Chapter 365: Chapter 363: Kneeling and Apologizing (3rd Update)
"Oh, I’m so angry, I’m so angry!" Mrs. Lin muttered to herself on the side.
But no one paid her any attention at all.
Mu Shuangshuang stood up and took the torch from Mrs. Liu’s hand to illuminate the piglet’s body.
She groped around the piglet’s body, leaving everyone puzzled, yet surprisingly, no one stopped her.
"Grandpa, Grandma, this piglet was already sick before it was caught, and with the hot weather these past few days, it suddenly died."
Mu Shuangshuang had previously worked with a coroner for a while and was familiar with the general process, though it was for humans back then, and now it’s for animals.
"You’re talking nonsense! The piglet was fine when it was caught; Mother can testify!" Mu Dazhong was excited.
"This piglet has skinny legs, not much meat, and even the skin is loose. Normally, piglets don’t walk much shortly after birth; they mostly lie around. Moreover, pigs are particularly easy to fatten up."
"Only a sick pig that doesn’t eat much and is not in good health would have so little meat."
While talking, Mu Shuangshuang lifted the pig’s hoof for everyone to see.
Sure enough, as she said, the little piglet’s skin was loose, and pulling on it created wrinkles.
"That doesn’t prove anything. Some pigs are just small at birth, and Mother only gave so much silver; I could only choose the skinny ones." Mu Dazhong explained.
"Alright then, let’s look at its butt." Mu Shuangshuang lifted the piglet’s tail, showing everyone its butt.
"There’s evidence of diarrhea on this pig’s butt, already dried up, probably for several days. Auntie, haven’t the piglets pooped for days?"
Mrs. Liu nodded. "Yes, for several days!"
Mrs. Liu had also found it strange before, wondering why the caught piglets didn’t poop. At the time, she thought they were just too young, but now it seems that wasn’t the case at all.
"That’s it, the piglet was only caught a few days ago, and it hasn’t pooped these past few days. That means this poop was from before it was caught, so the person who caught it wasn’t careful in choosing!"
Mu Dazhong panicked, his heart now pounding in his throat.
Old Mrs. Mu suspiciously stared at Mu Dazhong: "Second, did Wang Erma deceive you? Did he give you pigs that were about to die?"
"Mother... that’s not it... don’t listen to that wretched girl talk rubbish. She clearly wants to throw mud on your son’s name; you have to believe me."
"Stop trying to steer clear of the issue. Just tell me how you bought the piglets from Wang Erma. How could he agree to sell them to you five Wen cheaper?"
Wang Erma was notorious for being stingy in the village. From him, not to mention five Wen, even half a Wen discount was impossible.
Old Mrs. Mu was blinded by those five Wen back then and didn’t check the piglets carefully.
Now that things have come to this, it’s supposed to be her bad luck.
"Mother, I have a good relationship with Wang Erma, that’s why he gave them to me cheaper." Mu Dazhong was almost at his limit now, with Old Mrs. Mu’s sharp gaze and the wretched girl staring at him.
"A good relationship? What relationship do you have with him? How come I don’t know? If you have such a good relationship, go ahead and return these two pigs, and bring back three hundred Wen."
Old Mrs. Mu gave a disdainful look at Mu Dazhong.
At this point, Mu Dazhong had become an untrustworthy person in her heart, and if he didn’t give a reasonable explanation today, she wouldn’t let him off.
"Mother, aren’t you pushing me? Are you not aware of Wang Erma’s rule? Goods sold are non-refundable, has anyone in the village gotten a refund from him after buying meat?
Besides, just because of a few words from that wretched girl, you’ve cleared her and the third and fourth branches from blame, and now everything is pinned on me; I’m not convinced!"
Mu Dazhong had a look as if a dead pig isn’t afraid of boiling water, with his arms crossed.
Mu Shuangshuang coldly watched him for a long time. "Since Second Uncle insists on irrefutable evidence, I’ll give you one today!"
Mu Shuangshuang got up and went to Old Mu’s kitchen, returning with a kitchen knife in hand.
Under the torchlight, Mu Dazhong saw the knife glinting coldly, making him clench from fear.
"Mother, the wretched girl wants to kill someone..."
As soon as he said that, everyone began to retreat and hide to the side.
Mu Shuangshuang walked through the crowd directly to the piglet. With one swipe, some pig blood splattered on her. Holding the knife, she sliced once, twice, finally extracting the pig’s stomach, and cut it open in front of the Old Mu Family.
"See that? Completely empty, this pig hadn’t eaten anything at all!"
Mu Shuangshuang’s evidence threw everyone’s attention directly onto Mu Dazhong.
"Second Brother, since it wasn’t our issue, why... why blame it on our fourth branch?" Mu Dajiang accused.
"Exactly, Second Brother, although our fourth branch has nothing, we are upright and wouldn’t do such nasty things." Mrs. Liu, covering her swollen face from being hit, questioned Mu Dazhong.
Mu Dazhong himself was at a loss for an answer. He reached out to nudge Mrs. Lin, hoping she’d think of a solution, but who knew, Mrs. Lin had already hidden away out of fear.
With a hardened heart, Mu Dazhong thought, let someone else suffer misfortune instead; just blame everything on Wang Erma being unlucky.
Mu Dazhong suddenly knelt in front of Old Mrs. Mu.
"Mother, I was deceived! At the time, Wang Erma said he knew me since childhood and wanted to give me a discount, and since our family doesn’t earn money easily, I accepted... Little did I know he’d trick me with these nearly dead pigs, I’ll go find him!"
Mu Shuangshuang watched Mu Dazhong perform a one-man show with a side-eye.
This man, from initially framing the third branch to now distancing himself, executed each step so convincingly.
If it were in modern times, he might be the best supporting actor!
"Find him? What will you find him with? This matter, I’ll have to personally address. I want to see just how arrogant this bastard dares to be!"
Old Mrs. Mu rolled up her sleeves, ready to go fight.
"Grandpa, Grandma, now that everything is clear, I won’t be involved anymore. But Grandma, you did say that if it had nothing to do with the third and fourth branches, you would bow and apologize to us."
"Wretched girl! You won’t let it go, will you? Dream on about an old woman like me bowing and apologizing!" Old Mrs. Mu outright denied what she had said, unwilling to fulfill it.
Back then, she only said it casually, thinking the third and fourth branch should be taught a lesson.
Now, even if it wasn’t the third and fourth branch, she wouldn’t do something beneath her dignity.
"Grandma, what’s there to be so worked up about? Shuangshuang hasn’t finished speaking. What I mean is, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that sentence, just as long as you don’t ’immediately think’ of the third and fourth branches whenever something happens!" Mu Shuangshuang smiled brightly.
She was still holding a kitchen knife in her right hand and a piece of pig stomach in her left, which in such a dark night, added a somewhat terrifying, frightening aura.
"You..."