Chapter 7

Li Tiezhu stammered: “I… I…” but could not form a complete sentence.  

Jiang Ailing did not like hearing this. Was he trying to defend Shen Yiyi?  

“Mom, right now, it’s Tiezhu who has been injured. No matter what, even if Tiedan did something wrong, he is still just a child. As Tiedan’s second aunt-in-law, how could she be so heavy-handed?”  

After saying this, she directly pulled Tiedan along and headed next door.  

Li Mom and Li Dad exchanged a glance before quickly washing their hands and calling for Li Eldest Sister-in-law to go with them.  

Li Eldest Sister-in-law had been working in the fields all morning. She was exhausted and hungry, but she had no choice but to put down her hoe. She told her daughters to follow their Dad home for lunch while she herself went along with them to the neighboring house.  

When Jiang Ailing arrived at the entrance next door, dragging Li Tiezhu with her, she looked at the two small blue-brick tile-roofed houses and felt a wave of bitterness in her heart.  

Right now, every household was struggling in poverty, living in mud-brick houses. In the entire village, only the brigade leader’s family had managed to build a blue-brick house, and that was because they had a son serving in the military.  

Li Chen had once been a tyrant. No one knew what means he had used to gather enough money to build these two houses.  

In Jiang Ailing’s eyes, having two adults and three children living in two blue-brick houses was a waste.  

After all, back at the old house, there were only three rooms in total—Old Li and Li Mom occupied one, the eldest branch’s five members squeezed into another, and their third branch, with six people, was crammed into the last one. It was so crowded that even handling personal matters had to be done stealthily, away from the children’s eyes.  

If Li Chen had so much money, why didn’t he think of building another house for the family? How selfish.  

Jiang Ailing fumed with resentment.  

Since Shen Yiyi had beaten her son so badly, she was determined to make her pay compensation.  

With that thought in mind, she raised her hand and pounded on the door.  

Bang! Bang! Bang!  

“Shen Yiyi, come out! Shen Yiyi, come out right now!”

Inside the house, a family of five was enjoying their meal when the commotion from the doorway reached their ears.  

Shen Yiyi was momentarily confused about who it was, but Xiao Bao shrank back slightly and whispered: “It’s Third Aunt-in-law.”  

The moment Shen Yiyi heard “Third Aunt-in-law.” she immediately understood. 

Jiang Ailing—the elder sister of Jiang Wanrou, the female protagonist of Reversing the Perfect Life.  

A cold glint flashed in Shen Yiyi’s eyes as she recalled everything Jiang Ailing had done.  

She remembered very clearly that in the original storyline, when the Three Baos were still young, Li Chen would sometimes be too busy to take care of them. During those times, Mother Li would bring them over to the old house, where she looked after them and ensured they had enough to eat.  

Of course, Li Chen had always provided money for this. The three children’s food and drink were never an issue.  

However, Jiang Ailing had been dissatisfied. Since the money had gone to Mother Li, she herself had to cook extra portions, and she resented this. As a result, she never treated the Three Baos kindly.  

When the Three Baos were still too young to speak, they had suffered at Jiang Ailing’s hands in one way or another.  

Since children were naturally active, minor bumps and bruises were common in those days, so no one found anything unusual about it.  

Of course, Jiang Ailing was clever. She knew that Li Chen was not someone to be trifled with. If the Three Baos ever complained to him, she would be beaten. So, once they were old enough to talk, she no longer dared to pinch them.  

The Three Baos had been too little at the time to remember what had happened, but their muscles seemed to retain the memory.

Even as they grew older, they still felt an inexplicable fear of Jiang Ailing, though they themselves didn’t know why.  

A sharp glint of determination flickered in Shen Yiyi’s eyes. She had not even gone to settle accounts with Jiang Ailing, yet here she was, causing trouble.  

With that thought, she gently patted Xiao Bao’s head and said: “You all keep eating. Mom will be back soon.”

Shen Yiyi strode toward the door with an imposing presence.  

“Dad, hurry and help Mom.” Er Bao urged just as Li Chen put down his chopsticks, about to follow.  

Sensing that something was amiss, Li Chen frowned and asked: “Did your Mom have some kind of conflict with Third Aunt-in-law?”  

