Chapter 243: Two Brides
“Hey, what are you all doing?”
With that booming voice, Grandma hurried over to her grandkids, dusting off her grandson’s clothes that got dirtied by stones. Then, she shot a furious glare at Xia Ling and Xia Yu. “What in the world are you two doing? Throwing stones at my grandson? Don’t you know that’s dangerous?”
Xia Ling, already in a state of high irritation, found herself even angrier at this unreasonable old lady’s accusation. “He started it by throwing stones at me and my sister! Since you’re his grandma, why don’t you manage him better?”
“He’s just a kid and doesn’t know better! Can’t you two grown-ups behave yourselves? What a waste of a pretty face!” “You…”
But before Xia Ling could unleash her righteous anger, adults started arriving in a flurry, including Xia Yu and Xia Ling’s parents.
Of course, the old lady recognized that Xia Yu and Xia Ling were there for the wedding, so as soon as they made a splash, some old-timers rushed to call for backup to deal with the situation.
“What’s going on? What happened?”
Seeing that Xia Yu and Xia Ling were in trouble, Xia Hong, their father, stepped in to address the chaos. Who else would intervene to help them?
Before Xia Ling could say much, the old lady wasted no time launching another verbal attack. “I was sitting in the shade over there, relaxing, while my grandson played here. But these two threw stones at him! Look at this nonsense! My grandson is hurt!”
She pulled her tearful little troublemaker over and parted his hair, revealing a noticeable bump and a suspiciously greenish bruise on his forehead. Definitely Xia Ling’s handiwork.
“…You were the one who ignored your grandson when he threw stones at us first! And to top it off, he spat on me! You didn’t stop him, and there’s still spit on the ground!” Pointing to the brownish-green blob on the ground, Xia Ling displayed it like evidence from a crime scene.
“Hmph, so you claim my grandson spat on you! What about saying you girls were the ones who made him run away? Is that not possible?” The old lady patted her grandson’s back reassuringly, but the little brat was so freaked out by all the adults he didn’t dare to own up to anything that might embarrass him. So, with a bob of his head, he said, “Yeah, they spat on me first, then I ran away, and they threw stones at me afterward.”
This… this ridiculous old lady and her grandson were driving Xia Ling nuts. Who knew this outing would turn into such a fiasco? “Is that really how it went?” Xia Hong asked his little girl.
“Of course not! He spat on me first, and then my sister pulled me away to save me from getting slobbered on! If you don’t believe me, let’s call the cops to investigate! Get the law enforcement over here!”
Seeing the situation escalating to law enforcement levels raised eyebrows among the observing adults.
“Alright, alright, if anyone saw anything, just speak up. Are you really going to let it get to the point where the cops get involved?” “Exactly, that would be so unlucky!”
“Didn’t anyone notice from the shade over there?”
……
After much adult chatter, finally, a middle-aged uncle spoke up. “I saw it! I was sitting right there and I definitely saw that this kid started it with the stones! And there were a few other kids with him too.”
That’s right; the reason he hadn’t spoken up until now was the grumpy old lady’s connection to the village, and nobody wanted to rock the boat and end up on her bad side, especially when it could mean losing neighborly relations.
Once he spoke, though, a few adults started calling over curious kids still loitering nearby. Did those little ones dare to disobey?
So, a group of six boys, attracted by the commotion, were summoned, and of course, included the rascally grandson.
Xia Hong didn’t believe for a second that his daughters would stoop to such childish antics. Now, the only concern was whether these kids would be honest. He assumed an authoritative demeanor. “Uncle needs to ask you some questions. Just tell the truth, and you’ll be free to go. Who threw the first stone?”
All those boys had been scared of Xia Ling’s fierceness, but Xia Hong was like a giant, looming over them, making them tremble like little rabbits.
When they heard the question, they glanced around nervously at the troublemaker brother and peeked at the watching adults, sharing glances with their comrades.
“Umm… he did!”
The kids didn’t dare to lie; they all pointed at the little troublemaker.
