The one from two days ago had just faded, and now there was another. She didn’t even know what to say anymore.
Chen Shi, furious, suppressed her anger and said to Yu Li, “Li Niang, you’re the elder sister. How can you hit people so casually?”
This wretched girl—was she addicted to hitting people? First, Cheng Ge’er was hit, and now it was her son’s turn.
Yu Jingxin and Yu Jingyi were both indignant at her words.
What’s wrong with hitting someone? Their eldest cousin hit even them—what was Yu Jingzong to her? Of course, she could hit him!
Yu Li replied, “He said he wanted to beat me to death and called me a troublemaker. Am I supposed to just stand here and let him hit me?”
Chen Shi opened her mouth to retort, “But Zong Ge’er is still young…”
“Yes, he’s still young, which is why I can’t let him off!” Yu Li said with a stern expression. “Otherwise, he’ll only get worse as he grows up.”
Chen Shi: “.…”
Seeing her mother left speechless, Yu Qin couldn’t help but chime in, “Li Niang, how can you talk to an elder like that? Don’t you have any manners…?”
“Do you want to get hit too?” Yu Li asked her.
Yu Qin recoiled in fear, quickly shaking her head.
Having witnessed Yu Li repeatedly hitting people, she realized that Yu Li truly would hit her. If she provoked her, she might not be spared.
Seeing Yu Qin shut her mouth, Yu Li let her go and turned her gaze toward Old Madam Yu.
Old Madam Yu flinched, instinctively stepping back. “I-I didn’t say anything,” she stammered. Why was Yu Li looking at her?
Yu Li said, “I know. Grandma is actually quite nice. It’s been a long time since you’ve called me a ‘money-losing wench.’”
Old Madam Yu’s mouth moved, but she had to admit it was true. She hadn’t insulted her in a long time—because she didn’t dare to. Even the other little girls in the family hadn’t been scolded lately.
“Grandma, girls are not money-losing wenches,” Yu Li said. “You need to remember that, understand?”
She didn’t bother trying to reason with Old Madam Yu with grand arguments, knowing she wouldn’t understand. Instead, Yu Li decided to show her directly. She stomped on a polished, round stone in the courtyard, shattering it to pieces.
Old Madam Yu: “…”
Not only was Old Madam Yu stunned, but so were Chen Shi and her two sons.
Compared to Old Madam Yu and others, who were already somewhat aware of Yu Li’s brute strength, Chen Shi and her sons still held an impression of the old Yu Li. Even after she forced Old Master Yu to kneel two days ago, they merely thought she was bold and reckless, not enough to instill true fear.
But now, after seeing her crush a stone with one foot, they finally realized just how terrifying her strength was.
No wonder the family didn’t dare provoke her.
“Big Sister!”
Hearing the commotion, Yu Jin and her two sisters came out from the west room. When they saw Yu Li, their faces lit up with joy.
The three sisters paid no mind to the somewhat tense atmosphere in the courtyard. They simply thought that the others must have offended their eldest sister again.
Yu Li followed her three younger sisters into the west room.
Seeing this, Yu Jingxin smartly grabbed his younger brother and left as well, unwilling to stick around and become a scapegoat for Old Madam Yu’s temper.
Their older brother had gone to the fields early in the morning with their parents, leaving the two of them at home to continue organizing the belongings of the third branch. They hadn’t expected to witness such an entertaining scene.
Back in the day, when they were the ones being beaten, it felt both infuriating and humiliating. Now, watching someone else take the hit, they discovered how amusing it could be.
Looking at the current state of Yu Jingzong, they felt as if they were seeing their former selves—thinking Yu Li was easy to bully, only to be miserably proven wrong.
If Yu Jingzong didn’t learn his lesson and keep a low profile around Yu Li, he would only suffer worse in the future.
Once Yu Li left, Old Madam Yu rushed over to help her grandson up, her heart aching.
