“Dabao! My poor Dabao! My precious grandson has suffered so much! Li Cuihua, how can you be so vicious?!”
Yang Xiaocao threw her arms around Qin Dabao and wailed at the sight of the bruises covering his face. Her cries were deafening, echoing throughout the entire courtyard.
But the starving Qin Dabao had no attention to spare for his grandmother’s grief.
He was too busy wolfing down the black-flour bun in his hands, devouring it as though it were the finest delicacy in the world.
“Li, you old hag! You dared hit my son? I’ll beat you to death today!”
After hearing his mother’s accusations, Qin Dacai’s face turned green with rage.
Pulling a curved knife from inside his clothing, he stormed straight into the main hall.
Earlier, when Qin Dashu and his two brothers had marched out carrying hoes, Qin Dacai had immediately shut his mouth. Unfortunately, the brothers had forgotten to close the gate when they left, allowing Yang Xiaocao and Qin Dacai to sneak in.
Li Xiaoxiao had only just entered the hall with her daughters-in-law and granddaughters when she saw Qin Dacai charging at her with the knife raised.
With a graceful sidestep, she dodged.
Qin Dacai tried to pull back but it was too late.
The curved blade buried itself deep into the ancestral offering table at the front of the hall. Losing his balance, he crashed face-first onto the floor.
To make matters worse, the memorial tablet of Li Xiaoxiao’s late husband, Qin Youfu, wobbled atop the altar and fell directly onto the back of Qin Dacai’s head.
“So this is how you pay your respects to your deceased elder uncle?”
Li Xiaoxiao snorted.
“Beat this disrespectful brat for me!”
With a wave of her hand, every daughter-in-law and granddaughter present—except three-year-old Qin Sanya and baby Qin Xiaozhi, who was still being carried on someone’s back—charged forward with sticks.
Over the years they had suffered plenty at the hands of Qin Dacai’s family.
Now that Grandma was backing them up, there was no reason not to strike while they could.
“Ow! Damn it! Ahhh! You bunch of sluts! Just wait… one day… ow! One day I’ll sell all of you to a brothel! Ahhh!”
Even while being beaten, Qin Dacai never stopped spewing threats.
“Move aside.”
Li Xiaoxiao’s voice cut through the chaos.
The women instantly stepped back.
Li Xiaoxiao strode forward, picked up her late husband’s memorial tablet, grabbed the struggling Qin Dacai by the collar, and started using the tablet as a weapon.
Left cheek.
Right cheek.
Then left again.
Then right.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
After more than a dozen strikes, her arm began to ache.
So she finished things off with a shoulder throw.
Qin Dacai flew out of the hall and landed in the courtyard.
Seeing her son hurled outside, Yang Xiaocao let out another heart-rending cry.
“My son!”
“I can be much more vicious than this.”
Li Xiaoxiao glared at her from the doorway.
“Yang Xiaocao, would you like to find out?”
Yang Xiaocao immediately swallowed her cries and reduced them to pitiful whimpers.
Watching all this unfold, Qin Dafu stood frozen in shock.
Good heavens…
He finally understood.
Back when his aunt used to chase people down the street with a kitchen knife, she had actually been holding back.
With skills like these, if she truly intended harm, Qin Yougui’s entire family wouldn’t have survived.
Swallowing hard, he cautiously spoke.
“Auntie…”
“Oh?”
Li Xiaoxiao turned toward him.
“So you have objections to me disciplining this ‘great-nephew’ of mine? The one who disrespects his elders, bullies his cousins, and has no sense of propriety?”
As she spoke, she casually returned her husband’s memorial tablet to its proper place.
The daughters-in-law and granddaughters all turned to stare at Qin Dafu as well.
Suddenly he felt cold.
It was only March, yet sweat began trickling down his back.
“Heh, heh… Auntie, you hit him well!”
Qin Dafu immediately put on a flattering smile.
If she keeps hitting him, maybe she won’t hit me, he thought.
I’m only here to mediate, not help that idiot.
Li Xiaoxiao nodded in satisfaction.
“I agree. I hit him quite well. He’s spent so long acting like an animal that someone has to teach him how to behave like a human being. Isn’t that right?”
“Absolutely! We can’t let him disgrace the Qin family!”
Qin Dafu agreed so quickly that his neck nearly snapped.
Not long afterward, Qin Youzhang arrived with two clan elders, Qin Youliang and Qin Youqing.
Outside the gate, villagers stood around holding bowls of food while shamelessly peeking inside.
The moment the elders entered and saw three generations of the family gathered together, they immediately understood there was trouble again.
How had the Qin family produced such a troublesome branch?
Yang Xiaocao nearly burst into tears with relief.
“The clan elders are here! You must seek justice for us!”
Qin Youzhang instantly felt a headache coming on.
Every time these two households got involved in something, it brought nothing but trouble.
