10 Chapter 010: Pretending

But when she thought about it carefully, she really couldn't figure out what she had done to offend Zhuang Jingye. Zhuang Qingning could only attribute it to his possibly bad mood and became even more focused on dealing with the situation.

"Uncle, have some tea," Zhuang Ruman said obsequiously. Instead of calling him village chief, he referred to him as uncle according to their seniority, hoping to close the gap between them.

"I'm not blind, can't I see that I'm drinking tea? What do you think I should drink, rat poison?" Zhuang Jingye replied, irritated.

"Oh, uncle, you must be joking, haha...haha..." stammered Zhuang Ruman, completely thrown off guard. His face flushed awkwardly.

What a idiot!

Zhuang Jingye resisted the urge to kick him and glared at him, "Enough of that. What's the matter that requires you to seek me out early in the morning?"

"Well, our hens have been laying more eggs these days. So, I was thinking, you're always working hard managing the whole village, you must need something to replenish your strength. So, I picked a few of the freshest eggs to bring to you."

"You can ask Mrs. Song to make egg tea for you. It's convenient and tasty." With a smirk on his face, Zhuang Ruman placed the basket of eggs on a small tea table.

Who really knows if these eggs are good or not, or whether they replenish strength. But one thing is for sure...you, Zhuang Ruman, you're so cunning!

Zhuang Jingye glanced at Zhuang Ruman, "Get to the point."

Having his motives blatantly pointed out made Zhuang Ruman flushed with embarrassment. He chuckled awkwardly and said, "Uncle, I'll be honest with you. Two of my nieces, Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui ran away from home."

"Oh? They ran away? Why?" Zhuang Jingye leaned back in his chair, feigning indifference.

"Ah, it's all my fault, I didn't pay much attention to them before. As girls, they usually stay with Mrs. Song. But unexpectedly, Mrs. Song is nice to them in front of me but treats them harshly behind my back."

"I was aware of Mrs. Song's bad temper. She may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but she's definitely hot-tempered. I was also worried about her not treating my nieces well. But, whenever I asked them how they were, they said they were well-fed and well-dressed, so I didn't suspect anything."

"Yesterday, I overheard Qingning arguing with Mrs. Song, saying she was unhappy about the houses and farmland being given to our family instead of her and Qingsui. I even promised to give them the profits from the farmland as their dowry."

"It's a rule: if the family doesn't have a male heir, the daughter can't inherit the property but instead, it's passed along to the brother who has a male heir. It's typical for me, as their uncle, to collect these things. It's totally justified. I took away their properties, but in return, the profits are given to them as their dowry, which I think is quite reasonable."

"However, Qingning and Qingsui wouldn't listen to me and kept stubbornly asking for the farmland and houses. So I stopped speaking, thinking they would understand once they've given some thought. But instead, they quietly disappeared... "

"The world outside the village is chaotic. These girls are inexperienced and have nothing to survive on the streets. Besides dealing with hardships, I dread the thought of them encountering any bad people out there. How am I supposed to face my deceased brother and sister-in-law?"

Zhuang Ruman tried to hold back his tears, "I've been anxiously looking for them everywhere with Mrs. Song, but we haven't found them. I asked people in the village, but no one seemed to have seen them."

"Finally, with no other options, I come to you, hoping you might help us make some inquiries. If anyone sees them, they might inform us, and we can find the girls soon."

Having finished speaking, he lowered his head and wiped the corner of his eyes.

Looking at him, he seems like a genuinely concerned uncle.

Zhuang Jingye inwardly cursed.

What a phony!

What argument? What claims to property? When Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui came to him for establishing a registry for unmarried women, they didn't mention a word about it. They clearly knew the rules and had no intention of seizing what's not rightfully theirs. And yet you're here falsely accusing them of breaking the rules.

And pretending not to know about Mrs. Song's misdeeds, claiming you couldn't get the truth out of the girls, you're clearly pushing all the blame onto Mrs. Song and the girls, keeping yourself perfectly innocent.

Everyone in the village knows Mrs. Song is selfish and ill-tempered, often causing quarrels with others, but she is surprisingly submissive to her husband, which is you, Zhuang Ruman. If you had disallowed it earlier, would she dare to abuse the girls so recklessly?

You clearly knew and even instigated it but in the end, you shifted all the blame onto Mrs. Song. You portray yourself as pitiful and innocent, such hypocrisy and selfishness are most detestable!

What's even more detestable is that you take others for idiots and think you can deceive me, the wise and observant village chief, with just a few words.

You are so wrong, thinking you could deceive me with your tricks.

Zhuang Jingye scoffed, "Actually, if you want to find Qingning and Qingsui, it's not difficult."

"Uncle, do you have a way to find them?" Zhuang Ruman was overjoyed.

He knew it was the best decision to ask Zhuang Jingye for help. These eggs were, indeed, worth it.

"Well, it's not really a solution, but yesterday, Qingning and Qingsui didn't go anywhere else but came to me for help," Zhuang Jingye glanced at Zhuang Ruman, "They wanted me to help them with something."

Did they come to Zhuang Jingye to complain?

Zhuang Ruman's heart sank.

These two audacious girls! As soon as I find them, I will have Mrs. Song straighten them up!

"Uncle, they must have complained a lot about us. But whatever they said is just one side of the story. I hope you won't take it too seriously. They might be resentful because of the farmland issue and are probably saying whatever they want now..."</p