Well, there it was! Everyone had a pretty good understanding of what had really happened.
After all, how could sweet little girls like Xia Ling and Xia Yu ever cause trouble? Clearly, it had to be that brat who hadn’t even hit puberty!
But the troublemaker’s grandmother was still stubborn. “Just because they say so doesn’t mean they’re right! They’re just kids. Why don’t you try not scaring them?”
With that, she shot an intimidating look at the children.
Come on, old lady, we all know what kind of kid your grandson is around here! Let’s wrap this up already; that little bump will heal with a bit of ointment.
It was the same uncle who stood up again, having been one of the cool-shade sitters and the one who initially reported the incident. His words carried weight with the old lady who recognized he had seen everything unfold and knew the truth. At this point, dragging it out would only make her look worse, so she begrudgingly hustled off, huffing with her grandson in tow.
As the dust settled, Xia Ling let out a sigh of relief. What a world, with all kinds of people who would spin tales to protect their grandkids. “Alright, alright, it’s all over. Let’s disperse and get back to lunch.”
Not sure who yelled that, but the crowd of adults gradually dispersed, returning to their various activities, leaving only Xia Hong, Wang Wenjuan, Xia Yu, and Xia Jing behind.
Noticing her dad still staring at her, Xia Ling felt a twinge of anxiety; she had just relaxed and now felt the heat of his gaze. She ducked behind Xia Yu, peeking out to see what Xia Hong was up to.
After glancing back and forth between Xia Ling and the sweet-looking Xia Yu, Xia Hong sighed. “Alright, lunch is ready over there. Let’s go eat.” With that, he turned and walked away.
So… it really ended like this?
Xia Hong’s casual attitude surprised Xia Yu and Xia Ling. They had expected him to lecture them about staying out of trouble, but he didn’t say a word.
Seeing the confused look on his daughters’ faces, Wang Wenjuan chuckled and walked over to wrap her arms around them. “Come on, my little princesses!” Hearing Xia Ling call Xia Yu her little sister was nothing new for Xia Hong, but now to hear his wife joke around like this, he decided it wasn’t worth it. After all, Xia Yu did look like quite the little girl!
At this point, Xia Hong just hoped Xia Yu would hurry up and hit puberty, grow taller, maybe sprout a few facial hairs, and develop a deeper voice… maybe only then could he get that girl back in line!
Little did he know, that day would never come.
Back home, Xia Yu and Xia Ling thought they’d get to sit at the special kids’ table, but their parents led them to the main table instead, and they took their seats…
Looking at the people at the main table, there were only three families. Since the table was big enough, they didn’t seem too crowded. Xia Yu really had no idea how they got the privilege to sit here. Even with fewer people, shouldn’t they just share a table with someone else?
But that was adult stuff, so Xia Yu quickly got distracted by the delicious food on the table, her appetite kicking in. Just a shame the adults weren’t eating yet, so she didn’t dare to pick up her chopsticks first.
Then she glanced at Xia Ling, who still wore a frown since returning home. It seemed she was mulling over whether that troublemaker had gotten off too easy.
As the sound of footsteps descended the stairs, two young women appeared, each in their mid-twenties, one cradling a baby while the other followed close behind, also holding a baby.
Xia Yu had no clue why, but the moment they stepped into the room, all eyes were suddenly on them. She guessed one of them must be the bride. Curiously, she whispered to Xia Ling, who was also eyeing the newcomers, “Which one do you think is the bride?”
“It must be the one holding the baby.”
“No, they’re both brides,” Wang Wenjuan chimed in with a smile.
Well, that revelation left Xia Yu and Xia Ling in shock. “Wait, you can marry two brides at once?!”
“What are you thinking?” Wang Wenjuan playfully tapped Xia Yu on the head. “Today, both of them are getting married, so they’re both brides. There’s no groom.”
“What about the babies?”
“They’re their own biological kids. I heard they used high-tech methods for that; I’m not quite sure.” Wang Wenjuan whispered back.
