When Shen Youyou heard someone calling her, she immediately stopped and replied warmly,
“Grandma, may I ask—did something happen to my mother? She hasn’t come up the mountain to bring me food for two days. I was really hungry, so I came down to take a look.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a plump middle-aged woman nearby shouted,
“Oh my heavens! Has the Shen family’s foolish girl stopped being foolish? She’s speaking so clearly! What’s going on? Come here, let me take a look!”
As she spoke, the woman began poking and prodding Shen Youyou—pinching her cheeks and grabbing her hands.
Having gone a long time without close contact with people, Shen Youyou felt uncomfortable. She quickly took a step back and raised her voice toward the group of elderly men and women watching the excitement.
“Grandmas and grandpas, I’m not foolish anymore. I suddenly became clear-headed—maybe Heaven pitied me and restored my mind. Grandma, do you know what happened to my mother? And where is my home? I want to go see her.”
Hearing this, the plump woman immediately leaned closer again.
“Oh my, what good fortune! You want to find your mother? Come on, Auntie will take you. Don’t blame your mother for not bringing you food these past two days—she really hasn’t been able to manage. Let me tell you, something big has happened in your family!”
“That’s right,” another woman chimed in eagerly. “When your father was working, he accidentally fell off a house and broke his leg. And that old Shen woman—your grandmother—started despising him, saying your whole family is nothing but burdens and debt collectors. She scolds your mother every single day!”
“Exactly! And the eldest branch’s wife isn’t any better—she bullies your mother all the time. You really need to help her. If she hadn’t been going up the mountain every day to bring you food, you’d have starved to death already. Even if she didn’t earn merit, she certainly put in the effort!”
……
Like this, the two enthusiastic neighbors talked nonstop as they walked, telling Shen Youyou everything they knew.
By the time they reached the Shen family courtyard, Shen Youyou had a pretty clear picture of the situation.
In short—her biological grandmother, Old Madam Shen, was not someone to mess with. She was vicious and extremely biased. The second branch might as well have been picked up off the street.
No one from that branch could ever please her.
Even Shen He’s only son, Shen Nan, was constantly cursed by Old Madam Shen as a “medicine jar” and “sickly waste,” always spending money on medicine—just like his sister, both of them nothing but burdens.
After bringing Shen Youyou to the Shen family courtyard, the two women didn’t leave. Instead, they stayed behind to watch the drama unfold.
The foolish girl wasn’t foolish anymore—and she looked sharp, too. With the second branch in such a miserable state, no one knew what this girl might do next. They were thrilled to watch—never mind if things got messy.
The courtyard was bustling with noise.
The Shen family seemed fairly well-off in Shenjia Village.
The yard was large and clean, with some poultry being raised. At that moment, a woman was sitting on the ground, crying bitterly.
“Mother, please don’t drive us away! No matter what, Dahe is still your own son! You can’t be so heartless and cut off our only way to survive! He’s still injured—please, just give me two taels of silver so I can hire a doctor for him. Otherwise, his leg really won’t be saved!”
She cried as she knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly to an elderly woman.
That elderly woman must have been Shen Youyou’s so-called grandmother—a face full of sharp, mean features.
Just looking at her, one could tell she was not easy to deal with.
Beside her, a fat woman fanned the flames even more.
“Mother, this family must be split today! Their only laborer is useless now—are we supposed to raise their whole household from now on? Where in the world does that kind of good thing exist? If you don’t separate the households, I won’t agree! Oh heavens, my Dashan’s life is just too bitter—this life is impossible to live!”
As she spoke, Hu shi plopped down on the ground, throwing a tantrum—crying, yelling, rolling around. It was downright ridiculous.
Old Madam Shen felt irritated just looking at her and snorted coldly.
“Get up at once. What kind of behavior is this? When did I ever say I wouldn’t let them leave? Li shi, you get up too. There’s no discussion—today, you’re leaving the Shen family. A whole household of sick and useless people—I get annoyed just looking at you! Leave now, and I’ll still give you some things. Don’t push your luck. If you make this ugly, don’t blame me for giving you nothing at all!”
Li shi immediately knew there was no hope.
After so many years with her mother-in-law, she knew her temperament well. So she retreated a step and said,
“Mother, separating the family is fine. We don’t want anything—just give me ten taels of silver. I need to get Dahe’s leg treated. He has his whole life ahead of him—he can’t be ruined like this. I beg you!”
“Dream on! Ten taels of silver—your appetite is huge! Do you know how long it takes me to save ten taels? Keep dreaming!”
With that, she spat directly onto Li shi, who was still kneeling on the ground.
At that moment, a five- or six-year-old boy suddenly rushed out from a side door. He began hitting and kicking Old Madam Shen while crying and shouting,
“I’ll beat you to death! Beat you to death! Stop bullying my mother!”
Old Madam Shen’s fury exploded. She grabbed the little brat and slapped him hard across the face.
The boy’s thin, delicate face instantly bloomed with a bright red handprint.
Shen Youyou couldn’t stand it anymore.
She rushed forward, snatched the child from Old Madam Shen’s grasp, and with her other hand—smack—slapped Old Madam Shen across the face.
The entire sequence happened so fast that no one had time to react.
By the time Shen Youyou safely placed the child back into Li shi’s arms, Shen Nan finally realized that the one who had saved him was his older sister—the very sister the village had always called the foolish girl.
Because he often followed his mother up the mountain to bring food to his sister, he actually liked her very much.
And he never thought his sister was foolish—she was just pure, like a child.
He never expected that this time, she would protect him.
Not only did she save him—she even slapped that old witch and took revenge for him!
She was amazing!
Shen Nan’s eyes sparkled with admiration as he looked at her and shouted excitedly,
“Big sister! Why are you here?”
Li shi also realized then that the person who had rushed in was her daughter from the mountain.
The worry she’d been holding in finally eased.
With everything that had happened at home these past two days, she hadn’t been able to bring food up the mountain. She’d been terrified her daughter would starve.
Seeing that Shen Youyou had come down on her own, her heart finally settled.
Old Madam Shen—who had lived her whole life without ever being slapped—had been stunned by the blow.
Now that she recovered her senses, she was furious beyond measure.
This was rebellion!
A junior daring to strike her?!