She won't clear her name; she'll throw away all the scum.

Chapter 284

Yu Qingqing's body almost stiffened. She took the candy out of her pocket and shook her head frantically, "I don't want it, I really don't want it."

Chen Xiangbei frowned. Why was this guy so clueless? He wasn't doing anything like murder or arson, so why was he being so dismissive? It was just a little candy, it wasn't that serious. "It's okay, it's nothing valuable, just a few pieces of candy. It'll sweeten your mouth. It's the New Year, you have to eat sweets."

Yu Qingqing was still shaking her head, whispering, "I really don't want to."

Chen Xiangbei's face darkened. "If you don't take me in, are you going to tell my mom? How could you do this? My family kindly took you in, and you're trying to sow discord between me and my mom! You have no conscience!"

"Who's heartless?" Old Mrs. Xia's voice came from behind.

Chen Xiangbei turned his head sharply and saw Old Lady Xia pressed against the window, staring at him fiercely.

"How is this any different from seeing a ghost?" Chen Xiangbei screamed in fear.

Yu Qingqing was so startled by the shout that she screamed, scattering candy all over the floor.

"Mom!" Chen Xiangbei swallowed hard and smiled humbly at Grandma Xia, "I just wanted to get her some candy. She's so thin, she needs to eat more candy."

Grandma Xia: Oh, is it Qingqing who wants to eat?

Yu Qingqing was completely stunned. It wasn't her who wanted candy, so why was she being framed like this? "It wasn't me, I didn't..."

Chen Xiangbei interrupted her, winking at her and begging her to take the blame for him, otherwise he would really be beaten badly. Yu Qingqing was a guest, and his mother would definitely not beat a guest for a little candy. "It's you, it's you who wants candy."

Grandma Xia: "Tell me first, how did you pick the lock?"

Chen Xiangbei dared not say it. He knew that if he revealed his skill, he would be cursed to death. It was not a respectable skill; only thieves would learn such a thing.

Seeing that his sister seemed to have upset Grandma Xia, Yu Hongzhen panicked for a moment and then came in. "Auntie, did Qingqing do something wrong?"

Grandma Xia: "She did nothing wrong. How could someone as well-behaved as her make a mistake?"

Yu Zhenhong scratched his head, even more disbelieving. These words sounded sarcastic. "Auntie, if she does anything that upsets you, you must tell me, and I will... I will teach her a lesson."

It's one thing if Grandma Xia doesn't like him, since his relationship with Chen Xianghong is already settled. Even if she doesn't like him, they'll still be family. But Yu Qingqing is mentally ill and sensitive, and she's like a burden that he brought into this family. He thinks it's normal for Grandma Xia not to like her.

Honestly, Grandma Xia doesn't often praise people. Putting everything else aside, she genuinely thinks Yu Qingqing is a very good child. It's rare for her to sincerely praise someone, yet she's been misunderstood like this. Grandma Xia feels wronged for herself.

"Get out of here," Old Mrs. Xia said, pointing to the door.

While worried, Yu Hongzhen obediently rolled out, but still couldn't help but peek out the window.

Grandma Xia took the remaining candy from Chen Xiangbei's pocket, then stuffed it into Yu Qingqing's pocket, pointing to the door and saying, "You go out too. I know this has nothing to do with you."

Yu Qingqing wanted to refuse the candy; she really didn't dare to accept it.

Old Mrs. Xia impatiently pressed her hand into her own pocket. "I said I'd give it to you, so you can't refuse. I need to talk to my son for a bit. Go find your brother first."

Yu Qingqing nodded. She hadn't actually sensed any malice from Grandma Xia. Although her tone was harsh and she spoke to her fiercely, she did give her candy.

Although Chen Xiangbei had given her candy before, this was different. Chen Xiangbei's candy was stolen, and she felt uneasy taking it, so she didn't dare. But Grandma Xia was the head of the family, and she could definitely take the candy given by her.

Yu Qingqing held the candy in her pocket; she hadn't even eaten it yet, but her heart was already filled with sweetness.

"Mom, don't be impulsive." Chen Xiangbei felt bad for the candy he had finally gotten, but faced with the impending storm from Grandma Xia, he decided to put aside the small matter of losing the candy for now.

Soon, Grandma Xia came out looking refreshed and said to Chen Xiangnan, "Make that whole piece of pork belly for dinner tonight. Braised pork tastes better with more people."

Chen Xiangbei squatted in the corner of the room, silently shedding tears; he knew he couldn't escape.

Chen Xiangbei swore today that he would never make his mother angry from the first to the third day of the Lunar New Year, but at other times he would be extra careful not to make her angry.

Because their custom is that children cannot be hit or scolded from the first to the third day of the Lunar New Year.

It's a pity, today is New Year's Eve, and I can still fight. If I had known I would be found out, I would have preferred to steal candy tomorrow.

Seeing Yu Hongzhen and Yu Qingqing working together outside, some curious people came over to chat.

"Old Chen, your son-in-law came to visit so quickly?"

Old Chen: "Yes, it's celebrating the New Year with us this year."

"They didn't seem to be in very good condition before."

Old Chen: "Nobody's feeling well after spending several days on the train."

Everyone nodded in agreement. No one had looked closely when they entered the compound before, as everyone was busy with their own affairs at home, especially since it was New Year's Eve.

Now that Yu Hongzhen's coat was borrowed from Chen Xiangnan, it didn't seem strange, so no one suspected anything.

“I always said that a son-in-law who hasn’t married into the family is more useful than a donkey. Look at how hard he works. My son-in-law couldn’t even be caught up by eight horses.”

Yu Hongzhen was caught off guard by the praise and almost fell off his stool.

Old Chen felt relieved to hear this. "You see, you can't praise children, it's a problem if you do."

Yu Hongzhen smiled politely at the person who was speaking, while holding up the lantern in one hand, preparing to hang the red lantern under the eaves.

Grandma Yin held Grandma Xia's hand and quietly asked, "Is your eldest son coming back for New Year's Eve?"

Grandma Xia shook her head: "I don't know, come if you want, don't come if you don't want."

Grandma Yin: "I heard that they had another fight with the Zhu family recently. Apparently, their son did something outrageous again."

Grandma Xia became curious again, "What kind of outrageous things could he do?"

"He harassed a girl, who was the deputy factory director's daughter. He was immediately arrested and taken to the police station."

Grandma Xia immediately thought of Yu Xue. Could it be that Zhu Wenfei is still hoping to get together with Yu Xue? With his pathetic appearance, how dare he even have designs on Yu Xue?

He's like a toad lusting after a swan. If Yu Xue were to come to their compound for some training, they could give him a good noodle soup, and he'd never dare to even dream of it again.

What a pity, this girl was such a good person in her past life, and she was harmed so terribly.

Grandma Yin continued, "To win over Zhu Wenfei, they need to use money to pull strings, but last time your eldest son and his family extorted a sum of money from them. Where would the old couple get any money? That's why they've been arguing with your eldest daughter-in-law every day for the past few days. If they don't give them money, they'll hang themselves at their doorstep."

Grandma Xia became interested, "And then, what was the reaction of my eldest son and his wife?"

Grandma Yin shook her head. "Luckily you separated them. Zhu Wenying is obsessed with money. Not only did she not give them any money, she also told her own parents to die whenever they wanted. If they died, their whole family would be hers. That scared the old couple so much that they didn't dare to die, because they wanted to leave all their things to their son."