Reborn as the Villain's Wife, I Shine in 80s

Chapter 20: Grandma effectively throws a fit

"Think whatever you want." Tian Sangsang sighed. "Chen Ming, I just threw a little pebble at Teacher Zhou earlier, but you pushed me and ended up cutting my hand. That was an iron hoe. If I get tetanus, it could be fatal. You need to cover my medical expenses, or at least find me some medicine."

"Keep dreaming!" Chen Ming shouted angrily. "Why don’t you just become a bandit?" So delicate, huh? Tetanus, really? He had accidentally scraped his foot with an iron hoe before, and after a few days, he was fine—nothing serious at all.

Tian Sangsang’s eyes sparkled as she spoke slowly, "So it seems you can’t afford it, huh? The son of the noble village chief injures someone and doesn’t even pay for their medical bills..."

"Shut up already!" Chen Ming, easily provoked, turned bright red. "I’ll bring the medicine to your house later!"

"I’ll be waiting then."

If it were someone else striking such an arrogant, queenly pose, they might even exude some authority. But on Tian Sangsang, with her grinning and bowing, her face looked like a squashed black chrysanthemum—no matter how you looked at it, she was utterly detestable. Forget queen, she’d become a queen tortoise.

"Hmph!" Chen Ming flipped his sleeve with a huff and turned his back on her.

Tian Sangsang ignored the others, her face beaming as she picked up the hoe to resume her work. But upon seeing the wound on her hand, her smile vanished. A long cut stretched across her palm, revealing flesh beneath. Blood flowed freely, dyeing her entire palm in uneven shades of red—just the sight of it was unbearable.

"Yanyan, be a good girl and stay right here. Mommy will be back soon."

Tian Sangsang ran to the edge of the field and scanned around, her sharp eyes spotting a few thistle plants. The older generation often used this to stop bleeding when they got scratched or cut working in the fields. She tore a few plants from the ground, pinched off the leaves, and used her injured hand alongside her other palm to rub them vigorously until juices oozed out. Then she pressed the leaves onto her wound, spreading the juice evenly.

The stinging sensation engulfed her entire hand, but Tian Sangsang gritted her teeth and endured it before returning to where she was.

Meng Shuyan watched his mother’s actions, his little lips pursing as his heart ached deeply for her.

Tian Tian’s eyes flashed with astonishment. The calm and composed expression on Tian Sangsang’s face was simply infuriating. She touched the faint red marks still lingering on her own face and smiled faintly...

"Tian Sangsang, you ungrateful brat!" Grandma Tian, supported by Chen Guilan, stormed over, leaning heavily on her wooden cane.

This was bad. One wave had just subsided, and here came another. After the earlier confrontation, even if Tian Sangsang wanted to fight back now, she lacked the strength.

Tian Sangsang hurriedly pulled Meng Shuyan close, taking a few quiet steps back. From the look of things, she could tell this was trouble heading her way.

"Don’t hold me!" Grandma Tian, full of authority, yanked her arm out of Chen Guilan’s grasp. Though already sixty, she was still in decent shape. Her murky yet piercing eyes demanded respect despite her age.

"Grandma," Tian Sangsang called out weakly, instinctively glancing toward Tian Tian. Out of sight from others, Tian Tian gave her a silent, mocking smile.

Damn it, was this the kind of fragile white lotus people talked about? She really wanted to slap that look off her face!

"Don’t call me grandma. I don’t have an ungrateful brat like you for a granddaughter. My lovely granddaughter is Tian Tian, and only Tian Tian!" Grandma Tian’s voice was sharp like a blade, and she looked at Tian Sangsang as if she were staring at a pile of filth.

Back in her younger days, Grandma Tian had been a strong-willed and harsh woman. After marrying, she bore three sons. Out of them, the oldest displeased her the most—dull, simple-minded, and honest to the point of being useless, completely unlike her. Just looking at him made her angry. Later, when the eldest had a daughter, Grandma Tian told him to discreetly get rid of her. But he refused and treated the girl like a treasure. As time passed, she was proven right: this eldest granddaughter grew uglier and more troublesome, like a black sow.

Grandma Tian, now full of vigor, raised her cane straight over Tian Sangsang as if to strike her. On reflex, Tian Sangsang pulled Meng Shuyan aside, and the cane landed on the ground instead of on her.

"You useless girl! How dare you dodge? Today I’ll take your dead father’s place and teach you, you bringer of bad luck!" Grandma Tian spat before raising her cane again.

Tian Sangsang couldn’t fight back against an elder, nor could she retaliate physically. All she could do was pull Meng Shuyan aside each time Grandma Tian swung her cane, narrowly avoiding each strike. After dodging a few times, she was already out of breath.

They’re family—did things really have to get so ugly? Especially in public?

The deep contempt in Grandma Tian’s eyes was painfully clear to her. It reminded Tian Sangsang of her past life. Back then, her family had also lived in a rural area. Before the family split, they had been four generations under one roof. Though there were difficult relatives, people generally didn’t go out of their way to provoke others. At least they kept things discreet to avoid gossip.

But this... this she couldn’t understand.

Was this what they called "an outrageous family"?

With one hand on her aching back, Grandma Tian’s wrinkled face glared at Tian Sangsang and her son, breathing heavily just like them.

"Grandma, are you alright? Don’t get too worked up; it’s not worth it. If our cousin did something wrong, all she needs to do is apologize." Tian Tian gently patted Grandma Tian’s back, her voice soft and soothing.

"My sweet granddaughter," Grandma Tian lamented as she noticed the marks on Tian Tian’s face, her heart aching. "Tian Sangsang scratched your face on purpose. Just look at you, as beautiful as a flower, and now that bringer of misfortune has messed it up. Don’t worry; I’ll get justice for you."

"Guilan, what are you standing there for? Do you expect an old woman like me to deal with this? Go grab Tian Sangsang for me. I have to teach her a lesson today!" Grandma Tian barked, pointing her finger at the idle Chen Guilan, who had been watching from the sidelines.

Following orders, Chen Guilan stepped forward. "Sangsang, just listen to your grandma. She’s furious—why can’t you just go and talk to her? Do you really have to be so stubborn?"

Chen Ming and Chen Ying exchanged glances but remained silent onlookers. Chen Ying had never liked Tian Sangsang’s family, especially Grandma Tian, who was infamous in the village for causing trouble. Chen Ming, who secretly admired Tian Tian, was torn. Although Grandma Tian’s behavior seemed over the top, he rationalized that Tian Sangsang deserved it for striking Tian Tian and tarnishing her name. In the end, it was their family matter, and he felt it wasn’t his place to intervene.

"Third Aunt, there’s something I don’t quite understand and would like to ask you about. What exactly is Grandma angry about? You all came at me like this out of nowhere—at least let me know what’s going on first?"

In front of everyone, Chen Guilan suppressed her anger and said through gritted teeth, "You’ve been spoiled since you were a child, always getting what you want. Didn’t Tiantian always yield to you? But what you did this time is really low—you shouldn’t joke about Tiantian’s reputation."