“Zong Ge’er, why did you provoke her?” Old Madam Yu scolded, “Didn’t Grandma tell you already? Don’t mess with her! She’s not the same as before.” Then she turned to berate Chen Shi and her daughter, “You two, as his mother and sister, why didn’t you stop him? You just let him provoke that troublemaker.”
The last three words were said in a much lower voice.
Chen Shi swayed slightly, her heart filled with bitterness.
In the past, when she returned to the village, everyone treated her with flattery. Even Old Madam Yu, with her fiery temper, would restrain herself and rarely lose it in front of her.
But now, she was caught between two sides. Her son had been beaten, yet she still ended up being blamed.
Yu Qin pouted in grievance and muttered, “Grandma, I was in the kitchen cooking. How could I have known…?”
She, too, felt deeply wronged. In the past, she never had to do chores like cooking—those were tasks left to the second branch sisters. Even in the county town, it was her mother who cooked, and she didn’t even know how to start a fire.
But now, with the household just split and so much to do, her mother was too busy to spare any time. Her grandparents ate with them but did nothing themselves, leaving her to handle the cooking.
When she said she didn’t know how, her grandmother scolded her, calling her a spoiled rich girl and a lazy woman who did nothing. She was told to learn or go hungry.
Yu Qin was utterly aggrieved, feeling like her grandmother had changed and no longer cared for them.
Old Madam Yu didn’t care in the slightest, continuing to mutter complaints as she helped her grandson back to his room. Along the way, she said, “Zong Ge’er, stay away from her in the future. We’ll keep our distance…”
Yu Jingzong suddenly burst into tears. “Grandma, you were the one who said she’s a troublemaker. That’s why I…”
“Peh, peh, peh! Don’t talk nonsense!” Old Madam Yu hurriedly covered his mouth, nervously glancing toward the west room. Seeing no sign of Yu Li, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
—
The west room was a mess, with so many belongings scattered around that it was hard to even find a place to step.
Yu Jin busied herself with tidying up, clearing a small path as she explained, “Things are a bit chaotic right now, but we’ll have it all sorted by tomorrow. The room is just too small to fit everything.”
Despite her words, the sisters showed no signs of frustration.
Being able to split the household had been a delightful surprise. A bit of clutter was nothing to them—they felt lighthearted and full of energy to tackle anything.
Yu Li placed her basket on a wobbly stool and began taking things out one by one.
Pastries, candies, preserved fruits, hair ties, tooth powder, toothbrushes, salt, soy sauce, vinegar…
For a moment, her three sisters stared wide-eyed in astonishment.
So many things! These were items they usually didn’t even dare to dream of having. When they saw the piece of meat she took out at the end, they were completely stunned.
“B-Big Sister, all of this… is for us?” Yu Jin stammered, her voice trembling.
Yu Li nodded. “Now that the family is split, you don’t have anything here. I bought you some basics to start with.”
The three sisters didn’t know what to say. They simply rushed over and silently hugged her tightly.
There was no need for excessive politeness between siblings. Their eldest sister was good to them, and they would be good to her in return. When they had the ability, they would surely repay her kindness tenfold.
Yu Li patted each of her sisters’ coarse, wiry hair in turn. The three of them were still young, but due to long-term malnutrition, their hair was in poor condition—rough and brittle to the touch, with a yellowish tint.
Hmm, just like her own.
Yu Li divided up the items she had brought, encouraging them to eat some pastries and candies.
The three girls cheerfully nibbled on the pastries while helping to put away the salt, vinegar, soy sauce, and other things onto the newly built stove platform. They placed the chunk of meat in a cool spot in the room to prevent it from spoiling in the heat.
“Big Sister, why did you buy so much meat?” Yu Jin asked with slight disapproval, wanting her to save money.
“I didn’t buy it. It was a gift from the butcher shop,” Yu Li explained. “Brother Zhang heard about the family division and sent the meat as a congratulatory gift, saying it was for good luck.”
