“Li Miaomiao, you shameless woman, open the door!”
Half-asleep, Li Miaomiao heard the constant banging outside. Yawning, she walked out.
Standing at the threshold, she saw Lin Dalang’s parents, along with Lin Dalang and Li Xiaorou, standing at the gate.
She covered her mouth and yawned again, then walked over and pulled out the latch.
As soon as the door opened, the four of them rushed in aggressively.
The moment they entered, Lin Dalang’s mother, Bai Lian, reached out to shove her.
Li Miaomiao might have been sleepy, but she wasn’t stupid. She sidestepped lightly, and Bai Lian, thrown off by the momentum, nearly crashed into the steps.
Seeing Bai Lian almost fall, Li Xiaorou hurried to support her and immediately used her usual tactic, acting like a perfectly sensible person as she accused Li Miaomiao.
“Sister, my mother-in-law is your elder. How could you push her?”
Li Miaomiao crossed her arms and looked confused. “Who saw me push her? If your eyes don’t work, go see a doctor. Don’t act crazy in front of me.”
Li Xiaorou wanted to retort, but Bai Lian was faster.
She rushed over, grabbed Li Miaomiao’s collar, and cursed, “You shameless shrew! Look at what you did to my son!”
“If you don’t give an explanation today, I’ll go report you to the village chief.”
Li Miaomiao let her grab her and looked up at Lin Dalang. The slap marks on his face weren’t visible anymore, but the bruising at the corner of his mouth was obvious.
Lin Youcai raised his hoe and threatened, “If you don’t give my son an explanation today, I’ll smash your house to pieces.”
What was this coward Lin Dalang doing?
He stood behind his parents with Li Xiaorou, glaring down at Li Miaomiao.
“Father, Mother, I was just passing by today. I spoke to her politely, and she attacked me. We can’t let this go.”
The villagers had already seen the Lin family heading angrily toward the edge of the village. Everyone guessed it involved Li Miaomiao again, and they hurried over to watch the drama. Soon, the small courtyard was packed.
Fat Auntie and Aunt Liu were, as always, present.
“What’s going on?”
“Why are they fighting?”
Seeing the crowd, Bai Lian let go of Li Miaomiao and suddenly sat on the ground, crying loudly.
“Everyone, please judge this! My son just passed by and spoke a few words to her, and this shrew beat him without reason!”
“Is there no justice anymore? How can someone get beaten just for speaking?”
Seeing the raised hoe, someone advised, “Uncle Lin, put the hoe down first. Don’t hurt anyone by mistake.”
The speaker was Tiezhu, one of the few in the village who had never bullied the original Li Miaomiao.
Lin Youcai shoved him aside. “Get out of my way! If this woman doesn’t give an explanation, I’ll smash her house. No one can stop me.”
Li Miaomiao kept acting clueless.
Li Xiaorou, seeing this, added fuel to the fire. “Sister, my in-laws and husband are reasonable people. If you apologize, there’s still room to settle this.”
Li Miaomiao frowned, looking confused. “What are you talking about? I didn’t beat him. Why should I apologize?”
Lin Dalang immediately jumped forward, raising his fist as if to strike.
“Vicious woman! You beat me and still deny it!”
Li Miaomiao stepped back and sighed deeply, looking at him with sorrowful eyes.
“Lin Dalang, I don’t know why you’re causing trouble today. Your family and the villagers are here. You’re a grown man—one punch from you could make me cough blood.”
“A tree is dead, but people are alive. How could I beat you until you’re bruised like this?”
“Besides, I’m married now. I have nothing to do with you. Why would I hit you?”
The villagers thought about it and nodded.
“She has a point.”
“He’s a grown man. Even if they fought, he wouldn’t lose completely.”
“She doesn’t even have a scratch.”
The chatter embarrassed Lin Dalang, especially the repeated mention of him being a grown man.
He lowered his fist and glared coldly. “Because you’re miserable after marrying Xiao Xian. You hate that I wanted to take you as a concubine, so you attacked me like a madwoman.”
Then he looked at the villagers. “Can you reason with a madwoman?”
Everyone remembered Li Miaomiao’s strange behavior before and began looking at her oddly.
Li Xiaorou added, pretending to be gentle. She grabbed Li Miaomiao’s hand and said, “Sister, I know brother-in-law is crippled, and after losing your dowry your personality changed. Don’t be afraid. I’ll ask a shaman to look at you.”
Li Miaomiao sneered inwardly but stayed calm.
She pulled her hand away in disgust and called toward the house, “Husband, we have guests. Go check the fire in the kitchen so the braised food doesn’t burn.”
Inside, Xiao Xian had been listening to everything. Hearing her sweet voice, he seemed to guess her plan and smiled meaningfully.
The villagers were shocked when they heard about braised meat.
They peeked toward the kitchen and whispered.
“She lost her dowry. How could they afford meat?”
Li Xiaorou, furious, spoke again. “Sister, brother-in-law can’t walk well. How can you make him do chores? Our parents taught us that after marriage, a woman should follow her husband.”
Her gentle tone made Li Miaomiao seem rough in comparison.
Li Miaomiao’s eyelashes trembled, her eyes reddening.
Her voice became low.
“If you’re so obedient, why did you steal my fiancé?”
Li Xiaorou’s face turned ugly.
Lin Dalang quickly shielded her. “I chose to marry her! Don’t change the topic!”
Lin Youcai raised his hoe again. “You can’t drag this out. My son will become an official. How will he face his classmates after this?”
He lifted the hoe high as if to strike.
Li Miaomiao stood calmly, looking at them with sorrowful eyes.
Seeing things escalate, the villagers rushed to stop him. Tiezhu hugged his waist.
Fat Auntie said, “Li Miaomiao, apologize and pay some silver. Let this pass.”
Aunt Liu nodded. “Yes, you all live in the same village. Why make things so ugly?”