Luckily, she had shut her mouth in time that day and only taken a slap.
Otherwise, she would have ended up just as miserable as them.
She made up her mind that once she got home, she would warn her two children: everyone in Xia Wanyue’s family was someone they absolutely must not provoke.
After returning home, Xia Wanyue put the things away and went to the kitchen to wash the blood from her hands.
When she finished, she changed out of her clothes and prepared to scrub them clean.
Fresh bloodstains could still be washed out if cleaned promptly; once they sat too long, they became much harder to remove.
The two children weren’t home, so Xia Wanyue hung the clothes up to dry.
Not long after, the two children came back hand in hand.
“Mother~”
Li Zhixia was crying her eyes out, led back by Li Wenyuan. Their hair was a mess, and their clothes had been torn.
Xia Wanyue frowned.
“What happened? You two… did you get into a fight?”
She pulled the children closer and checked them from head to toe.
Li Zhixia had several scratch marks on her face, while Li Wenyuan had multiple bruises, with blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
“What happened? Who did this?”
Anger flared in Xia Wanyue’s chest. Were they deliberately bullying her entire family now?
“Mother—!”
Li Zhixia cried out and threw herself into Xia Wanyue’s arms, wailing loudly.
Xia Wanyue quickly hugged her, gently patting her back.
Li Wenyuan pouted, his eyes filled with tears, looking at Xia Wanyue with deep grievance.
“Ah Yan, you tell me…”
Li Wenyuan raised his sleeve and wiped away his tears.
Sniffling, he said,“Mother, it was our cousins…”
“Earlier, my sister and I heard people saying that Mother was being stopped at the village entrance. We were worried. Since our little brother was sleeping, we decided to go check. But on the way, we ran into our eldest cousin.”
“When they saw we were wearing new clothes, they wanted to snatch them.”
“He said the clothes were his, that everything our family has belongs to them. He said we were thieves who stole their money to buy clothes.”
“He demanded we give them back and even called over Big Sister Daya and Second Sister Er’ya. The three of them pinned my sister and me to the ground, tearing at our clothes and hitting us.”
“My sister and I struggled desperately and managed to escape. They chased us for a long time.”
At this point, Li Zhixia lifted her head from Xia Wanyue’s arms.
“It was big brother who protected me. He threw stones at them.”
“Eldest Cousin’s forehead was bleeding from where big brother hit him.”
As she spoke, Li Zhixia looked up at Xia Wanyue fearfully.
“Mother… big brother didn’t do anything wrong, right?”
Her voice grew more cautious with each word.
Back at the Li family, she had always known that Eldest Cousin was the family treasure. Everyone favored him. All the good food went to him. Anyone who dared hurt him would be beaten half to death by Grandmother and Eldest Aunt.
“Mother, one does what one must and bears the consequences alone. If… if they come looking for trouble, just hand me over to them!”
Li Wenyuan spoke stubbornly.
If not for his reddened eyes and uncontrollable tears, Xia Wanyue might have believed his heroic resolve.
She ruffled the foolish boy’s hair.
“Silly child. You are my son. No one is allowed to lay a finger on you.”
“Waaah—! Wuwuwuwu—!”
Li Wenyuan suddenly burst into loud sobs, releasing all his fear and grievances at once.
Before, even when he cried, he did so silently—because no one comforted him, no one protected him, and no one stood up for him.
He always pretended to be strong, wanting to take care of his mother and sister.
Because he believed that a man must not cry. A man must protect his sister and mother.
Now, the tightly clenched knot in his heart finally loosened. He could cry loudly like a child.
He had someone who loved him. He had a mother who would protect him.
“You’re still just a child.”
Xia Wanyue pulled Li Wenyuan over and hugged both children tightly.
“Mother’s treasures—Mother is here. How about Mother goes and gets revenge for you?”
Xia Wanyue stood up, took a firewood cleaver from the storage room, held the children’s hands, and headed straight to the Li household.
Bang!
The Li family’s courtyard gate was kicked open.
The people inside were eating; the noise startled them so badly that chopsticks nearly fell from their hands.
“You two stay here. Don’t get hurt.”
Xia Wanyue left the children at the gate and walked in alone.
“What are you doing here? Get out!”
Old Man Li slammed his chopsticks on the table and roared.
Xia Wanyue ignored him and swept her gaze across the room.
Madam Miao looked guilty and avoided her eyes.
She already knew about what had happened between the children.
She had thought that since her own child had also suffered, Xia Wanyue wouldn’t come so soon.
But she still came.
Madam Miao stood up and pulled her son behind her.
“Yue… Yue-niang, y-you… why are you here?”
Xia Wanyue looked at her, then shifted her gaze to Li Song behind her.
“You know exactly why I’m here.”
“You wretch! What are you doing here again? Didn’t you say you’d rather die than come begging to our house? What, run out of grain now? Came to beg us for food?”
“Mother, that can’t be, right? We don’t have much grain left either.”
Little Madam Li tugged at Li Xin’s sleeve. The two stood up quietly and moved behind Old Madam Wang and Old Man Li.
Hearing Old Madam Li’s words, she anxiously grabbed her arm, afraid the family’s grain would be given away.
Xia Wanyue took two steps forward.
Seeing her approach, the others quickly stood and crowded toward Old Man Li and Old Madam Wang.
Xia Wanyue stood before the table, planted one foot on a stool, and slammed the cleaver into the tabletop with a loud thud.
“Someone beat my two children. How do you plan to settle this?”
Old Madam Wang said in confusion,“Who beat your children? Go find them. What are you doing in our house?”
Xia Wanyue lowered her head and toyed with the cleaver’s handle.
“What do you think I came here for?”
“A-ah—Sister-in-law!”
Madam Miao’s legs went weak.
She trembled as she stepped toward Xia Wanyue.
“Yue… Yue-niang… Cai’er is still young. He doesn’t know any better. For the sake of when I helped deliver your baby, please let him go. I beg you.”
“…Alright?”
Xia Wanyue let out a cold laugh.
“You think that tiny favor is enough for me to spare your child? I remember helping you with plenty of work in the past. Now you want to talk about favors?”
“You didn’t spare my children either. Look at the injuries they suffered.”
“Yue-niang, look—our Cai’er is hurt too, right? Why don’t we call it even?”
She pulled Li Cai out from behind her and pointed at the nearly healed small wound on his head.
“Heh. Do you really think so?”
Xia Wanyue sneered at her.
Madam Miao clenched her teeth and suddenly turned, slapping Li Cai twice.
Though the blows looked fierce, they were more for show than substance. Li Cai cried out angrily.
“Mother, why are you hitting me? You and Grandma both said I’m the Li family’s only precious grandson, the eldest grandson! Everyone has to treat me well! Everything in this family belongs to me! I’m the one who’ll support this family in the future!”