After eating and drinking her fill, Yu Li did not rush to leave the Yu family.
Of course, she wouldn’t leave so quickly. After all, her mother-in-law had instructed her to spend more time with her parents and younger sisters. She decided to stay until the evening and leave only after dinner.
There was another reason—she was worried that after she left, the Yu family might vent their anger on the people of the second household.
She needed to do something more to ensure that her younger sisters wouldn’t be bullied by them in the future.
Yu Li returned to the west wing to rest.
It was the height of the summer, just after lunch, the hottest part of the day. Typically, villagers would stay home to rest and only head to the fields when the afternoon sun wasn’t as intense to avoid heatstroke.
The second household lived in the Yu family’s most run-down and smallest house. The two rooms were about the same size, both very dimly lit. Even during the day, the light inside wasn’t great.
But that was how mudbrick houses in the countryside were—the lighting was poor.
Inside the room, there was only a wooden plank bed. To call it a bed was a stretch—it was simply planks pieced together, about 1.8 meters long, covered with two old mats patched together. The four sisters could lie side by side on it.
This had been the four sisters’ bed from childhood. They had always slept like this.
The room wasn’t large. After putting in a bed, there wasn’t much space left. Even the pathway was very narrow. Two bamboo-woven storage chests were piled at the head of the bed for storing items.
Yu Li lay down and fell asleep shortly after.
Although a few days had passed, her body was still uncomfortable. At first, she thought it was due to heatstroke, but the discomfort hadn’t eased after several days, which was odd.
This discomfort was unfamiliar to her. It was her first time experiencing it, so she could only endure it for now.
Not long after she lay down, the three sisters, Yu Jin and the others, returned to the room.
Unlike the frightened Yu family members, the three sisters were not afraid; instead, they seemed faintly excited.
From the moment their elder sister had snatched the cane from their grandmother’s hands, they had been shocked, but they didn’t think she had done anything wrong. On the contrary, because their elder sister had stood in front of them, it was the first time they felt the safety of being protected by a family member.
Seeing Yu Li lying on the bed, the three sisters instinctively softened their footsteps.
Usually, in the afternoon, if there wasn’t much to do, they would also rest for a while. But most of the time, the three sisters didn’t have the luxury of resting. While others rested, they would still be busy washing dishes, cleaning, or gathering firewood in the back mountains. Yu Yin also had to embroider handkerchiefs and sachets to meet the daily quota and avoid being scolded.
As the three sisters approached, Yu Li opened her eyes and sat up.
Yu Jin asked, “Elder Sister, did we wake you?”
Yu Li made a sound, not saying yes or no, and asked, “Are you planning to sleep?” She wasn’t used to hearing breathing sounds while sleeping, worried she might unconsciously hurt them in her sleep.
The three sisters shook their heads. They had eaten too much earlier, and their spirits were too high to fall asleep.
Yu Li originally planned to lie back down and continue sleeping, but she suddenly thought of something and asked, “Where are Father and Mother?”
“They went back to their room,” Yu Jin replied. “They didn’t eat but brought the food back to their room. The others also drank some porridge earlier and have now gone back to their rooms to rest…”
What Yu Jin didn’t say was that after Yu Li left the main hall, the others had cautiously stepped outside, only to see the collapsed courtyard wall.
The main hall faced the courtyard, and when the carrying pole had been flung, it had directly knocked down a section of the courtyard wall, collapsing an area about three meters wide.
Collapsed!
It actually collapsed!
Seeing this scene, the expressions of the Yu family members were the same as when they saw Yu Li smash the house pillar.
Although they had heard the sound of something collapsing earlier, at the time, they were too terrified by Yu Li to think about it. Now, seeing it with their own eyes, they finally realized how terrifying Yu Li’s strength was.
She had simply flung a carrying pole, and it had knocked down part of the courtyard wall. If she wanted to demolish the house, it probably wouldn’t be a problem for her either.
At this moment, the Yu family members finally believed Yu Li’s threat. If they dared to go to the clan leader, she would dare to demolish the Yu family’s house.
For farming families, houses and land were their lifeblood.
If they had land but no house, where would they live? Building a house required a considerable amount of silver. If the house was destroyed, they would have to spend even more money to rebuild it.
Perhaps Yu Li’s deterrence was too effective. Even when Yu Jin and her sisters left after finishing their meal, the Yu family didn’t say a word.
The second Yu couple stood there at a loss, unsure of what to do, until Yu Jin came over to call them away.
Having no ideas of their own, the couple could only listen to their daughter, carrying the two bowls of rice with cured meat back to their room.
—
Yu Li quickly fell asleep again.
The three sisters, Yu Jin and the others, stared at her in a daze for a while before Yu Jin told Yu Yin to stay and watch over her, then took their youngest sister to find their parents.
Entering the room, they saw their parents sitting there in a daze, their faces full of worry.
To this honest couple, what had happened today was so shocking that they were completely at a loss.
Seeing their two daughters come in, they hesitated, unsure of what to say.
Yu Jin noticed the two bowls of rice with cured meat set aside and said, “Why aren’t you eating? Aren’t you hungry?” Without waiting for them to respond, she continued, “This was brought back by Big Sister from the Fu family. It’s her way of showing her care. You should eat it so she won’t worry.”
“Jin’er,” Liu Shi called softly, “How could Li’er… how could she act like this?”
She simply couldn’t believe it. This was the same daughter who used to quietly bury herself in work. What she had done today felt like a dream to the couple—unbelievable, terrifying, and indescribably worrisome.