Hearing it was a gift, Yu Jin was initially happy, but then she began to worry.
“Isn’t that… not very appropriate?”
Accumulating too many favors could be troublesome; debts of gratitude were hard to repay.
Yu Li, chewing on a piece of pastry, said, “There’s nothing wrong with it. You can think of it as an employee benefit from the butcher shop.”
Although Yu Jin and the others didn’t quite understand what “employee benefit” meant, they roughly grasped the idea: the butcher shop owner was kind to their eldest sister. When they heard that Yu Li could buy meat at half price—about 7 or 8 coins instead of 16 per pound—and even get freebies like offal, their eyes lit up.
“Big Sister, is there any work at the butcher shop suitable for me? I want to work there too!” Yu Jin asked eagerly, her eyes sparkling.
Yu Zhu and Yu Yin also looked at her with bright, hopeful eyes.
Yu Li replied, “They have enough people for now, but if there’s any work suitable for you, I’ll let you know.”
Yu Jin nodded vigorously, her face full of excitement. Now that the family was divided, even if she left to work elsewhere, her grandmother wouldn’t be able to control her. Finally, she could be like her eldest sister and go to the county town to find a job.
Compared to digging in the fields, she preferred other kinds of work where she could earn more money.
At this moment, Yu Li turned to look at the quietly smiling Yu Yin and, as if something had come to mind, asked, “Ah Yin, would you like to learn embroidery?”
Yu Yin froze for a moment. Although she was puzzled by the question, she still answered obediently, “Big Sister, I’d like to learn, but I don’t know who to learn from.”
Few people in the village knew how to embroider, and even those who did could only stitch simple patterns. Yu Yin had seen their work and didn’t find it particularly appealing.
Of course, embroidery was a skill that required practice, and others wouldn’t easily teach it.
If Old Madam Yu were willing to offer some gifts as apprenticeship fees, perhaps someone might provide some guidance. However, Old Madam Yu was notoriously stingy and would never agree to such an expense.
Yu Li said, “Alright, if you’d like to learn, I’ll go back and ask my mother-in-law if she’s willing to teach you.”
Upon hearing this, Yu Yin’s eyes lit up. She remembered that Zhou Shi knew how to embroider.
She hadn’t seen Zhou Shi’s work before but had heard it was beautiful. If Zhou Shi was willing to teach her…
“Big Sister, let’s not trouble her,” Yu Yin said softly. “It’s her livelihood, after all…”
She worried that Zhou Shi might be unwilling to share her craft, and it would put her elder sister in a difficult position.
Yu Li replied, “I’ll go back and ask first. If she’s willing, you can come and learn.”
If Zhou Shi was unwilling, Yu Li wouldn’t force her.
In this world, people placed great importance on the inheritance of skills, and such matters had to be handled with proper respect.
Yu Zhu picked up the toothbrush and tooth powder, raising her hand to ask, “Big Sister, how do you use this?”
Toothbrushes did exist in this world, but they were typically used by people who were more refined. Village folks didn’t know how to use them. For cleaning their teeth, they would bite open the bark of willow twigs to expose the inner fibers and use that to brush their teeth.
As for tooth powder, it wasn’t something they had at all. If someone felt their teeth weren’t clean, they would pluck some herbs growing near walls or in the fields, chew on them, and let the natural juices freshen their mouths.
Yu Li demonstrated how to use the toothbrush and tooth powder while explaining to her sisters, “You need to keep your teeth clean. Teeth are part of your appearance. Having a set of white, clean teeth is very important. When you speak with others, they’ll notice your teeth. If your teeth are white and clean, it’ll leave a good impression on them…”
For example, the members of the Fu family all had bright, neatly arranged teeth. They paid close attention to oral hygiene.
In contrast, most villagers had yellowed teeth. If you got too close, there was even a slight unpleasant smell, which wasn’t surprising. After all, without money or leisure, who had the time or means to worry about such things?