Outside the house, everyone looked at each other, not knowing what had happened.
An old woman approached Li Hu and said, "Hu Zi, why don't you go see what's going on inside?"
Li Hu shook his head without hesitation. "No!"
"Isn't Zhang Cui Hua your woman? You were so excited earlier, what's with the sudden slump?"
Li Hu felt guilty when he heard this. "This... they might be discussing something important, and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to interfere?"
Everyone looked at Li Hu strangely. "Li Hu, are you even a man?"
"Are you afraid of Xiao Tian? Don't worry, I know the child's temper. He's not an unreasonable person."
However, no matter how they provoked him, Li Hu refused to go.
Seeing how cowardly Li Hu was, the old woman decided to knock on the door herself.
"Xiao Tian, Cui Hua is Hu Zi's woman after all. Although Hu Zi is a useless fellow, you've locked his woman in the house. I, this old woman, must criticize you."
"And Gui Hua, why did you bring her in? Gui Hua recently divorced, and people might misunderstand!"
The old woman said earnestly.
But there was no movement from inside. The old woman pushed the door and found it locked.
"Hu Zi, you're strong and sturdy, come and lend a hand!"
The old woman urged Li Hu to come and "open the door."
Li Hu wasn't foolish. The person inside was Lin Xiao Tian. He could only hide from him.
Moreover, he was in the wrong on this matter. He had a bad premonition. Could Zhang Cui Hua's child be Lin Xiao Tian's?
The thought had barely surfaced before Li Hu pushed it down forcefully. Impossible! Absolutely impossible! They hardly interacted!
If this were true, Li Hu would be in a terrible situation. You see, the reason he claimed Zhang Cui Hua's child was his was just to get subsidies. Li Hu was lazy and had no income from being a village bully. He couldn't make it outside the village; those in town were even more ruthless than him. Because of his relationship with Lin Xiao Tian, Li Er Guai had not agreed to let him deliver goods, which had pushed Li Hu to a dead end.
He had originally thought that with Zhang Cui Hua's belly growing, he could take advantage of her. After all, Zhang Cui Hua was a widow. To avoid being gossiped about, she would definitely not dare to reveal her lover's identity. This was Li Hu's confidence in claiming to be Zhang Cui Hua's man in front of her. He was sure Zhang Cui Hua would not dare to refuse directly. Just as he said, Zhang Cui Hua had to consider her future, not just for herself but also for the child. A traditional woman like Zhang Cui Hua would easily make sacrifices for this.
But Li Hu, despite his ugliness, had a very beautiful fantasy! He hadn't expected Lin Xiao Tian to appear.
Just as he was secretly praying that it wouldn't be Lin Xiao Tian, the door opened.
Lin Xiao Tian walked out of the house. He scanned the crowd and then said calmly, "Everyone, Aunties and Sisters, I, Lin Xiao Tian, have something to announce here today."
Seeing Lin Xiao Tian looking so serious, the noisy crowd of women fell silent.
"As you can all see, Cui Hua and Gui Hua are pregnant, and they are both carrying my children."
"What?"
Everyone was stunned. The old woman kept signaling Lin Xiao Tian not to speak carelessly.
But Lin Xiao Tian repeated himself.
Hearing Lin Xiao Tian's words, Li Hu's face turned pale. He hadn't expected to bump into Lin Xiao Tian's iron wall again.
While everyone was still in shock from Lin Xiao Tian's announcement, Li Hu decided to flee.
He turned to leave but saw a sneering face not far away.
"Li Hu, didn't you say Zhang Cui Hua was carrying your child? That doesn't seem right! Xiao Tian, are you lying?"
Li Hu's current wife suddenly shouted towards Lin Xiao Tian.
All eyes turned to them. Li Hu wished he could die. At this moment, he wanted to slap her.
Thanks to that remark, Lin Xiao Tian remembered Li Hu.
Lin Xiao Tian walked up to Li Hu and said calmly, "Li Hu, is what you said true?"
"Heh heh, a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding! Cui Hua and I are innocent." Li Hu forced a laugh.
"Since you're innocent, why did you lie?"
"I... I just wanted to trick them into giving me a subsidy."
"Subsidy?"
"The maternity subsidy. If Cui Hua were a single mother, she wouldn't get the subsidy, so I thought..."
*Slap!*
Lin Xiao Tian slapped Li Hu directly. Li Hu's entire face swelled up, but he didn't dare to say a word to Lin Xiao Tian. He remembered that in the past, when Lin Xiao Tian hit him, he would think of revenge, but now the gap between them was too vast. Li Hu felt only fear.
Lin Xiao Tian glared at Li Hu, then looked back at the crowd. "Did everyone hear that?"
Hearing Li Hu's confession, the crowd looked at him with disdain. As expected, a dog can't change its habits.
Li Hu slunk away, but the crowd then turned their attention to Lin Xiao Tian.
"Xiao Tian, how could you do this?"
"One divorced, one a widow, and you got both of them pregnant. What kind of thing is this?"
"Don't you have any shame?"
"You've disappointed me too much!"
The old woman pointed at Lin Xiao Tian righteously.
Li Gui Hua and Zhang Cui Hua came out of the house, wanting to speak for Lin Xiao Tian, but Lin Xiao Tian interrupted them.
Lin Xiao Tian looked at the old woman in front of him. The old woman was approaching sixty and was highly respected in the village. She was also a widow who had been widowed since she was a teenager and had never remarried. It could be said that the old woman represented old marriage values.
If it were someone else blocking Lin Xiao Tian and saying these things to him, Lin Xiao Tian would have cursed them as an idiot and told them to get lost. But the old woman had also treated him well, and he had received many favors from her in the past. Lin Xiao Tian couldn't do such a thing. However, similarly, he couldn't give up on the two women.
"Old woman, no matter what you say, this is how it is."
"You truly have no intention of repenting!"
"Hmph!"
Seeing Lin Xiao Tian's attitude, the old woman became furious. The other women also pointed and gossiped, but Lin Xiao Tian didn't care at all.
Seeing that the explanation was mostly done, Lin Xiao Tian returned to the house. The people outside looked at each other, not knowing what to do. In the past, when faced with such a situation, the parties involved would usually panic and beg for forgiveness, but Lin Xiao Tian was the opposite!
Inside the house, Lin Xiao Tian asked the two women to sit down.
Li Gui Hua looked at Lin Xiao Tian with a pout. "You rascal, why did you drag me into this? I just got divorced, so being pregnant is somewhat normal, and I'm not afraid of gossip. But now, you're also being accused of having an affair..."
Zhang Cui Hua chimed in, "Xiao Tian, this is too extreme. What will the villagers think of you? My reputation is completely ruined by this."
But Lin Xiao Tian calmly spread his hands. "Let them say whatever they want! As for you two, are you willing to be my women openly?"
The two women exchanged glances and nodded shyly.