Chapter 292: Misunderstanding

“What are you trying to do?!”

The woman cried out in alarm, raising her hand to shove the emaciated woman away before pulling her child tightly into her arms.

The baby, who had just eaten, was startled by its mother’s sudden movement and immediately burst into loud wails.

“Dear! Dear!” The woman forcefully shook her sleeping husband awake and glared coldly at the emaciated woman. “Liu Yao tried to steal our child!”

“What?!”

“You damn woman, that’s too much!”

The man, surnamed Chen, roared in fury as he leaped to his feet, storming toward Liu Yao with an intimidating presence.

Seeing this, Liu Yao hurriedly waved her hands and backed away. “No! You’re mistaken! I was just looking at your child, I didn’t do anything!”

The commotion was loud enough to wake everyone around them. Those who had children became instantly alert upon hearing the words “stealing a child,” their gazes turning suspiciously toward Liu Yao.

Even the elderly in the group, who had only just fallen asleep, were startled awake, their hearts skipping a beat at the chaos.

However, they remained calm and quickly stepped forward to stop the enraged Chen. They urged him not to resort to violence, warning that if people started fighting over every dispute, there would be no end to the conflicts.

“Uncles! I’ve endured this woman for far too long!” Chen Nan’s expression was dark, like an enraged lion. He pointed at Liu Yao, who was cowering behind the elders, and bellowed, “This woman does nothing but curse people all day! My wife has no milk—do you think that’s her choice? Who would feed their child tree bark juice if they had a choice?”

“Times are hard enough as they are, yet she contributes nothing and only makes things worse for everyone!”

“In the past, I tolerated her sharp tongue, but now she’s trying to get her hands on my child!”

“Uncles, if I, Chen Nan, let this slide, then I don’t deserve to be called a man!”

With that, he rolled up his sleeves and darted past the elders blocking his way, charging straight at Liu Yao!

Judging by his stance, he was determined to teach her a harsh lesson tonight!

“You won’t even hear me out!” Liu Yao shouted, turning on her heels and running.

And so, the chase began. Despite her frail frame, Liu Yao was surprisingly fast, darting through the crowd, making it difficult for Chen Nan to catch her.

The elders, being too old to intervene physically, decided to persuade the mother instead. However, before they could even get close, she firmly said, “Uncles, you are reasonable people. You know the kind of people we, the Chen family, are. We’ve already tolerated her enough.”

“But this time, I can’t forgive her. And I can’t stop my husband either. There’s no point in trying to talk me out of it.”

Her words left the elders at a loss. With no other option, they turned to the younger men nearby.

“You lot! Why are you just standing there watching? Stop them already!”

“If they end up seriously hurt, it’ll hurt the unity of the group!”

“If there’s an issue, we should sit down and talk it through! If someone is truly in the wrong, we can deal with it properly afterward!”

Despite the elders’ urging, the younger men merely shrugged, showing no intention of intervening.

Frustrated, an old man struck his cane against the ground and snapped, “Fine, fine! None of you will listen to us anymore, is that it? You want to drive us old folks to our graves?!”

Hearing this, the onlookers could no longer ignore the situation.

“Uncle, that woman Liu Yao does need a lesson. She’s got a foul mouth, and she’s been asking for a beating for a long time!”

“That’s right! If she can try to steal Old Chen’s child today, who knows whose baby she’ll go after next? That crazy woman is dangerous!”

“Exactly! She’s old and unwanted, so she can’t stand seeing others have families. If she had tried to steal my child, I would have beaten her to death!”

Those with children seemed to unanimously dislike Liu Yao, their words full of disdain toward her.

Suddenly, a loud thud came from nearby.

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw Liu Yao sprawled on the ground—she had tripped over a rock or something else in the dim light.

This gave Chen Nan the perfect chance. In an instant, he was upon her, raising his hand to strike—

But just before his palm could land, Gu Ning’an stepped in front of him with a deep sigh.

“This is a misunderstanding.”

Chen Nan deeply respected Gu Ning’an, his benefactor. At once, he halted his motion, afraid he might accidentally hit him.

“Mr. Gu! My wife saw it with her own eyes—Liu Yao was trying to steal our child! How could this be a misunderstanding?”

“Are you saying my wife would lie and falsely accuse her?”

Gu Ning’an gestured with his hand, signaling for calm. “Don’t be so quick to act. Liu Yao did steal something—but it wasn’t your child. She stole a steamed bun from my bundle.”

“But she didn’t take it for herself. She went outside, turned it into rice porridge, and fed it all to your child.”

“If you don’t believe me, step outside and see for yourself. The bowl is still there, she hasn’t had time to clean it up. And look at your child’s mouth—there should still be some porridge residue.”

At those words, silence fell over the crowd. Everyone turned to stare at the woman holding the child, their faces filled with disbelief.

The woman quickly lowered her gaze to look at her baby.

Perhaps because the little one was full and satisfied, it had stopped crying after a brief fuss.

On the soft, pink lips of the child, there was a faint ring of white paste—like a tiny white mustache.

Still doubtful, the woman leaned in closer and sniffed near the child’s mouth.

The faint, sweet scent of wheat porridge lingered in the air, making her freeze in place.

Outside, Chen Nan returned holding Liu Yao’s battered bowl, his expression complicated. “There’s freshly cooked wheat porridge outside, and there’s still some leftover in the bowl…”

At that moment, a small group of children stepped forward from the crowd. They varied in age—the oldest looking about fifteen or sixteen, the youngest around five.

The eldest, a teenage girl, spoke solemnly. “Aunt Yao is a good person. She just has a sharp tongue, but when it comes to us kids, she genuinely cares.”

“My mother died early, and my father doesn’t understand things like a girl’s monthly matters. Aunt Yao secretly taught me everything I needed to know… Dad, you shouldn’t have said those things about her earlier.”

The youngest, a little boy, spoke in a soft, childish voice, pouting as he chimed in, “Auntie is nice. Auntie gave away her own bracelet to trade for candy for us!”

“Dad and Mom are bad! You scolded Auntie!”

Another child spoke up, looking at the surrounding adults. “Uncles, Aunt Yao is really kind to us. She told us not to tell you… She said when she calls us ‘burdens,’ she doesn’t really mean it.”

“She said times are hard, and she read in books about how, in chaotic times, some people get so desperate they sell their own children. She scolds us so that you’ll cherish us more and won’t abandon us…”