The jeep slowly came to a stop in front of the Li family’s courtyard.
Yu Qinghuan casually tucked the thick kraft-paper envelope into her clothes.
Free money was free money. Why turn it down?
However, that didn’t mean she would go easy on Li Zhengting because of it.
The moment she got out of the vehicle, she spotted Old Man Li driving the ox cart back. Miao Cuihua, who had just regained consciousness at the commune clinic, was sitting on it.
The instant Miao Cuihua saw the military-green jeep, she reacted as if she had spotted her last lifeline.
She scrambled and slid off the ox cart, then threw herself toward Li Zhengting, wailing at the top of her lungs.
“Zhengting! My son! You have to stand up for your mother!”
Miao Cuihua grabbed Li Zhengting’s military uniform sleeve and cried so hard that every wrinkle on her face deepened.
“What kind of wife have you married? She’s a lunatic! A murderer!”
“She smashed all the pots, bowls, and utensils in the house in the middle of the night! She even stole everything from the cellar!”
“She also kicked your eldest sister into the pig manure pit! Your sister’s face is still swollen!”
“She doesn’t even respect me as her mother-in-law! You must write a divorce letter right now and divorce that shameless, immoral woman!”
Miao Cuihua howled in grief, with snot and tears running down her face as she pointed at Yu Qinghuan and cursed her viciously.
She was absolutely certain of one thing.
Li Zhengting was an officer, and he cared deeply about his reputation.
Once he heard how Yu Qinghuan had behaved so outrageously at home, he would definitely lose his temper on the spot.
Meanwhile, at the entrance to the courtyard, several neighbors who had been chatting by the roadside perked up as soon as they heard Miao Cuihua’s wailing.
Their eyes lit up, and they hurried over in small, quick steps.
The villagers crowded around the Li family’s half-closed gate, craning their necks to get a good look inside the courtyard.
Li Zhengting’s brows knitted tightly together.
His usually stern, resolute face had grown so dark that it looked ready to drip with rain.
He glanced at his mother, whose face was twisted with resentment, then at the neighbors outside the gate, who were pointing and whispering.
He could already feel a headache coming on.
Standing nearby, Yu Qinghuan noticed more and more neighbors gathering at the entrance from the corner of her eye.
She sneered inwardly.
So, the guilty party was going to accuse someone else first?
Fine. Today, she would show this old woman what it meant to fight magic with magic.
“System, activate the ‘Weakness Aura.’ Also, exchange one drop of ‘Drama Queen Tears.’”
Yu Qinghuan communicated rapidly with the system in her mind.
In an instant, her face turned visibly pale, draining of all color.
Tears quickly welled up in her large eyes, shimmering like crystal.
She lowered her head slightly.
Her slender body trembled gently in the cold wind, swaying as though she could collapse at any moment.
She looked like an innocent little white flower on the verge of being crushed by a violent storm.
“Brother Zhengting…”
The moment Yu Qinghuan spoke, her voice trembled so badly that the words nearly broke apart. It was thick with the sound of suppressed sobs.
Her voice was soft and fragile, making the hearts of several older women gathered at the gate ache.
“Mom is right. It’s all my fault.”
Yu Qinghuan raised her head, her eyes red-rimmed as tears silently slid down her deathly pale cheeks.
“I shouldn’t have felt wronged just because I was locked in a damp, freezing woodshed and left hungry for three days and three nights.”
“I shouldn’t have talked back to Big Sister just because I wanted to protect the substitute-teacher position I worked so hard to earn.”
“And I especially shouldn’t have tried to prove my innocence after our home was robbed and Big Sister accused me of stealing the family’s belongings.”
As Yu Qinghuan cried, she used the weakest, most pitiful voice imaginable to expose every ugly detail of Miao Cuihua’s abuse and Li Chunhua’s attempt to steal her job.
She made sure to speak loudly enough for every neighbor in the village to hear.
The villagers gathered at the gate immediately began pointing at Miao Cuihua and whispering among themselves.
“Oh, my goodness! They left that girl hungry for three whole days and nights? That old woman from the Li family is downright cruel!”
“They even wanted to steal her substitute-teacher position! Li Chunhua sneaks around in haystacks with a man, and now she wants to be a teacher?”
“Exactly! Their house gets robbed, and they blame their own daughter-in-law? What kind of injustice is this?”
Hearing the neighbors’ comments, Miao Cuihua trembled with rage.
“You… you filthy-mouthed little bitch! I’ll tear you apart!”
She lunged forward again, claws bared.
But Yu Qinghuan didn’t give her the chance.
She looked at Li Zhengting with eyes filled with sorrow and despair, forcing a bitter smile onto her lips.
“Brother Zhengting, I have no father or mother. I’m just an orphan nobody cares about.”
“If Mom and Big Sister can’t stand the sight of me and think I’m a jinx who brings bad luck…”
“Then I’ll leave. I won’t get in the way of your bright future.”
With that, Yu Qinghuan’s body suddenly swayed.
She closed her eyes and, with absolutely impeccable timing…
Collapsed straight into Li Zhengting’s broad, solid chest.
Her movements were as smooth as flowing water.
She didn’t miss by even an inch.
A perfect hit.
Li Zhengting’s mind went buzz.
Reacting instinctively, he spread his arms and caught the warm, soft body falling into his embrace.
“Qinghuan!”
Li Zhengting called her name without thinking.
The neighbors at the gate immediately erupted in cries of alarm.
“Oh, no! The poor girl has fainted from hunger!”
“What a sin! Even a person made of iron couldn’t withstand three days without food!”
“The Li family is trying to drive a martyr’s orphan to her death!”
Holding Yu Qinghuan in his arms, Li Zhengting shot a cold glance at Miao Cuihua, who had slumped to the ground.
But just as he lowered his head to check on the woman in his arms—
Something unexpected happened.
Hidden in the embrace, safely outside his direct line of sight, Yu Qinghuan was supposed to be in a deep coma.
Instead, one of her small, fair hands quietly slipped toward the soft flesh at Li Zhengting’s waist.
Then…
Through the thick fabric of his military uniform, she summoned every ounce of strength she had and pinched his waist hard, twisting viciously.
The message was crystal clear: if he didn’t cooperate with her little performance, she would squeeze his kidneys into oblivion right there and then.
Li Zhengting sucked in a sharp breath.
Every muscle in his body instantly stiffened like a slab of iron.
His deep, dark pupils contracted sharply.
He lowered his head and stared intently at the woman in his arms, whose eyes were tightly shut but whose lips carried the faintest, almost imperceptible smirk of triumph.
On Li Zhengting’s stern, battle-hardened face…
His expression.
In that instant…
Changed completely.