"Dong!"
With a dull thud, the onlookers couldn't help but gasp softly. The sound alone indicated it must have hurt.
It took a while for Widow Liu to recover from her dizziness. Besides a metallic taste in her mouth, there was something hard. She spat it into her palm and saw a tooth.
Only then did Widow Liu belatedly realize that one of her front teeth had been knocked out in the collision.
Looking at the chipped tooth, Widow Liu immediately sat down on the ground. "I can't go on living! Everyone, come and see! Your Gu family are all beasts and brutes. Liu Baishui, you died too early, leaving us orphans and widows to be bullied..."
"Oh, are we putting on a show?"
Chen Lishu looked up at the sound and saw Gu Xingdong parting the crowd to walk over, with Gu Shoufu and Gu Xingmin behind him.
"Xingdong."
Gu Xingdong nodded at her, his gaze falling on Widow Liu and her three children. "Aunt Liu, what's going on here?"
Although Gu Xingdong had a smile on his face, his eyes as he looked at the three of them were terrifyingly dark.
Especially Liu Dabao and Liu Xiaobao. They still had lingering fear from the last time Gu Xingdong sent them to the police station.
Widow Liu pointed at Chen Lishu and said first, "Ask your wife what she did! This slut..."
Hearing her words, Gu Xingdong instantly dropped the smile from his lips, his gaze shooting sharply at Widow Liu.
Widow Liu shivered uncontrollably. "She... she put a sack over Dabao and broke his leg!"
Gu Xingdong turned his head. "Did you do it?"
Chen Lishu shook her head aggrievedly. "No."
Gu Xingdong turned to look at Widow Liu again. "My wife says she didn't."
"So if she says no, then it's no? You're a couple, of course you're siding with her. It must be because I went to the school to find Chen Liyuan, that this shameless slut Chen Lishu secretly attacked me. I should have then... Ah!"
Liu Dabao's words were cut short as a piercing pain shot through his injured leg again, this time more painful than when Chen Lishu kicked him, even more painful than when it was first broken. The intense pain made him gasp, his entire face contorted.
"Who are you calling names, hmm?"
Gu Xingdong bent down to look at him, speaking unhurriedly.
Liu Dabao's face had turned a shade of purple, whether from pain or fear.
Seeing that Widow Liu and her two sons were silent, Gu Xingdong straightened up and smiled at the onlookers in the courtyard. "It's all a misunderstanding. Everyone, please disperse."
"Yes, there's nothing to see. Everyone should go back to what they were doing," Gu Shoufu waved his hand, directly telling people to leave.
Seeing that there was no more excitement, everyone turned and left.
As soon as everyone was gone, Gu Xingdong looked at the Liu family who hadn't moved. "Shall I escort you out?"
Although he said "escort," Widow Liu and her two sons knew that if they waited for him to make a move, they wouldn't fare well.
Widow Liu glared fiercely at Chen Lishu with resentment, and together with Liu Xiaobao, helped Liu Dabao leave.
"Third sister-in-law, did Liu Dabao's leg really not get broken by you?" Liu Yuemin couldn't help but lean in curiously.
Given Chen Lishu's personality, Liu Yuemin thought it was highly likely she did it.
Chen Lishu smiled. "Liu Dabao is a man, how could I have the ability to put a sack over him? The Liu family mother and sons are just not very bright. They believe whatever anyone tells them."
Liu Yuemin pouted. "Didn't she say someone saw it with their own eyes?"
Li Xiulan frowned and rebuked, "The third daughter-in-law says it wasn't her. Are you lacking in sense? Are you rushing to pin the blame on your own family?"
No matter who did it, it couldn't be the third daughter-in-law, otherwise, what would people think of her in the future?
"Old woman, this is a pheasant caught this morning. Stew it up for everyone tonight."
Gu Shoufu handed over the pheasant in his hand.
Li Xiulan's eyes lit up when she saw the pheasant. She took the chicken and said happily, "This is good. I'll go buy a pound of dried tofu later, and make a cold dish tonight."
In the evening, Li Xiulan butchered the pheasant and brewed a whole pot of chicken soup, along with a pot of flatbread. She also made a cold dish.
Soon, Gu Xingye and Gu Xingguo returned from selling goods in town, and Zhang Xiaoju also got off work from the supply and marketing cooperative. The family began to prepare dinner.
"Wow, Grandma, there's chicken soup!" Gu Song, Gu Lin, and the other boisterous children returned home at mealtime. Their eyes lit up when they saw the large basin of chicken soup on the table.
"Your grandpa and your third uncle set traps in the mountains to catch it," Li Xiulan said as she served everyone soup.
"Mom, why are you just making soup? There's so little meat. Why didn't you stew it with potatoes or something? We could use the flavor," Gu Xingmin picked up the soup bowl and took a sip. It was delicious, but it wasn't substantial.
With over ten people, big and small, each person only got a bowl of soup and two or three pieces of chicken.
"Eat whatever you're given. Eat what you have," Li Xiu Lan said as she handed a bowl of soup with 'ingredients' to Gu Xingdong.
She had inquired from others. Traditional Chinese medicine chicken soup was very nourishing. To avoid arousing suspicion, she had deliberately made chicken soup.
Gu Xingdong noticed his chicken soup was strange after just one sip. However, seeing Li Xiulan's earnest gaze, he pretended nothing was wrong, tilted his head, and drank it down.
Before the meal was even over, his forehead started to sweat, and his whole body felt hot as if it were on fire, making him uncomfortable.
Chen Lishu noticed his discomfort and leaned closer, asking softly, "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
As she got closer, a faint fragrance entered his nose without warning. Gu Xingdong's body instantly tensed up. Soon, he shook his head as if nothing were wrong. "It's nothing, just that it's too hot today."
Chen Lishu nodded. "The weather is indeed a bit muggy today. It's probably going to rain."
Her prediction was correct. As dusk fell, lightning and thunder suddenly struck outside, and soon a torrential rain poured down.
Although it was raining outside, it couldn't stop the rising heat indoors.
It wasn't until late at night that the two intertwined figures gradually separated. (Da Feng Novel Network)
The heavy rain didn't stop until noon the next day. In the afternoon, Gu Xingping clamored to go to the river to catch clams, and the younger children also clamored to go along.
"Third sister-in-law, shall we go together?" Gu Xingping swayed her arm.
Chen Lishu was somewhat tempted by Gu Xingping's invitation.
After all, she had been cooped up indoors doing chores all morning and really wanted to go out for a stroll. Just as she was about to agree, she heard Li Xiulan say, "The river is swift after the rain. What if something happens to the younger children if they aren't watched properly?"
Gu Xingdong saw Chen Lishu's thoughts and smiled. "Mom, I happen to want to eat fish. How about I take the younger ones to catch some?"
Li Xiulan, hearing that he would accompany them, had no reason to refuse. However, she still reminded him, "Be careful. The little ones should stay by the riverbank, and don't go into the water."
"Oh, great!" Gu Song, Gu Lin, and the other children jumped three feet high in place.