Ye Genshu made a lot of noise, but after recalling that strange sensation and feeling his arm still sore and completely devoid of strength, he didn’t dare take a single step forward.
Ye Xiaohua merely shot him a cold, sharp look, and the arrogant man instantly extinguished his own fire.
Seeing this, Old Madam Ye felt as if her lungs were about to explode. One was as useless as the other; they couldn’t even handle a little girl. She had truly raised them for nothing.
Ye Genshu hated to admit defeat. Even with no outsiders watching, he still clung to his pride. “Stinking brat, I don’t care if you’re a fool or not. If it weren’t for the sake of your dead father—my second brother—I would have skinned you alive!”
Ye Xiaohua rolled her eyes. Since they had already burned their bridges, there was no need to save face. “You don’t need to consider anyone’s face. If you want to hit me, go ahead. If you can’t beat me, keep your big talk to yourself; it’s useless.”
This was Ye Genshu’s first time experiencing Ye Xiaohua’s razor-sharp tongue. His carefully prepared speech was choked back in his throat. “You… you…”
“I what? If you’re going to fight, then fight. If not, get lost. Don’t hinder me from eating.”
If they dragged it out any longer, the rib soup would get cold.
Ye Genshu looked at his mother, unable to make a decision. Old Madam Ye hung her head, her face sullen. Between the two of them, they couldn’t even manage a little brat; if word got out, they would be laughed to death. But right now, she was helpless. The aroma of ribs in the pot made the glutton in her stomach jump, and her mouth wouldn’t stop watering. She regretted her approach from the start; if she had used honeyed words, she might have actually gotten a taste.
What now?
The “silly girl” spoke logically and wasn’t easy to fool. The meat within reach had to be abandoned.
“What are you staring at? Let’s go!” Old Madam Ye glared at her eldest son, muttering, “Useless things. Look at you two men—you can’t even beat a little girl. Are you even men?”
Ye Genshu felt ashamed enough without his mother’s cold mockery. After being belittled like this, he began to hate Ye Xiaohua from the bottom of his heart. Though extremely unwilling, since he couldn’t win a fight and lingering here was pointless, Ye Genshu took one last look at the dilapidated house before leaving.
Ye Xiaohua guessed that her eldest uncle was still eyeing her house.
The people from the eldest branch had already been a headache, and now there was an eldest uncle in the mix. Ye Xiaohua felt even more annoyed, but the moment she took a sip of the meat soup, the fragrance lingering on her lips and teeth made all her troubles vanish.
This was probably the benefit of being a foodie.
Ye Xiaohua knew the people from the eldest branch would not give up so easily. Therefore, she still didn’t go into the mountains the next day, continuing instead to tidy up her chaotic home.
Previously, little Douzi’s clothes were only changed when they were filthy beyond recognition. Li was a lazy woman, but now that Ye Xiaohua was in charge, she made sure things were clean—especially in this heat, as clothes smelled of sweat after just two or three days. They didn’t need to be fancy, but they had to be clean.
While little Douzi’s clothes were slightly better than her own, they had many tears and holes. In her spare time, Ye Xiaohua rummaged through boxes and cabinets, found needle and thread, and mended them for him.
Ye Xiaohua carried a heavy wooden basin filled with the dirty clothes she and her brother had changed out of, while holding little Douzi, who was hopping along beside her. The siblings headed toward the riverbank.
It wasn’t the busy farming season, so taking advantage of the warm weather, women finished their breakfast and headed to the river early to claim a good spot for laundry. When Ye Xiaohua arrived with Douzi, there were already several women standing by the opposite bank. Originally, they were chattering about village gossip, but the moment they saw Ye Xiaohua, they instantly went silent.
Soon, they were whispering in low voices.
“Isn’t that the silly girl?”
“It is her, but she’s not silly anymore. Keep your voice down; don’t let her hear you. If you anger her, she might take a knife and hack your neck.”
“I’m not Lady Tian; I have no grudge against her, so why would she hack me? But you have to admit, now that this silly girl is cleaned up, I almost didn’t recognize her. I always saw her in tattered clothes, her face smeared with dirt and runny snot. Who would’ve thought she’d be quite pretty?”
“True, she’s much like her mother.” As the woman said this, she snorted, her eyes filled with playfulness and disdain.
Normally, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for a daughter to resemble her mother, but the problem was that after Ye Xiaohua’s mother ran off, her reputation was ruined, making her a frequent topic of gossip. Saying Ye Xiaohua looked like Li was essentially an insult.
Though she heard them, Ye Xiaohua didn’t intend to talk back. Let them say what they wanted; the mouths belonged to them. However, she knew that these two women were on good terms with Lady Tian and spent their days gossiping about village affairs.
“Now that you mention it, she does look a bit like her. This girl knows how to grow; look at those eyes and that nose.” Another woman looked up, unabashedly inspecting Ye Xiaohua’s face.
“So what if she grew well? With a mother like that, she won’t turn out any better. The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree; the beam above is crooked, so the beams below are too. She’s small now, but she’ll be a curse when she grows up. Besides, they say she isn’t silly, but who knows when she might relapse? It’s better to stay away from her.”
Ye Xiaohua wondered if she had thrown this woman’s child into a well in a past life, or else why would her tongue be so venomous? Before she possessed this body, Ye Xiaohua was only ever bullied. Since she arrived, she clearly hadn’t provoked them.
These people were just bored and had nothing better to do.
Though little Douzi was young, he could distinguish between kind words and malice. The women across the river were speaking without restraint, thinking Ye Xiaohua couldn’t hear them. Douzi’s eyes welled with tears as he clenched his fists, looking as if he were ready to get into a fight with them.
Ye Xiaohua was satisfied just knowing the little guy had such heart; she didn’t need a toddler to protect her.
“My sister isn’t silly; you’re the silly ones,” Douzi shouted, his eyes reddening.
Ye Xiaohua figured his anger wasn’t just about her; it was likely because these two unbridled women had brought up Li. Douzi didn’t say it aloud, but deep down, he still missed his mother.
Ye Xiaohua sighed and pulled at Douzi’s hand. “Forget it, let’s not lower ourselves to their level. Later, Sister will embroider a flower on this for you, how about that?” Ye Xiaohua pointed at the clothes she was washing.
Tears brimmed in little Douzi’s eyes as he nodded aggrievedly. “I want a little rabbit.”
Ye Xiaohua smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll embroider a little rabbit for you.”
The two women across the way watched as they spoke, noticing the many floral patterns Ye Xiaohua was washing on the clothes. They looked at each other, their faces flashing with surprise.
The silly girl knows how to embroider? And the work is so vivid—it doesn’t look like any local pattern they’ve seen before.
The silly girl had been silent all this time, yet she possessed such skill—she was no simpleton.