Is this someone who knows her? Jiang Fusheng felt a twinge of confusion.
This plotline isn’t in the book, so any information about this character’s identity would likely only be found in the original host’s memories.
Recalling that someone had just called him ‘Brother Wuren’, she quickly found a person in her memories and matched the name with the face.
Jiang Wuren, an older brother from her family line and grandson of the village head of Heping Village, was a bit of a rascal who’d often bullied her and her four sisters in the past.
After her four older sisters had married off one after the other, he’d frequently single her out to bully, ordering her about to do all sorts of chores.
One moment he’d make her wash his shoes, the next he’d make her pick things up for him, and then he’d want her to carry things for him…
In short, from childhood to adulthood, her life had been nothing short of misery.
At first, she’d thought it was one of Xiao Changhe’s enemies who’d come looking for trouble, so she’d been quite frightened.
Now that she knew it was Jiang Wuren, however, she wasn’t afraid anymore.
The scoundrel was all bark and no bite, and he loved to bully people by relying on his influence.
If his entourage weren’t with him, he wouldn’t dare come here to cause trouble on his own; he’d have long since hidden away in some backwater!
“Jiang Wuren, you’ve barged into the Xiao household with your men. I’ll call the police and have you all arrested!” Jiang Fuseng gripped her kitchen knife tightly, her expression icy.
If he really dared to lay a hand on her, with all the old and new grievances piling up, she wouldn’t hold back!
Bullying her former self was tantamount to bullying her, Jiang Fuseng—she certainly wouldn’t let it slide!
“Call the police? This is a village. The police won’t come all this way to meddle in our affairs!” ” Jiang Wuren laughed heartily, “My mum said you divorced Qian Weidong, got kicked out of the Qian family, then got chased away by Uncle Fu, and within a single day married Xiao Changhe. At first I didn’t believe it, but now that I see you here, I do.”
“Get lost!” Jiang Fuseng glared at them, never lowering the kitchen knife she held raised.
Jiang Wuren wasn’t in the least bit afraid of this cousin he’d bullied since childhood. “Jiang Laidi, it’s been three years, and you’ve got a bit of a temper now, have you? You actually dare to point a knife at your big brother Wuren? But I’m not here for you today. If you don’t want to get a taste of your own medicine, get out of the way and stay out of my hair.”
“I’m Xiao Changhe’s wife; this is my home! Have you asked my permission to smash things up in my house?” Jiang Fuseng ground her back teeth, trying to ease the tension in her heart.
Although she wasn’t afraid of Jiang Wuren, if it really came to blows, she would either have to fight back with the kitchen knife or take the beating.
In the former case, they’d be the ones injured, and she’d certainly end up in the prison, not to mention having to pay compensation.
In the latter, she’d be the one injured, and she wasn’t willing to accept that.
For now, all she could do was stall for time, praying silently that Xiao Changhe would return from the fields soon.
Otherwise, when it came down to choosing between her personal safety and these possessions, she’d have to choose her personal safety.
No matter how valuable the possessions were, they were no match for her life.
“Your home?” Jiang Wuren snorted as if he’d heard the funniest joke, pressing his tongue against his cheek and sneering, “Did you all hear that? Jiang Laidi says this is her home? Who’d want a woman who can’t bear children? You must be paying him to take you in, surely?”
“You’re the one who can’t have children! You bastard! Jiang Wuren, you’ve beaten me time and again since I was a child—I’ll settle that score with you, bit by bit!” Jiang Fuseng snapped angrily.
“Oh my, you’ve certainly got some nerve!” Jiang Wuren shook his head and clapped his hands. “What a shame—you’re nothing but a pretty face, utterly useless!”
Jiang Fuseng glanced around out of the corner of her eye, took two steps back, and swapped the kitchen knife in her hand for a broom leaning against the wall. “Xiao Changhe isn’t home. You’d better get your men out of here!”
The charge of causing injury with a kitchen knife was far more serious than a simple brawl; she couldn’t take that on.
Besides, if they laid a hand on her and it ended up at the police station, with so many of them ganging up on her alone, she might well turn the tables on them!
“I’m not leaving, actually!” Jiang Wuren plonked himself down on a two-seater high-backed stool in the courtyard, hoisted one leg up onto the seat, and whistled. “Boys, give her a proper beating! If that bitch dares to fight back, we’ll all go at her together!”
