The thunderous sound of the collapse outside startled everyone in the house, sending their hearts racing.
At this moment, they couldn’t tell whether they were more terrified by Yu Li’s audacity to defy the old master or by the commotion outside.
In the blink of an eye, Yu Li had snatched the stick from the old master’s hand, flipped it around, and hurled it out the window of the main hall with a natural and swift motion. Then came the terrifying sound of the collapse…
For a moment, the main hall fell deathly silent. Even Wang Shi, who had been screaming, and the wailing Yu Laosan, who had thrown himself to the ground, both fell quiet. Yu Jingyi didn’t dare to cry or make a fuss anymore.
They all stared at Yu Li in fear, as if they were seeing her for the first time.
The old master Yu was stunned, staring at Yu Li in disbelief. He seemed unable to comprehend how his granddaughter could have taken the stick from his hand.
He was a farmer; even in his old age, his strength was not something a thin, frail girl could compare to.
Even though they’d heard before that this granddaughter was strong enough to help carry water and lift sacks of grain, it shouldn’t have been to this extent, right?
—
In stark contrast to them, Yu Li was currently furious, a violent rage surging in her chest.
She felt that this rage wasn’t entirely her own, more like a lingering remnant of this body’s consciousness. It seemed to stem from the old master Yu’s cruelty, who had come at her with the intent of crippling her, treating her as though she weren’t his granddaughter at all.
This filled “her” with overwhelming rage, an extreme sorrow and resentment, along with an unspeakable sadness.
In truth, the most patriarchal person in the Yu family wasn’t the old lady but the old master.
He was a textbook authoritarian patriarch, believing that only sons and grandsons could carry on the family line, while daughters and granddaughters were destined to marry out, becoming part of someone else’s family, mere outsiders.
The old lady, influenced by him, naturally went along with his thinking, gradually treating daughters and granddaughters as less than human, as commodities to be bought and sold at will.
Rage surged, and resentment was inexpressible.
Yu Li stared at the old master, then suddenly picked up a long bench.
This was a common type of long bench in the countryside, roughly a meter long with four legs. It was simply made and could seat four or five people.
Seeing her lift the bench, everyone’s scalp went numb, instinctively stepping back, fearing she might smash it down on them.
If she dared to flip the dining table, what wouldn’t she dare to do?
Even Yu Laosan, who was sitting paralyzed on the ground clutching his youngest son, couldn’t help but scoot backward on his bottom. Wang Shi clutched his arm nervously, her lips trembling in fear, while Yu Jingzhong and his brother stood on high alert as if facing a formidable foe.
At this moment, Yu Li was no longer the timid, submissive eldest daughter of the second household in their eyes. She had become a madwoman, one bold enough to flip tables and defy even the old master.
As the saying goes: “The weak fear the strong, the strong fear the ruthless, and the ruthless fear the insane.”
To them, Yu Li was the insane one, violently unhinged.
They watched as Yu Li hoisted the long bench and smashed it forcefully against a wooden pillar nearby.
The long bench instantly shattered into pieces, splintering in four directions. At the same time, a sharp, tearing sound rang out. Under everyone’s shocked gazes, the wooden pillar split apart and snapped in two.
Everyone: “…”
B-Broken?
The pillar had been smashed apart?
The crowd was utterly stunned.
Before they could process the earlier crashing noise outside, they witnessed Yu Li shatter a long bench and break a main hall pillar right before their eyes.
After Yu Li finished, the main hall became even quieter than before, and everyone was as silent as cicadas in winter.
Especially Old Master Yu, who was being stared at by Yu Li. Beads of cold sweat appeared on his dark, wrinkled face. In that instant, he felt as if his granddaughter genuinely wanted to kill him.
He had never imagined that a young girl’s gaze could be so terrifying.
After everything, the violent rage in Yu Li’s heart finally subsided a bit, though her expression remained cold and hostile.
Expressionless, she said, “I’ll let this go this time. If you make me angry again, I’ll tear your house down!”
Everyone: “…”
After her outburst, Yu Li acted as if nothing had happened. She righted the table she had overturned and called out to her parents and younger sisters, “Come, let’s eat!”
“…”
Who could still have an appetite at a time like this?
Yu Laosan and his wife sat down trembling. Although Yu Li was their daughter, her actions earlier not only stunned Old Master Yu and the others but also left them deeply shaken.
The couple moved their mouths as if wanting to say something but couldn’t find the words, leaving them feeling extremely uncomfortable.
It was Yu Jin who reacted quickly, pulling her two younger sisters to the table to start eating.
The entire house remained silent. Yu Li ignored everyone else and focused on eating her meal.
When she noticed the spilled vegetable soup on the ground, she still felt it was a pity. Even though the soup didn’t have a pinch of salt and was just boiled in water, she thought it was quite tasty. After all, it was made from vegetables grown in the field—pure, natural, and completely free of pollution. What a wonderfully natural green food it was.
After finishing her bowl of rice, Yu Li grabbed the pot of crispy rice crust from the bottom of the rice pot.
She scooped most of it into her own bowl, then divided the rest among her three younger sisters. As for Yu Laosan and his wife, she didn’t share any with them, as they were still sitting dumbfounded, holding their bowls without having taken a single bite of their cured meat rice.
They looked like they’d been scared stiff.
Yu Li didn’t bother with them. She turned to Old Master Yu and said, “In the past, whenever there was something good to eat, you all ate first. Our second household couldn’t even get a sip of the soup, only a taste of its flavor. Today’s rice and cured meat were brought back by me, so isn’t it fair that our second household gets to eat more?”
Her tone was very polite.
The people she addressed opened their mouths as if to say something but dared not speak. Their faces flushed red as they held back.
