The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 55 The Child Who Lies Gets No Candy
"What are you going to do?" Chen Guifang stared at Shang Wan warily, afraid that Shang Wan would suddenly attack and hurt someone.

Er Ya also timidly hugged her mother's neck, lowered her little head, and dared not look Shang Wan in the eye.

"Don't be afraid, I just want to ask this little witness a few questions." Shang Wan reached out and lifted Er Ya's chin, looking directly into the little girl's evasive eyes.

Er Ya felt afraid of the beautiful aunt in front of her, and tears gradually welled up in her eyes.

"If you have any questions, ask me. Why are you threatening a child?" Lin Jianshan was worried that Er Ya would cause trouble and didn't want Shang Wan to have any contact with Er Ya.

"Are you a witness?" Shang Wan glanced at him coldly. "If not, then stay out of the way."

Shang Wan's gaze made Lin Jianshan shudder. He clenched his fist and glared at Er Ya, which made the little girl shrink back, tears welling up in her eyes, looking pitiful.

"I don't know who threatened the child." Shang Wan blocked Lin Jianshan's view of Er Ya, and with a flick of her wrist, three candies appeared in her palm as if by magic.

With a smile in her eyes, she asked softly, "Er Ya, would you like some candy?"

The sugar was also obtained from the Lu family. It wasn't the inferior, tasteless kind; it was the kind of sugar that sold for a good price in the sugar shop. If you got close, you could smell a sweet aroma mixed with fruit.

Although the Lin family was a wealthy household in the village, sugar was expensive, and they usually couldn't afford to buy it for their children. Even if they did buy it, Liu wouldn't allow Er Ya to touch it and would give it all to Tie Dan.

With her eyes fixed on the candy in Shang Wan's hand, Er Ya sniffed her reddened nose, her "craving" written all over her face.

Shang Wan smiled and said, "As long as Er Ya answers my question, all these candies are Er Ya's."

"Really?" Er Ya looked up at Shang Wan timidly.

"Of course." Shang Wan simply pinched off a corner of the candy, crushed it into powder, and smeared it on the little girl's pale lips.

Er Ya stuck out her tongue and licked it, her eyes suddenly lighting up – so sweet!

Suddenly, her gaze towards the candy became even more ardent, her eyes fixed on it, and she couldn't help but swallow hard.

Shang Wan felt the time was right and asked with a smile, "Er Ya, did Tie Dan play with you this morning after all the adults went out?"

"Yes." Er Ya nodded her little head.

"Good girl." Shang Wan gave her a piece of candy, and only after watching her take it did she ask, "How long did Tiedan play with you?"

These questions were unrelated to what her uncle had said, and Er Ya answered readily, "In a little while."

After saying that, she stared longingly at the two candies left in Shang Wan's palm. Seeing that Shang Wan didn't intend to give them to her, she looked up at Shang Wan in confusion.

Shang Wan, still holding the candy, continued to ask, "Why did Tie Dan only play with you for a little while?"

"Brother Tiedan has gone out."

"Where did he go?" Shang Wan asked as she handed a piece of candy to Er Ya.

The little girl's eyes were full of sweetness, and she obediently answered, "I don't know, it was Uncle who told Brother Tiedan to go out, and Brother Tiedan was holding a red..."

"Er Ya!" Lin Jianshan shouted sharply, startling Er Ya, who trembled and gripped Chen Guifang's clothes tightly, biting her lip as tears streamed down her face.

Shang Wan turned to look at Lin Jianshan, "You didn't even let Er Ya finish speaking, are you worried that everyone won't notice that you're guilty?"

"Who's feeling guilty?" Lin Jianshan straightened his back. "You're just stalling for time by asking these questions. You... uh!"

His tall frame slumped to the ground. Shang Wan withdrew her hand and smiled kindly at the astonished gazes of the crowd.

