Chapter 15

Zhu Shi, who had been knocked to the ground, almost couldn’t catch her breath. She nearly rolled her eyes back and fainted, only to get another round of spit all over her face.

At that critical moment, Zhu Rong rushed out and quickly shielded his wife behind him. “Mother, what are you doing?!”

Immediately after, their three children also came running out. The older ones helped their mother up from either side, while the youngest, Ding Hao, cried out loudly in fright—this was terrifying, his mother had almost been killed.

“Pah! Don’t call me ‘mother.’ You beast, do you think you’re worthy?” Wang Dafeng was no pushover. So what if Zhu Rong brought out all his family? She was never afraid of anyone.

With that, she spat on Ding Rong for good measure.

Then she started cursing nonstop, “When I gave birth to you, I cherished you like a treasure. And now look at you! May I curse all eighteen generations of the Ding ancestors—I must’ve been blind to give birth to such an ungrateful wolf like you!”

“You clearly have food at home but go around saying you don’t want to take care of me. You even curse me to die? Fine, I’ll admit I’m worthless. But you even let your stupid wife lay a hand on my Xiaodie?! You really think you’re something special, huh? Picking a fight with me—you deserve to be hit, you wretched woman!”

Ding Rong stood dumbfounded, wiping spit off his face. For someone normally so overbearing, he was completely flabbergasted.

The old woman had changed. She used to only yell at the third son’s family, but now she was actually standing up for that useless money-drainer Ding Xiaodie? Had the sun risen in the west?

Luckily, Wang Dafeng was nothing if not fair—after yelling at her eldest son, Ding Rong, she turned her wrath onto the second son, Ding De, thoroughly scolding the entire family, from elders to children.

This scared Ding De so much that he didn’t even dare to come forward with his usual fake sympathy and just backed far away.

With the fury storming through, none of the Ding sons or their wives dared make a sound.

Only after all that did Wang Dafeng finally huff and pull out a gourd flask from her waist and take a big gulp of water.

She was literally parched from cursing. What a woman.

In Wang Dafeng’s arms, Ding Xiaodie looked shocked—wow, that was powerful. After this battle, she finally saw some merit in the old woman.

Her combat power was no joke.

Even the onlooking villagers couldn’t help but break into applause: “Nice! Well said!”

At this point, Zhu Shi, who had been knocked down, finally sat up.

Originally, her plan was to stay down and pretend to be injured, maybe use the opportunity to extort something from the third son’s family. But she didn’t expect the old woman to curse her so viciously—and her husband had no way to fight back.

And now the villagers were fired up and taking sides.

She realized that they were in the middle of a refugee trek—this was a time when people needed to rely on one another. If anyone suddenly suggested kicking their family out of the group…

They’d be doomed!

No need to mention anything else—if nomadic raiders caught up to them, their isolated little family wouldn’t stand a chance.

With all that in mind, Zhu Shi didn’t dare keep pretending.

Besides, the ground was scorching hot, and she had been yelled at for ages. Who could stand that?

She got up, drooping her head, and silently pulled Ding Rong back into the house.

The whole family slunk back to the small room assigned to them and closed the door—but that didn’t stop Wang Dafeng’s voice from coming through loud and clear.

“Zhu Shi, you heartless piece of filth, what are you hiding from? You think you can run? Get out here and apologize to Xiaodie!”

Apologize? A grown woman like her apologizing to a little brat?

Zhu Shi gritted her teeth. Her chest still ached from being hit. It was infuriating!

Her eldest son, seventeen-year-old Ding Shan, usually didn’t even fart when punched three times—but when he did get angry, he had a terrible temper. Seeing his mother knocked down and their family humiliated, he was raging, stomping around the room looking for something to use to beat up the old woman.

Suddenly, he got smacked in the back of the head. Ding Rong glared at him and scolded, “Calm the hell down! You always think with your fists. How did I raise such a brute?!”

That slap brought Ding Shan back to his senses.

He said nothing and quietly went to a corner, squatted down, and buried his head in silence.

Ding Rong shot him a frustrated glance and turned to Zhu Shi. “I don’t think the old woman’s outburst today was simple.”

“What do you mean?”

“She never treated the third family like human beings. So why today is she all fired up to defend them—and even speak up for that useless girl? Don’t you remember? She used to hate that brat the most.”

“I think she’s suddenly pretending to be on their side just to extort some food from us.”

“Huh? Then what should we do?”

Zhu Shi’s heart ached at the thought that the old woman might be scheming for food—especially since they hadn’t given her any yet.

No way. Not a single grain! That old witch wasn’t getting even one rice kernel from her!

Ding Rong thought for a while, listening to the old woman’s endless shouting, then gritted his teeth. “Maybe you should just go out and apologize to the girl. That way the old woman will have no excuse.”

“I won’t! If I apologize, won’t that give her more ammunition? I’m the elder—even if I did hit her, so what?”

And with that, the husband and wife began bickering inside.

Outside, Ding Gui and his wife were giving the villagers another masterclass in diplomacy.

The couple exchanged a look, then each took one of Wang Dafeng’s arms, full of grievance yet understanding.

“Mother, don’t yell anymore. Big brother’s family has it tough too.”

“Yes, Mom, and big sis-in-law didn’t really hurt Xiaodie. It’s fine. Kids are supposed to suffer a little—it helps them grow. Her aunt was just teaching her a lesson. We should be thanking her.”

Inside the house, Ding Rong and Zhu Shi paused to listen. When they heard Zhang Xiu say that last part, Zhu Shi was so mad she almost puked blood.

She hadn’t even touched Xiaodie! Who would’ve thought her usually timid third sister-in-law could be so scheming?

But the villagers were clearly impressed.

“Look at Ding Gui and his wife—so kindhearted, always thinking of their mother and their brothers.”

“Yeah, compared to those other two families, they’ve got real class!”

Seeing the villagers praise Ding Gui and his wife, Wang Dafeng finally cooled down, feeling satisfied.

Alright then, she thought secretly—this loyalty test of hers was a smashing success. As long as the third family treats her well from now on, she’ll stick with them for real.

Ding Xiaodie watched all the subtle expressions around her with mixed shock and reflection.

People really are shaped by their environment.

If this had happened in her previous life, and someone had dared to hit her, her father Ding Gui would’ve rushed in to fight to the death—no way would he have yielded.

And Wang Dafeng? Was this even the same scary hag who fought her over water just an hour ago?