Chapter 3 Fight 2

Watching Lin Qiyue walk farther and farther away, Liu Zhaodi grew even more furious. If word of her daughter’s incident spread, it would truly ruin them. Seeing the triumphant glow on Lin Qiyue’s face made her snap—she threw down what she was holding and ran up to grab Lin Qiyue’s hair.

“You little whore! I dare you to go report me! I’ll beat you to death today!” she growled through gritted teeth, yanking Lin Qiyue’s hair so hard that it hurt, forcing her to stagger backward. Then came a slap across her face.

Lin Qiyue hadn’t expected the woman to be so aggressive.

“Ah!” she cried out in pain, growing even angrier. Never in her life had she suffered such humiliation. She broke free from Liu Zhaodi’s grip, several strands of her hair torn out and the pain burning her scalp.

“You old hag! You dare hit me?” she shouted, fuming, and kicked Liu Zhaodi in the knee. Taking advantage of her distraction, she knocked Liu Zhaodi to the ground, pinned her down, and slapped her—once, smack, then again, another loud smack.

“You think I’m easy to bully? You humiliate me with your words, and now you hit me too?!”

Liu Zhaodi refused to back down and grabbed at Lin Qiyue’s face and hair. The two ended up in a messy brawl.

People passing by on their way home from work quickly ran over to break them apart.

“Stop fighting!”

“Break it up!”

“Yusui! Your second sister-in-law is fighting with someone—come quick!”

A voice carried into the house. Lan Yusui dropped her homework in shock. She had been basking in the joy of her brother’s return, but now she was stunned.

“She actually got into a fight? Unbelievable!”

Too excited and curious to sit still, she ran out immediately.

Lan Yu also heard the commotion and rushed outside without hesitation.

By the time he arrived, Lin Qiyue’s hair was a mess, and Liu Zhaodi’s cheeks were both swollen from the slaps. The crowd had grown significantly.

Qian Xiuying had just gotten off work and reached the corner of the compound when she overheard that her daughter-in-law had gotten into a fight. She broke into a run.

“Yu’s back? Look at me! She bullied me like this, can you believe it?” Liu Zhaodi didn’t hesitate to complain first, pointing at her swollen face, her eyes brimming with tears. It was the first time she had ever been treated this way.

Lan Yu took in the scene—Lin Qiyue’s hair was disheveled, her face had a few scratches, but Liu Zhaodi had clearly taken a worse beating: her hair was tangled, her lips were bleeding, and she looked like a mess.

Lan Yusui struggled to hold back laughter as she looked at Lin Qiyue.

“Control your wife!” Liu Zhaodi sobbed louder.

Before Lan Yu could speak, Shen Qingmiao came out holding the baby and, upon seeing the scene, said with a hint of scolding and sarcasm, “Sister-in-law, what have you done? Even if something happened, you shouldn’t have hit Aunt Liu—she is your elder, after all.”

People who didn’t know what had happened started joining in.

“That’s right, Second Daughter-in-law of the Lan family, this is too much.”

“Are you deaf? Say something!”

Lan Yusui, hearing this, started to panic.

Lan Yu turned around and snapped at her, “Go back and finish your homework.”

She instantly quieted down but rolled her eyes in frustration.

Lan Yu walked up to Lin Qiyue and asked, “What happened?”

Her moment to act had arrived!

With tears welling in her eyes, she pointed at Liu Zhaodi and said, “She said I was having an affair with some random man, that I was touched and should just die. She told me I didn’t deserve to live. I fell into the lake by accident, and you were the one who saved me. She said I was lying! Claimed the entire compound knew I was being unfaithful. I told her she was spreading rumors and that I would report her to the Women’s Federation—and then she grabbed my hair and slapped me. She even called me a slut. Look at my neck—she did this. She started the fight!”

Tears filled her eyes as she showed the marks from the struggle, her voice full of injustice.

As soon as those words were out, the crowd started murmuring. Everyone knew what kind of person Liu Zhaodi was.

“You’re lying!” Liu Zhaodi tried to fight back, pointing at Lin Qiyue. “You were having an affair and jumped into the lake from shame after being caught!”

“No—you’re the one lying! You accuse me with no proof. How can I live if your words alone condemn me to death?” Lin Qiyue broke into sobs, overcome with the unfairness. She clutched Lan Yu’s hand, eyes full of pain.

Lan Yu, filled with guilt and heartache, gently patted her back to comfort her. Then he turned to Liu Zhaodi and said coldly:

“Aunt Liu, I was the one who saved Qiyue today. I saw with my own eyes that she slipped and fell into the lake. As for this talk about some secret meeting, it’s all nonsense. You fabricated a story, ruined my wife’s reputation, and even hit her. Don’t you think you owe us an explanation?”

“Exactly! I just got home from school and heard her gossiping with everyone, saying my sister-in-law was sneaking off with men—without a shred of proof! She just loves running her mouth!” Lan Yusui added. She had disliked this woman for a long time.

