PWE – Chapter 3 Thunder Exposes a Cruel Lie

Zhan Hongda drew in a sharp breath.

His feet moved back a few steps on their own, afraid that another thunderbolt might strike and implicate him.

But then he remembered—he was his mother’s own son, and everyone was watching. Him cowering like this didn’t look right.

So he shuffled forward again, voice trembling as he asked, “Mom, are you… are you okay?”

Xu Meifeng exhaled a puff of white smoke.

She turned around in a daze, glancing first at her son, then at the others around her. She saw the villagers staring at her with a mix of fear and contempt. Her breath hitched, and panic spread wildly in her chest like weeds.

She had been struck by lightning while making a vow. What did that mean? It meant she really had beaten and scolded that little bastard Zhan Jinzhao before.

Now that the villagers knew, they would definitely hold it against her. The idea of taking Jinzhao away was out of the question.

She couldn’t let things keep spiraling like this. She had to steady the villagers, had to take Zhan Jinzhao away. Only by taking him could she get hold of the stipends that Zhan Zeyan sent home. With those stipends, she would finally have the money to marry off her third son.

Suppressing the pain in her head, she forced a grin and hurriedly said: “Just a coincidence, that’s all. What a coincidence! The thunder must mean it’s going to rain. Well, it hasn’t rained in a long time. A good downpour would be nice.”

She tried desperately to explain it away. But before her words even settled, another thunderbolt split the sky.

This time it didn’t strike her head, but blasted the ground right at her toes—almost hitting her feet.

Xu Meifeng screamed in terror and instinctively leapt aside.

From the gate, a villager shouted: “The lightning’s not striking anyone else, only you. Xu Meifeng, stop calling it coincidence! You must have done something wicked, and Heaven is punishing you. Even Heaven can’t stomach you!”

“Exactly! If even Heaven can’t tolerate you, just imagine how viciously you must’ve beaten that poor child. That boy is really pitiful, suffering under you like that.”

“The worst part is how you pretended to be a loving grandmother in front of everyone, so tender and attentive, but in secret you treated him that way! Xu Meifeng, you accused Xiao Wange of being heartless, but you’re the truly heartless one!” another villager said in disgust, glaring at her.

Shaken by the thunder, Xu Meifeng felt suffocated now under the villagers’ reproach, as though her very breath might stop.

She frowned, about to defend herself, when the village chief cut her off sharply: “Xu Meifeng, you’ve truly disappointed me!”

The lightning had struck her—that was Heaven itself showing its judgment. What reason did he have not to believe she’d beaten the boy?

Handing the child over to someone like her would be dooming him.

The Party secretary also rebuked her sternly: “Two-faced like this—how can anyone live that way?!”

Watching Xu Meifeng being condemned by everyone, Xiao Wange tugged at the corner of her mouth, a coldly mocking smile flickering across her face.

The Thunder Summoning Talisman could actually draw five bolts of lightning, each strong enough to kill a person outright. But even if Xu Meifeng was cruel, Wange had no right to take her life. So she had weakened the talisman, ensuring the strikes wouldn’t be lethal.

She had only summoned two bolts. That was more than enough to expose Xu Meifeng’s true face.

Xu Meifeng forced out a weak protest: “I never beat him, you’re all wronging me… wronging me!”

“Still claiming you’re wronged at this point? Xu Meifeng, don’t you have any shame?” a villager scoffed, voice dripping with ridicule.

“Shame? Clearly not. If she had any, she would’ve run off in disgrace already. Look at her—still trying to explain.”

“I remember what my mother-in-law said—she always claimed Xu Meifeng looked mean-spirited, definitely not a good person. I didn’t believe it before. She seemed so friendly, always smiling, treating that boy so well. I thought she was a kind soul. But my mother-in-law was right all along. Xu Meifeng really is rotten to the core!”

“Village chief, secretary, you must not hand Jinzhao over to Xu Meifeng. If you do, she’ll just beat him every day.”

“That’s right, don’t give him to her!”

Now, Xu Meifeng had become the target of universal hatred.

