Chapter 106: No Overnight Grudges
"Hey, watch your mouth, old woman! This is my house. You’ve got some nerve coming here to cause a scene."
"Who’s causing a scene? Your own daughter-in-law just had a baby, and you, the mother-in-law, can’t be bothered to look after her or cook something decent. I, an old woman from next door, had to bring her some chicken soup. It’s bad enough you’re not welcoming, but then you go and curse out my granddaughter. I’ve never met anyone so shameless and rude."
The younger daughter-in-law rolled her eyes. "All this over a little girl?"
"Aren’t you a girl? Why don’t you curse at yourself? What, are you not a person?"
The woman stomped her foot in anger. Her eyes darted, and with a sudden "Ouch!" she clutched her stomach, crying out in pain.
Her mother-in-law, Old Mrs. Li, immediately flew into a rage.
"You, Wu! Are you here looking for a fight? My younger daughter-in-law is pregnant! If anything happens to my grandson, I’ll never forgive you!"
Old Mrs. Li glared, looking utterly ferocious. Tiny little Yun Jiao stepped in front of Grandma Shen, shielding her.
She bared her teeth, trying her best to look fierce.
But she was too small, with delicate, soft features. Even baring her teeth just made her look adorably fierce.
"You little brat! Get out, get out! You’re not welcome here. So ignorant. Treating money-losing baggage like she’s some kind of treasure."
Yun Jiao pointed at her. "Money-losing baggage."
Then she pointed at the younger daughter-in-law. "Also money-losing baggage."
"Why you... you rude little wench! Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson on your parents’ behalf, you ill-mannered brat!"
Grandma Shen took a step forward. "What, you want to fight? Was my Jiaojiao wrong? With all your talk about ’money-losing baggage,’ don’t forget you’re a woman yourself."
"How are you not one? You’re just an old one. You can be money-losing baggage, but my Jiaojiao is not. She’s our family’s treasure."
Old Mrs. Li was furious at being called "money-losing baggage" over and over. She started rolling up her sleeves, ready for a fight.
Shen Jiang took the crying baby back inside, put it down, and hurried back out.
"Mom, what are you doing? Aunt Wu came to bring us something. You’re just going to offend her like this?"
"How did I offend her? She offended me first! Eldest son, whose side are you on? Are you her son or mine? Why are you siding with an outsider against your own family?"
Old Mrs. Li’s younger daughter-in-law chimed in, "That’s right, big brother. You’re Mom’s son. You should be helping her kick these two outsiders out."
Shen Jiang snapped, "You shut up!"
’It’s all this troublemaker’s fault. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for her.’
Old Mrs. Li put her hands on her hips. "You shut up! Get out of my way. I don’t have a traitor for a son like you."
Grandma Shen spat on the ground. "As if I’d want to be here. If it weren’t for Juanzi having her baby, I wouldn’t have set foot in this place. I think it’s filthy."
With that, she took Yun Jiao’s hand to leave.
’What a bunch of jerks,’ she thought. ’I come to deliver something and just end up in a foul mood.’
But Old Mrs. Li wasn’t done. "You, Wu, stop right there! Last time, someone threw a rock at our house and hit one of our chickens. Was that your grandson? That boy looks like a little troublemaker. He disrespected his elders and even hit my youngest son. We need to settle this today."
"That’s bullshit! Why don’t you mention how your son, a grown man, shamelessly stole my grandson’s wild bird eggs?"
The two families lived next to each other, and the two old women had clashing personalities, so friction was inevitable. They had often bickered over small things in the past, and today’s argument seemed like it would never end.
Shen Jiang tried to pull his mother back and calm her down, but he just got an earful for his trouble.
As they argued, it looked like they were about to come to blows.
Fiercely protective, Yun Jiao came over, effortlessly lifting a stone stool.
"You hit her, I’ll smash this."
"You... you..."
Old Mrs. Li’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. That stone stool had to weigh at least fifty pounds! ’How did this kid lift it?!’
Yun Jiao walked over to the family’s water cistern. "You hit my grandma, I’ll smash your cistern. Then your door. Then your whole house..."
’I can’t smash a person, but I can sure smash their things.’
"You dare!"
Yun Jiao hefted the stool closer to the cistern.
Old Mrs. Li’s heart leaped into her throat. That large cistern cost several dollars to replace.
"Mom, what’s going on here?"
Just then, Old Mrs. Li’s other sons returned.
She instantly felt emboldened, as if her backup had arrived. She pointed at Grandma Shen and began spouting a torrent of lies, completely twisting the situation.
"This shameless old hag came to our house to cause trouble! Sons, help me beat them and throw them out!"
Shen Jiang’s face darkened. "Mom, Aunt Wu was just bringing chicken soup for my wife. She wasn’t making trouble!"
"Get out of my sight! I see things clearly now. You’re an ungrateful brat who sides with outsiders against your own family! As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have a son like you!"
’Okay, okay, okay...’ Yun Jiao thought. ’So we’re calling for backup, are we?’
She set down the stone stool and sprinted next door to get her own reinforcements.
Meanwhile, Old Mrs. Li’s youngest son was glaring at Grandma Shen with a nasty look on his face.
"You people are way too arrogant. This is my house. Get out."
"Shen Youcai, who are you telling to get out?"
Yun Linhai and the others who had come running with Yun Jiao heard this the moment they arrived, and their tempers flared.
Uncle Shen glared daggers at Shen Youcai, and the expressions on the other men’s faces were just as furious.
Shen Youcai, who had been acting so tough just a second before, instantly deflated like a popped balloon.
He was the type to bully the weak and fear the strong. He dared to act tough in front of a lone old woman like Grandma Shen, but now, faced with a crowd of tall, muscular men at the door, the scrawny coward immediately lost his nerve.
Yun Jiao ran over to her grandma’s side. As she passed Shen Youcai, she "accidentally" stepped on his foot.
"AAGH!!!"
Yet that one step was enough to make him collapse to the ground in pain.
Yun Jiao gasped. "Oh, are you okay? I didn’t mean to."
Then she stepped on him with her other foot.
"AGH... it hurts! Get off me! Get off!"
He reached out in pain to push her away, but Yun Jiao grabbed his hand and twisted.
CRACK!
Another bloodcurdling scream echoed through the yard.
"Oops, sorry."
After the half-hearted apology, Yun Jiao snapped his fingers back into place.
The shock of pain left Shen Youcai’s face pale and covered in a cold sweat.
He stared at Yun Jiao as if she were some kind of monster.
"You little wench, what are you doing? Son! Son, are you okay?"
Seeing her son screaming so miserably, Old Mrs. Li grew frantic and rushed over to him.
Yun Jiao sidestepped and hooked Old Mrs. Li’s ankle with her little leg. The old woman immediately lost her footing and went toppling right onto her precious son.
Instantly, they both cried out in pain.
’So satisfying,’ Yun Jiao thought.
The vengeful Little Mermaid always got her revenge on the spot; she never let a grudge last overnight.
"Grandma, let’s go home!"
Amidst the howls of the two on the ground, Little Yun Jiao skipped happily to Grandma Shen’s side. She grabbed her hand, looked up with a brilliant, sweet smile, and her voice was pure sugar.
Grandma Shen took Yun Jiao’s hand and started walking away. She looked back at Old Mrs. Li, tut-tutting and shaking her head.
"Look at that, getting your karma so quickly. Can’t even walk straight anymore."