Hearing this, the others immediately overturned the wicker baskets full of laundry drying in the courtyard, then kicked over the drying racks and other items.
Jiang Fusheng watched with a grim expression, clutching her broom tightly.
She was hesitating whether to intervene.
If she won, she’d likely have to pay compensation.
If she lost, she’d get hurt.
As she watched them ransack the courtyard and prepare to storm into the house, she darted forward, brandishing her broom. “Get out of here, all of you! Stop smashing things!”
“Ouch!”
“Stop hitting me!”
“That hurts like hell!”
Jiang Wuren slapped his knee hard and stood up. “Jiang Laidi, are you trying to get yourself killed? How dare you resist? Come here this instant!”
Ignoring the broomstick Jiang Fuseng was brandishing, he gritted his teeth against the pain, grabbing the handle with one hand and seizing her by the collar with the other.
“Let me go, let go! Jiang Wuren, you bastard, let me go!”
Jiang Fusheng struggled relentlessly; her adrenaline surged with agitation. Realising she couldn’t wrest the broomstick back, she simply let go and began pounding Jiang Wuren with both fists, even scratching him with her nails, utterly unconcerned about the damage she might cause.
All she knew was that if she didn’t break free, she’d end up covered in bruises, just like her original self had been.
“Damn it, Jiang Laidi, you’re finished!” Jiang Wuren seized the opportunity to grab her braid and yank it hard.
“Ah!” Jiang Fusheng cried out in pain, clutching her scalp.
It hurts so much!
Why isn’t Xiao Changhe back yet! T-T
“Stop!”
A cold, furious roar rang out, causing the very earth to tremble.
No sooner had she thought of him than he appeared.
Jiang Wuren glanced towards the doorway, his grip loosening involuntarily.
Jiang Fusheng seized the opening and delivered a fierce elbow strike.
“Ow!”
Caught off guard, Jiang Wuren could only clutch his stomach and double over in agony.
Meanwhile, Jiang Fusheng had freed herself from his grip.
“Brother Changhe!” She sprinted over and threw herself into Xiao Changhe’s arms, clinging tightly to his waist as if she’d suffered the greatest injustice. “Brother Changhe, they were so cruel! whilst you were away, they slandered you, broke into the courtyard and smashed everything up, and they—they hit me, they pulled my hair—it hurt so much—and they said they’d make sure I met a terrible end. They were so, so vicious…”
Jiang Wuren and the others: ?
Who said she wouldn’t die a natural death?
Who said that!
Comrade Jiang Laidi, could you please stop making things up!
And besides, when did they ever hit her? Apart from Jiang Wuren, they were the ones getting beaten with her broom and stick!
Xiao Changhe stood in the doorway, glaring fiercely at the five men led by Jiang Wuren in the courtyard. His expression was sombre, his deep, dark eyes seeming to harbour a storm about to break.
Listening to the faint, trembling sobs of the woman in his arms, he reached out to wrap his arms around her shoulders. Suppressing his anger, he soothed her gently, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”
“Right then! You bunch of good-for-nothings dare to come and smash up my house, and dare to hit my daughter-in-law? I reckon you’re just asking for a beating. I’ll give you lot a good thrashing right now!”
Xiao’s mother strode over with steady steps; with every stride, the muscles hidden beneath her plump flesh twitched.
Seeing this, the other four hurriedly hid behind Jiang Wuren.
“Brother Wuren, what do we do now?”
Although they outnumbered her, they held no advantage in height or weight; the two of them combined were barely as big as Xiao Changhe’s mother.
Not to mention Xiao Changhe, who was like a small mountain!
Jiang Wuren rubbed his aching stomach and stood up straight. “What’s there to be afraid of? We’re in the right!”
“In the right?” Xiao’s mother snorted coldly upon hearing this. “You’ve come and wrecked my courtyard, and injured my daughter-in-law. You reckon you’re in the right? What sort of right is that? Explain yourselves to me!”
One of them, standing behind Jiang Wuren, craned his neck and replied timidly, “We didn’t hit Jiang Laidi! She hit us! Just look—my arm is covered in bruises.”