Although the sounds outside the room were faint, Tang Qing'er, with her Supernatural Ability, possessed extraordinary hearing.
She caught every word of the conversation outside the door without missing a single syllable.
A wicked smile curled at the corners of Tang Qing'er's lips. She retrieved an electric baton from the weapon storage area and stepped out of her space.
Her body hadn’t fully recovered to its peak condition yet, so she didn’t dare underestimate the situation, unsure how many people that despicable creature had brought back.
Relying on a weapon was the only way to ensure nothing went wrong.
The door latch was gently pried open, followed by the creaking sound of the flimsy door being pushed inward.
Regardless of who entered first, Tang Qing'er struck down each person as they came in.
One after another, thuds of bodies hitting the ground echoed, alerting Liu Jian, who was hiding at the back, that something was amiss.
He turned to flee, but it was too late. Suddenly, his entire body went numb, and he instantly lost consciousness.
Tang Qing'er searched for a long time but couldn’t find an oil lamp in her woodshed. She dug through her memories.
Right, she had no rights in this household—she wasn’t even worthy of lighting an oil lamp.
Shaking her head helplessly, she took out a candle from her space and lit it.
The darkness quickly dissipated. She counted: one, two, three… including Liu Jian, there were six people in total.
Finding some sturdy hemp ropes, she swiftly and skillfully bound them all tightly, blindfolded them, and gagged them.
Then, she held her son and daughter close and fell asleep. No matter how big the matter, it couldn’t interfere with her rest.
She was determined to rest well and deal with this family of scum thoroughly the next day.
Early the next morning, Tang Qing'er was awakened by muffled whimpers. She rose leisurely, and her daughter, sensing the movement,
also opened her bewildered eyes. When she saw the tightly bound figures lying haphazardly at the doorway,
her small body shrank fearfully toward her mother.
Tang Qing'er comforted her, "Da Ya, don’t be afraid. These people are bad. Stay with me while I make breakfast. After we eat, go and invite Grandpa Village Chief over."
The little girl nodded obediently. Since it was still early, Liu Wangcai, who usually returned late from work,
and the old woman, who slept until the sun was high every day, were still in bed. Tang Qing'er broke open the kitchen cabinet, took out some fine rice, and cooked two bowls of thick white rice porridge.
She then went to the backyard, fetched two eggs, fried them in lard, and the mother and daughter enjoyed a hearty meal.
The little girl’s eyes sparkled brightly. She had never eaten so well since birth. After finishing her meal, she timidly said,
"Mother, will Grandma and Father be angry? If they find out we ate fine rice and eggs, they’ll beat us to death."
Tang Qing'er reassured her gently, "It’s fine. From now on, we’ll eat this well every meal. Go and invite Grandpa Village Chief—just tell him I sent you."
The little girl dashed out in a flash. Meanwhile, the aroma of the white rice porridge drifted through the window into the room where Liu Wangcai and his wife slept.
The old couple almost simultaneously twitched their noses. Liu Lishi was the first to open her eyes and exclaimed, "Where is that smell of rice coming from?"
As soon as she spoke, she seemed to realize something and quickly got up to dress. Liu Wangcai asked, "What’s wrong, old woman?"
Liu Lishi cried out, "Oh dear! Old man, get up quickly! That jinx from the third son’s family has gone mad.
Yesterday, she hit our son and even struck me, your old woman. Smell that—it’s the scent of rice. That crazy woman must have stolen my rice to eat.
You must teach her a proper lesson." Liu Wangcai rose half-convinced and half-doubting.
He simply couldn’t believe that the third daughter-in-law, who had always been too suppressed to even dare fart, could suddenly stand up for herself.
The couple hurriedly dressed, pushed open the door, and stepped outside.
What met their eyes was even more shocking than seeing Tang Qing'er and her daughter eating rice porridge.
In the courtyard lay six men, blindfolded, gagged, and bound hand and foot, scattered haphazardly on the ground.