At seventy years old, couldn’t he be allowed a few peaceful years before he died?
Snorting, he ignored Yang Xiaocao and led the other elders straight into the hall.
Seeing his youngest son, Qin Dafu, standing nearby, he ordered:
“Bring those three people from the courtyard inside.”
“Yes, Father.”
Though reluctant, Qin Dafu obeyed.
After taking his seat, Qin Youzhang turned to Li Xiaoxiao.
“Young Sister-in-law, weren’t you always opposed to adoption before? Besides, your nephews and their wives are still young. Sooner or later they’ll have sons. Look at my family—I didn’t get Dafu until after eleven daughters.”
As he spoke, he settled into the seat opposite her.
The other elders took their places as well.
Looking at Li Xiaoxiao’s sons, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters standing around like soldiers awaiting battle, then lowering his gaze to the curved knife still embedded deep in the offering table, Qin Youzhang felt his temples throb.
“Exactly, Elder Brother.”
Li Xiaoxiao nodded earnestly.
“I’ve got three sons. My eldest daughter-in-law is only twenty-eight. The younger two are even younger. If they keep trying, one of them will eventually produce a grandson.”
She sighed dramatically.
“Wasn’t Yang Xiaocao the same? She had five daughters before finally having this precious only grandson.”
Then her expression changed.
“But I can wait. They can’t.”
Memories of her previous life surfaced.
Her own mother had constantly favored sons over daughters and always wanted to take her money to support her brother.
Now, after crossing into this world, she had a brother-in-law’s family eyeing her property day and night.
The more she thought about it, the angrier and more aggrieved she felt.
“Today, Yang Xiaocao and her grandson came to visit me.”
Her voice trembled.
“They arrived empty-handed—not even a basket of wild vegetables! The moment they entered my house, they started talking about selling my granddaughter to a brothel and throwing my bones to the dogs.”
Suddenly she burst into loud sobs.
“My life is so miserable!”
She covered her face dramatically.
“Wasn’t I already giving them what they wanted? Wasn’t I already agreeing to let Qin Dabao become my grandson? What more do they want? Ahhh! Heaven above! What exactly are they trying to do to my family?!”
The three elders exchanged looks.
Qin Youzhang’s eyelid twitched.
“Don’t be upset, Sister-in-law. We elders will certainly uphold justice for you.”
The other two clan elders nodded repeatedly.
At that moment Qin Dafu finally dragged Qin Dacai into the hall.
Yang Xiaocao entered as well, pulling Qin Dabao behind her.
The moment she crossed the threshold, she started wailing again.
“Clan elders! You have to help us! Look what she’s done to my son! Look at my grandson! My husband is still lying injured at home! Li did all of this!”
Li Xiaoxiao immediately wiped at her eyes with her sleeve.
“Elder Brother, look! Just look!”
She pointed dramatically.
“Do they show even the slightest respect toward me as their elder sister-in-law? As their aunt?”
“Have you ever seen someone walk into another person’s house, demand their property, and threaten to sell their granddaughter into a brothel?”
Then she pointed toward the knife embedded in the offering table.
“If you’d arrived any later, I might already be a corpse!”
Without giving anyone a chance to interrupt, she continued crying.
“I’ve already compromised! I’ve already agreed to let Qin Dabao become my grandson! What more do they want?”
Her voice rose.
“Must my entire family hang ourselves in the ancestral hall before they’ll finally be satisfied?!”
“I don’t want to be your grandson!”
The moment Qin Dabao heard the topic mentioned, terror flooded his face.
“I don’t want to be your grandson!”
Clinging to Yang Xiaocao, he cried:
“Grandma, I don’t want the big house anymore! I don’t want to sell her granddaughter anymore! Please don’t make me become her grandson!”
The hall instantly fell silent.
Then—
Bang!
Qin Youzhang slammed his palm onto the table.
“Outrageous!”
He was genuinely furious now.
“Yang Xiaocao, your greed knows no bounds!”
Qin Dafu immediately stepped forward to soothe his father’s anger.
“Exactly!”
Qin Youliang smacked the table as well.
“Coveting another family’s property and trying to sell their granddaughter? Have you no shame? What about the Qin family’s reputation?”
Qin Youqing nodded sharply.
“Qin Yougui and Yang Xiaocao should be punished by kneeling in the ancestral hall!”
Li Xiaoxiao sighed dramatically.
“Fine, fine.”
“If they insist on having Qin Dabao become my grandson, then so be it.”
She dabbed at her eyes.
“But they can’t keep changing their minds, can they?”
Then she turned toward her eldest son.
“Dashu!”
“Go fetch your eldest son.”
She emphasized every word.
“My eldest grandson.”
Then she looked at Qin Dabao and sighed sorrowfully.
“How can my grandson go around calling someone else ‘Grandma’?”