Quick Transmigration: The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character's Revenge

Chapter 369 Swapping a Sister for a Child 12

"You doubt me?" Qi Ning retorted.

"I……"

"It's normal for you to doubt me, after all, I did have that thought."

Meng Shaoqing looked at Qi Ning in surprise.

Qi Ning smiled bitterly: "After you saved me from jumping into the river that day, I did think that if she forced me again, only one of us could live, either she or I would die."

“But she is still my mother-in-law. Even though she wasn’t very good to me, I’ve called her ‘Mom’ for two years and treated her like my own mother. How could I possibly be so heartless as to kill her?”

"So what exactly happened?" Meng Shaoqing asked.

Qi Ning stared ahead, as if recalling something.

“That night, the two chickens in the house did run away, and she and I did go to look for them separately. Later, I found the chickens first, and when I saw that she hadn’t come home yet, I was afraid that she would fall in the dark, so I went out to meet her.”

"On the way home, she was nagging me the whole way, but then she slipped and fell into the river."

"I was terrified. I didn't know what to do."

Qi Ning's expression revealed pain and inner turmoil: "I saw her struggling in the river and wanted to save her, but then I suddenly remembered that she had forced me to have an affair with Chen Dahu. I hesitated for just a moment, and then she was swept away by the river. It was too late for anything."

"I was so scared that I went home, and then... you know what happened next."

"So that's how it is," Meng Shaoqing said in a low voice.

He had no doubt about the truthfulness of Qi Ning's words.

Thinking back to his previous assumption that Qi Ning had indeed pushed Chen Hehua into the river, Meng Shaoqing felt a pang of guilt.

Indeed, Qi Ning's kind nature doesn't seem like the kind of person who would commit murder.

His tone carried a hint of apology: "I was wrong, I almost thought..."

Qi Ning raised her sleeve and wiped away non-existent tears from the corners of her eyes.

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, her words filled with regret and self-blame: "It's not your fault. You could say I killed her, even if I didn't push her down, I didn't save her. I watched her die, and that counts as harming her."

"No!"

Meng Shaoqing quickly comforted her, "You can't think like that. She fell into the river on her own, so how can you be blamed? Although you didn't save her, it's understandable. If she hadn't tried to force you to have an affair with Chen Dahu, why would you have hesitated?"

"In this light, it's entirely her karma for doing bad things. That's why God just happened to send down heavy rain, causing the river to rise, and that's why she just happened to slip and fall into the water. It's her fate."

"Really, really?"

Qi Ning seemed somewhat incredulous at Meng Shaoqing's explanation.

"of course."

Meng Shaoqing added, "It's a good thing you didn't go into the water to save her. The water was so rapid, and you can't swim. If you had rashly gone into the water to save her, you might have ended up drowning with her."

"In short, don't blame yourself. This is not your fault."

After a long while, Qi Ning finally nodded slowly, comforted by Meng Shaoqing.

The system, which was observing the situation, was somewhat puzzled: "Host, I thought you would admit to Meng Shaoqing that you killed Chen Hehua, but I didn't expect you to lie to him."

Qi Ning reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear: "What are you saying? Chen Hehua died by accident after falling into the water. How could a kind and gentle woman like me possibly kill someone?"

System: "...Okay, okay."

Qi Ning and Meng Shaoqing went to the yamen and returned to the village unharmed.

Although Chen Dahu confessed to the truth about the backyard that day, and the county magistrate acquitted Qi Ning and Meng Shaoqing, the village has never lacked gossips, and some rumors about the two of them still spread for a while.

Especially after learning of Meng Jiyang's "death," Qi Ning became a widow.

It's true that there's a lot of gossip around a widow's door.

Meng Shaoqing was afraid of damaging Qi Ning's reputation and causing her to do something foolish, so he deliberately avoided her and kept his distance from her.

In fact, Meng Shaoqing's courtyard was not far behind Meng Jiyang's house. Meng Shaoqing usually passed by their house on his way home, but now, because of what happened, he has to take a long detour to get home.

Qi Ning did the same; she stayed home and didn't go out during the few days she was back.

However, two or three days later, the Chen family came to cause trouble again.

The reason was simple: Chen Dahu was dead.

That day, Chen Dahu was given seventy strokes of the cane in the yamen. His injuries were so severe that even though his family hired a doctor and used expensive medicine to keep him alive for two or three more days, he still died in the end.

Chen Dahu suffered greatly before his death; he was literally tortured to death.

Chen Dahu was the pillar of the Chen family, and his death was a huge blow to the family.

Not to mention, in order to treat Chen Dahu and keep him alive for those two or three days, the Chen family almost exhausted all their savings.

Now that they have lost both their money and their people, they naturally blame it all on Qi Ning and have come to Mengjia Village to cause trouble for him again.

They blocked Qi Ning's door, banging on it and cursing loudly.

The loudest curses came from Chen Dahu's wife, Wei.

"Qi, you poisonous woman, come out here!"

"You jinx! Not only did you kill your own mother-in-law, you also killed my husband! Why don't you just die!"

"Qi family, come out here..."

When Wei shouted, almost everyone in Mengjia Village heard her voice.

Hearing the commotion, the villagers quickly gathered in front of Qi Ning's house to watch the excitement.

A large crowd slowly gathered, watching the Chen family members hurl insults at Qi Ning's doorstep. Upon learning of Chen Dahu's death, they whispered among themselves.

Meanwhile, Meng Shaoqing was reading at home.

Upon hearing the insults, he immediately understood what had happened.

He had previously thought that because of what happened last time, there were already some rumors in the village about his relationship with Qi Ning, so he should keep his distance from her and not go to her house anymore.

But as the argument over there seemed to be getting louder and louder, Meng Shaoqing stared at the book in his hand, unable to concentrate on reading it at all.

After deliberating for a long time, he decided to go and see what was going on.

Meng Shaoqing went out and arrived at Qi Ning's door, standing in a less conspicuous position behind the crowd.

Qi Ning remained calmly inside the house and did not go out, letting the Chen family members make a scene outside.

Only after hearing from the system that Meng Shaoqing had arrived did Qi Ning finally get up and go out, opening the door wide.

When Meng Shaoqing arrived, he saw Qi Ning coming out of there.

The Chen family was still banging on the door and hurling insults. They thought Qi Ning would stay inside and wouldn't come out. They were just about to find something to break down the door when Qi Ning opened it and came out.

Qi Ning stood in the doorway, her hand on the doorframe, and asked, "What are you doing?"

The Chen family was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening.

"You still have the nerve to ask us what we're doing? Do you even know that you've ruined our Da Hu's life, you jinx?"

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