“Li Jianguo! Miao Cuihua! You two cowardly bastards! Get your asses out here!”
The furious roar was deafening.
Dust and dirt fell from the already dilapidated walls of the Li family courtyard.
Li Zhengting’s expression darkened.
He was just about to stand up and go outside when Yu Qinghuan pressed a hand firmly against his shoulder.
“Honey, you stay seated.”
Yu Qinghuan looked at him with a bright smile, her eyes sparkling with eager anticipation.
“Leave this kind of dirty work to me.”
She casually stowed the empty noodle bowl in her dimensional space, then turned around and strode out of the side room with her head held high and her chest puffed out.
The moment she entered the courtyard, Yu Qinghuan nearly laughed from sheer outrage at the sight before her.
More than twenty people were packed tightly outside the courtyard gate.
At the front stood an elderly man with a head of white hair, trembling slightly as he leaned on a dragon-headed cane.
His name was Li Maolin, the patriarch of the Li clan in Hongqi Production Brigade.
In 1976, when traditional clan values remained deeply rooted and conservative, a clan patriarch sometimes wielded even greater authority in the village than the production brigade secretary.
As for Miao Cuihua…
She was currently hiding behind the old man, her mouth crookedly wrapped in white gauze, leaving only her nostrils and a pair of venomous eyes exposed.
She was sobbing and complaining to the patriarch in muffled cries.
The moment she spotted Yu Qinghuan emerging from the house, she stretched out a trembling, chubby finger and pointed at her, letting out an incoherent shriek.
“Uncle Patriarch! It’s her! That jinx beat up my daughter!”
“She even wants to steal my second son’s job! She’s trying to turn him against us and make him sever ties with his own family!”
Li Chunhua was cowering behind them as well.
The faint stench of pig manure still clung to her, and her face was smeared with dirt from crying.
“Great-grandfather! You have to stand up for us!”
“Yu Qinghuan even threatened to chop my mother to death with a woodcutter’s knife!”
The Li clan patriarch, Li Maolin, took a deep breath and slammed his dragon-headed cane against the ground.
BANG!
The cane struck the flagstones with a heavy thud.
Li Maolin lifted his deeply wrinkled face, which resembled a dried orange peel, and looked at Yu Qinghuan with an arrogant, condescending expression.
“Yu Qinghuan.”
His voice was hoarse as he began throwing his weight around as an elder.
“Do you know that in our Hongqi Production Brigade, defying your parents-in-law and beating your husband’s elder sister are offenses punishable under our clan rules?”
“You wild girl, raised without a father or mother to teach you manners, actually dare to run wild on the territory of our Li clan?”
“Today, this old man will teach you what proper conduct means on behalf of your deceased parents!”
By this point, the courtyard entrance was packed with villagers who had gathered to watch the commotion. Everyone was whispering among themselves.
Li Zhengting also strode out of the side room.
His tall, imposing figure moved half a step in front of Yu Qinghuan as he spoke coldly.
“Patriarch, accompanying one’s husband to his military posting is a military regulation.”
“As a soldier, my allowance is also issued by the military.”
“We’ll resolve our family affairs ourselves. There’s no need to involve clan rules.”
The moment Li Maolin saw Li Zhengting emerge, his expression darkened. He let out a cold snort.
“Zhengting! Have you forgotten your roots just because you’ve become an officer in the military?!”
“Without the Li clan, would you have achieved what you have today?!”
“Your body and hair were given to you by your parents!”
“According to our Li family clan rules, every Li descendant must hand over eighty percent of his monthly military allowance to the family for safekeeping!”
“The remaining twenty percent can be used for your own food and clothing.”
“Your wife has shown no respect for her elders and has behaved outrageously. Today, she must transfer her substitute-teacher position to Chunhua as compensation!”
“Otherwise, this old man will represent the entire Li clan and have your name struck from the family register at the ancestral hall!”
Have Li Zhengting expelled from the Li clan!
