Chapter 21: A Good Show
Su Guilan pushed open Su Yaoguang’s door. With a bang, the door swung open. A group of people stood at the doorway, peering inside.
Su Yaoguang was lying in bed resting. Hearing the commotion, she sat up angrily and said, "What are you doing? How can you just barge into a girl’s room without so much as a greeting?"
Su Guilan looked at the bulged spot next to Su Yaoguang, a sinister smile of success flashed in her eyes.
She cleared her throat and said loudly, "Yaoguang, have you seen Mutou?"
Su Yaoguang looked at Su Guilan in surprise, "Aunt, I’m not feeling well today and resting in my room. I didn’t know you and Cousin Mutou came back to Anning Village. Why would you come to my home looking for Cousin Mutou?"
"I saw him come in, don’t try to hide it from me." Su Guilan said as she walked into the room, "Your Cousin Mutou is just like a child, he must be hiding somewhere to play with us!"
As she spoke, she yanked off the blanket next to Su Yaoguang, revealing just an old quilt, with no sign of the two-hundred-pound oaf.
"Aunt, I haven’t left my chamber yet, and in front of everyone, you uncover my quilt, isn’t that too much?" Su Yaoguang, furious, got out of bed, her eyes full of anger.
"How could it be... impossible..." Su Guilan scoured the room; only the old wardrobe could hide Mutou’s body.
She wanted to open the wardrobe, but it was locked.
Su Guilan was sure Mutou was in the room. Not on the bed, the wardrobe was the most suspicious place.
"Did you hide Mutou? I’m telling you, Mutou is afraid of the dark. If he’s frightened because you hid him here, you’ll pay for it."
"Aunt, you are really peculiar. I was doing nothing at home but trying to rest, and you barged in with people, demanding I hand over Cousin Mutou. I’m not feeling well today, my whole body is weak. If it weren’t for your intrusion, I’d probably still be asleep!"
"Someone, open this wardrobe, and we’ll know. If you’ve nothing to hide, then open it."
The villagers still stood at the door.
Hearing that Mutou might be in the room, they weren’t foolish and knew Su Guilan intended to pin Su Yaoguang down now that Zhang Zhaodi was away.
As long as Mutou was found in Su Yaoguang’s room in the current situation, her reputation would be ruined. With a little more fuss from Su Guilan, it would be a sealed fate.
"This is a girl’s wardrobe, and it has my personal clothes inside. Asking me to open it is meant to humiliate me, trying to drive me to despair, isn’t it?" Su Yaoguang cried, "I know you all despise our family for not having a male. But my father joined the army, otherwise, I’d have a brother to help. Bullying us orphans and widows, are you not afraid my father will settle accounts? Boohoo, you’re so excessive. I can’t even peacefully rest at home without facing your harassment."
"Mother of Mutou, isn’t there some misunderstanding? I don’t see Mutou here. Why don’t you go look elsewhere?" Aunt Li couldn’t stand it anymore and spoke up.
"No way, Mutou did come in." Su Guilan said, "If I don’t get the key, I’ll smash it! My Mutou is afraid of the dark, if he’s scared, you’ll pay for it."
"What if he’s not here?" Su Yaoguang, eyes red, stubbornly looked at Su Guilan.
"If he’s not in there, I’ll apologize." Su Guilan said, "But if he is, you’ll pay for it."
"An apology is useless! A few airy words, and it doesn’t benefit me at all. You must compensate me fifty cents; my reputation is at stake and must be compensated."
"You must be crazy for money, huh?" Su Guilan looked at her as if at a fool.
"If you give it, I’ll give you the key. If not, then don’t think about getting the key. Let’s see who dares to break my lock today. If it’s broken without my consent, I’ll report it to the authorities."
"Fine, you want money, right, I’ll give it to you. Let’s see what other excuses you can find." Su Guilan, of course, didn’t want to give it, but she was convinced Su Yaoguang was blocking her in this way. She wanted first to find Mutou and leave Su Yaoguang speechless. Then see what reasons she could still find to argue.
Su Guilan didn’t have money with her, so she had to borrow from the villagers. A group of spectators finally pooled together fifty cents.
Su Yao’er accepted the money and handed over the key.
Su Guilan eagerly unlocked it and opened the wardrobe, only to find clothes and old bedding, with no one inside.
"Now do you believe me? I told you, I haven’t seen Cousin Mutou." Su Yaoguang said angrily, "Now, can you leave my room?"
Zhou Wangshu squeezed in and saw so many people in the room.
He stood in front of Su Yaoguang, glaring at the crowd, "What do you want? Breaking into someone’s home, are you trying to rob?"
"Wang Shu..." Su Yaoguang clung to Zhou Wangshu’s arm, sobbing uncontrollably. "I wasn’t feeling well today, resting in my room, and my aunt barged in with people. I’m a single, unwed girl, and she comes into my room looking for her son. Isn’t this ruining my reputation? Wang Shu, report this right away."
"Stop crying, take care of yourself. I’ll head to the city and report it to the authorities right now; let the magistrate uphold justice for us." Zhou Wangshu turned to leave, when he heard a shocked voice from outside.
"Hurry! Mutou has passed out in the manure pit!"
Su Guilan rushed to the manure pit upon hearing that voice.
There lay Mutou on the manure pit, covered in filth, even his face wasn’t spared.
The most horrifying part was the corners of his mouth were smeared with excrement.
"Ugh..."
"That’s disgusting. Gosh, I don’t think I can eat tonight."
"Did Mutou fill himself up?"
"Ugh..."
Su Guilan shrieked, reaching out to push Mutou but couldn’t bring herself to do it.
"Help me lift Mutou out."
"He’s your own son, you do it."
"Your son is so heavy, we can’t lift him. Besides, why should we?"
"Oh my god..." Su Yaoguang covered her mouth, shocked at the sight. "We use that manure water for growing vegetables, and Cousin Mutou ate so much of it. Now he’s muddled it all up. How can we grow veggies then?"
The crowd: "..."
Su Guilan yelled angrily, "Su Yaoguang, what did you do to Mutou?"
"I didn’t even see Cousin Mutou, how could I have done anything to him? Aunt, Cousin Mutou snuck to our house to steal manure water, we’re the ones suffering, aren’t we?"
"Wang Shu, if the manure water runs low, our vegetables won’t grow well. Let’s consider if our veggies don’t grow, we might not have enough to eat. But well, since he is my cousin, this loss we have to accept. Aunt, give me another three hundred cents, and I won’t ask Cousin Mutou to compensate for what he ate."
Zhou Wangshu said, "Yaoguang, you have such a kind heart."