148 Cold Hard Evidence!
"That's not true! Uncle Murong, this is slander!"
Xiao Jianzhong felt a shiver run up his back. His whole body was shivering from the sheer cold and frightening killing intent that was overflowing from Murong Tian. It felt as if he had fallen deep into an ice cave in Antarctica.
"Murong Xiaoyao! Stop throwing false accusations at me! I didn't even lay one finger on you, how the hell did I even molest you?" Xiao Jianzhong's face was already red from anxiety, and his father was not looking too good as well. Xiao Zhe had come here with his soon seeking revenge, but had the tables turned against them by Xiaoyao, instead. Although used to dealing with many different people in the business and underworld, this unexpected change of events caught them by surprise and threw them off guard. The accuser had become the accused.
"Bullshit! My daughter is already crying like this, how could she be simply accusing you!" Murong Tian said angrily. His deep voice sounded like a roaring tiger that was about to attack Xiao Jianzhong and tear him to shreds, terrifying Xiao Jianzhong to his bones.
"Master Tian! Please calm yourself down!" Xiao Zhe tried to defuse the situation to stop it from becoming any worse. "You know what my son is like, a little rude and roguish sometimes, but not the kind to lay a finger on your daughter!"
"But he did! He's a pervert! Scum! Asshole! Moron..." Xiaoyao had had enough of Xiao Jianzhong's haughty attitude and took the chance to let herself go all out mouthing off him. The more insults she piled on, the more she got into it. Letting go of all of her pent up resentment and contempt for Xiao Jianzhong for how he treated the orphanage children, how he had been going around and calling her his girlfriend in public, and how many times father had to turn a blind eye to the Xiao's because of his debt to Old Man Xiao. Seeing how emotional she was when cursing at Xiao Jianzhong, Murong Tian discerned that she was not acting, and his anger intensified.
"Xiaoyao! Stop spouting nonsense!" Xiao Zhe was getting really anxious as he saw Murong Tian's expression darkened the more she scolded. "You accuse my son of molesting you, but that's just what you say! Now unless you have evidence, I refuse to believe that my son would do something like that! And I will not stand for your blatant slander!"
"That's right! Father is absolutely right! This is slander! How dare you claim that I molested you?" Xiao Jianzhong snapped out of his fear and shot back at Xiaoyao.
"Xiaoyao, do you have any proof?" Murong Tian asked her softly.
"I am the evidence!" Before Xiaoyao could reply her father, Chen took the chance and stepped into the conversation. He strode towards them and said in a righteous manner, "I personally saw this Xiao Jianzhong bastard molesting Xiaoyao! And in a fit of anger, I beat him up!"
"What did you say?" Xiao Jianzhong jumped. He angrily continued, "You little piece of shit! Tell me which eye of yours was it that saw me molested her? You are just baselessly slandering me!"
Xiao Zhe who was listening in on the side also responded, "You little bastard! You and Xiaoyao are both are in this together! How dare you two slander my son!"
"Silence!" Murong Tian bellowed. "Let the boy talk!"
"Right... Right..." Xiao Zhe did not dare outright challenge Murong Tian's authority in his own house and kept quiet.
Chen nodded and started telling his story, "We were supposed to meet up today, but as soon as I got there, I saw this asshole pestering Xiaoyao in an indecent manner, all the while with a pink underwear over his head! Xiaoyao couldn't fight back or stop him and he continued doing all sorts of lewd and perverted things to her. Finally, he got really bold and forced her into a corner, and was even about to take his pants off! Absolutely shameless! Committing such a despicable act in public, in front of other children passing by! This hooligan was tarnishing our great city's name and image!"
Chen then continued, "So as an upstanding citizen and righteous youth of the nation, I couldn't bear to watch any longer! Especially when this is happening to my girlfriend! So I charged at him and taught him decency with my own two hands!" Chen had been practicing his lines on the way there, and was able to make his words sound righteous and just. His acting was so compelling and emotional, Xiao Jianzhong found himself tearing up despite being the villain in his story. Chen was simply too good at muckraking, Xiao Jianzhong's name was so deep in mud and dirt, it would take a mining expedition to recover it!
"Xiao Jianzhong! Is this true?" Murong Tian frowned at him. He of could not just take Chen's words as the truth.
"No, of course not! This little piece of shit is obviously framing me!" Xiao Jianzhong said through his teeth. "You want to play dirty? Fine! I also saw this kid molesting Xiaoyao! And also a lot more other girls! If his words are true then how about mine?"
"Enough talk! All these accusations are just empty words! Where's the evidence? Where's your proof? If you can't show us anything, that's just slander!" Xiao Zhe interrupted.
"Chen Chen, Xiaoyao, do you both have any proof to your claims?" Murong Tian asked them in a serious tone. Xiaoyao felt a pang of guilt when she heard her father, and did not know how to respond. They did not discuss anything about making up evidence while rehearsing.
"What kind of evidence could they possibly have? This is obviously an attempt to frame me for something I didn't do!" Xiao Jianzhong noticed Xiaoyao's expression and pressed on. "Uncle Murong! I'll be slapping this a** wipe today, whether you allow me or not!"
Murong Tian's face sank, he was furious at Xiao Jianzhong for speaking to him in such a rude manner. No one in Green Vine City had ever spoken to him like that and lived! But because of his debt to Old Man Xiao, he could only swallow his pride and let him off like nothing happened. Deep down, he secretly hoped that Chen had evidence of Xiao Jianzhong's wrongdoing, so that he would have a proper reason to teach that rude prick a lesson. And Chen did not disappoint. "Hey you, Xiao boy! Don't get your hopes up just yet. Do you think I'd be here and waste all our time without any proof?"
"Bah! Everything you said just now, right down to the punctuations, is a lie! If you really have proof, I'll ram my head into the wall right now!" Xiao Jianzhong scoffed.
"Hohoho, I'm really wondering if you have shit for brains? I may not have brought evidence with me, but there's one that can show us just how much of a pervert you are on you! Don't you remember? You put the pink underwear into your jacket's pocket!" Chen replied. He was smiling in anticipation for what is about to happen.
"Hah! You're crazy! I've only got cigarettes in my pocket! I can turn my pocket inside you right now and see what else can you say about it!" Xiao Jianzhong was very sure about what he has in his pockets, and so he did just that without any hesitation at all. And so... A strawberry print pink underwear fell out of it, right in front of everybody.
"Pffttt..." Xiao Jianzhong was stupefied! His eyes bulged larger than that of a cow's. Not even if he had a hundred more brains could he comprehend how exactly could this underwear have been inside his pocket!
"Xiao Zhe! So, this is the son you raised!" With this cold hard evidence, Murong Tian stopped holding his anger. On the other hand, Xiao Zhe's face was now bright red from the embarrassment. As if he was slapped continuously, from left, right, up, down, and center.
"No! That's impossible! Murong Tian! You'd rather trust an outsider than me? Don't you remember how grandfather helped you? Are you not being ungrateful?" Xiao Jianzhong was too bewildered, and in his confusion, he started raving like a madman.
*SLAP!*
But before he could finish raving, a loud slap found its way across his face and sent him flying across the room and onto the floor. Murong Tian scowled and scolded, "Old Man Xiao was such an upright and respectable person. If he sees you, his grandson, acting the way you did today, how could he be resting in peace? If I don't slap you for tarnishing his name, then that would make me a real ingrate!"