USWHC -Chapter 338 Tricked but Tricked Back (Part 8)

“My son~”

“My poor son~”

Early in the morning, Old Madam Ji was once again woken up by that long-drawn, mournful crying. Who was making all that noise? Couldn’t people get a moment of peace?

She grabbed a cleaver in one hand and a rolling pin in the other and stormed out. She was ready for a fight!

But as soon as she opened the door, Old Madam Ji froze. No way! There were people piled up outside again—and why was there a beggar this time?

As she opened the door, an old man limped forward. One of his arms was propped on a broken stick, the other hung in a rag sling across his chest, and he still had to be supported by someone else just to avoid falling.

Who was this? Old Madam Ji studied the man carefully. The limping man’s round, puffy face was a rainbow of colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. You could practically use his face as a color palette. His head was wrapped in a dirty cloth, stained with blood!

What? Had he been beaten? Old Madam Ji glanced at the woman beside him. Half of her face was swollen and discolored too, clearly beaten, though her features were still faintly recognizable.

Huh? This woman looked so much like Zhu Jie’s mother… Old Madam Ji hesitated. Then she looked at Zhu Laohan and screamed, “Oh my! Father-in-law! What happened to you?!”

At her words, Zhu Laohan and Zhu Laotai both began crying together, “My son~ How could your life turn out so miserable?!”

Hearing them, Old Madam Ji was stunned. Wait—weren’t they already taken back? What had happened now? Her eyes widened with a mix of shock and excitement.

Suddenly, Zhu Laotai grabbed her arm, half her body pressing against Old Madam Ji, crying, “Big sister! I beg you, please give the child back to me!”

“The child?” Old Madam Ji was dumbstruck by her crying. “Didn’t Zhu Jie go with you?”

Seeing this, Zhu Laohan angrily snapped, “What do you mean she went with us? She was clearly taken back by you! What are you trying to do? I’m telling you, without our consent, this is kidnapping!”

Well, talk about hypocrisy. They were clearly the ones who had tricked and taken the girl, yet now they had the nerve to accuse others.

“What are we trying to do? She was clearly taken by you!” Old Madam Ji stammered. “I gave her to you. If anything happens to her, that’s your responsibility!”

Hearing this, Zhu Laotai plopped to the ground in despair, crying, “Neighbors! Look at our faces! We were beaten like this!”

Zhu Laohan pointed to a bruise on his own body, “The Ji family really hit us hard. They wanted to take back the new bride, yet didn’t give me a single coin, beating us until arms and legs were broken. And our poor daughter is probably locked up right now! Neighbors, tell me, isn’t my daughter pitiful? How did she end up with such a family?!”

“Wait, the Ji family took her back? They’re really untrustworthy!”

“Well, I really thought Old Madam Ji was being generous this time, letting that cheap daughter-in-law go… turns out there were tricks behind the scenes. Oh no, that daughter-in-law must be suffering at home now!”

Some villagers whispered among themselves, saying things harsher than before. Hearing this, everyone started sweating for Zhu Jie’s sake.

“No way! How could the Ji family do such a thing?”

“Quick! Call the village chief! This is outright kidnapping!”

At that moment, Old Madam Ji felt utterly wronged. How? They were the ones who had taken her son. She had barely slept, and now they were causing chaos again?

“Stop talking nonsense! Why would I steal your useless kid? My son is going to marry a proper young lady!” Old Madam Ji shouted in exasperation.