Sever his roots and ties to his ancestral family!
In those days, being expelled from one’s clan was an extremely serious punishment.
People would look down on you wherever you went, and even your military political background checks could be affected.
When Miao Cuihua and Li Chunhua heard those words, their eyes immediately lit up with triumphant delight.
They looked at Yu Qinghuan provocatively, as if to say, You little bitch! Let’s see how arrogant you can be now!
Yu Qinghuan looked at the two shameless women, then at the self-important old man who was already halfway into his grave yet still insisted on meddling in other people’s affairs.
She wasn’t the least bit nervous.
Instead, she burst out laughing.
Her laughter was chilling. In the quiet morning courtyard, it raised goosebumps on everyone’s skin.
“Heh… Hahahahaha!”
Laughing as she turned around, Yu Qinghuan walked into the inner room.
Li Maolin and Miao Cuihua assumed she had been frightened into retreating to write the transfer agreement. They were already congratulating themselves on their victory.
However…
The next second—
Creeeeak!
An extremely harsh, heavy scraping sound came from the doorway of the main room.
Under everyone’s horrified, disbelieving gazes…
Yu Qinghuan emerged, dragging a massive rosewood grand armchair with one hand.
The chair weighed dozens of pounds. Its entire surface gleamed a deep, glossy black, and its wood was carved with intricate patterns.
With a swaggering, commanding stride, she dragged it out of the inner room one step at a time!
Naturally, this was a top-quality modern-crafted chair she had just materialized from her dimensional space while no one was paying attention.
BANG!
With a powerful heave of one arm, Yu Qinghuan slammed the heavy armchair into the middle of the courtyard.
It landed directly in front of Li Maolin, sending dust billowing into the air.
Yu Qinghuan dusted off her hands and lifted the hem of her old padded jacket.
She took a long stride forward.
Then, with an utterly brazen swagger, she plopped herself into the grand armchair like a bandit chieftain claiming her territory.
She rested her right elbow on the armrest and propped her chin up with her fingers.
Her other leg was placed in an extremely undignified manner, with her foot resting directly on the edge of the chair.
Her posture…
Couldn’t have been more arrogant.
Couldn’t have been more unhinged.
Yu Qinghuan narrowed her eyes slightly and stared coldly at Li Maolin, whose face had already turned livid.
“Old man.”
Her red lips parted, and the words that came out were as sharp as knives.
“You’re over seventy, aren’t you?”
“The coffin lid is practically up to your neck, yet you’re still sticking your nose into everyone else’s business. Aren’t you afraid of shortening your remaining years?”
“You want eighty percent of my husband’s military allowance? And you want my teaching position, too?”
Yu Qinghuan sneered and pointed straight at Li Maolin’s nose.
“Let me tell you something!”
“Today, anyone who dares touch a single cent of my husband’s money or covet my job—”
“I won’t just snap their cane in half.”
“I’ll dismantle their old bones one by one and use them for firewood!”
Her words were utterly outrageous.
In this remote mountain village, no younger person had ever dared to speak to the Li clan patriarch in such a tone!
She was practically grinding the dignity of the entire Li clan into the mud!
“You… you rebellious daughter-in-law! How dare you show such disrespect to your elders and ancestors!”
Li Maolin’s face turned bright red with rage, and his entire body trembled.
He pointed at Yu Qinghuan, his dragon-headed cane shaking like a sieve.
“Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!”
“The Li family has produced a demon!”
Clutching his chest, Li Maolin nearly fainted from anger on the spot.
He turned toward several young, burly men from the same clan standing behind him and screamed hysterically.
“Where are all the Li clan descendants?!”
“Get up there and teach this shameless, disobedient woman a lesson!”
“Tie her up and lock her in the ancestral hall! Let the clan punish her according to our family law!”
The burly men from the Li clan exchanged glances when they heard the order.
Then they clenched their fists, their faces twisting into malicious grins, and began closing in on Yu Qinghuan, who remained seated in the grand armchair.