Sure enough, in the not-so-distant canteen, some people actually heard the faint shouts.
They even muttered, wondering whose child was getting a beating, to be screaming so chillingly.
Zuo Daya overheard.
“Oh no, that’s my Little Si!” She slammed down her spoon and shot off, running home as if her feet had wings.
When the others heard that something had happened to Little Si from Old Lady Zuo’s family, they all dropped what they were doing and bolted after her.
The news spread like wildfire, creating a spectacular sight on the road: a woman scurrying along in front, pursued by a crowd of young wives and grown men.
Meanwhile, Li Renzhong’s wife, standing before Yuan Si, was completely dumbfounded.
She stammered, “Little Si, what are you doing?
Why are you shouting nonsense?
Who are the bandits?
Who’s robbing anyone?
I just came to your house to get some meat.
In a moment, you’re going to attract a crowd.
When they see you secretly cooking meat at home, they’ll definitely arrest you and send you to the Public Security Bureau.
Hurry up, get all the fish out.
I’ll hide it for you, and we can talk after everyone’s gone.” To think she was still preoccupied with frying up that fish.
“We don’t have any fish, Aunty.
Are you daydreaming?” Yuan Si said with a look of exasperation.
This was all part of her mother’s teachings.
Ever since they’d gotten the fish, her mother had been worried sick, teaching her several methods for dealing with troublemakers whenever she had a spare moment.
Screaming her head off was one of them.
“I don’t believe you.
I smelled it, and I saw it.
Don’t even think about fooling me.
Let me tell you, if you give me the fish today, I’ll pretend I know nothing about you and your mother’s secret feasting.
But if you don’t… hmph, hmph… you know what my son is capable of.
The two of you can just wait to be dragged away for ‘re-education’.” Li Renzhong’s wife finally dropped the act and showed her true colors.
Seeing that people would arrive any second, she resorted to direct threats.
‘But Yuan Si wasn’t easily frightened.
It didn’t matter who this woman called for help.
If someone wanted to snatch food from her mouth, they’d have to ask her fists for permission first.’
Feeling the urgency, Li Renzhong’s wife wasted no more time talking.
She shot out a big hand to grab Yuan Si.
“AAAH!
Help, I’m being attacked!
She’s trying to kill me!
The aunty from Li Renzhong’s family is trying to kill me!” Of course, Yuan Si wasn’t about to let the woman grab her.
She kept shouting as she dragged her little stool with one hand and scooted to the side.
“You little brat, shut your mouth!
You better believe I’ll kill you for real if you push me too far!” Li Renzhong’s wife twisted her face into a ferocious snarl to frighten the little girl. This chapter was copied from novelping(.)com without permission.
Just then, Li Shitan, who had been listening for the commotion from inside his house, came running over.
Seeing his mother still struggling with the little girl in the yard, he charged straight for the house without a second thought.
“Mom, hold her!
I’ll go search inside.”
With that, he ran to the kitchen door, kicked it open, and charged inside.
The first thing he saw inside was a steaming earthenware pot on the stove.
He went over and peered inside, but there was only water—nothing else.
Unwilling to give up, he raked all the burning wood out of the stove pit, but there was nothing hidden in the embers either.
“Damn it, where’d they hide the meat?” he cursed, and began to tear the kitchen apart.
Yuan Si wasn’t worried.
Her only job was to sit on her stool and scream.
‘The moment that woman threatened me,’ she thought, ‘I’d already come up with a plan.
This can’t just be brushed aside, or there will be endless trouble in the future.
It’s better to settle this for good today, while everyone is unprepared.’
When Zuo Daya finally arrived home with the crowd in tow, the first thing she saw was Li Renzhong’s wife reaching out to cover her daughter’s mouth.
“Li Renzhong’s wife!
What do you think you’re doing?
Are you trying to kill my daughter?!”
Li Renzhong’s wife was in the middle of trying to grab the slippery Yuan Si when she heard Zuo Daya’s voice from behind.
Her heart leaped.
‘My son’s been in the kitchen for a while and he’s still not out,’ she thought.
