Ye Xiaohua was utterly bewildered. What on earth kind of nonsense was this? When her mother ran off, Lady Tian’s husband had actually gone to their house the very next day just to join the crowd and enjoy the drama. With his shifty eyes and rat-like features, one could tell with a single glance that he was no good.
“It’s impossible to make sense of anything with a fool like you anyway. In any case, your mother was no decent woman. Even as a widow, she couldn’t keep to herself, seducing men left and right. Who knows, maybe she just eloped with some man.”
Ye Xiaohua finally understood. It was highly likely that Lady Tian’s husband had gone off to fool around somewhere else and couldn’t be found, and having nowhere to vent her fury, she had targeted her as a punching bag. This time, however, she had miscalculated entirely.
Lady Tian’s mouth did not stop hurling insults at Lady Li, spitting out whatever was filthiest and most disgusting. Yet, if she had solely been cursing Lady Li—that cheap mother of theirs—Ye Xiaohua wouldn’t have bothered to bicker with her. After all, that mother hadn’t acted like a mother at all and genuinely deserved to be cursed.
But Lady Tian absolutely should not have crossed the line by bringing Xiao Douzi into her insults. She was a notorious shrew, spitting out words like “bastard” and “child born from a kept man” one after another, which was truly too repulsive to hear.
She could curse Lady Li all she wanted, but Xiao Douzi was off-limits. Moreover, Xiao Douzi still had to live here in the future. If too many people started repeating this kind of talk, how would he ever be able to hold his head up and live as a proper person?
“If you utter another word of nonsense, do you believe I will end your life right here?” Ye Xiaohua pulled the wood-chopping cleaver out from her basket. She used this tool for self-defense; it was just the two siblings, so carrying it provided a safeguard in case they encountered bad people or wild beasts on the road.
Lady Tian had grown so accustomed to bullying Ye Xiaohua that she had never seen the girl act this way before. The first couple of times she had used her to vent her anger, the girl had bared her fangs and claws attempting to resist, but after being beaten frequently and severely, she had learned her place, acting like a mouse encountering a cat whenever she saw her.
This time, however, they were out in the open, and Ye Xiaohua’s sinister, fierce glare gave Lady Tian a fright. Looking at the wood-chopping cleaver held tightly in the girl’s hand, she recalled the village gossip about how the silly girl had completely ruined her cousin’s precious family jewels.
When a fool turned ruthless, they acted without any regard for consequences.
Ye Xiaohua’s cold, menacing gaze was as sharp as an eagle’s, locking onto Lady Tian fixedly. But Lady Tian was only afraid for that single moment. In the past, handling this silly girl had been as easy as handling a little chick, and today would be no exception.
Yet that gaze was truly terrifying. Lady Tian could not help but swallow her saliva. After spitting out a curse word, she continued, “You little hussy, you’re rebelling now, are you? You dare to raise a hand against me? See if I don’t strip the skin right off you.”
“What, you don’t like hearing me curse your brother? So you can actually tell good words from bad now. I’ll say it anyway—your mother was a fickle woman, acting indecently with men. Who knows, maybe this little brother of yours isn’t even of the Ye family’s blood at all! And yet you’re still protecting him, you really are a stu… ah… silly girl, murder… someone’s committing murder…”
Ye Xiaohua truly did not wish to listen to her babble any more of those intolerable, foul words. While the woman was in the middle of cursing at the top of her lungs, she brought the wood-chopping cleaver down and rested it directly against her neck.
Lady Tian instantly wet her pants.
How could she have ever expected that the silly girl would actually turn a weapon on her? Terrified to the point that she didn’t dare make a single movement, the brightly sharpened edge of the wood-chopping cleaver carried a piercing, oppressive chill that invaded her entire body. At this moment, even her toes felt completely cold.
“From now on, whoever dares to speak ill of Xiao Douzi, I will cut her head off. Do you hear me?”
Ye Xiaohua raised her voice on the last four words, scaring Lady Tian so badly that her entire body shuddered. Not daring to draw a heavy breath, she nodded her head frantically. At this moment, she no longer possessed a shred of her previous arrogant demeanor, turning entirely into a turtle shrinking into its shell.
