Reborn as the Villain's Wife, I Shine in 80s
Chapter 63 - 062 Unmask

Chapter 63 - 062 Unmask

The expressions on everyone's faces were priceless. They had assumed Tian Sangsang had given Aunt Tian some soy-braised meat, but listening to Tian Sangsang's account, it turned out Aunt Tian had sneakily helped herself to the meat while no one was home. How could someone act like this? Even if you're relatives, you can't behave this way! They immediately recalled Aunt Tian's character—her hands couldn't quite keep to themselves. Whenever she visited someone's house, she'd quietly pocket something if she had the chance. Being from the same village, some folks had seen her do it but felt too embarrassed to bring it up. After all, she's not a kid, right?

Truth be told, they had disliked Tian Sangsang in the past because she was truly ugly—dark-skinned and overweight. But they didn't particularly like Chen Guilan's family either.

As the saying goes, there's no such thing as "least disliked," only "more disliked," isn't that right? Comparing the two, of course Tian Sangsang was the more disliked one. Moreover, the Tian Family had Tian Tian, their little darling, which made the villagers instinctively overlook the family's other flaws. But today, this incident had certainly reminded them.

Tian Sangsang sighed and said slowly, "Aunt was in such a rush that day, I didn't even get the chance to tell her not to eat so much soy-braised meat at once. That's half a jar, weighing four to five pounds of pork if you measure it. Eating too much can be life-threatening, you know. Grandma, just letting Aunt lie down isn't going to cut it—we should get a doctor to take a look."

Grandma Tian sneered, "Take a look at what? What's there to see? I think you deliberately set Aunt up. Now Aunt's sick and needs money, so you have to pay compensation."

"I don't even know what kind of illness Aunt has. Besides, I don't have money to compensate her. She ate the braised meat at my house on her own, and my son and I ate it without any problems."

"You say you have no money, yet what were you doing in town the past few days? Don't try to pull a fast one on me—pay up! You could even drag Tian Tian's reputation into this mess—there's nothing you wouldn't do!"

"Fine, I can pay." Tian Sangsang paused and suddenly spoke up.

The crowd was taken aback—why did they feel as though Tian Sangsang was being bullied? She shouldn't pay! Pay for what?!

She continued, "But I want to go inside and see Aunt's condition before deciding how much compensation to pay."

Grandma Tian immediately refused, "Not a chance!"

"If I can't see her, how can I tell if Aunt is really sick or just pretending? How can I be sure she's not scamming me?" Tian Sangsang looked calmly at Grandma Tian, her expression unchanging. But it was precisely this composure that made everyone see a different side of Tian Sangsang—a quiet confidence.

"Big sis, what are you talking about?" Tian Tian widened her eyes, looking pitiful as she emerged from the house holding a packet of medicine. "This is medicine Dr. Li prescribed for Aunt. No matter what, Aunt wouldn't fool you."

Tian Sangsang glanced briefly at the medicine but didn't take it to examine. Instead, she shook her head and said, "I still want to see if Aunt's condition is serious. Unless I see it with my own eyes, I won't pay up."

The crowd began to stir. Truth be told, they weren't stupid—they also thought the situation seemed odd. Sneaking meat from someone else's house, then falling ill because of it? What kind of sickness was this? They were curious! In the past, they'd only heard of people getting sick from eating grass roots, tree bark, or dirt—never from eating meat.

"In any case, unless I see it with my own eyes, I won't pay up." Tian Sangsang repeated.

"Grandma, let Big Sis go in and have a look." Tian Tian gently tugged at Grandma Tian's clothes.

Grandma Tian snorted loudly and exchanged a glance with Chen Guilan before yelling into the house, "Hey, second daughter-in-law! Tian Sangsang is here to see you!"

Tian Sangsang entered and immediately saw Aunt Tian lying in bed. It was midsummer, yet Aunt Tian was covered with a thin blanket, her forehead dotted with sweat. Her cheeks were flushed, and she didn't look ill at all.

Aunt Tian's entire body was wrapped under the blanket. She slowly opened her eyes and weakly said to Tian Sangsang, "You! You wretched troublemaker! What did you feed me? My stomach still hurts!"

"Does Aunt's stomach hurt? What kind of pain is it?" Tian Sangsang stood by the bed, calmly observing her. Normally, someone with stomach pain would be rolling and curling up in bed from the discomfort. But Aunt Tian lay too straight and still.

"What kind of pain? Just pain!" Aunt Tian snapped, glaring at her angrily.

"And where does it hurt?" Tian Sangsang reached out, trying to touch her stomach.

"What are you doing, Tian Sangsang!" Chen Guilan tried to grab her hand, but Tian Sangsang nimbly dodged.

Her hand quickly reached under the blanket, and she asked with a smile, "Is it here, Aunt?"

"You little wretch! You—ah—haha—ah-haha-haha—stop it—stop tickling—" Aunt Tian burst into laughter, flopping and flailing out of bed like a fish. She quickly jumped to the floor.

"Wait, wasn't she supposed to be bedridden?"

"Wasn't she sick?"

"What's going on here?"

"..."

The villagers gathered at the door started whispering. Tian Sangsang smiled and asked, "Aunt, does your stomach still hurt?"

Aunt Tian instantly realized she had exposed herself. With a cry, her face turned bright red, especially in front of so many neighbors.

Tian Tian softly exclaimed "Oh," as if she had just figured everything out. She put on an expression of betrayal and weakly said, "Aunt, weren't you sick?"

"I..." Aunt Tian started to speak.

"What do you mean 'I'? Is your stomach still hurting? I'm asking if your stomach still hurts! What kind of daughter-in-law have I married—trying to fool even me, her mother-in-law!" Grandma Tian angrily tapped her cane on the ground and sat down crying. "One by one, you all want to turn against me—trying to drive me to my grave! Oh, Tian's father, how could you be so cruel? Why didn't you take me with you when you left!"

"Mom, Aunt didn't mean it," Chen Guilan tried to comfort her. "Maybe her stomach hurt before and got better now. Stomach pain can come and go suddenly—it's not always reliable."

Tian Sangsang quietly watched as they turned on each other.

Aunt Tian looked incredulously at the group—she knew perfectly well this was their idea, yet now they were shifting the blame to her. Just as she was thinking of what to say, Dr. Li's voice came from outside: "I heard someone's critically ill. Where are they?"

Aunt Tian froze as her eyes met Dr. Li's. She wished she could find a hole to crawl into.

She didn't dare look him in the eye, nervously stammering, "Why are you here, Dr. Li? There's no illness—my stomach doesn't hurt anymore."

Dr. Li shook his head in disappointment, saying, "Diseases of the body can be treated; diseases of the mind cannot."

The scene instantly became lively. Tian Sangsang glanced around the crowd for Meng Shuyan but didn't see him. She finally squeezed through the people and headed home.

Watching her retreating figure and then looking at the Tian Family's yard, Chen Ying complained quietly to Chen Ming, "Absolutely shameless. Faking illness to extort money—who even comes up with this stuff? It's good Tian Sangsang didn't fall for it, and thank heavens Dr. Li showed up. Otherwise, they might've really gotten away with it!"

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