Resolving Trouble

Chen Jing told Qiao An about her tragic encounter. “I was originally a university student, but it was my fault for not reading people well. I fell in love with a peddler outside the school. Seeing that he was quite good-looking and he extended an olive branch to me, I fell in love with him.”

“A few months after I fell in love with him, he suddenly told me affectionately one day that his parents wanted to see me. He wanted me to go back to his house with him. I thought that I would need to see my in-laws sooner or later, so I came here with him.”

“When I got here the first day, everything was normal. He introduced his parents to me and his old single brother. I didn’t notice anything unusual at all. It wasn’t until after dinner that I realized I didn’t have the strength for some reason, and they locked me in a room in the basement, then let his brother in to accompany me. I realized something was wrong.”

When Chen Jing said this, perhaps because she had been too agitated, her body began to tremble, and her words began to be unclear.

However, Qiao An had seen a glimpse of what had happened and was so angry that she cursed.

“Beasts. How dare they abduct women in broad daylight. I must punish them.”

Xing Chen looked at the indignant Qiao An and hugged her with heartache. “An’an, how can your small body withstand the torture? Tell me, how do you want to punish them? I’ll carry it out.”

Qiao An said, “I have to think about it.”

After a short rest, the eastern sky turned bright. Xing Chen quickly got up and busied himself making breakfast for Qiao An.

Qiao An got up slowly and hugged his waist gently from behind. “Brother Xing Chen, how are we going to settle Chen Jing?”

Xing Chen said solemnly, “An’an, in order not to alert the enemy, we have to send her back.”

Qiao An refused. “That would be tantamount to pushing her into the fire again.”

Xing Chen said, “An’an, I’ll think of a way to save her from the sea of fire as soon as possible.”

Qiao An still shook her head. “It hurts to live a second like that. I won’t send her back. We’ll hide her.”

Unable to dissuade Qiao An, Xing Chen said, “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”

Xing Chen rubbed Qiao An’s sleepy face and coaxed her, “Go back to sleep. I’ll heat up breakfast in the pot. Eat with Sister-in-law Chen Jing when you wake up.”

Qiao An went back to the house to sleep.

Qiao An had thought that Chen Jing would be safe hiding in the cabin in the remote back mountain. Unexpectedly, she was woken up by the commotion outside just after dawn.

“Qiao An, let Chen Jing out.”

Qiao An sat up in shock and glanced at Chen Jing, who was trembling in the corner. Qiao An’s face darkened.

The house was too small to hide in. Chen Jing could not hide anymore.

The people outside began to knock rudely on the door.

Qiao An put on her coat and opened the door calmly.

Outside was a group of villagers with weapons.

Chen Jing’s in-laws pointed at Qiao An aggressively and scolded, “Qiao An, Chen Jing is my daughter-in-law, but you hid her. What are you up to?”

“Are you going to send Chen Jing away? Qiao An, if you do that, you’ll be the sinner of our village.” Chen Jing’s father-in-law jeered. “Village Head, Qiao An has the intention to break the rules of our village. We can’t let her leave the village alive?”

Qiao An’s face darkened.

She had never dreamed that these people regarded human lives as grass.

Qiao An looked around curiously. She was puzzled when she didn’t see Xing Chen. At this moment, Xing Xiaoya walked forward and said smugly, “Qiao An, don’t expect Brother Xing Chen to save you. Why don’t you think about who betrayed you?”

Her words were clearly hinting that Xing Chen had betrayed Chen Jing.

Qiao An naturally didn’t believe Xing Xiaoya. After all, she knew Xing Chen’s character. She was just puzzled. Where did Xing Chen go?

Xing Xiaoya added fuel to the fire. “It’s true that Brother Xing Chen likes you, but it’s also true that he’s connected to the villagers. You saw through the rules of the village and brought disaster to the village. Brother Xing Chen naturally chose to put righteousness before family without hesitation.”

Qiao An’s heart sank at these words.

This village seemed to have a lot of secrets.

“Where’s Xing Chen?” she asked.

Xing Xiaoya leaned closer to her. “Think about it. If Brother Xing Chen hadn’t snitched, how could Chen Jing’s parents-in-law have found this place so quickly? This is the way up the mountain. Who would have thought that she would go up the mountain instead of down?”

Qiao An looked at her shameless face. At this moment, she was not in the mood to think carefully about the reason for Chen Jing’s leak. Instead, she had to send Chen Jing’s in-laws away. Otherwise, she would not be able to protect Chen Jing and would even attract trouble.

Qiao An walked up to Chen Jing’s parents-in-law and smiled. “Uncle, you’ve misunderstood me. Didn’t I accompany you to find Sister-in-law last night? I was too tired in the second half of the night, so Xing Chen and I went home. Who knew that we would meet Chen Jing on the way up the mountain?”

She pointed at her head and spouted nonsense in all seriousness. “She seemed to be a little confused and said that she was lost and couldn’t find her way home. I was too tired, so I discussed with Xing Chen to send her back to you when I woke up this morning. Who knew that you would come to me early in the morning to ask for her? Tell me, why would a woman like me hide Chen Jing?”

Qiao An’s words dispelled their concerns.

“Uncle, Qiao An and Xing Chen did help us find Sister-in-law for a long time last night. I believe Sister-in-law Chen Jing didn’t deliberately hide it?” Dahai testified.

Qiao An stepped aside. “Chen Jing is inside. Take her away.”

The village head looked at Xing Xiaoya in confusion, his expression dark. “Xing Xiaoya, what exactly is going on?”

Xing Xiaoya said, “Village Head, don’t believe her. She’s scheming. She’s lying to you. Don’t fall for her trap, okay?”

Qiao An looked at Xing Xiaoya coldly. It seemed that the informant was Xing Xiaoya. Had she eavesdropped on their conversation last night?

It was so late, but she actually came to eavesdrop. She had to teach her a lesson today.

“Xing Xiaoya, who doesn’t know that you like Xing Chen and Xing Chen likes me? Do you hold a grudge because of this? You can take revenge on me, but there’s no need to implicate others.”

Xing Xiaoya said, “I didn’t take revenge on you…”

Qiao An said, “You didn’t take revenge on me? Then I’m curious. How did you know about last night? Could it be that you eavesdropped on our conversation by this cabin? It’s not honorable to do such a thing in the middle of the night, right? It makes sense for you to frame me.”

The village head fell into deep thought.

There were often cases of trafficking of women in the village. This matter concerned the interests of the entire village. If Qiao An didn’t know, this matter could be reduced to a small matter.

If Qiao An knew, he would have to find a way to silence her. But at this moment, the volunteers were all in the village. If Qiao An disappeared inexplicably, it would definitely cause trouble.

How could Qiao An not know what the village head was thinking? She opened the door and pulled out the dazed Chen Jing.