Chapter 72: Hmph! I Hit You Because You Deserved It

“That woman isn’t your mother either! She’s Commander Lu’s new wife. Once they have a child together, they won’t want you anymore! You’re just a burdensome little stray! A filthy bastard! Now give me that chicken!”

Li Jinhua’s mouth ran like a machine gun—nonstop, relentless—even though she was yelling at a five-year-old child, she showed not a shred of pity or conscience.

Lu Yuanbao’s face turned red in waves as he clenched his jaw tightly.

He was unusually mature for his age, having grown up in the countryside, and he already knew exactly what words like “bastard” and “burden” meant.

Chu Yue had originally concealed Lu Yuanbao’s identity, pretending to be his biological mother, precisely to prevent something like this from happening—to protect his young heart. But it was all for nothing. The secret hadn’t been kept at all. Now even someone like Li Jinhua knew, which likely meant the entire compound knew.

Li Jinhua, seeing the terrible look on Lu Yuanbao’s face, was proud and triumphant.

“What are you waiting for? Give me that chicken! Did you hear me? Give it here!”

“No! This is mine!”

Lu Yuanbao gritted his teeth and held tight, even though his chest ached with emotion. He stubbornly refused to let go.

Chu Yue had given him this task, and he had to protect what belonged to their home!

“You little brat! You bastard—!”

Chu Yue rushed back into the yard just in time to witness the scene—Li Jinhua shouting filthy curses, face twisted, lunging forward to snatch the chicken from Lu Yuanbao’s arms.

Her expression turned cold, her eyes sharp and icy as she strode forward and grabbed Li Jinhua’s wrist.

Then—

SLAP!

SLAP!

Chu Yue raised her hand and delivered two crisp slaps to Li Jinhua’s face. Li Jinhua saw stars, her vision spinning, ears buzzing from the force.

Chu Yue immediately let go—even touching Li Jinhua felt dirty to her.

Without Chu Yue holding her up, Li Jinhua staggered back, dizzy and unsteady. She lost her balance and fell hard to the ground, landing squarely on her backside in a disheveled heap.

Chu Yue didn’t even glance back at her. She dropped her icy demeanor and turned to Lu Yuanbao with gentle concern in her eyes.

“Yuanbao, Yuanbao…”

Lu Yuanbao, hearing Chu Yue’s voice, cautiously looked up. His whole body, which had been tense with fear, finally relaxed. His eyes reddened slightly, and he gazed at her like a wounded little animal—pitiful and helpless.

The wild mountain chicken clucked and flapped in his arms. As Lu Yuanbao’s grip loosened, it regained its freedom and flapped its way back to the chicken coop.

Chu Yue gently touched his small face and said softly:

“Mama’s back now.”

She scooped Lu Yuanbao into her arms, and he wrapped his arms around her neck, burying himself in her embrace like a baby.

Chu Yue softly patted his back, her palm warm and reassuring.

“Yuanbao, you did so well.”

Meanwhile—

Li Jinhua, who had just hit the ground, finally recovered from the dizziness and started to piece together what had just happened.

This was already the second time Chu Yue had slapped her.

The first time had been a heavy slap that knocked her out cold.

And now, this second time, she’d taken two full slaps across the face!

Everyone knew the rule—you don’t hit someone in the face—but this little hussy actually dared to hit her like that?

“Y-You… how dare you hit me?!”
Li Jinhua was so furious that she could hardly speak clearly.

Chu Yue held Lu Xiaobao in her arms and let out a cold, mocking laugh.
“Hmph! I hit you, so what? You think I need to pick a good day for it? I hit you because you’re an old bully with no shame!”

Li Jinhua had long been used to bullying others. At home, it was her mild-mannered daughter-in-law Wang Chunling; as neighbors, there was timid Xia Xiaolan. The other military wives all avoided provoking her for fear of getting bad luck. For the past six months, Li Jinhua had relied on her age and sharp tongue to walk around the compound like she owned the place. She wasn’t used to anyone standing up to her—let alone someone like Chu Yue.

Her eyes turned red with anger. In a fit of rage, she stood up from the ground, pointed a trembling finger at Chu Yue, and shouted:
“You little brat! You dare hit an elder?! You better be careful or you’ll give birth to a son with no butthole!”

“Heh.” Chu Yue’s sneer deepened. “My son’s right here! Open your old eyes and look carefully! Lu Xiaobao is my son! Whether he has a butthole or not is none of your damn business. I know full well! But you—Li Jinhua—at your age, still sneaking around stealing chickens? Aren’t you afraid of dying and going straight to the 18th level of hell, getting tossed in the oil pot by demons and ghosts?”

The elderly, especially the superstitious kind, feared talk of death more than anything.

Chu Yue’s seemingly absurd words hit Li Jinhua right where it hurt—every single one of them.

“Fine… fine… you little brat, you’ve got a venomous mouth. I’ll… I’ll go find someone to judge this! Just because your man is Commander Lu doesn’t mean you can hit people and get away with it!”
Still trying to pull rank with her age, Li Jinhua barked, “I’m going to find someone right now… someone to judge!”

It was laughable, really—a woman who never played fair suddenly demanding fairness.

What she didn’t realize was that the person most capable of being fair in the entire compound had been standing there the whole time, silently watching and listening to everything.

That person was — Song Hongmei.

Song Hongmei stood with a serious expression and furrowed brow. She looked directly at Li Jinhua and said:
“How about me? Do you think I’m qualified to judge this situation?”

Li Jinhua had been so focused on the chicken and Chu Yue that she hadn’t even noticed someone else was standing there the whole time.

When she turned and saw Song Hongmei, her cloudy eyes trembled in shock.
“S-S-Sister Song…”
Despite her age, even Li Jinhua had to respectfully address Song Hongmei as “Sister.”
“You… I… Sister Song, you saw it with your own eyes! This Chu Yue girl hit me! She hit me, I tell you!”

“Yes, I saw it.” Song Hongmei nodded.

Li Jinhua had just begun to gloat, but then Song Hongmei continued calmly:
“I also saw you saying horrible things to a child—and even trying to lay your hands on him. Chu Yue hit you because she was protecting her child. That’s a mother’s instinct. She did nothing wrong.”

With one authoritative sentence, Song Hongmei firmly stood on Chu Yue’s side: Chu Yue wasn’t wrong. In fact, she had done the right thing.

From the bottom of her heart, Song Hongmei also felt a bit guilty toward Chu Yue.

In the beginning, Chu Yue hadn’t wanted to reveal Lu Xiaobao’s true identity. It was only because Song Hongmei came to ask that she reluctantly told her. Even then, Chu Yue had asked her not to spread it around, fearing the child would be treated differently.

But the secret had eventually gotten out and spread everywhere. That was Song Hongmei’s failure in her job.

So, from both a personal and professional standpoint, Song Hongmei would firmly support Chu Yue.

She turned to Li Jinhua and asked sternly,
“Li Jinhua, this is Chu Yue’s courtyard. What are you doing here?”

Li Jinhua had gone pale earlier, but as soon as she heard that question, she perked up again and shouted anxiously:
“Sister Song! Don’t believe that little brat! She’s the thief! She stole my chickens—two of them I raised myself!”