Yu Lao’er sighed. He had always been a man of few words, and as a father, he had even less to say to his daughters.
Yu Jin said, “What’s wrong with my sister acting this way? Isn’t it good? At least today we all got to eat our fill.”
Yu Zhu patted her round belly with satisfaction and said, “Cured meat rice is delicious.”
Looking at their two daughters, the couple’s lips moved as if to speak.
“Father, Mother, you should eat.” Yu Jin took out two boiled eggs. “Big Sister boiled these this morning and set them aside just for you. Don’t let her good intentions go to waste.”
After placing the boiled eggs down, she pulled her youngest sister along and left.
—
Yu Li slept until evening before waking up.
When she woke up, she saw her three sisters sitting by the bedside.
Yu Jin glanced at her face and said worriedly, “Big Sister, are you feeling unwell?” Otherwise, she wouldn’t have slept for so long.
She began to worry that perhaps her big sister hadn’t been living well at the Fu family, possibly even sleeping less than she did at the Yu family.
At the Yu family, the girls did a lot of work from morning until night. They didn’t have much time to sleep, and sleeping in would get them scolded for being lazy. Sleeping in was never something they experienced.
Feeling parched after waking up, Yu Li’s throat was unbearably dry. Yu Yin thoughtfully brought her a bowl of water.
A cup of water down her throat eased the discomfort. Yu Li sat up and said, “I’m fine.”
She didn’t mention to her sisters that her body had been feeling unwell all along and got out of bed directly.
Looking at the sky outside, Yu Li asked, “Second Sister, isn’t it time to prepare dinner?”
“It is, but Grandma hasn’t called me yet,” Yu Jin replied. “Grandpa, Father, Mother, and Third Uncle have all gone to the fields. Grandma and Third Aunt are still at home.”
The crops in the fields required constant care, and although such an incident had occurred at noon, when the time came, the work in the fields still had to be done.
Yu Li walked out of the room.
As she passed by the rooms of Old Madam Yu and the third household, their doors were tightly shut. However, Yu Li clearly sensed someone behind the windows. She didn’t bother with them and headed straight to the kitchen.
She first drew some water from the water jar to wash her face, then told Yu Jin to start boiling water.
“What’s the water for?” Yu Jin asked while obediently tending to the fire.
Yu Li said, “Today is my Hui Men. Isn’t it customary to kill chickens and slaughter pigs for the occasion?”
Yu Jin: “…”
Yu Jin didn’t know what to say. That was a custom among wealthy families, usually to entertain an esteemed son-in-law.
In rural areas like this, if the son-in-law was valued, they might kill a chicken, buy some pork, and prepare a decent meal with some wine to host him properly.
But today, only Yu Li had returned, and her husband, Fu Wenxiao, was still bedridden. It was impossible for the Yu family to kill chickens or slaughter pigs for such an occasion.
Yu Li headed toward the chicken coop in the backyard.
The backyard housed a chicken coop and a pigpen. The Yu family kept over a dozen chickens, seven or eight ducks, and two pigs. In these times, with no proper farming techniques, the chickens and ducks were small and scrawny, with tough meat. The pigs also didn’t grow large, rarely exceeding a hundred jin (50 kg).
Typically, the pigs were raised until the end of the year. One would be sold, and the other slaughtered for the family’s New Year feast.
Yu Li stared at the two small pigs in the pen, feeling a bit regretful.
They still needed to be raised. There wasn’t enough meat on them now—it wasn’t worth it. It would be better to wait until the New Year to slaughter one for a feast.
So, she turned and went to the chicken coop. With a swift motion, she grabbed two chickens, then carried them, one in each hand, to the kitchen.
When Yu Jin saw her walk in with two chickens, she was stunned.
“Second Sister, we’re having chicken tonight,” Yu Li said, recalling the deliciousness of chicken from her memories. “We’ll make soup with one and braise the other.”
Yu Zhu cheered joyfully, “Yay, chicken for dinner!”
The little girl’s excitement made her voice loud, and it was overheard by Old Madam Yu and Wang Shi, who had been keeping an ear on their side.
They were going to eat chicken?
How could that be allowed?
Old Madam Yu couldn’t hold back any longer. She flung open her door and stormed out.
When she arrived at the kitchen, just as she was about to start scolding, she saw Yu Li holding a chicken in one hand and a knife in the other. Yu Li turned her calm gaze toward her, as if the knife would fly toward her at any moment.
Old Madam Yu immediately lost her nerve.
“Something wrong?” Yu Li asked.
Old Madam Yu opened her mouth but only managed to squeeze out one sentence, “You’re going to kill the chickens?”
“Yes,” Yu Li replied matter-of-factly. “I’m returning to my maiden home today. Shouldn’t you all treat me properly? The pigs in the pen are still small—it would be a waste to slaughter them now. So, let’s kill two chickens instead. I haven’t really tasted chicken much all these years, and today’s a good opportunity.”
Old Madam Yu: “…..”
Old Madam Yu wanted to object, wanted to curse out loud, but all her words were swallowed back when Yu Li’s gaze turned toward her.
Especially when, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the collapsed section of the courtyard wall not far away, a shiver ran down her spine.
The courtyard wall was made of packed earth, repeatedly beaten and tamped down until it became firm and solid. After drying under the sun, it was sturdy enough that even an adult squatting on it wouldn’t necessarily cause it to collapse.
Even if they used a carrying pole to hit it, it still might not break apart.
In the end, Old Madam Yu silently retreated back into her room.
Seeing this, Wang Shi had even less intention of stepping in.