In Li Village, a crowd had already gathered in the courtyard of Li Yao’s parents’ home.
Aside from the various aunts and gossiping women of the Li clan, there were about twenty able-bodied men present, all loudly debating how they would handle the situation if Li Yao refused to pay up.
“She wouldn’t dare!” exclaimed Li Fu, who had been humiliated at Li Yao’s house the other day. “If she refuses, you all come with me, and we’ll tear her house down!”
“A woman who dares to strike her own kin is a heartless wretch. She needs to be taught a harsh lesson.”
“Look, is that her coming?”
The group turned to see Li Yao approaching with quick, purposeful strides.
As she entered the courtyard, Li Fu asked with a sneer, “It seems you were afraid after all, coming so early. Did you bring the silver?”
“What silver?” Li Yao asked.
“What do you mean, what silver?” Li Fu’s face reddened with immediate rage. “Wang Er injured Li Xian; you owe us five taels of silver for his medical expenses!”
“Oh, so that’s what you mean,” Li Yao replied, unruffled. “That day, Wang Er was also injured by Li Xian, and it cost me exactly ten taels in medicine. By that math, you still owe me five.”
Li Yao’s mother, Madam Lu, erupted, pointing a finger at her. “You shameless, wretched harlot! Have you lost your mind? You strike your own blood and then have the audacity to demand money?”
Li Fu roared, “If you don’t pay up today, I’ll beat you to death!”
A dozen men surged forward, their expressions menacing.
But Li Yao wasn’t so easily intimidated. She planted a hand on her hip and shoved a finger into Li Fu’s face. “If you have the guts, come and hit me! If I take even half a step back, you can call me by my name in reverse!”
“You little harlot, you’ve truly gone mad! Let me show you what’s coming to you today!”
Madam Lu grabbed a broom and swung it toward Li Yao. But Li Yao, who had always been meek and submissive in the past, refused to back down. She snatched the broom right out of her mother’s hands.
“I respect your age, so I won’t strike you,” Li Yao said coldly. “But if you continue to act this shamelessly, don’t blame me for turning my back on you for good!”
“You… you…”
Madam Lu, stunned by Li Yao’s sudden ferocity, turned pale with rage. “Beat her! Beat this little wretch to death!”
Li Fu lunged forward, reaching for Li Yao’s hair. But before his hands could touch her, Li Yao delivered a sharp kick to his stomach. The intense pain forced him to double over, only to be met with Li Yao’s knee.
CRACK.
Li Fu’s nose bridge shattered, and tears and blood gushed out instantly.
The other men of the Li clan moved to intervene, but Li Yao raised the broom. “Who else wants a turn! Let me be clear: whoever steps forward, don’t blame me for fighting to the death!”
The crowd was stunned into silence by her sheer intensity. None of them dared to take another step. After all, Li Fu was just a distant clansman, not a brother, and everyone knew of Li Yao’s fearsome reputation. Nobody wanted to risk a desperate, life-or-death struggle over a petty family spat.
Seeing that none of the men could handle her, and watching her eldest son groaning on the ground, Madam Lu began to shriek.
“You little harlot! You’ve eaten the guts of a leopard, haven’t you? How dare you injure someone! I’m taking you to the magistrate!”
“By all means, go!” Li Yao didn’t yield an inch. “I’d love to see how the Magistrate judges a case where dozens of grown men bully one lone woman! I’m sure it would look wonderful for Li Xian’s reputation.”
The mention of Li Xian made Madam Lu recoil. A scholar’s greatest fear was a tarnished reputation. Li Xian was destined for the imperial exams and high office; a scandal like this would surely ruin his career.
“You unfilial beast! Once Li Xian becomes an official, don’t you dare dream of getting a single favor from us! Don’t you dare come crying to me when you’re in trouble!”
“As if you’ve ever helped me before,” Li Yao retorted. “How much have I given you over the years? How much silver have you taken? You always talk a big game about family helping family. But what actually happened? When Wang Er was jilted by his fiancée, who hid in their room like a cowardly turtle? A family like this is better off non-existent!”
“Fine, fine, fine! If you want to be this cold-hearted, then don’t blame me for disowning you! From this day forward, don’t you ever dare step foot in my house again!”
