A surge of anger, impossible to suppress any longer.
"Little Sweetheart, I've treated you well, why would you betray me?" the village chief's wife asked, her eyes red, gritting her teeth.
Su Xiaotian felt a pang of guilt and offered no defense.
She, too, felt it was her fault.
Without her as the conduit, none of this would have happened, and no one would ever have known that Sister Xiaocao was not Su Changjiu's biological child.
Hearing his wife lash out at Su Xiaotian, Su Changjiu quickly stood up and pulled his wife back.
"Xiaocao's mother, Xiaotian didn't do it on purpose. How can you blame Xiaotian!"
From the moment they adopted the child, he had considered the possibility that the child's birth parents might one day come looking for her.
It was just a little later than expected.
The village chief's wife clearly did not see it that way.
She felt Su Xiaotian had colluded with outsiders to harm them, inviting a wolf into their home.
"Su Xiaotian, tell me, what grudge do I have against you? Why are you helping outsiders?"
The village chief's wife scrambled up, grabbed Su Xiaotian's arm, and shouted.
Su Xiaotian's arm hurt from the pull, but she dared not resist forcefully, fearing she might hurt the village chief's wife if she used too much strength.
"Xiaocao's mother, please don't be like this. This is not Xiaotian's fault, not Xiaotian's fault."
Fearing his wife might harm Su Xiaotian in her anger, the village chief quickly intervened to break them up.
The commotion was so loud that several neighboring families heard it and rushed over to see.
Some might have come to mediate, while others were there for the spectacle.
Village life was dull, and these trivial domestic matters became their greatest form of entertainment.
News of a city woman visiting the village chief's home had already spread thanks to Chang Pozi, and many knew about it.
A beautiful city woman came to find the village chief, and soon, there was a quarrel at the village chief's house. This was bound to be big gossip!
Su Xiaotian remained silent, silently enduring the village chief's wife's tugging.
Teacher Xie Nan realized that the village chief's wife was lashing out at Su Xiaotian, a child, and could no longer afford to feel upset.
She flipped over and stood up, hugging the village chief's wife's arm and pleading.
"Sister-in-law, it has nothing to do with Xiaotian. The child kindly accompanied me here. If you want to hit or scold, do it to me. It's my fault, don't blame Xiaotian!"
The village chief's wife hadn't intended to truly hit or scold Su Xiaotian; she had simply lost her temper momentarily.
Upon hearing Teacher Xie Nan's words, she turned her anger towards Teacher Xie Nan.
"You should leave! Since you know it's all your fault, then leave! Don't disturb my family's life."
Meanwhile, the onlookers outside had already begun to chatter, speculating about what kind of gossip this was.
Some began to suspect that the village chief had done something wrong and was involved with this woman, and now the woman had come to their doorstep.
In any case, a juicy story of romance was quickly taking shape in people's mouths.
A few others had already entered the village chief's yard, crowding around to get a closer look at the unfolding drama.
The fact that Su Xiaocao was not Su Changjiu's biological daughter had been kept secret by the couple for over twenty years. No one else knew it besides them.
Even if the villagers wanted to guess, they could never have imagined that the truth was this.
Seeing the growing crowd, Su Xiaotian also grew anxious. If the scene continued, who knew what would happen.
"Uncle Changjiu, can we go inside and talk about this slowly?"
Perhaps everyone hoped that Xiaocao's sister's origins would not be known to others.
It would be best if not too many people knew about this matter.
The village was full of gossips, and they loved to spread rumors. If this got out, it would soon become a widespread scandal.
Su Changjiu looked at his wife and then at the dejected Teacher Xie Nan, unsure of what to do.
His daughter was not his biological child. Although he had raised her, he had no right to prevent her from acknowledging her birth mother.
Moreover, this woman was a university teacher, living a more comfortable life than they did, and had access to higher-level people, which could allow Xiaocao to have a better life.
However, he felt a sense of unwillingness to simply hand his daughter over to someone else.
Su Changjiu once again clutched his head in pain.
This man, who had been the master of the village for half his life, now found himself unable to handle his own family's problems.
No matter what he did, he felt as though his heart was being torn out.
Su Xiaotian felt she had been too presumptuous in bringing Teacher Xie Nan here.
If she had brought her grandmother, would the situation have been handled completely differently?
As things stood, the matter had originated because of her, and she could only face everything before her and try her best to resolve it.
The first thing to do was apologize to the village chief's wife.
"Auntie, it was my fault. I was just thinking how pitiful Teacher Xie Nan is... If you're really angry, please scold me a few times to vent your anger, okay?"
Su Xiaotian apologized softly to the village chief's wife.
The village chief's wife was angry that Su Xiaotian had brought someone to their home.
But she also knew that even if Su Xiaotian hadn't brought her here, this woman would have found another way to locate them.
After all, since she knew, she certainly wouldn't give up.
The matter still needed to be resolved.
She was unwilling to give up her daughter.
She had raised her daughter with great care, and even sent her to college. Why should someone else benefit from it?
However, at this moment, after her anger subsided, her rationality returned.
It was best not to discuss this matter in front of so many people; it was more suitable to discuss it behind closed doors.
The village chief's wife looked at the onlookers and said, "Don't you all have anything to do? Haven't you finished weeding the fields? Why are you all so interested in other people's business?"
This clear dismissal made most people understand that they were not welcome to watch.
But a few people, driven by intense curiosity, were determined to find out what was happening in the village chief's house.
"Sister-in-law, did the village chief do something wrong to you? If so, tell us, and we'll help you!"
Someone was clearly adding fuel to the fire.
The village chief's wife glared and said fiercely, "You're the one who did something wrong to your wife. Everyone in the village knows what kind of man my husband is! Don't talk nonsense, or I'll rip your mouth open."
It wasn't surprising that the village chief's wife reacted this way. Although things weren't as bad as before this year, when it came to relationships between men and women, caution was still necessary.
If rumors spread that the village chief had private life issues, not only would his position as village chief be in jeopardy, but he might even face legal consequences and imprisonment.
She didn't want to give up her daughter, nor did she want her husband to bear such an indelible stain.
The village chief's wife was also a formidable woman. Seeing that the person was about to say more inappropriate things, she picked up a large broom and began to drive them away.