Just then, Old Madam Su came out carrying the last pot of soup and happened to hear those words.
That immediately set her off. She stormed forward and grabbed Old Madam Liu by the collar.
“Get the hell out of here! You’re not welcome!”
But the sharp-tongued old woman wasn’t one to back down.
“You damn old hag! Can’t I even say a few words? That useless little bastard you picked up from who-knows-where—what are you pretending for?”
“And who knows where all this food came from? Probably stolen, yet you’re here putting on airs like some rich family!”
It could only be said that Liu Wen’s mother was foolish. Back in her own village, people usually didn’t bother arguing with her.
Whenever conflicts arose, they simply walked away rather than waste time with someone so unreasonable.
But Old Madam Liu didn’t see it that way—she thought people feared her, which only made her more arrogant.
The villagers couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Get out, get out! Our village doesn’t welcome you!”
“Exactly! You come to someone else’s banquet empty-handed, don’t even say a word of blessing, and still dare to make a scene?”
“You think Taoliu Village is easy to bully?”
“Honestly, this old woman is stupid. When there’s food, just eat quietly! Even food can’t shut that filthy mouth of hers!”
As the crowd criticized her from all sides, Old Madam Liu still didn’t think she had done anything wrong.
In her mind, that girl was just a worthless child someone had picked up and abandoned—yet this family treated her like treasure.
In times like these, when every household was struggling just to survive, how could they afford such a lavish banquet?
With so much meat on the tables, she was convinced they must have gotten their money through shady means.
By now, Old Madam Su was furious.
“Dalang, Erlang, Sanlang—drag that boy out and beat him!”
The three Su brothers immediately stood up and hauled Liu Wen outside.
Soon, cries of pain and desperate begging could be heard from beyond the door.
Old Madam Su was crying in the courtyard, while Liu Wen cried outside.
Meanwhile, Su Muyao stood to the side, thoroughly entertained.
In her past life, she had heard about those dramatic village grandmothers who sat on the ground, clapping and wailing—but she had never actually seen it herself.
Now she finally got an up-close look.
Suddenly, Old Madam Liu scrambled to her feet and lunged toward the table.
The moment Su Muyao saw that, she realized something was wrong.
“Grandpa, stop her!”
Old Master Su reacted instantly, stepping forward and yanking her aside.
Trying to ruin his granddaughter’s birthday banquet? She must have a death wish.
Old Madam Su rolled up her sleeves and, without hesitation, slapped Old Madam Liu across the face several times—smack, smack.
In no time, Old Madam Liu’s face was swollen, bright red handprints clearly visible.
“Ow! Ow! I can’t go on living like this!”
“I’m going to report this to the authorities! I’ll have all of you arrested!”
The more she shouted, the harder Old Madam Su hit her.
“Fu Bao is the most precious treasure in our family—not the kind of ‘worthless girl’ you’re talking about!”
“You shameless old thing! You’re the worthless one yourself, and you think everyone else is the same!”
“You have your son sneaking around stealing every day, so you assume others do the same? Bah!”
“You disgusting old hag—I’ll beat you to death today!”
Old Madam Liu tried to fight back, but she was no match for Old Madam Su, who worked in the fields year-round.
At first, her grandson stood frozen in shock. But when he finally reacted, he rushed forward to grab and hit Old Madam Su.
The boy had only managed to kick and hit a couple of times before Xi Bao and the others dragged him aside. A group of kids immediately surrounded him, pounding him with their soft little fists.
The child, who had been doted on by his grandmother since birth, had never suffered like this before. He burst into loud, uncontrollable sobs.
Now Old Madam Liu finally panicked. That was her precious grandson—the one she cherished like the apple of her eye.
And now he was being beaten by a group of children. What if something really happened to him? How could she go on living?
“Stop! Stop right now! We’re leaving—we’ll leave immediately!”
Old Madam Su, having heard what she wanted, saw that they’d been beaten enough and called out to her sons outside:
“That’s enough. Let them go.”
Only then did Old Madam Liu dare to pull her grandson up and hobble out of the Su family’s courtyard.
As she stepped out the door, she still threw out a threat:
“Just you wait!”
Old Madam Su made a move as if to go after her again, and that scared Old Madam Liu into quickly dragging her grandson away.
On the way back, she muttered to her son,
“Aren’t you doing alright in town? See if you can find a few thugs to teach that family a lesson.”
Liu Wen could only say that, for now, it wasn’t possible.
Leaving aside the fact that he didn’t have money to bribe anyone, his status wasn’t high enough to even speak to those people.
After that troublesome family finally left, Old Master Su smiled and addressed everyone:
“Alright, the banquet begins—eat and drink to your hearts’ content!”
Worried that Fu Bao might be affected, Old Madam Su quickly picked her up and comforted her.
“Our good girl is the most precious treasure. Don’t listen to those nonsense words.
You’re blessed, you have your parents, and you’re not what they called you. Don’t take it to heart—they’re bad people.”
Su Muyao naturally didn’t care at all and nodded right away.
“Grandma, I know. They’re bad people, so we shouldn’t believe anything they say.”
“That’s right, my clever girl. Come, Grandma will give you some meat.”
Little Fu Bao ate happily as Old Madam Su fed her bite after bite, her mouth soon glistening with oil.
The other villagers at the table were no different. After a round of enthusiastic eating, there was still quite a bit of meat left.
In fact, this was intentional on Old Madam Su’s part.
She wanted everyone to be able to take some leftovers home. After all, the wild boar meat they had distributed earlier would surely be saved for the New Year.
Seeing how much meat her own family still had, she wanted to share more with the villagers.
But it wouldn’t look right to distribute it again directly—after all, they had already shared some before.
If she kept giving things out every time, people might start talking if she didn’t do so in the future.
So she came up with this idea instead.
Normally, at banquets, any uneaten food could be packed up and taken home.
But in poor farming households, when was there ever food left over?
Now, however, every table had plenty remaining, and everyone had eaten their fill.
Old Madam Su addressed the villagers:
“No wasting food—whatever’s left, you must take it home!”
“How could we waste anything, sister? We’re farmers—we’d never waste grain.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
Soon, the atmosphere turned warm and harmonious again. Everyone used their own bowls to take some food home.
With a bowl of meat and vegetables like that, even just adding a few corn flatbreads would be enough to feed the whole family for another meal.
In truth, the villagers all understood.
The reason there was so much food was precisely so they could take some back.
After all, at village banquets, each household usually only sent one or two people—at most, a few might bring along an extra child or two.
It wouldn’t feel right to eat well outside while the rest of the family at home struggled with plain food.
Fortunately, the Su family was kind and generous.