Free Web NovelChapter 66: Chapter 66: Making an Appearance
Mrs. Tang let out a cry and rushed over.
"Su Li, you get out here! Stop hiding! Everyone knows what you’ve done..."
Cursing, she stormed into the side room, but she didn’t see Su Li.
She cursed as she rummaged around. "Bitch, get the hell out here now! You can run, but you can’t hide!"
She continued to search and curse, looking completely crazed, her face twisted with rage.
"How dare you cheat on my Tangyuan! I’ll drown you in shit and piss, I’ll kill you..."
Tang Yuanxiao stood outside the door to the room, completely stunned as he watched Mrs. Tang.
Shock, fear, disappointment, disbelief—all these emotions flashed in his eyes, and the words on the tip of his tongue vanished.
He stared at Mrs. Tang as if seeing the mother who had given birth to and raised him for the first time.
"Where is she? Where is she? Su Li, where the hell are you hiding? Bitch, get the hell out here..."
Mrs. Tang kept cursing, but she couldn’t find Su Li.
As her curses grew more and more vile, Tang Yuanxiao finally snapped out of his stupor.
"That’s enough, Mom. Come out. Su Li isn’t in the room."
"If she’s not in here, where else could she be!" Mrs. Tang retorted, continuing her search stubbornly. But the room was only so big; where could Su Li possibly hide?
Su Li really wasn’t in the room. Even if Mrs. Tang turned the entire place upside down, she couldn’t magically produce a Su Li.
"How can she not be here? How can she not be here?" she shrieked in disbelief.
Tang Yuanxiao couldn’t watch any longer. He went straight in, dragged the loudly snoring simpleton off the bed, and threw him out.
"AH..." The simpleton wasn’t wearing anything. A chorus of gasps erupted from the women in the crowd, who all quickly covered their eyes. The simpleton’s older brother was also there and hastily pulled off his own clothes to cover him.
The crowd’s reaction finally seemed to jolt Mrs. Tang out of her frenzy, and the curses on her lips finally stopped.
Tang Yuanxiao stood in the doorway, his expression terrifyingly dark as he looked at the crowd. "This is what you call having an affair?"
The crowd exchanged glances. Someone wanted to offer an explanation, but Tang Yuanxiao gave them no chance, questioning them directly.
"The simpleton wanders into the wrong houses all the time. Is there a single family in this village whose house he hasn’t slept in? If him coming in for a nap counts as an affair, then every woman in this village is guilty!"
The expressions of everyone present changed. Seeing their faces, Qin Shanshan couldn’t help but step forward and speak up.
"Tang... Brother Yuanxiao, that’s not quite right. We’re not just making things up. People have seen the simpleton entering the Tang Family home frequently, and many have also seen Su Li around the village with other men..."
"We were just worried you were being kept in the dark..." She paused, a troubled look on her face, before continuing.
"Su Li isn’t in the room. Maybe she hid somewhere before we arrived. The simpleton may have entered many houses, but never completely naked like this..."
A villager, invigorated, chimed in, "Exactly! He’s slept at my house before, but never stark naked."
"That’s right!"
"If she has a clear conscience, why did Su Li disappear? What’s she hiding from?"
"Yeah, if you’ve done nothing wrong, why hide..." Everyone chimed in agreement.
Mrs. Tang, who had been wavering, gritted her teeth and started cursing again. "Bitch! If you’ve done nothing wrong, why hide! Su Li! Su Li, you get the hell out here!"
Tang Yuanxiao had been desperately suppressing his rage. Hearing his mother join in the cursing, he grabbed her arm. "Mom, that’s enough."
"Enough of what? Tangyuan, you get out of the way! Leave this to me!"
Mrs. Tang shook off Tang Yuanxiao’s hand. "I’m going to find her, and I’ll deal with her myself!"
"Do you think she ran away?" Qin Shanshan asked worriedly.
"We can’t let her run! A harlot like her should be subjected to Chen Tang!" someone in the crowd shouted.
"Right, she should be subjected to Chen Tang..." The shout immediately sparked a chorus of agreement.
They rolled up their sleeves, their faces alight with excitement. The more they spoke, the more agitated they became, as if they couldn’t wait to subject her to the Chen Tang immediately.
Tang Yuanxiao looked at the familiar yet utterly strange villagers before him, his face cold and grim.
"Enough!" he bellowed, pointing to the gate of his house. "Su Li is not that kind of person."
"All of you, get out! There was no affair here, and Su Li is not that kind of person! If you keep harassing us and slinging mud, don’t blame me for what happens next!"
Tang Yuanxiao’s face was murderous, his eyes filled with ferocity. Everyone his gaze fell upon shivered in fear.
"We were just trying to help you out of kindness. How can you be like this? No wonder you got cheated on..." someone retorted, unconvinced.
"I said Su Li didn’t do it! I said she wouldn’t! Are you people deaf? If you dare slander Su Li again, don’t blame me for getting physical! Get out! Get the hell out!"
Tang Yuanxiao roared, grabbing a carrying pole that was leaning against the wall and smashing it against a nearby pillar.
With a loud BANG, the pole snapped in two. The entire house seemed to shake.
After a brief scream, the courtyard fell silent. Everyone stared at the pole that had been snapped clean in two and shuddered.
Their gazes toward Tang Yuanxiao were now tinged with terror. The villagers, so arrogant just moments ago, were now silent as cicadas in winter.
After a few seconds of silence, Mrs. Tang suddenly snapped to her senses, rushing over to grab Tang Yuanxiao and start struggling with him.
"Tang Yuanxiao, you’re still protecting that bitch! Are you trying to kill me with anger..." she screamed. The villagers, breathing a sigh of relief, quickly chimed in with their support.
Mrs. Tang scuffled with him for a moment before collapsing weakly to the ground. Just as she opened her mouth to wail, a soft chuckle was heard.
"Heh... What a grand performance."
The clear, cold voice wasn’t loud, but it was impossible to miss.
Mrs. Tang’s wail died in her throat. She and the rest of the crowd turned around in disbelief to see Su Li standing at the top of the stairs to the main house’s attic. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Bathed in the harsh sunlight, Su Li suddenly appeared before them all, her eyes icy as she looked down on them from above.
It was a look one would give to something filthy.
"A dog will always return to its vomit, I see."
Su Li spoke calmly as she descended the stairs, step by step. Her cold gaze swept over Qin Shanshan, Zhao Wenming, and Mrs. Tang, flickered past Tang Yuanxiao, and finally landed on the village chief.
"Village Chief, it’s been less than a month, and you people of Xinghua Village have shown me your true colors once again."
The faces of the village chief and the crowd instantly flushed beet-red with fury.
"Su Li, who are you calling a dog!"
"Whoever answers, that’s who I’m talking about," Su Li replied coldly.
Done with such squabbling, she turned and locked her eyes on Qin Shanshan.
Su Li looked at Qin Shanshan’s terrified and disbelieving eyes, glanced at the simpleton still snoring on the ground, and then began to walk slowly toward her, one step at a time.
Su Li’s steps weren’t fast, nor were they heavy, but for some reason, Qin Shanshan felt each one land like a heavy blow upon her heart.
With every step, the fear in her heart intensified.
Watching Su Li draw closer, Qin Shanshan couldn’t stop herself from backing away, her face a mask of terror.
Su Li chuckled softly, shaking her head with a TSK TSK sound. "Qin Shanshan, what are you running from?"
"I’m not running." Qin Shanshan forced herself to stop, feigning composure as she asked.
"You... How did you come down from the attic?"
