The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 442: Went to the Ditch

Chapter 442: Chapter 442: Went to the Ditch

"You damn old bastard, without a son to care for you in your old age or bury you when you’re gone, you’re harming my son-in-law and destroying my family! I’ll fight you with everything I’ve got! You hurt my son, and you dare to threaten my daughter, are you trying to wipe out my entire family?" Old Granny Zhang felt relieved knowing Laosan was alright.

However, this old bastard, actually threatened her daughter right in front of her, which was crossing Old Granny Zhang’s bottom line.

While cursing, Old Granny Zhang rolled up her sleeves and both her hands reached out to scratch Hunter Qin’s face.

If it were any other time, an old woman daring to lay a hand on him, Hunter Qin would have kicked her away long ago.

But under the gaze of all these people now, if he really dared to lay a finger on Old Granny Zhang, he’d likely be drowned in spit.

Hunter Qin couldn’t help but hesitate for a moment.

Of course, he wasn’t about to just stand there and let Old Granny Zhang scratch him, so he sidestepped to evade her.

Old Granny Zhang stumbled and lunged forward, about to face-plant into the dirt.

Wang Yongzhu hastened forward and caught Old Granny Zhang, "Mother, are you alright?"

Once firmly on her feet, Old Granny Zhang clutched her back and wailed, "Ow, my old back!"

Just then, Lady Lin, with a stroke of luck, stepped forward to support Old Granny Zhang, "Mother, is your back alright? Sit down and rest..."

Old Granny Zhang took the opportunity to sit right down on the threshold of Hunter Qin’s house, blocking him outside.

Seeing that her mother-in-law was alright, Lady Lin put her hands on her hips, pointed at Hunter Qin’s nose, and scolded, "Qin, with such a human face but a dog’s heart, why can’t you act like a decent person? What kind of grudge do you have against our Wang Family? First, you blinded our brother-in-law with poison, then you beat my brother until he vomited blood, and now you’ve even caused my mother-in-law to twist her back!"

"What, did our Wang Family desecrate your family graves or kill your father? You’re trying to ruin my family, aren’t you? Oh heavens, oh earth, fellow villagers, look at this, Qin is not a good man, such a grown man coming to Shiqiao Town, for over ten years, not taking a wife or having children, just set on harming others!"

"Our Wang Family must have had terrible luck for eight generations to come across a disaster like you, a scourge that harms others! Aye, you’re still glaring at me? Are you thinking of hitting me too? Villagers, look, Qin is about to kill again, help..."

Lady Lin used to be quite the quarreler herself, and now, trying to show off, she summoned all her energies into it.

She confused and overwhelmed him to the point where Hunter Qin was utterly dazed.

He himself felt utterly sinful, like he was the worst of the worst, having no deep hatred with the Wang Family, harming their son-in-law, injuring their son, and now being accused of twisting the old lady’s back...

No, wait! Hunter Qin suddenly came to his senses.

Nonsense! It was true that he’d drugged Song Chongjin, but he hadn’t touched the Wang Family’s son at all—they were staging a scam, alright?

And that Old Granny of the Wang Family, she tried to scratch his face, he simply dodged, and she twisted her own back. What did that have to do with him?

He nearly let these country women drag him down into the gutter.

Hunter Qin regained his senses, his eyes sharp as knives, his tone cold as ice, "Wang Family Young Lady, there’s a limit to making a scene, or else don’t blame Qin for not being polite anymore!"

"Pah! The nerve of you, Qin, spouting your mother’s foxy nonsense! When have you ever been polite to our Wang Family? My son-in-law got poisoned by you and went blind, his body is ruined, my son was beaten until he vomited blood, and it’s still uncertain whether he’ll live, and my own waist was injured because of you. And you call that polite? You’re practically out to exterminate my entire Wang Family! Did everyone hear that? This Qin is threatening not to be polite to our Wang Family anymore, I fear not a single one of us, old or young, and our dozen or so family members will be spared!"

"Fellow villagers, if one day my whole Wang Family is truly killed off, please bear witness, it will definitely be this Qin’s doing! When the time comes, I hope some kind-hearted soul will report this to the Government Office..." Old Granny Zhang cried out as if appealing to heaven and earth.

Hunter Qin’s face turned ashen; indeed, it was a case of Scholar meets soldier, no, Scholar meets countrywoman. Forget about being right, it’s impossible to be clear about anything.

Wang Yongzhu sneered, "Hunter Qin, we came here today to seek justice. How is that making a scene? Could it be that my fiancé, who was harmed by you and Shopkeeper Zhang to the point of blindness, with hardly ten years left to live, doesn’t even have the right to have us knock on your door and ask? Hunter Qin, what great authority you have, even greater than the grand old man of the county. I didn’t realize that our Shiqiao Town now has an Officials Master like Hunter Qin."

"You... What nonsense are you spouting? Since you want justice, I’ll give you justice. Song Chongjin was learning martial arts and studying under both Shopkeeper Zhang and me. Now he has committed a grave betrayal and has been expelled from our tutelage. The knowledge he gained, naturally, we must take it back. He took that medicine willingly; what does that have to do with us? Yesterday..."

"Save your mother’s nonsense! You rotten scoundrel Qin, you still have the face to say he took it willingly? You and that bastard Zhang are both good for nothing. Why did you take my son-in-law as a disciple in the first place? Don’t you think there were ideas in your heads? But no, you never had good intentions, you mistook my son-in-law for someone else."

"And that would have been the end of it. My son-in-law, being honest, remembered your kindness, treating you as he would his own father. But what about you? Upon realizing your mistake, instead of slapping yourselves out of recognition, and admitting your blindness, you turned the blame onto my son-in-law. If my son-in-law had been the slightest bit cunning, keeping you in the dark, would any of you have known?"

"But he’s honest, isn’t he? As soon as he realized you had mistaken him for someone else, he told you right away, even offering to keep seeing you as his masters and to provide for you in your old age."

"And what did you do? Were your actions even human? Villagers, do you know how this Qin and that Zhang forced my son-in-law?"

The crowd perked up their ears; this was quite the spectacle, full of climactic twists.

"Sister, you must tell us what those two did. We’ll support you!" Old Granny Yang was incredibly excited.

The surrounding neighbors chimed in, "Yes, tell us, big sister, what exactly happened?"

"We’ll all stand as witnesses for you. If this Old Qin and Old Zhang really did something outrageous, we’ll help you report it to the authorities!"

...

Hunter Qin’s expression changed immediately.

His shifting countenance didn’t escape the sharp eyes of the audience. They began to whisper among themselves, "See that? Just the mention of reporting to officials, and Old Qin’s face changes color. Must be feeling guilty, huh?"

"Exactly, when a whole family comes knocking at your door like this, it must be because they’re desperate. Who wouldn’t be anxious dealing with such a vexing issue?"

"It’s true that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Think about it, both Old Qin and Old Zhang have been in our town for over a decade. Besides being antisocial and looking down on us, there wasn’t anything particularly negative, but to think they could be so heartless..."

...

Inside the courtyard, Shopkeeper Zhang listened as public opinion took an irreversible turn for the worse. He stamped his feet, wanting to come out and defend himself, but Old Granny Zhang sat squarely on the threshold. To get out, he would have to push Old Granny Zhang aside.

Considering himself a cultivated man, Shopkeeper Zhang couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing and instead paced around the courtyard anxiously.