“If you don’t tell the truth, I’ll beat you and your mother both!” Qiao Xihe shouted angrily.
“You shrews, you’re all shrews!” Wang Qiucui screamed, beside herself with fury.
Just then, an auntie from the village surnamed Liu happened to pass by, and seeing the chaos in the courtyard, asked, “What’s going on here? The Shen family, the Xu family, what are you two fighting about?”
Wang Qiucui’s married family name was Xu, and Xiongzi’s full name was Xu Xiong.
Wang Qiucui had finally found someone to complain to, and immediately wailed, “The Shen family’s youngest stole and ate our rock sugar! I came to get an explanation, and Qiao Xihe beat me!”
Who would have thought Auntie Liu would burst out laughing instead. “The Xu family, why are you framing people with nothing but empty words? I passed by your backyard the other day and saw it myself, your Xiongzi was hugging that sugar jar, eating away happily.”
Wang Qiucui’s face changed instantly.
Xiongzi cried even harder.
Qiao Xihe’s confidence surged even higher, and she sneered coldly. “Hear that? Your own sugar, eaten by your own bear cub of a son! You come slander my little sister and cause trouble at my house, and I’m not supposed to hit you?”
“That, well, who told you not to explain yourselves clearly,” Wang Qiucui muttered evasively.
“Heh, seems like you haven’t been beaten enough yet!”
Wang Qiucui quickly grabbed Xiongzi, about to run, but Qiao Xihe immediately said, “Stay right there! Apologize to my little sister! Otherwise, don’t expect a single good day for the rest of your life!”
Wang Qiucui flinched, startled, remembering the terrifying sight of Qiao Xihe wielding that broom. She had no choice but to give in.
She hurried over and mumbled a quiet “sorry” toward Shen Wanyin, then grabbed Xiongzi and ran off without looking back.
“Hmph, damned thing, daring to act tough in front of me!” Qiao Xihe said, and then noticed everyone else staring at her, dumbfounded.
Given everything that had happened before, Tang Yifang and the protagonist group were fine with it, but Auntie Liu’s mouth had dropped open wide enough to swallow an egg.
What had happened to this daughter the Shen family’s stepmother had brought with her?
When Qiao Xihe had first come to the village, no one liked her.
Even though this daughter was pretty, with red lips and white teeth, prettier even than the immortal maidens on New Year paintings, there was always something gloomy about her, something that made people not want to get close.
And in front of outsiders, she couldn’t get a peep out of her even if you beat it out of her [1]couldn’t get a peep out of her even if you beat it out of her (ba gun zi bie bu chu yi ge pi, 八棍子憋不出一個屁) Slang, describes someone painfully tight-lipped or timid around others jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3389176_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3389176_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, but when it came to bullying her own younger siblings, she was fiercer than anyone.
How had she become an entirely different person now?
Look at her, swinging that broom with such ferocity, where had that listless, lifeless air from before gone?
And just now, she’d clearly been protecting the Shen family’s youngest!
Auntie Liu was starting to doubt which direction the sun had risen from this morning.
Just then, a crisp voice rang out: “Auntie Liu, thank you for testifying for my little sister just now.”
Auntie Liu came back to her senses and saw Qiao Xihe looking at her with a beaming smile.
“Ah, it’s nothing…” Auntie Liu answered instinctively.
Seeing Tang Yifang’s somewhat dark expression, Auntie Liu felt a bit uneasy too, and left without another word.
Qiao Xihe watched Auntie Liu’s retreating figure, lost in thought.
The book had mentioned Auntie Liu too, she was very good to the protagonist group, but her own family’s circumstances weren’t great either, so she could only occasionally spare them a little food.
The protagonist group, grateful for her kindness, had given Auntie Liu’s family a large sum of money once they’d made it big.
But no one had expected that Auntie Liu’s seemingly honest daughter-in-law actually had a lover, and had conspired with him to kill Auntie Liu and her son, then run off with the money.
