As Qin Shanshan spoke, she shot a subtle glance at Zhao Wenming in the crowd.
Zhao Wenming shuddered. To clear himself of any suspicion, he immediately stepped forward to chime in, "I happened to see it that day, too! It was Su Li and the fool!"
’Except for the fact that the person she was having an affair with had changed from a city dweller to the fool, Zhao Wenming’s reaction and his words were exactly the same as in her past life.’ fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
The moment he spoke up, and with the other party being the village fool, what had been strong suspicion among the villagers solidified into absolute certainty.
The fool was the most peculiar person in the village. A fever in his childhood had damaged his brain, but he had grown up to be tall, strong, and robust.
His parents raised him and, before they died, found him a wife. His wife wasn’t very sharp either, so it was a match made in heaven, in a way.
The couple might be fools, but they were obedient. Managed by his older brother, they worked hard every day and lived a decent life. However, the villagers rarely interacted with them, mainly because no matter how obedient they were, they were still fools.
Fools are always the most uninhibited, after all. The couple would do *that sort of thing* day or night, and they didn’t know to keep their voices down. You could hear them just by passing their door.
Most of the villagers had heard them. In private, they’d all say the fool was very potent in *that* department. The sounds his foolish wife made, like crying and laughing at the same time, said it all.
They had no sense of shame. The village children, though they didn’t understand what they heard, would often follow them around and mock them.
Later on, no one knew who started it, but a rumor spread that the village widows all went to the fool. This became an open secret in the village.
The village women scorned those widows, while the village men envied the fool’s good fortune with women.
Anyway, this was all a village secret. It wasn’t uncommon for the widows to fight over the fool out of jealousy, and his foolish wife often caused a scene about it too.
Because of all this, when everyone saw Su Li paired with the fool, they believed it almost without hesitation, shaking their heads and cursing.
"Pah! Shameless."
"You have the nerve to cheat, but not the face to show yourself!"
"Whore! She should be beaten to death! To think she’d go for the fool!"
Those widows who had their own ambiguous relationships with the fool thought of how young and beautiful Su Li was, and jealousy surged through them. They gritted their teeth, wanting to see Su Li utterly destroyed.
"So shameless! Her husband’s still around! Just give her the Chen Tang and be done with it."
"I knew she was no good. I’ve seen her too..."
One after another, they all spoke up to expose Su Li.
"Oh my god..." Mrs. Tang wailed to the heavens, collapsing into a heap in the courtyard, her face contorted.
Qin Shanshan was so excited her eyes were red.
’In her past life, Su Li was first accused of selling Tang Mo, and then slandered for having an affair. It only took a few words to get her condemned. In this life, Qin Shanshan had arranged things even more cunningly, staging this whole scene of catching her in the act.’
’When you catch cheaters, you have to catch them both. Now that they’ve cornered someone at her own door, Su Li won’t be able to get out of this.’
"The Chen Tang! A slut like this deserves the Chen Tang!"
Just as the crowd, bellowing in indignation, was about to roll up their sleeves and rush into the side room, Tang Yuanxiao finally arrived.
"Silence."
The rebuke was full of authority, and the villagers were instantly stunned. Turning to see Tang Yuanxiao, their expressions grew complicated. They felt a mix of pity and fear toward him.
"Tangyuan, what took you so long? That slut Su Li, she’s completely disgraced our Tang Family..."
Mrs. Tang saw Tang Yuanxiao and lunged toward him, crying.
"Ma, watch your words. Don’t just follow what others say."
Tang Yuanxiao steadied his mother and spoke in a low voice, then his sharp gaze swept over the villagers.
His gaze was like a torch. As he looked over them, many people quickly averted their eyes.
Tang Yuanxiao’s gaze finally landed on Qin Shanshan. A single glance sent a chill down her entire body.
After intimidating the villagers into silence, Tang Yuanxiao stood before the side room. He glanced through the half-open door, then turned back to ask Qin Shanshan and the others.
"How exactly did you confirm Su Li was having an affair? Did you actually see Su Li?"
Everyone was stunned. Qin Shanshan’s eyes widened in disbelief.
"Tang... you... Isn’t it obvious...?"
"Obvious where? Why can’t I see it?"
Tang Yuanxiao looked coldly at Qin Shanshan. "With all this commotion, there isn’t a single sound from inside. How are you so sure Su Li is in there?"
The crowd’s gazes toward Tang Yuanxiao suddenly turned strange. The pity intensified, mixed with a sense of disappointment, as if at a hopeless case.
’He’s been cuckolded, yet all he can think about is saving his own face. What a coward.’
That was what Zhao Wenming was thinking. He sneered, his face full of contempt.
Seeing the looks in everyone’s eyes felt worse than death to Mrs. Tang. "Tangyuan, stop talking! She’s just a woman. The worst that can happen is you divorce her!"
"Exactly! Divorcing her and giving her the Chen Tang is just a matter of saying the word."
"That’s right, Tang Yuanxiao, stop making excuses. With so many people out here, Su Li must be hiding inside, too scared to make a sound."
Tang Yuanxiao looked at the crowd, then at the village chief, who was standing silently among them with a frown. His expression grew darker.
"Since none of you believe me, then see for yourselves."
With that, he shoved the side room door wide open.