"It's too noisy, let him have some peace and quiet. Don't worry, everyone, I'm gentle, he'll wake up in fifteen minutes at most." Everyone: "..."

Lin Jianshui took two steps forward. Shang Wan looked at him and lightly turned her wrist. "Do you want some peace and quiet too?"

Lin Jianshui... retreated.

Liu and Zhou both turned to glare at him, calling him a useless idiot!
Lin Jianshui: In the past, you were always the ones who got beaten up. Why didn't you take matters into your own hands?

Seeing that Lin Jianshui was sensible, Shang Wan didn't press the matter and actually lay a hand on him. She turned around, wiped away Er Ya's tears, handed her a piece of candy, and comforted her, "It's okay, he can't yell at you anymore, let's continue."

Er Ya held the candy tightly in her hand, looked at Lin Jianshan lying on the ground, then at Shang Wan with a friendly smile, and gently nodded her little head.

"Did you see Tiedan carrying something red out?"

"I don't know." Er Ya stretched out her little hand and gestured, "It's bulging, this big."

Shang Wan handed her the last piece of candy, and as she reached for it, she asked, "When did Tiedan get back?"

Er Ya was so busy grabbing the candy that she blurted out, "He's not back yet."

Shang Wan held onto the candy tightly, staring at her, her voice turning cold, "Since Tie Dan didn't come back, how did you manage to see me kidnap someone from the Lin family?"

Realizing she had let something slip, Er Ya froze, her little hand holding the candy. She looked at Shang Wan in alarm and hurriedly protested, "He's...he's back, Brother Tie Dan is back."

Shang Wan popped the last piece of candy into her mouth, her gaze sweeping over Er Ya's other little hand that was clutching the candy. "Children who lie don't get candy."

Er Ya immediately clutched her hands to her chest protectively, worried that Shang Wan would take back the candy she had given her, and stubbornly repeated, "He's back. Grandpa and Uncle said that Brother Tie Dan is back."

"You mean, Tie Dan didn't come back, but they made you lie and say he did?" Shang Wan pretended to take the candy that Er Ya was protecting. Er Ya immediately hid the candy behind her back and nodded and shook her head haphazardly.

She wanted to listen to her grandfather and uncle, but she also wanted to eat candy.

Even if Chen Guifang was stupid, she understood. She subconsciously looked at Lin Jianshui, only to see that Lin Jianshui was staring blankly at Lin Jianshan on the ground, not knowing what he was thinking. He didn't even react when Liu pinched him.

"I told you my sister-in-law isn't that kind of person." Madam Rong spat in the direction of the Lin family. "Teaching children to lie is a bad thing, I spit on them!"

The villagers weren't stupid. Connecting the incident that morning when Lin Jianshan dug up a piece of red cloth and shouted that he had found silver, they quickly realized that the Lin family was framing him.

Now the Lin family has brought this upon themselves by losing their child, yet they're blaming the scholar's wife—how shameless!
Many villagers showed disdain on their faces, and their opinion of the Lin family plummeted. They couldn't even remember why they had elected Old Man Lin as the village chief in the first place.

I need to ask Doctor Yuan for two doses of medicine to improve eyesight and clear heat tomorrow.

Zhang Er crossed his arms and looked at the Lin family, his tone sarcastic, "Your house is fine, but you keep making a fuss over nothing. We don't have that much free time to play along."

Liu Cheng raised his hand to call out to the villagers: "Go back to work, everyone. The more you do, the more you earn."

"Two people, come with me to fill that crack in the ground at the village entrance."

Anyone want to go up the mountain to cut down trees? Let's go together.

"I need to go up the mountain. Does anyone have an extra axe that I can borrow?"

The villagers left one after another, leaving the Lin family in a dilemma: whether to stay or leave. The three women all looked at Lin Jianshui, waiting for him to make a decision.

For some reason, Lin Jianshui sat down on the spot and said, "I'll leave after my brother wakes up."

(End of this chapter)