They didn’t dare move or even breathe loudly, fearing that Yu Li might go crazy again and swing a bench at them. Unlike a wooden pillar, they were flesh and blood. If hit, they might not survive.
Even Old Master Yu, who usually insisted on maintaining the authority of the family head, kept silent.
Yu Li ate quickly, finishing the cured meat rice and the crispy rice crust, then picked up her bowl to serve herself some bean porridge.
The porridge was still in the pot on the side rack. When she overturned the table earlier, only a basin of vegetable soup and a bowl of shredded pickled radish had been spilled.
Yu Li felt distressed about the wasted food, but some things had to be done. Otherwise, they’d all think she was easy to bully.
The porridge in the pot was half water and half a mixture of coarse rice and beans.
Yu Li scooped a ladleful and filled her bowl with a thick portion, mostly porridge with little water.
For some reason, her appetite was enormous, much like in her previous life. When she was with the Fu family, though Zhou Shi always cooked extra and didn’t stop her from snacking on sweet potatoes afterward, no matter how much she ate, she still felt hungry.
In the Fu family, she was too embarrassed to eat too much and had to restrain herself.
But now, in the Yu family, there was no need for restraint.
The Yu family had always treated the second household harshly. While others could at least eat enough to be half-full, the second household was constantly hungry. At most, only Yu Laosan, who worked in the fields, could eat decently, while Liu Shi and the four girls were perpetually starving.
Even so, they were often criticized for eating too much, labeled as lazy and greedy, wasting food.
Seeing these memories, even someone like Yu Li, who rarely got angry, couldn’t help but feel enraged.
Are girls not human?
Do girls deserve to be treated so harshly?
Clearly, these girls were so capable. They never slacked off, worked hard, and even did embroidery to earn money. The money they made wasn’t less than what men earned doing odd jobs—sometimes even more. Yet, in the eyes of others, they were considered idle and a burden to be supported.
In front of the Yu family, Yu Li continued eating bowl after bowl of thick bean porridge.
More than half of the pot of bean porridge ended up in her stomach.
Not only did she eat, but she also asked her three younger sisters, who had already finished their cured meat rice, “Do you want any?”
Yu Jin, Yu Yin, and Yu Zhu all shook their heads. They were used to being hungry and didn’t have large appetites. After a bowl of bacon rice, they were already stuffed to the brim. If not for the fear of not knowing when their next meal would come, they wouldn’t have forced themselves to eat so much.
Watching Yu Li ladle one bowl of thick porridge after another, the Yu family members finally couldn’t bear it.
It was bad enough that she ate the cured meat rice in front of them, but now she was about to finish off all the porridge in the pot—was her stomach a bottomless pit?
Who could tolerate this?
Yu Jingyi, who was nestled in his father’s arms, couldn’t help but let out a sob. He was so hungry and wanted to eat, but when Yu Li looked his way, he was so frightened that his sob caught in his throat, and he let out a loud hiccup instead.
The scene of Yu Li smashing a bench and breaking the house pillar earlier had left an indelible mark on his mind. Just looking at this older sister filled him with fear.
Old Master Yu spoke in a somber tone, “Don’t go too far!”
Hearing him speak, the three Yu sisters trembled in fear, and Yu Laosan and his wife felt a tightening in their chests.
This was an instinctive reaction. The old master’s authority, built over years in the Yu family, wasn’t something they could easily shake off.
Yu Li raised her head and looked over, noticing that at some point, the old master had sat down. The old lady was sitting close to him, her expression tense and wary.
As for the third household, they were also watching her cautiously.
“Too far?” Yu Li was genuinely puzzled. “Haven’t you always been like this? You eat the solid food while we drink the thin porridge. No, we don’t even get porridge—just plain water…”
“Men have to work in the fields and need to eat well for strength!” Old Master Yu said with a dark expression.
“We work too!” Yu Li retorted. “Chopping firewood, fetching water, cooking, feeding the chickens and ducks, feeding the pigs, cleaning the chicken coop and pigsty, washing clothes for the whole family, gathering pigweed… which of these isn’t work? Which of these doesn’t require strength?”
Old Master Yu remained unconvinced. In his view, these were tasks women were supposed to do and didn’t require much effort.
In his mind, women were there to bear children and do chores. The work they did was far easier than what men did—wasn’t every woman doing the same?
Yu Li continued, “I don’t care what you think. From now on, however you eat, the second household will eat the same.”
Wang Shi blurted out, “Why should they?!”
But when Yu Li looked her way, she was so frightened that she hid behind Yu Laosan.
Yu Li finished the last mouthful of porridge in her bowl, placed it down, and calmly looked at them. “Because I’m stronger than you now.”
She genuinely believed she was stronger than them. If it came down to a fight, none of them could possibly beat her.
This was her way of dealing with things.
“You’re defying your elders!” the old lady couldn’t hold back anymore and scolded harshly, “I’ll report you to the clan leader and have him punish you for your wrongdoing!”
Upon hearing this, Yu Laosan and the others’ eyes lit up.
That’s right—Yu Li’s actions today were completely unfilial. If they reported her to the clan leader and invited the village head and elders to preside over the matter, wouldn’t she have to submit obediently then?
Yu Li didn’t take her threat seriously at all and replied, “You can go ahead, and I’ll tear down your house.”
She didn’t hit people easily because injuring someone, even if she was in the right, would make her seem at fault.
But she could strike where it hurt the most. What could be a stronger threat than demolishing their house? Conveniently, she had the ability to do so.
Old Master Yu felt a surge of anger stuck in his chest, experiencing such humiliation for the first time in his life.
The old lady clutched her chest, looking as if she might faint from rage. Even Yu Laosan and the others lost their momentum, visibly deflated.