Grandma Wang's screaming was sharp and harsh, like needles stabbing into Celine's ears.
She knew that if she didn't fight back today, things like this would keep happening again and again.
With that thought, Celine stepped out.
Eleanor saw his sister come out, and his heart tightened with worry.
He knew too well how unreasonable Grandma Wang could be. He was afraid Celine might get hurt.
Without thinking, he reached out to grab her hand, wanting to protect her like he did when they were kids and the neighbor's children bullied her.
But Celine gently pulled her hand away.
She knew that some things had to be faced on her own.
She wanted to protect her family, not hide behind them.
She walked up to Grandma Wang, her eyes turning red, and tears quickly filled them.
With a choking voice, close to crying, she said, "Grandma, I came back from the city because I owe a lot of money. My big brother and second brother came back to help me raise the money…"
Celine's voice wasn't loud, but everyone around could hear her clearly.
The villagers who were watching started whispering, and their looks toward Celine's family began to change.
"Owe money?" someone asked in confusion.
"Yes… quite a lot…" Celine kept her head down, her shoulders shaking slightly, looking very pitiful.
As she spoke, Celine suddenly dropped to her knees in front of Grandma Wang.
Bang! The sound echoed loudly in the silent yard.
Everyone was stunned.
Even Mother Zhou was shocked. She was about to bend down to help her daughter, but saw Celine give her a meaningful glance.
Mother Zhou immediately understood what her daughter meant and stopped herself, standing aside with worry.
Grandma Wang was completely shocked.
She didn't expect Celine to do something like this.
She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.
She was used to being loud and unreasonable, but she had never faced something like this before.
Celine knelt there, tears flowing down her face, and kept speaking in a trembling voice, "Grandma, I know you never liked me because I'm a girl. But I'm still your granddaughter! I owe so much money… if I can't pay it back…"
She looked up halfway through her words, eyes full of fear and desperation.
"Grandma… please return my dad's pension and compensation money to our family."
As soon as she said that, it was like someone had dropped a rock into a calm lake—waves of shock spread everywhere.
The villagers started shouting.
"So it's true! Grandma Wang really took the pension and compensation money from Celine's dad!"
"I remember that! I was there. She said she would keep it safe for them, but then when Shenan broke his leg, she didn't give them a single coin for his treatment…"
"What kind of person does that? Just watched her own grandson become disabled?"
"She's cruel, that old woman!"
The angry voices rolled toward Grandma Wang like a rising tide.
Her face turned pale. She never thought Celine would bring this up in front of everyone.
She panicked and shouted, "What pension and compensation money? That was your dad's money left for me to retire!"
Celine's fists clenched, and her eyes filled with anger and hatred.
Then she suddenly rushed toward Grandma Wang.
Grandma Wang was caught off guard and stepped back in fear, yelling, "You little brat, what are you doing? Are you rebelling against me?"
She cursed while pushing Celine away.
But Celine didn't let go. She held on tightly and cried while getting close to Grandma Wang's ear, then growled, "You old witch!"
Grandma Wang shivered from the sudden insult. She struggled to push Celine off, but the girl held on with all her strength.
Celine stayed close to her ear and spoke in a cold, creepy voice, "My dad came to me in a dream. He said he cut all ties with you in front of the King of Hell! If you dare come make trouble again… he'll drag your soul straight to hell!"
Grandma Wang was so terrified by those words, her face turned completely white.
Grandma Wang thought Celine was just trying to scare her and play mind games, so she cursed even louder, "You little brat, are you cursing me? You won't die a good death!"
Celine let all the strength leave her body, letting Grandma Wang push her without any resistance.
With a loud thud, Celine fell to the ground. She looked messy and pitiful.
The villagers who were watching began to blame Grandma Wang.
"That woman is really cruel. Celine was already begging her like that."
"And she's her grandma? What kind of luck is that, having someone like her as a grandma?"
Surrounded by these angry voices, Grandma Wang became nervous. Her eyes kept moving around, and she didn't know what to do.
In the end, she quickly got up from the ground and pushed her way through the crowd to leave.
After she left, Celine also got up slowly. She patted the dust off her clothes, and a clever, sharp look flashed in her eyes.
She knew this round was hers.
But it wasn't enough. A small win like this wasn't real victory.
Her younger uncle and older aunt weren't easy people to deal with.
Celine was right. Grandma Wang was limping home, but her mind was already busy thinking about how to bring her younger son and eldest daughter to come fight back against the eldest son's family.
As she walked, she kept cursing under her breath and didn't care at all how embarrassed she had just looked.
After the crowd left, Celine told her mother and brother to go inside the house first. She quietly followed after.
In her past life, she had suffered too much. This time, she would never let the same thing happen again.
That old witch, Grandma Wang, needed to be taught a hard lesson. Otherwise, she would really think Celine's family was weak and easy to push around.
When Grandma Wang was almost home, Celine picked up a few stones the size of eggs and hid behind a big pagoda tree.
Then, she raised her hand and threw the stones hard at Grandma Wang's lower legs.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Three dull hits landed directly on Grandma Wang's calves.
As soon as she hit the target, Celine quickly disappeared into her space, moving fast like the wind.
Grandma Wang's legs hurt and went numb. The next second, she fell heavily to the ground.
Unluckily, there was a hole right where she fell. As her body landed in it, a loud crack came from her leg. Her bone broke.
The sharp pain made her scream loudly, like a pig being killed. "Aahh! My leg! My leg!"
She shouted as she tried to look back, but there was nothing behind her.
She froze. Somehow, she suddenly remembered Celine's cold and creepy words.
A wave of fear swept through her heart.
Just then, a strange and scary sound came from behind the tree. It was crying and wailing, high-pitched and chilling, just like a ghost seeking revenge.
"Aaahhh! A ghost!"
Grandma Wang was so frightened that her soul felt like it left her body. She couldn't move at all. She just waved her arms around and screamed like crazy.
The noise brought neighbors out to see what had happened.
They saw Grandma Wang sitting on the ground with messy hair and a pale face. She kept shouting nonsense about a ghost.
Everyone was shocked.
"Aunt Wang, what happened to you?" one brave woman asked.
"A ghost… there's a ghost…" Grandma Wang pointed at the tree with shaking hands. Her eyes were full of fear.
The others followed her finger, but all they saw was a normal pagoda tree standing there quietly in the night breeze. There was no sign of a ghost.
"Did you hit your head or something?" another neighbor said. "That's just a tree. Where's the ghost?"
"There was a ghost… I heard crying… and…" Grandma Wang's voice was shaking. She couldn't finish her sentence. She was clearly terrified.
The neighbors looked at each other. They all felt uneasy.
Could it be that Grandma Wang had really run into something unclean?
Inside her space, Celine watched everything. A cold smile appeared on her face.
This trick of pretending to be a ghost worked perfectly.
Grandma Wang, this is only the beginning.