Old Ding was furious.
No matter what, Shen Ying was his niece by blood.
Although Shen Ying’s father was a scoundrel, her mother was a good person—hardworking and uncomplaining for decades, raising Xiao Ying all by herself.
Their two families had always been close, and Xiao Ying had spent a lot of time living with them.
She was like a daughter to them. How could he let someone slander her like this?
“You’ve really gone too far with your words.”
“Shen Ying is honestly studying at university. How is that any of your business?”
“Isn’t this all just because your son tried to date Xiao Ying a few years ago and she turned him down?”
“Well, good for her!”
“Forget about your useless son—nowadays all he does is hang around with those little punks.”
“Let’s just talk about you—that foul mouth of yours.”
“If my Xiao Ying really had married into your family, it would’ve been hell for her. You’d have bullied her to death!”
“She just didn’t like your son. Your son has no prospects—why blame others for having higher standards?”
The vegetable vendor auntie was enraged.
“You think Shen Ying’s some kind of saint?”
“Don’t think I don’t know.”
“She uses her looks to seduce men everywhere she goes.”
“Oh sure, now that she’s in the big city, she can go after richer men, right?”
“My son must have been blind to fall for that shameless tramp. Just look at her—she looks like she was born to seduce men. Disgusting!”
Old Ding was usually honest and mild-tempered, not one to argue with others, especially not with a loudmouth like her.
They weren’t even on the same level.
But now he was so angry it felt like he was going to explode.
In a moment of rage, he threw the vegetables in his hand right at the auntie’s face.
She let out a scream.
“Ahhh! He hit me! He’s bullying me! Somebody help!”
“You just going to stand there while I’m being attacked?” she shouted at her husband.
The vegetable vendor uncle was a reasonable man.
But since Old Ding had laid hands on his wife, he naturally had to step in to protect her.
He shoved Old Ding.
“What are you doing? Say what you want, but don’t start getting physical.”
The shove jolted Old Ding back to his senses—no matter what, he shouldn’t have resorted to violence.
But the vegetable vendor auntie, seeing her husband stand up for her, charged at Old Ding, slapping him twice across the face and flailing as she grabbed at him in a rage.
That really stirred up the hornet’s nest—Old Ding ended up in a full-on scuffle with them.
People nearby started calling the police, watching the chaos unfold, pretending to break it up while laughing and joking.
Meanwhile, over at Shen Ying’s aunt’s house, a few burly men had arrived.
The one in the lead wore a big gold chain and had a fierce, intimidating look. He said to Shen Ying’s aunt:
“I heard old Shen’s compensation money came through.”
“Back when the Shen family was poor and couldn’t pay, we let it slide because we were all neighbors.”
“But things are different now. You’ve got the money—shouldn’t you start paying up?”
Shen Ying’s aunt frowned. “Paying what money?”
“Didn’t we pay you back the funeral costs after old Shen died?”
“There’s no money. Don’t go making things up, Xiao Sun.”
After Shen Ying’s father died, the family held a funeral, and all the money they collected went to paying off his old debts.
They didn’t have any left—in fact, they had to borrow several thousand more just to settle everything.
As far as they knew, everything had been paid off.
Xiao Sun grinned. “Respecting the dead is one thing. That day, the Shen family only paid back part of the debt.”
“There’s still a chunk of gambling debt that hasn’t been settled.”
“If you had no money, that’d be one thing. But now that you have it and still don’t want to pay—how is that acceptable?”
“Look… here’s the proof.”
Xiao Sun pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his bag. On it was written that Shen Qingfeng owed 800,000 yuan in gambling debt, along with his signature.
Shen Ying’s aunt leaned in to take a look—and her expression darkened immediately.
This was clearly forged.
How could Shen Qingfeng have known before his death that the compensation would be exactly 800,000 yuan?
What a joke!
Not a cent more, not a cent less?
It was obviously fake.
And the handwriting—crooked and sloppy—was nothing like Shen Qingfeng’s.
Back in his youth, Shen Qingfeng had been highly educated and wrote beautifully. Even after his fall from grace, he never lost his elegant handwriting.
Did people really think a virtuous woman like Shen Ying’s mother would have married a street thug?
In his younger days, Shen Qingfeng had been diligent and upright. He was only led astray later in life.
Shen Ying’s aunt said coldly, “Let’s not beat around the bush. What do you people actually want?”
“Bullying a widow and her orphan daughter—is that it?”
“I don’t believe there’s no justice left in this world.”
Xiao Sun sneered, “This has nothing to do with you. Don’t drag yourself into it.”
“I’m here for the Shen family’s compensation money. It has nothing to do with the Ding family.”
“Just tell me—where are Shen Ying and her mother now?”
Shen Ying’s aunt’s eyes turned red with anger.
“Oh, you filthy thugs. You even want to snatch money from the dead? Aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning?”
Xiao Sun burst into laughter, and the men behind him laughed along.
“These days, who’s afraid of lightning?”
“Money.”
“As long as you’ve got money, you’ve got everything.”
“My advice? The Ding family better stay out of this. Gambling debt is still debt—it has to be paid.”
Shen Ying’s aunt knew these people were scum. She didn’t dare argue anymore, afraid of dragging trouble into her own home.
So she said, “Coming here is useless. Everyone knows the Shen family moved to Feng City.”
“As for where exactly in Feng City—I don’t know.”
She sighed silently.
Poor Xiao Ying and her sister-in-law.
They’d just begun to live a slightly better life…
And now they’d already been targeted by leeches.
Why did fate have to be so cruel?
Such a sensible girl like Xiao Ying, such a kind and hardworking sister-in-law… sigh.
This world just doesn’t let good people live in peace.
Xiao Sun raised his chin and said:
“Don’t think hiding them will do any good. I know for a fact the compensation was issued through our county.”
“If Shen Ying and her mom want the money, they’ll have to come back here.”
“I don’t believe they’d walk away from 800,000 yuan.”
“Then again, there’s another solution—haha.”
Xiao Sun grinned in a sleazy way.
“I heard little Shen Ying went to the big city for university—some kind of film academy, sounds fancy.”
“Wonder how she’s turned out now.”
“Me? I’m still looking for a wife to manage my house.”
“If they don’t want to pay the debt, she can just marry me instead. We’ll call the 800,000 her dowry. Hahaha.”
The group of thugs laughed creepily with Xiao Sun—it was clear this wasn’t the first time they’d made disgusting jokes about Shen Ying.
Suddenly, a cold voice interrupted.
“We will take the 800,000.”
“But we have no intention of paying your gambling debts.”
Shen Ying stood trembling in the doorway, her eyes filled with fear and grievance.
She had wanted someone to accompany her—just in case something like this happened.
Ever since she was little, people had gossiped about her because of her looks.
In a small town like this, word traveled fast.
Any pretty girl was eyed like stolen treasure.
Let alone by these street punks who loitered around every day.
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