Su Xiaoqi was in a terrible mood, anger burning through her whole body like she was going insane.
She shot back at Shen Xiaofang without politeness:
“Get this straight. Are you a cook? Why are you throwing all the blame around?”
“Zhou Ye came back this time to have a matchmaking meeting with me. If it weren’t for you, he would definitely have married me.” Shen Xiaofang’s face grew more and more twisted.
A while ago, she had even started cleaning up the house that was supposed to be hers and Zhou Ye’s future wedding home.
She didn’t believe Yang Huahua could resist the temptation of three rooms from the Shen family—not to mention the dowry.
With Yang Huahua speaking, Zhou Ye would not dare refuse.
And yet Su Xiaoqi, relying on her bewitching looks, jumped into the river to “save” Zhou Ye, and actually got hundreds of yuan in bride price.
Disgusting.
If she had known it was that easy, she would have jumped into the river too—hung herself from a tree, smashed into a wall—anything along his path. She refused to believe Zhou Ye wouldn’t marry her then.
Su Xiaoqi didn’t bother talking nonsense with her.
So this was the “good match” Yang Huahua kept talking about.
“Move aside.”
But Shen Xiaofang was clearly determined to teach her a lesson. She spread her arms and blocked the road.
“Go on then, if you’ve got the guts, walk through me.”
“Shen Xiaofang, you’re asking for a beating.”
Shen Xiaofang glanced at Su Xiaoqi’s slim waist. One slap would probably make her lie in bed for a month.
She laughed arrogantly.
“With your tiny frame? Not sure who’s beating who yet.”
Su Xiaoqi turned to leave from another direction—she didn’t feel like fighting today.
Seeing her try to escape, Shen Xiaofang thought she was afraid.
“So what are Yang Xiaolin and the others scared of? You’re just a bean sprout.”
She rushed forward and placed a heavy hand on Su Xiaoqi’s shoulder.
Su Xiaoqi grabbed her arm and threw her over her shoulder in one clean motion.
Bang!
The ground shook, dust rising for a long time before settling.
Shen Xiaofang lay stunned on the ground, still confused.
“What… Su Xiaoqi, you actually hit me?”
Su Xiaoqi clapped her hands in disgust.
“You should lose some weight. You’re basically carrying an entire production team’s worth of fat.”
Looking across the village, there really wasn’t another person as fat as Shen Xiaofang.
It showed how well her widowed mother had raised her.
Shen Xiaofang cried while snot and tears ran down her face, scrambling up again to charge at her.
Su Xiaoqi dodged sideways and kicked her right in the butt.
She flew straight into the wheat field.
“Come back here! I’m going to kill you!” Shen Xiaofang screamed, refusing to give up.
After beating her, Su Xiaoqi immediately ran.
She sprinted all the way back home.
Xu Meizhen had just returned and dumped wild vegetables from her basket onto the ground.
She was holding two wild fruits.
“Xiaocui, go wash my shoes for me, and I’ll give you one fruit.”
Little Cui licked her lips.
“Okay.”
She ran to fetch a shoe brush and carried the shoes to the well, starting to scrub them.
After Su Xiaoqi came in, she bent over with her hands on her knees, gasping for breath.
Just a short run and she was already exhausted.
“Were you chased by a dog?” Xu Meizhen said, taking off her sleeves and tossing them in front of Xiao Cui. “Wash these too.”
Su Xiaoqi straightened up.
“Are you really shameless enough to make a five-year-old wash your shoes?”
“Hmph. I’m teaching her to earn food through labor,” Xu Meizhen said, biting into a wild fruit and finding it sour and unpleasant.
Outside, faint shouting grew louder and closer.
Someone was coming.
Xu Meizhen shivered.
“Who did Shen Xiaofang offend?”
She looked up at Su Xiaoqi.
“Did you offend her?”
“What do you mean I offended her? She’s the one who came for me.”
Xu Meizhen looked pleased, clearly hoping Su Xiaoqi would get into trouble.
Little Cui looked up anxiously.
“Auntie, you should hide.”
“I’m not afraid. If I fight later, you cheer for me. If I win, I’ll give you candy.”
Su Xiaoqi liked this pitiful little girl.
Little Cui immediately dropped the shoe.
“I don’t want fruit, I want candy.”
She stood up and stepped on the sleeve.
“I’ll cheer for you.”
“Good.”
Xu Meizhen rolled her eyes.
“Xiao Cui, you’re asking for a beating!”
Su Xiaoqi took out a piece of candy, unwrapped it, and placed it in Xiao Cui’s mouth.
The child licked it happily, then picked up the candy wrapper from the ground and carefully folded it away in her pocket.
At that moment, Shen Xiaofang arrived with a stick in her hand, straw still tangled in her hair.
She scanned the yard and asked through gritted teeth:
“Meizhen, is your brother home?”
She meant Zhou Ye.
Xu Meizhen had benefited from this misunderstanding before, so she answered calmly:
“He’s not home.”
Shen Xiaofang’s eyes reddened.
“You think I’m bad, huh? I just wanted him. You stole him and now you still refuse to apologize—and even dared to hit me!”
Xu Meizhen nodded eagerly.
“She says she lacks morals.”
Su Xiaoqi searched around but couldn’t find anything useful to use as a weapon.
All farm tools had been taken to the fields.
She only found a broom.
Little Cui quietly ran off and soon came back dragging a dung scoop.
“Auntie, use this.”
Before she could react, Su Xiaoqi grabbed it.
She scooped up dirty water from the basin where Xu Meizhen had been washing shoes and splashed it at Shen Xiaofang.
A piercing scream erupted from both Shen Xiaofang and Xu Meizhen.
The commotion drew everyone nearby.
“My shoes!” Xu Meizhen wailed.
Shen Xiaofang wiped her face, spitting repeatedly in disgust.
“You’re bullying people!”
Su Xiaoqi frowned.
“Shen Xiaofang, did Zhou Ye ever say he wanted to date you?”
“No,” she hesitated, “but he definitely wants to marry me.”
“Why?”
“Because I can give birth to sons—and I have three rooms.”
Xu Laoliu had climbed up a tree nearby and was laughing so hard the leaves rustled.
“Xiaofang, I don’t even want to marry you. Why would Zhou Ye, a guy every woman wants, marry you?”
“You old bastard!” she shouted.
Xu Laoliu shut up for a moment, then said:
“Fine, fine, I’ll marry you—but even if Zhou Ye went blind, he still wouldn’t choose you.”
He had grown up following Zhou Ye.
He knew clearly: Zhou Ye was a looks-based person.
“Go look in a mirror, then compare yourself with Su Xiaoqi. Anyone with eyes would choose her.”
Xu Laoliu’s words were brutally honest.
“I have three rooms! I can give birth to sons!”
He rolled his eyes.
“Your three rooms are your only redeeming point. Nobody even knows what kind of child you’ll actually have.”
Su Xiaoqi couldn’t stop laughing.
“Whether you have sons or daughters depends on the man, not the woman.”
She kindly advised her:
“With three rooms, why are you even worried about getting married?”
Shen Xiaofang’s eyes turned red.
“You don’t understand! I’ve never seen a man better-looking than Zhou Ye in all the nearby production teams. I wanted to marry him since I was young—it’s all your fault… why did you steal my happiness?”