“Yu, don’t let this woman fool you! She seduced someone—and not just anyone, but someone important! And you’re still defending her? If your remittances hadn’t all been tightly controlled by your elder sister-in-law, this woman would’ve taken the money and run by now. You’ll be crying then!”

Realizing she had said too much, Liu Zhaodi immediately tried to cover up her awkwardness.

Shen Qingmiao’s face turned pale, her lips trembling.

Lan Yu’s face grew even darker upon hearing that last part.

As soon as those words were spoken, anyone with eyes could see what was going on.

“No wonder Qiyue’s so thin and frail. All the money must’ve gone into someone else’s pocket. Maybe life got too hard for her, and that’s why she jumped into the lake?”

At this point, some people who understood right from wrong couldn’t help but chime in.

“Exactly. Those two are always seen together, it’s obvious…”
The speaker trailed off, but their meaning was clear.

Lin Qiyue pretended to explain, “You’re all misunderstanding Sister-in-law. She was just worried I’d get tired managing the money all by myself, so she offered to keep it safe for me. It’s not what you think.”

“Yes—yes, that’s right. I was just helping out my sister-in-law,” Shen Qingmiao immediately agreed.

Lan Yusui couldn’t hold back and teased, “No wonder you’re the richest in the family, and you don’t even have to work!”

That line hit the nail on the head. Lin Qiyue gave her little sister-in-law a big mental thumbs-up.

“I was wondering why, when Mom and Dad weren’t home and I needed money for new clothes, I had to go ask Second Sister-in-law—but she didn’t even have anything to give me. So it all went into Big Sister-in-law’s pocket?” Lan Yusui added, throwing a glance back at the scheming sister-in-law.

“Yusui, I’m not the kind of person you think I am,” Shen Qingmiao tried to defend herself.

Lin Qiyue nearly laughed, but she had to keep up the act.

Shen Qingmiao’s face had gone pale. She hurried to explain, “I was just helping temporarily, that’s all.”

Lan Yuchu had initially wanted to resolve the matter privately, but now that the whole compound had heard everything, there was no going back.

“Aunt Liu,” he said firmly, “please apologize to my wife. If you have no evidence, then this is slander. And if you’re unwilling, we can always take this to a more formal setting to resolve it.”

He clearly wanted to end this quickly.

“What happened?” Qian Xiuying rushed back just then and saw the crowd.

“Second Daughter-in-law, what’s going on here?” she asked as she noticed Liu Zhaodi’s messy hair and blood at the corner of her mouth. Then she looked at her own weak-looking daughter-in-law, who was now being protectively held in her son’s arms.

“Qian Dajie?”

“Aunt Liu, please apologize to my wife,” Lan Yuchu repeated, ignoring his mother and addressing Liu Zhaodi again.

He was furious—if he hadn’t come back, who knew how much more Lin Qiyue would’ve suffered at home?

Liu Zhaodi didn’t want to apologize and tried to appeal to Qian Xiuying instead. But Lan Yuchu’s tone made even Qian Xiuying hesitate.

Seeing how awkward the situation was becoming, Lin Qiyue gently tugged at Lan Yuchu’s hand and softly said, “Maybe… let’s just forget it. I did hit her back too.”

“No,” he said. “If she doesn’t apologize, we’re going to the police. Since Mom is here too, it’s a good time. Aunt Liu has been spreading false rumors, saying Qiyue had an affair and jumped into the lake out of shame. She came back and started slandering her again. Since she’s so certain about this supposed affair, I now have reason to believe there may be something more sinister behind it.”

He found it strange—very strange.

Why would Lin Qiyue try to take her own life? Why did Aunt Liu insist it was because of an affair?

Thinking back on what he’d heard, he became more convinced that Lin Qiyue would never have the nerve to do such a thing. She must’ve been framed—or provoked into it.

“I… I didn’t mean it like that! Qian Dajie, I wasn’t saying it that way, I just…” Liu Zhaodi began to panic. She hadn’t expected Lan Yuchu to be so firm. And come to think of it, she hadn’t even seen anything herself.

Shen Qingmiao panicked even more, now sweating with anxiety.

Qian Xiuying suddenly seemed to understand what was really going on. Everyone knew what kind of person Liu Zhaodi was.

“Mom, Second Brother’s just standing up for his wife—and rightfully so. She told me about this as soon as I got home today. Just now, Second Sister-in-law was only reasoning with her, but Aunt Liu hit her first. Second Sister-in-law isn’t good with words—how could she win a war of insults? She’s so skinny. Would she really dare to start a fight unless she was pushed too far?”

In the end, Lan Yusui proved to be the best support. After all, the original Lin Qiyue gave her six yuan out of her ten-yuan monthly allowance.

Even if Qian Xiuying didn’t like this daughter-in-law, she couldn’t just let others bully her like this.