This was exactly what Li Yao had been waiting for. “Consider me dead, then. Everyone here, be my witnesses so she can’t go back on her word later.”
Madam Lu was so angry she turned green. She hadn’t expected that Li Yao, a widow burdened with four sons, would actually have the nerve to cut ties with her own mother.
But she couldn’t let the ties be truly broken. Everyone knew Li Yao was making money now. If she cut her off, how would she continue to drain Li Yao’s money to fund Li Xian’s studies?
She threw herself onto the ground and started wailing.
“Oh, heavens! What sin have I committed? To have raised such a rebellious, unfilial wretch who won’t even acknowledge her own mother!”
“Oh, Heavens! Why don’t you just strike her down with a bolt of lightning!”
…
After a while, Madam Lu noticed that Li Yao hadn’t left, and assuming her tantrum was working, she gave a subtle wink to her eldest daughter-in-law, Zou.
“Big Sister, look at all this fuss,” Zou said, stepping forward to mediate. “We’re family! It’s just a small spat; let it go. Besides, you’re Mother’s own daughter. Just say a few sweet words to soothe her, and her anger will vanish. We’ll be one happy family again, don’t you think?”
“Are you done?” Li Yao asked. “If you’re done, give me back my hen. I’m in a hurry to get home.”
Zou was stunned. I’m trying to make peace, and all you care about is a chicken?
“I’ll find it myself.”
Li Yao walked to the chicken coop, familiar with every inch of the place, and spotted her hen immediately. Seeing her walk away with the bird, Madam Lu sprang up from the ground and began hurling a torrent of vicious insults and vile curses at her retreating back.
Li Yao knew that cutting off the original body’s family completely would be difficult, but at least she would have some peace for the time being. As she thought about this, she felt a wave of lightness.
She hadn’t gone far before she saw He Xiaoya and her sister-in-law, Zhou, approaching with anxious faces.
“Mother!”
“Big Sister-in-law!”
“What are you doing here?” Li Yao asked.
“Xiaoya was worried at home, so she told Mother,” Zhou explained. “Mother sent me to check on you. She said that if anything had happened, I should rush back to tell her so she could gather people and come to ‘rescue’ you.”
Li Yao was left speechless.
“Well? Are you hurt?”
“Why would I be hurt?”
Seeing she was perfectly fine, Zhou and He Xiaoya finally let out a sigh of relief. When they saw the hen in her hand, He Xiaoya’s admiration for her mother-in-law soared to new heights. Mother really is extraordinarily tough!
“Let’s head back. Don’t let Mother worry at home.”
Driven by Zhou’s urging, the three hurried back. Dazhuang had already returned from the stall and was being scolded in the courtyard by his grandmother for letting Li Yao go to her parents’ house alone. He looked aggrieved—he had wanted to go, but his mother had been adamant.
However, once Li Yao arrived, he was off the hook. Wang Xue-shi shifted her target to Li Yao immediately.
“You’re a mother of four, have some sense!”
“If you’d been beaten to death, that would be the end of it, but what would happen to the children?”
“As long as you haven’t remarried, you are a member of the Wang family! If such a thing happens again and you dare to hide it from me, see if I don’t skin you alive!”
…
Facing the old woman’s storm of fury, Li Yao uncharacteristically didn’t talk back. She ducked into the kitchen and started preparing lunch. By the time the old lady grew tired of scolding, the meal was ready.
“Since you’re already here, why don’t you stay and eat?”
As soon as the old woman heard that, she stood up as if she had springs in her chair and turned to leave.
“No, no! I can’t stomach the food in your house.”
“Don’t get cocky just because you have a little money! Save it for when Wang Er needs a wife!”
The voice trailed off, and the old woman vanished from sight.
“It’s rare to see you not argue with her,” Zhou said with a smile. “She’ll probably be smug about this for a long time.”
Li Yao had prepared extra food, so she invited Zhou to sit and eat with her.
“Oh, I couldn’t…”
“Sit down,” Li Yao insisted. “I have something to discuss with you.”
Their braised food had gained a reputation at the Baichuan market, and since business was stabilizing, it was time to expand—which meant she needed help. Li Yao had decided that the first “satellite stall” would be managed by Zhou.