As the Huang family opened their mouths to argue, she cut them off, "I should remind you that I got this divorce certificate because your son married another woman before we were even divorced. If I report this to the authorities, your son will end up in jail for marrying two women at the same time."
Aunt Huang froze at her words, and said while pointing shakily at Liu Piao, "Y-you’re lying! My son would never do that!"
"If you don’t believe me, go check with the city’s government office. That woman caused a huge ruckus there the day I got the divorce. I’m sure the staff still remember her, especially since that woman’s father held a position in the government," Liu Piao said as she smiled faintly.
Initially, Aunt Huang had intended to put all the blame on Liu Piao and refuse to acknowledge the divorce. But upon hearing that her son had married the daughter of an official, she quickly changed her mind. Compared to a villager, having an official’s daughter as her daughter-in-law brought far more prestige to her and her family.
Even so, Aunt Huang wasn’t willing to let the matter go easily. Acknowledging Liu Piao’s words would mean compensating her for the damage done to her house. So, she had to find a way to get her to pay them instead.
While both parties weighed the situation, An Xuyuan stepped forward and said, "Since the facts are clear, the Huang family must compensate Comrade Liu for smashing her things. As for the accusation of hooliganism against Comrade Liu and Comrade Zhang, Comrade Huang will need to come with me to the office for further investigation."
The young woman’s face turned pale at his words. In her panic, she cried, "I’m not going!"
Then, she turned to her aunt and pleaded, "Aunt, you have to help me! You told me to follow Liu Piao and report her. You can’t just leave me to face this alone!"
Her words drew sharp, meaningful gazes from the onlookers. It became clear that everything had been orchestrated by the Huang family to destroy Zhang Ermu and Liu Piao. What a vile group they were!
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Aunt Huang rushed over and slapped her niece hard across the face.
SLAP!
"You wretch, it’s all because of you! You misled everyone due to your jealousy! If you had told us your cousin had divorced Liu Piao, would we have come here today?" she shouted angrily.
The moment the other Huang family members heard her words, their eyes flashed with realization and they quickly joined in, pointing fingers at the young woman. Even her father blamed her.
The young woman’s heart grew cold as she slumped to the ground. She looked at her family with tears streaming down her face. She shook her head and said, "It wasn’t me—it was all of you who—"
Before she could finish her words, Aunt Huang slapped her again. This time, the force behind the slap was greater and it split the corner of her lips. Grabbing her by the hair, Aunt Huang hissed, "If you want to survive, you had better shut up!"
An Xuyuan watched the scene unfold with calm detachment. He had no intention of bringing the woman to the office. His goal for saying those words was to uncover the mastermind for today’s matter. Now that the truth was out, it was time to wrap things up. He was busy and had already spent too much time here.
Turning to Liu Piao, he said, "Comrade Liu, please calculate your losses and report them to the production team’s office tomorrow. I will send staff to the Huang family to ask for compensation."
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