Tang Qing'er sat on a nearby chair, holding a stick, watching the elderly couple with a faint, ambiguous smile.
Liu Wangcai noticed that among those lying on the ground was his son, who had not returned home all night.
He had assumed his son had spent the night at that widow's house again, never expecting to find him tied up and discarded in the courtyard.
Liu Lishi let out a sharp cry and rushed forward to untie her son.
But before she could get close, Tang Qing'er swung her stick horizontally, blocking her path.
Liu Lishi, heartbroken and groaning in distress, pointed at Tang Qing'er and began cursing loudly: "You crazy woman, you thunder-struck wretch! How dare you beat your own husband like this and even assault your mother-in-law? I’m going to report you to the County Office!"
Liu Wangcai also stepped forward with a dark expression, speaking sternly: "Third daughter-in-law, what are you doing? No matter what, Jian is your husband. A woman should regard her husband as her heaven and be filial to her in-laws. Not only have you beaten your husband, but you’ve also assaulted your mother-in-law. Aren’t you afraid of being punished?"
Tang Qing'er didn’t even spare a glance for these two old fools.
There was no reasoning with people like them.
She calculated the time—the village chief should be arriving soon.
Seeing Tang Qing'er remain silent, Liu Lishi thought she was afraid and immediately grew bolder. She stepped forward, intending to slap Tang Qing'er across the face, already planning in her mind how to teach this wretched woman a lesson and vent her anger.
But before her hand could touch Tang Qing'er’s face, her entire body suddenly went numb, as if all her bones had been pulled out, and she collapsed limply to the ground.
The stun baton in Tang Qing'er’s hand was actually set to the lowest setting, merely intended to temporarily incapacitate her without knocking her unconscious.
To Liu Wangcai, however, it looked as though Tang Qing'er had simply poked his wife with a dark, unremarkable stick, and the old woman had fallen over. He didn’t think the stick was anything special, assuming instead that his wife was putting on an exaggerated act, collapsing at the slightest touch.
But he naturally had to side with his wife, so he immediately roared and charged forward, raising his hand to deliver a heavy slap to Tang Qing'er’s face.
Smack!
A crisp sound rang out, and Tang Qing'er’s cheek instantly reddened and swelled, with clear finger marks appearing.
Just then, the village chief walked in through the main gate, witnessing the scene. He immediately shouted angrily:
"Stop! Wangcai! What are you doing? Since when does a father-in-law lay hands on his daughter-in-law?"
Before Liu Wangcai could respond, Tang Qing'er took advantage of everyone’s attention being diverted to the village chief and swiftly stowed the stun baton into her space.
Clutching her face, she hurried over to the village chief: "Uncle Village Chief, please stand up for me. They’ve gone too far—not only has this family mistreated me, but last night, that beast Liu Jian even brought all these men to break down my door."
As she spoke, she pointed to the men still bound in the courtyard. The village chief was stunned. He had long known this family mistreated their daughter-in-law, but he never expected they could stoop to such beastly acts. However, how had these men been subdued? Puzzled, he asked:
"Liu Jian’s wife, how did you manage to subdue these men?"
Tang Qing'er replied with a pitiful tone: "I don’t know either. All I know is that as soon as these men entered the woodshed, they inexplicably passed out."
"I quickly found some rope and tied them up." By now, a crowd of onlookers had begun to gather outside the door.
Seeing the growing crowd, she continued to spin her tale: "But last night, I dreamed of my deceased parents.
They said they couldn’t bear to watch Liu Jian ruin me, so they appeared to deal with them."
The crowd gasped in shock, and even the village chief felt a chill run down his spine.
Looking at the unfamiliar outsiders tied up, the village chief called over a few strong young men from the village to take them to the ancestral hall for questioning.
Tang Qing'er sobbed and stopped them: "Uncle Village Chief, let’s question them here, so the villagers can hear what they intended to do to me."
No way—these people were all surnamed Liu. If they covered for each other, how could she take her child and leave to live a better life?
Only by making this as big a scene as possible could she achieve her goal.