USWHC -Chapter 340 Tricked but Tricked Back (Part 10)

“Hey, just go ahead and search if you want! Do you think this is some place in our house?” Old Madam Ji immediately shouted sharply.

Hearing her say that, Old Man Zhu quickly retorted, “See, see? Scared now, huh!”

The atmosphere, which had started to ease a little, instantly dropped back to freezing. Seeing this, Old Man Ji hurriedly tried to smooth things over: “Fine, anyway, there’s nothing valuable in our house. You can come in and have a look.”

He didn’t say “search,” only “have a look,” but it still counted as agreeing to the condition that Old Man Zhu had proposed.

Old Madam Ji immediately frowned and said unhappily, “If you mess up our house, you’re the one cleaning it up!”

Seeing that Old Man Ji had already spoken, the village chief quickly stepped in to reassure them: “Don’t worry, I’ll watch. I won’t let them mess anything up, alright?”

“Fine, fine!” Before Old Madam Ji could speak, Old Man Ji quickly agreed.

Old Man Zhu felt a bit uneasy. Could it be that the person hadn’t returned yet? How would that be handled? But he didn’t give up; clinging to his last shred of hope, he and Old Lady Zhu actually started searching the Ji household together, supporting each other as they went.

Of course, Zhu Jie hadn’t returned, and indeed, the Ji household wasn’t hiding anyone. The village chief walked them around, and seeing that no one was there, he became slightly annoyed with Old Man Zhu: “I told you—things like this just don’t happen in Xiangshui Village! Look, the person simply isn’t here. I suggest you report it to the authorities quickly. Don’t let it be some bandit affair. If you wait too long, your daughter could be in danger!”

Old Man Zhu stood there, silent for a long time. Danger? Yes, if they truly couldn’t find her, his own daughter would indeed be in danger!

At that moment, Old Lady Zhu hesitated: “Wait! Why haven’t I seen Jie’s husband? Could he have gone out early this morning? That can’t be, right?”

Old Madam Ji immediately rolled her eyes at her. “They haven’t lived here for a long time. How could you have seen him?”

“What? They haven’t lived here for a long time?” Old Lady Zhu suddenly slapped her thigh. “Oh no! We’ve come to the wrong place!”

She immediately began crying to the village chief: “Sir! You must help us! My daughter must have been hidden somewhere else by them!”

The village chief then remembered that Ji Yi had already set up his own household. He immediately said to Old Man Ji: “Why not take them to Ji Yi’s new house? Don’t leave them here guessing!”

Old Man Ji hesitated. That’s right! With all this commotion, why hadn’t Ji Yi come himself? Everyone in the village knew about it. He couldn’t be unaware! Could there really be some reason preventing him from coming?

Seeing Old Man Ji hesitate, Old Man Zhu perked up: “Ah! So this was all a setup! No wonder they let us search so willingly—it was the wrong place all along!”

With that, he also looked at the village chief with pleading eyes: “Sir! Now we can only rely on you to help us! Our daughter has been through so much—unjustly taken to be someone’s wife for so long. Who knows how much suffering she has endured now!”

Old Man Zhu and Old Lady Zhu kept calling him “Sir” and “Village Chief,” of course, not real authorities, but the village chief liked hearing it! Seeing their respectful and helpless pleas, combined with Old Madam Ji’s fierce stance, still standing there with hands on her hips and holding a knife, he instantly felt the urge to protect the vulnerable.

The village chief, somewhat impatient, said to Old Man Ji: “So? Is there some trick here?”

Old Man Ji quickly said, “No, no!”

He then turned to the eldest Ji brother: “Lead them to Ji Yi’s new house and show them!”

The eldest Ji brother had only been watching the excitement all along. Hearing his father, he felt no annoyance at all and, with great enthusiasm, led the group in a grand procession toward Ji Yi’s new house.

Back at home, Huaikua was anxiously waiting for Ji Yi and Zhu Jie to return. When someone knocked, she hurried to open the door, only to be stunned. Well, almost the entire village was there! What on earth were they doing?