Qiao Xihe wasn’t someone who liked meddling in other people’s business, but since she’d run into this now, she needed to find a moment to warn Auntie Liu about it.
She turned around and saw Tang Yifang’s face looking rather dark.
As for the protagonist group, Shen Wanyin looked at her with pure admiration, while the other three wore complicated expressions.
“Stop staring at me, let’s eat!” Qiao Xihe waved her hand and walked into the kitchen. “Stir-fried wild vegetables today!”
“Ding! Side quest ‘drive off the troublemaker’ completed. Reward received: one anti-wolf stun baton, one koi fragment, one lottery draw. Start the lottery draw now?”
Qiao Xihe rubbed her hands together and said eagerly, “Start it.”
Wonder what she’d get this time?
“Lottery draw complete. Congratulations, host, you have obtained two drops of Truth Serum. One drop will make someone speak the truth, effective for one hour.”
“There’s something this incredible?”
“Old Gong here has everything you could want~”
Qiao Xihe rubbed her chin, thinking that it just so happened she wanted Auntie Liu to see her daughter-in-law’s true face someday, maybe the Truth Serum would come in handy for that.
Completing system quests brought all sorts of strange and wonderful rewards, it seemed she needed to keep working hard.
Even more, she was looking forward to the grand prize she’d get once she finished pursuing Shen Wanyin.
After all, after Shen Wanyin, there were still three more little ones waiting for her to pursue!
At the dinner table, Tang Yifang looked at the fragrant stir-fried wild vegetables and swallowed, asking in surprise, “Where’d the oil to fry with come from?”
“I bought it before I started cooking,” Qiao Xihe said without changing expression.
“Where’d you get the money?”
“I’d been saving up the pocket money you gave me before.”
Shen Wanzhou glanced up at her.
He remembered very clearly that Qiao Xihe hadn’t gone out at all before cooking.
And Qiao Xihe’s pocket money had always been spent the instant she got it, in the past.
But Tang Yifang didn’t press the matter further, picking up her chopsticks and taking a bite of the wild vegetables.
“Delicious!”
At her words, the children could barely restrain themselves either.
Shen Wanjin, who loved food, worked up the courage to try a bite too, but the moment she reached out her hand, Tang Yifang glared at her.
She flinched in fright and quickly pulled her hand back.
“Eat, everyone eat together,” Qiao Xihe said, shooting Tang Yifang a warning look at the same time.
But Tang Yifang had already been holding in a stomach full of anger. As their mother, she naturally couldn’t keep being afraid of her own daughter, so she slammed her chopsticks onto the ground and shouted furiously, “I said they’re not allowed to eat, so they’re not allowed! Qiao Xihe, this household isn’t yours to run yet!”
Shen Wanjin and Shen Wanyin were already on the verge of tears from fright.
Shen Wanmu also glanced anxiously at Shen Wanzhou.
Shen Wanzhou seemed about to say something, but Qiao Xihe had already spoken up.
“So none of what I told you before sank in at all, did it?” she asked coldly.
“Who do you think you’re showing off in front of? I’m your mother, I’m your elder!” Tang Yifang said, glaring.
“Don’t bring that up with me. I’m asking you, have you made up your mind not to let the children eat?”
“That’s right!”
Qiao Xihe took a deep breath, then suddenly turned to Shen Wanzhou. “Take your siblings and go outside for now.”
Shen Wanzhou’s eyes flickered, but without a word, he led his siblings away.
A flash of disappointment crossed Shen Wanyin’s face.
So Sister was giving up on them after all… would she go back to being like before, teaming up with the stepmother to hit them?
Once all four children were outside, Tang Yifang’s expression finally eased a little, thinking Qiao Xihe had backed down.
But the next instant, to her utter shock, Qiao Xihe suddenly raised her hand and flipped the entire table over!
“Fine then, if that’s how it is, nobody eats!”
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