Su Wanwan’s shout drew a crowd from a dozen or so households nearby.
In all these years, the villagers had never seen a younger generation member dare to argue so fiercely with an elder.
“You’re talking nonsense!” Pei’s Eldest Aunt retorted, matching her tone. “If it weren’t for us raising Pei Changfeng and carrying him back after he was injured, he would have died who knows where! How dare you slander me? I’ll fight you to the death!”
Su Wanwan rolled up her sleeves. “I think it’s more likely that you’re the ones who harmed my husband. You’re clearly guilty and afraid of being exposed!”
This remark struck a nerve. Pei’s Eldest Aunt shrieked and lunged at Su Wanwan, trying to claw at her. But Su Wanwan was no pushover. She dodged nimbly, then pinned Pei’s Eldest Aunt down and slapped her repeatedly across the face.
Reason is for people; for beasts, fists are enough!
The onlookers stared in shock as Su Wanwan beat Pei’s Eldest Aunt until she screamed in pain. It took them a moment to snap out of it and try to intervene.
“You can’t hit her! If you hit his eldest aunt, Changfeng will surely divorce you when he wakes up!”
“Ow! Why are you hitting me? Su Wanwan, you’ve got the wrong person! Ouch, my arm—stop twisting it!”
“Stop fighting, both of you! Someone, go get the Village Chief!”
Anyone who tried to restrain Su Wanwan and stop her from hitting became her target. In her eyes, holding her back was no different from helping Pei’s Eldest Aunt—they all deserved a beating!
By now, Su Wanwan was certain that Pei Changfeng would survive. She no longer felt the need to pretend. Whoever dared to bully her would face her wrath. All those troublemakers could go to hell.
When she finally stopped, Pei’s Eldest Aunt lay on the ground, covering her face and sobbing. Her hair was disheveled, and her face was swollen like a pig’s head. “Waaah… you’re bullying me! I’m your elder! How dare you hit me like this… waaah…”
Su Wanwan dusted off her hands. “Enough nonsense. Where’s my husband’s medicine?”
Intimidated by her earlier display, no one dared to criticize her, fearing she might turn her fury on them.
Better she beats Pei’s Eldest Aunt than us.
Where would Pei’s Eldest Aunt have any medicine to give? The “medicine” she usually pretended to feed Pei Changfeng was just boiled tree bark. If she had real medicine, she would have given it long ago to avoid this beating.
Pei’s Eldest Aunt scanned the faces in the crowd. Those who met her gaze quickly looked down, too afraid to speak. Su Wanwan was too fierce when she started hitting people!
Su Wanwan kicked open the door of Pei’s Eldest Uncle’s house. “Are you going to tell me or not? If not, I’ll search the house myself!”
Despite her petite frame, she sent the door flying open with a single kick. The men nearby gulped nervously. No matter how beautiful she was, they wouldn’t dare marry someone like her. Thank goodness it was Pei Changfeng who had married her—if it were one of them, they’d be beaten every day.
Pei’s Eldest Aunt clung to her leg, trying to stop her from entering. If Su Wanwan went inside and the villagers saw Pei’s Eldest Uncle with a broken arm, everyone would know who had climbed over her wall last night.
“What’s wrong, Eldest Aunt?” Su Wanwan asked. “Why are you stopping me from going in?”
Seeing that the situation was becoming untenable, Pei’s Eldest Uncle inside the house coughed heavily and finally spoke up. “I’ll bring the medicine to you later. What’s the meaning of all this commotion at the door?”
"So that's how it is," Su Wanwan thought. After all, she couldn't push them too hard, or else she wouldn't be able to keep squeezing them for benefits in the future. She smiled amiably, "Then I'll come back later to get it. Uncle and Auntie, don't forget, alright? I knew you wouldn't be without medicine."
As she walked out, the crowd automatically parted to make way for her, watching her leave with a mix of awe and fear.
Truly, poison fights poison… No wonder Pei Changfeng managed to survive—this woman is vicious.
After returning home, Su Wanwan first fed Pei Changfeng the egg custard she had stewed earlier in the pot, then cooked herself a fragrant dish of meat in the kitchen.
Within half a day, Su Wanwan's reputation as a shrew had spread throughout the entire village. Someone from her maternal village next door heard about it and said in a trembling voice, "Why didn't you investigate before proposing marriage? This girl beat her stepmother so badly she couldn't even get out of bed. If she hadn't finally married off, her stepmother would still be getting beaten at home…"
This was also why Su Wanwan's stepmother had been so desperate to find her a husband, even offering a dowry and paying extra just to marry her off…
So now, Su Wanwan had a total of four taels of silver. Three taels were the dowry she had demanded from her stepmother, and the extra tael was brought over by Pei Yaozu in the evening for her to buy medicine for Pei Changfeng.
That night, she hugged Pei Changfeng and sighed, "What kind of people are your family? Luckily, I came along, or you'd really be done for. When you wake up, if anyone gossips in front of you, don't listen to them. Everything I do is for your own good."
After saying this, she stared at Pei Changfeng for a while, confirming he showed no reaction, before happily planting a few kisses on his face. "But I'm actually quite good. As long as you behave, I promise I won't hit you."
She was the perfect wife! Any man who married her must have cultivated eight lifetimes of good fortune.
Tomorrow was the day for the bride's return to her maternal home.
Su Wanwan happily thought about how she would bring back a new quilt from home tomorrow, along with all her clothes and two jars of pickled vegetables her stepmother had made. Otherwise, there would be nothing to eat with porridge, and it would taste bland.
But what about Pei Changfeng while she was away tomorrow?