Er Bao immediately recounted how Li Tiezhu had tried to snatch their fish.  

Li Chen hadn’t expected such a thing to happen. His expression darkened further. He instructed Da Bao and the others to continue eating before heading toward the main entrance as well.  

———

Meanwhile, Shen Yiyi, who had already reached the door, paused for a moment to listen carefully to the noises outside. Then, without warning, she yanked the door open.  

Jiang Ailing had been knocking for quite a while without anyone responding. Li Tiezhu was growing impatient. The closer he got, the stronger the aroma of meat became. He turned to his Mom and said: “Mom, Second Aunt-in-law definitely knows we’re here. She must be hiding the meat!”  

Hearing this, Jiang Ailing found it reasonable. She and her son pressed up against the door, trying to peek through the cracks to see inside. Suddenly—  

“Ahh!”  

The door was flung open abruptly, causing Jiang Ailing and Li Tiezhu to lose their balance and tumble forward.  

Shen Yiyi, standing closest to the door, had anticipated this. She had calculated her position precisely so that the Mom and son wouldn’t fall onto her.  

However, a force from behind pulled her slightly backward, preventing her from getting knocked over.  

It was Li Chen.  

Shen Yiyi turned her head and gave him a small smile.  

Li Chen pressed his lips together.  

Meanwhile, the Mom and son, now sprawled on the ground, were in an utterly humiliating state.  

“Mom, get up! You’re crushing me!” Li Tiezhu wailed.  

“Oh, my precious boy!” Jiang Ailing scrambled to her feet and quickly helped her son up. When she lifted her head, she was met with Shen Yiyi’s gaze—her lips curved in a half-smile, half-mocking expression.  

Jiang Ailing’s anger flared instantly. She jabbed a finger toward Shen Yiyi’s face and snapped: “Shen Yiyi, you did that on purpose!”  

At that moment, Li Chen’s gaze turned sharp. He reached out to pull Shen Yiyi behind him, but she caught his hand instead and shook her head.

Shen Yiyi’s gaze conveyed her meaning clearly—she could handle this on her own. There was no need for Li Chen to intervene.  

Li Chen’s expression darkened slightly, but when his eyes drifted to their clasped hands, the gloominess was momentarily replaced by a glimmer of light.  

However, in the next second, Shen Yiyi let go.  

Unable to help himself, Li Chen turned his hand behind his back and rubbed his fingers together, as if savoring the lingering warmth.  

“Jiang Ailing, what nonsense are you talking about?” Shen Yiyi sneered, calling her by name without any politeness. “Did I tell you to press yourself against my door?”  

“You—!” Jiang Ailing choked on her words, unable to retort.  

Meanwhile, Li Tiezhu wasn’t concerned about the argument. The moment he stood up, his eyes darted past them, peering eagerly into the house. The sight of the table filled with fragrant cured meat, fish, eggs, and steaming white rice made his mouth water. Tugging at his Mom’s clothes, he whispered urgently: “Mom! Meat! Rice!”  

Following his gaze, Jiang Ailing, along with Mother Li and Eldest Sister-in-law Li, who had just arrived, stared at the lavish meal in shock.  

Was this… New Year’s?  

No, even during the New Year, they never had such an extravagant feast!  

Seeing that his Mom ignored him, Li Tiezhu quickly turned to his grandmother. “Grandma, I want to eat meat.”  

“Meat? What meat? This isn’t your house!” Mother Li snapped instinctively, then turned to the still-stunned Jiang Ailing and scolded: “What are you doing? Get back home! Can’t you stop causing trouble for even one day?”  

Jiang Ailing snapped out of her daze. Remembering why she had come, she raised her voice: “Mom, go home? What for? I came today to have a word with Second Sister-in-law!”  

As she spoke, her eyes couldn’t help but drift toward the meat and rice on the table.  

It had been so long since she last had meat or white rice. And not just any meat—this was fragrant, steaming meat with glistening white rice!  

If she had no reason to stay, that would be one thing. After all, they had already split households. But now that she had a reason, she definitely wasn’t going to let Second Branch off so easily.  

After all, how dare Shen Yiyi lay a hand on her son?