‘The search must not be going well.’ Seeing that Zuo Daya had returned, her heart began to hammer in her chest.
Yuan Si poked her small head out from under the woman’s arm.
For dramatic effect, she even managed to squeeze out a few tears.
“Mom, she was trying to kill me!
And she’s robbing our house!”
Those words were like a lit match to a powder keg in Zuo Daya’s heart.
Without another word, she lunged at Li Renzhong’s wife and started to tear into her.
“You damn son of a bitch!
How dare you try to bully me!
I’ll teach you a lesson today!
You think you can just push a widow around?!”
“Hey!
What are you doing?
Let go!
Let go!”
“I’ll teach you to come to my house and hit my daughter!
I’ll teach you to come and rob us!” Zuo Daya showed no mercy, expertly employing the holy trinity of women’s brawling: pinching, grabbing, and scratching.
Although Li Renzhong’s wife was sturdily built, Zuo Daya was a formidable fighter.
She went straight for the weak spots, immediately shooting her claws out and scratching at the woman’s face.
“Agh, my face!” Li Renzhong’s wife felt a sharp pain, followed by a fiery sting.
She knew it was a deep scratch.
Yuan Si cursed inwardly.
We’re in the middle of a fight, could you be a little more professional?
Worrying about your damn face right now?
What’s the point?
This woman is a lost cause.’
Sure enough, a few moments later, Zuo Daya was on top of her, pinching and scratching away.
It had become a completely one-sided thrashing.
Yuan Si watched from the side, very satisfied.
‘That’s more like it,’ she thought.
“Calm down, Zuo Daya!
Don’t stoop to the level of that inhuman trash.”
“That’s right!
Getting so angry will harm your health.
It’s not worth making yourself sick over it.”
The band of women who had followed Zuo Daya back were gossiping from the sidelines.
Seeing that the troublemaker was Li Renzhong’s wife, every last one of them secretly hoped Zuo Daya would land a few more blows.
So, none of them stepped forward to break up the fight; they just stood back and paid lip service.
Li Shitan searched the kitchen several times over and found nothing.
Frustrated, he smashed the only earthenware pot with a loud CRASH.
He felt a pang of fear knowing Zuo Daya was back, but then he remembered his own connections.
‘Even without evidence, I can get them convicted with just a few words.’ So, he puffed out his chest and stormed out of the kitchen.
Yuan Si had been monitoring the kitchen with her spiritual power the entire time.
The moment she saw Li Shitan start to run out, she didn’t hesitate.
She snatched up her little stool, swung her arm in a wide arc, and hurled it at him.
“That’s for being a good-for-nothing!
And that’s for being a thief!”
Yuan Si had been bottling up her anger, just waiting for a chance to deal with them.
Before, she had just been following Old Lady Zuo’s instructions, so there was no room for her to act on her own.
But now, facing this man, she held nothing back, putting every ounce of her strength into it.
Fortunately, she wasn’t tall enough.
She had been aiming for Li Shitan’s head, but circumstances wouldn’t permit it.
A little girl barely over a meter tall couldn’t possibly reach the head of a man over 1.7 meters, even on her tiptoes.
As a result, the stool’s trajectory naturally dropped lower.
Li Shitan had just charged out of the kitchen.
Before he could utter a single word, he let out a piercing shriek, clutched his crotch, and collapsed to his knees, unable to get back up.
Yuan Si tossed the stool aside, dusted off her hands, and nodded, quite pleased with her handiwork.
‘This guy’s family jewels are probably smashed for good,’ she mused.
Perhaps because the scream was so ghastly, the two fighting women froze and stopped.
Even the onlookers who had just been enjoying the show were startled.
Deciding it was probably a bad idea to just stand by and watch any longer, they rushed forward to pull the two apart.
After yanking her hair free from Zuo Daya’s grasp, Li Renzhong’s wife turned to look at her son and was horrified by his wretched state.
She scrambled over to him, trying to help him up.
“Son, what’s wrong?
Don’t you scare me like this!”