Chapter 72 Hunting Down the Chen Family and the Moment of the Adulterer (2)

Grandma Qiao didn't pay much attention to those people.

She walked to the well, put down the sickle in her hand, swished up half a bucket of water, and then threw the jujubes in.

Although Qiao Qiao's uncles doted on her as much as their spouses did.

But he also had a special fondness for this niece. He would often take her up the mountain to pick some wild fruits, or catch a grasshopper in the field and tie it to her leg with grass so she could play with it.

These jujubes were picked by Qiao Qiao's third uncle, Qiao Changhong, while Qiao's grandmother was cutting pig feed. He specially went up the mountain to pick them for Qiao Qiao to eat.

Japanese raisin tree (Hovenia dulcis) is a wild fruit unique to this season; it is very sweet and has high medicinal value.

Whether used in soup or eaten directly, it is very fresh and sweet.

Grandma Qiao put the jujubes into the bucket, turned around and took off the basket full of sweet potato vines from her back, then scooped up a ladle of water and carefully washed her hands.

After doing all that, she walked into the crowd and stood in front of the four Chen siblings who were still in a daze.

Staring at Chen Xiue, he said, "Since your Chen family is shameless and insists on bringing this ugly matter into the open, then fine, let's have a good talk about it now."

Unlike Qiao Changdong, Grandma Qiao, though she disliked Chen Yulian, never considered ruining her.

She knew how difficult it was for a woman to survive in this world.

Back when Grandpa Qiao went to fight, she took several children with her. Even though she took up arms to defend her innocence, she couldn't escape being slandered and smeared.

Chen Yulian schemed against Qiao Changdong and married into the Qiao family while pregnant.

It also injured Qiao Qiao.

Grandma Qiao also disliked her.

But from beginning to end, all she wanted was to obey her son's wishes and drive her out of the Qiao family.

Instead of, in this kind of world, using the most despicable means to ruin a woman's innocence and cut off all her escape routes in front of everyone.

Because she knew how harsh this world was on women.

Even if this woman herself is a despicable being.

But what was the result?

She was kind.

The Chen family, however, thought that the Qiao family was afraid of trouble and that they were being too arrogant.

Upon hearing Grandma Qiao's words, Chen Yulian and Chen Xiue both felt a pang of unease.

Both of them had a bad feeling at the same time.

Sure enough, next, in front of everyone, Grandma Qiao asked Chen Yulian, "Chen Yulian, you entered my family at the beginning of this year, so it hasn't been eight months yet, right?"

After asking the question, she didn't wait for Chen Yulian's answer and looked at the other people in the courtyard.

"Everyone came to my house for my wedding banquet back then, I remember the date correctly, right?"

As soon as she finished asking the question, someone immediately chimed in.

"That's right, that's right."

That's right.

"Yes, Auntie, your family has been very generous with the banquet."

"..."

Amidst the chatter, everyone seemed to recall the banquet at the Qiao family's house earlier this year, their eyes filled with reminiscence.

Because Grandma Qiao slaughtered a pig to host the banquet.

Nowadays, most people raise pigs so they can sell them for a good price during the Chinese New Year.

Domestic pigs can generally be raised to around 200 jin (approximately 100 kg), and can be sold for over 100 yuan based on the market price difference.

Even when eating alone, they would only eat scraps or offal.

Who would be willing to use a whole pig at a banquet? That's a year's income!

But the Qiao family was willing to spend that much.

Therefore, the villagers still have a deep impression of the banquet held by the Qiao family at the beginning of the year.

While everyone was discussing, Grandma Qiao looked at Chen Yulian and continued to ask, "It's been less than eight months since you got married, right?"

"Even if you and my son conceived this child on our wedding night, the child would still be a premature baby, born before eight months old."

After asking Chen Yulian her question, Grandma Qiao didn't give her a chance to speak again and looked at everyone.

"Most of the villagers here have had several children. Even if we give birth at full term, very few of our babies weigh more than eight pounds."

"Eight pounds is considered heavy. It would take a lot of nutrition to raise a baby to that weight."

"Chen Yulian, just pretend that this old woman is ignorant and has never seen the world. Can you tell me why your baby, which you gave birth to at seven and a half months but less than eight months, weighed nine pounds and two ounces?"

Grandma Qiao said the baby weighed 9 pounds and 2 ounces when he was born, which caused an uproar among everyone.

Most of the women present were not well-educated and had little formal education, but they had common sense, especially about childbirth.

Conditions are poor these days.

Many families have full-term newborns who are thin and frail, looking like they won't survive.

Born seven and a half months premature, yet weighing over nine pounds?!

Are you kidding me?!

Without wasting any words, Grandma Qiao went to her room and took out two leather bags amidst the lively discussion.

She gave one of them to Qiao Changdong; it was the test result that Qiao Changdong brought back last night.

She opened the other one and showed it to everyone.

It's the hospital's delivery record for Chen Yulian, which clearly states how much her baby weighed and how long it was at birth.

"What does this mean?" Some people were confused by Grandma Qiao's actions.

But as soon as he asked the question, someone next to him slapped him on the head.

He lowered his voice: "Are you stupid? Isn't it obvious? It means that the Chen family girl had slept with someone before marrying Dongzi, and even had a child...tsk tsk..."

They said they were lowering their voices, but in reality, everyone in the yard could hear them.

This unexpected turn of events caught the Chen family completely off guard.

Chen Yulian's face turned deathly pale, and she kept shaking her head: "No, no, no, this child is Qiao Changdong's!"

She looked at Grandma Qiao with a wronged expression, and tears streamed down her face.

"Mom, why are you saying this? This child is Dongzi's. I don't know why the child is so heavy, I...I..."

As Chen Yulian spoke, she began to cry, sobbing uncontrollably.

It was as if they had truly suffered a great slander.

"This child is indeed a bit big, but it's also possible that your family is well-off and he's gained weight from being fed. It's not surprising. Look at the Chen family, they've only been married into the family for a little over half a year, and they're already quite plump. It's not a problem if the child is heavy."

The old man who had tried to muddy the waters earlier immediately stepped forward and spoke up.

He looked at Qiao Changdong, then at Grandma Qiao, and shook his head, as if to say that one shouldn't act like that.

"You can't just throw such mud at someone's daughter because she's a girl. You're practically driving her to her death..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Yulian seemed to have found a breakthrough. She stood up with the child in her arms and started banging her head against the courtyard wall.

"Oh dear! My poor sister! Qiao Changdong, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning for treating my sister like this? You're practically driving her to her death!"

Chen Xiu'e hugged Chen Yulian from behind, and the two of them slid down to the ground, crying their hearts out.