If Xiao Douzi hadn’t tugged at the hem of her clothes, Ye Xiaohua had intended to teach Lady Tian an even greater lesson. After all, the woman had constantly bullied the original owner in the past; among the scars on her body, quite a few had been inflicted by her beatings.
“Sister, let’s go home.” Xiao Douzi looked up at her timidly, tears shimmering in his eyes. Looking at him, one could not help but feel a pang of heartache.
“Alright!” Ye Xiaohua pulled back the wood-chopping cleaver and gripped Xiao Douzi’s hand tightly. As they walked, she comforted him, “Xiao Douzi, don’t be afraid. Your sister is here.”
Indeed, with his sister around, Ye Xiaodou felt that the sky probably wouldn’t fall either. However, although he hadn’t fully understood all of Lady Tian’s words, some of them had left an imprint deep within his heart.
Seeing the little kid—who wasn’t even as tall as the stove—looking so heavily burdened by his thoughts, Ye Xiaohua found it somewhat amusing, but felt far more heartache. She needed to find a time to guide and comfort him; she absolutely could not allow Lady Tian’s words to damage his young and tender mind.
The road back was not very long. Ye Xiaohua deliberately looked for topics to amuse Xiao Douzi, asking if he was hungry and what he wanted to eat. Xiao Douzi was still young after all, so his worries were quickly forgotten, but if it were to be brought up to his face again, he would likely feel very hurt once more.
Meanwhile, long after Ye Xiaohua had left, Lady Tian finally recovered from her profound shock. Plopping herself down on the ground, she immediately burst into wailing tears, “Oh, my heavens, I can’t go on living like this! Neither the mother nor the daughter of the Li family are any good! The big wench seduces men, and the little wench wants to kill me, I might as well just die…”
With her howling like this, it was difficult for anyone not to hear her. Old Mrs. Ye had initially heard that the silly girl had taken her brother to town and hadn’t returned with her, meaning she had highly likely gotten lost. Just as she was thinking she wouldn’t have to worry about the house anymore, she heard that the silly girl had stirred up trouble again.
Old Mrs. Ye cursed in anger, “What kind of sin did I commit? The silly girl is completely mad, she might as well just die to save everyone the trouble.”
Lady Qin winked at Old Mrs. Ye. At this moment, Old Mrs. Ye was in no mood to beat around the bush with her. Besides, this was her own home; what was there that couldn’t be said openly and uprightly?
“If you have something to say, say it quickly. If you have a fart to let out, let it out.”
“Then I’ll say it, but Mother, don’t start cursing at people again in a moment,” Lady Qin said calmly.
“Speak, speak! The silly girl is back, and now we don’t know what to do about the house again, yet you still have the mind to gossip here.”
“Mother, Lady Tian’s husband is missing.”
“If he’s missing, he’s missing. What does that have to do with me? Our own family’s messy affairs haven’t even been sorted out yet. And I’m not trying to nag you, Eldest Daughter-in-Law, but the one lying on the bed is your own son. Don’t you feel any heartache for him?”
Lady Qin shook her head. This mother-in-law of hers simply had a fiery, impatient temperament and lacked a brain. Could she possibly bring this matter up for absolutely no reason?
If it weren’t for the fact that she needed her to play the villain for her son’s sake, she wouldn’t even be willing to pay her any mind. “Mother, the Second Daughter-in-Law is also missing.”
“If she’s missing, she’s… missing? What do you mean?” Old Mrs. Ye glanced at the smiling eyes of Lady Qin, finally realizing that the matter was not that simple.
In truth, rumors and gossip about Lady Tian’s husband and Lady Li exchanging flirtatious glances had been circulating for a long time, but no one had ever caught them red-handed. Furthermore, no matter how much Old Mrs. Ye looked down on Lady Li, she would never allow her to carry out such deeds right under her nose. Thus, in the past, if anyone spoke of such gossip, she would shout a few curses at them.
Seeing that Old Mrs. Ye had finally caught on, Lady Qin continued to instigate her, saying, “Mother, the Second Brother’s health had been poor all these years. Perhaps the Second Daughter-in-Law had long since hooked up with the one from Lady Tian’s family. Think about Xiao Douzi—doesn’t he look completely unalike to anyone from our Ye family?”