Her heart raced in panic. She turned desperately toward the chief and the secretary, clutching at her last hope: “Village chief, secretary, I—”

“The boy can’t go to you! Go home!” the chief snapped coldly, refusing to hear another word.

Her final hope shattered. Xu Meifeng felt crushed—not just from losing the child, but from having her true self exposed.

Lifting her eyes, she caught sight of Xiao Wange smiling at her, full of relish.

Rage surged instantly within her.

It was all Xiao Wange. That wretched woman! If she hadn’t forced her to swear, Heaven wouldn’t have noticed, she wouldn’t have been punished! It was all Xiao Wange’s fault!

Her eyes flashed with fury as she jabbed a finger toward Wange and shouted harshly: “Even if the boy can’t come with me, he absolutely can’t stay with her! She starves him, makes him wear thin clothes in the dead of winter. This very morning I saw Jinzhao’s face flushed red, clearly burning with fever. Village chief, if you don’t want him beaten to death, take him away from her!”

If Wange wouldn’t let her off, then she wouldn’t let Wange off either!

If the boy was taken away, Zhan Zeyan would stop sending money. Without those stipends, let’s see how arrogant that slut could be!

Zhan Hongda shared the same thought as his mother: if the boy couldn’t come to them, then Wange shouldn’t benefit either. She only wanted custody for Zhan Zeyan’s money. Well, they wouldn’t let her succeed.

Glaring at Wange, Hongda chimed in: “That’s right, village chief. The boy can’t stay with her! Didn’t you see? This morning he could barely walk—he must be sick. She’s already made him ill, turning a healthy boy into this. What kind of guardian is that?”

The village chief and secretary both turned to Xiao Wange.

Making a child sick was indeed inexcusable. But if they took him away, who would raise him? That was the problem.

Just as they were struggling with the decision, Xiao Wange spoke up: “Village chief, secretary, I know I was wrong before. But I’ve truly changed. I was blinded, thinking since he wasn’t my own child, there was no point in caring. But then I had a bad fall—I could barely get up. And through it all, Jinzhao stayed by my side, crying and begging me not to die. Despite how I treated him, he still cared for me. In that moment, my heart softened. I swore I would cherish him like my own from then on.”

She needed a plausible reason for her sudden change of heart. That fall was the perfect story.

Her words were heartfelt, her expression full of sincerity. The chief and secretary hesitated, wondering if perhaps it was better to leave the boy with her after all.

But Xu Meifeng, seeing them wavering, quickly cut in: “Don’t be fooled! She only wants the stipends Zhan Zeyan sends. That’s all she cares about! If she had really changed, she wouldn’t be standing here arguing—she’d be at the doctor with the boy right now. He has a high fever, he’ll die if untreated! But look at her, she doesn’t even know where he is. For all you know, he’s too sick to get out of bed!”

“I’m not sick, Uncle!”

A tender voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned, and there was Zhan Jinzhao, stepping out of the kitchen in a thick cotton coat.

His complexion was normal, not flushed in the slightest. He looked bright-eyed and healthy, walking briskly with no sign of fever.

Everyone: “…” Wasn’t he supposed to be burning up with fever? He didn’t look sick at all.

Xiao Wange’s steps quickened toward the boy.

She’d been about to call him out anyway, guessing he’d finished his egg. She hadn’t expected him to come on his own, as if they shared a tacit bond.

She reached him and gently held his small hand in hers.

Jinzhao’s brows lifted slightly, warmth flooding his heart.

Mama was holding his hand again. It felt so good.

The village chief, seeing the boy perfectly fine, sighed in relief.

He rounded on Xu Meifeng and Zhan Hongda angrily: “Didn’t you say the boy was sick? Where’s the sickness? You two do nothing but stir up trouble!”

Remembering that Xu Meifeng had shown one face in public and another in private, secretly abusing the child, the chief’s irritation with the two of them deepened.

Xu Meifeng herself was stunned. She was certain that brat had been sick—she’d seen it clearly, even touched his head, burning hot. How could he be fine now? Had he taken medicine? But would that slut Xiao Wange really spend money on him?