Chapter 24: A Thief’s Heart Never Dies

When Mrs. Su returned, Xiang Dayong was sitting right at the doorway, blocking the way. Xiang Yun was hiding behind him, while Xiang Yang stood in front of Xiang Dayong with arms spread wide, glaring at Mrs. Li.

Mrs. Li swung a vine whip on the ground. “Dayong, your mother hasn’t eaten meat for days. Your father and eldest brother went up the mountain and haven’t come back. Winter is coming soon. Do you have the heart to let your parents starve through the winter?”

“Exactly! Xiang He stole the last bit of meat. Even that big cat wouldn’t give any to Mother. It’s clear they don’t care about their parents at all!”

Xiang Dayong limped, shaking his hand weakly. “M-Mother, that big cat, Miss Xiang He… if anything is to be divided, it’s what they said… You can’t…”

Seeing him still blocking the door, Mrs. Li’s face turned extremely ugly as she glared fiercely at him. “You can’t even speak properly! Send Yun girl to Old Master Xu’s house. You’ll still get monthly money back. I’m not trying to take from you, I just want you all to live better. Ungrateful!”

Today she had argued with Mrs. Yu — as long as Yun girl was sold, they could get ten taels and monthly money on top. Wasn’t this a huge blessing?

But this whole family was ungrateful, even refusing silver!

“Dayong, Yun girl’s monthly money belongs to your family. I really don’t want your money. Look at the place you live — not even a bowl! How do you expect to survive the winter like that?”

She thought she was speaking earnestly, but Xiang Dayong stiffly shook his head. “M-Mother… I know. Sell… the girl’s silver… you take it.”

Earlier, she said she hadn’t eaten meat and wanted to sell her granddaughter, now she said she didn’t want the monthly money. That could only mean selling the girl would bring in a sum of silver.

Xiang Dayong said nothing but was honest, not foolish.

All these years, he had done his filial duty, working hard for the family, enduring hardship himself, but even his wife had to suffer along with him, and the children’s situation was even worse.

Now that they had finally left that place, how could he let his family fall back into that pit?

“M-Mother, please go back…”

He reached down and grabbed some firewood casually piled by his feet. It was clear he intended to resist to the end. Mrs. Li’s eyes blazed with fury. Grabbing the vine whip, she angrily strode over and aimed a heavy lash at Xiang Yang.

Xiang Dayong staggered forward and grabbed Xiang Yang. The whip struck heavily on Xiang Dayong’s back, tearing his thin shirt open. Losing balance, he fell toward the doorway, holding Xiang Yang tightly to block the door, absolutely refusing to let Mrs. Li catch Xiang Yun.

Mrs. Li couldn’t calm down and called to Mrs. Yu, “Hurry over and help!”

“Mother, you have to give me a chance to act! He’s blocking the door—how can I get in to take Yun girl out?”

“You have to try!”

Mrs. Li was naturally headstrong and reckless, she went up and started pulling at people. Xiang Dayong struggled hard to hold onto the doorframe, but the door had already been kicked down by Xiang He, so they could easily get inside.

Mrs. Li dragged Xiang Dayong while Xiang Yang pounded her hands. Mrs. Yu took the opportunity to rush forward, trying to get inside, but just as her hand was about to touch the door threshold, a stick came down—

“Ahhh!!!”

A scream rang out. Mrs. Su was already standing at the door, fiercely holding a bamboo stick. “No one is allowed to touch my Yun girl!”

Mrs. Yu clutched her arm, screaming. That blow really knocked the life out of her!

She staggered backward repeatedly. Mrs. Li cursed uselessly and swung her vine whip at Mrs. Su, who dodged sideways and grabbed the bamboo stick with both hands, striking back.

Even Mrs. Li’s bulky body managed to dodge. “You, third sister-in-law! How dare you hit me!”

“You deserved it!”

Mrs. Li threw down her vine whip and grabbed Mrs. Su’s bamboo stick. They tugged at each other’s clothes—she scratched, and Su slapped a few times. Meanwhile, Mrs. Yu desperately clung to Xiang Dayong, one foot pushed inside the threshold, only to get bitten hard on the calf by Xiang Yang, while still pulling on Xiang Dayong’s clothes.

Xiang Dayong stood steady like a bell, his tall body blocking the doorway without moving an inch. Whenever Mrs. Yu reached toward him, he slapped her hand away.

“S-Second sister-in-law, don’t—don’t push me.”

The scene was chaotic. When Xiang He returned carrying the big jar, she saw none of their hairstyles remained intact.

Carefully setting down the jar, she stood beside it leisurely and watched. “Wow, it’s quite lively here, huh?”

At Xiang He’s voice, Xiang Yun, hiding inside the house, jumped out the small window, crying as she hugged her sister’s leg. “Sister!”

Mrs. Yu had also thought about escaping through that small window, but she was too fat and simply couldn’t get through.

Xiang He gently patted Xiang Yun’s head. “Be good, help sister watch this big jar carefully—don’t let the dog snatch the meat.”

Xiang Yun, with tear-red eyes and still a bit confused, nodded. “I’ll watch it closely…” She then let go and hugged the jar, her small body not even half the size of the jar.

Mrs. Li and Mrs. Yu saw Xiang He and that big jar, their eyes flashing with greed.

Xiang He sneered coldly and reached into the jar to take out a piece of meat. “Look at this meat, marbled with fat and lean—it must be delicious.”

She even pretended to sniff it, though it had no smell.

The two women’s eyes fixed on the big chunk of meat, wide with desire. Mrs. Li let go and lunged forward like a starving wolf, but Xiang He made a gesture and grabbed her by the neck.

“You wretched girl! Let go!”

Xiang He put the meat back into the jar with a flip of her hand. Mrs. Yu also charged like a demon, thinking if she could snatch that piece of meat, her whole family would be well fed!

But she only had eyes for the meat and forgot Xiang He’s recent sharp skills. Xiang He grabbed her neck too and pushed her step by step toward the edge of the fence.

“What are you doing? Let go quickly, or you’ll regret it!”

“You bought good stuff but don’t respect your granny—you heartless wretch!”

No matter how they cursed and struggled, Xiang He wouldn’t let go. Her grip gradually tightened, and she even lifted both women—together weighing over a hundred jin (about 50 kg).

The people watching below widened their eyes even more—this strength might be greater than that of the big cat!

Xiang He lifted the two women into the air, their legs dangling. She then took a few more steps forward, suspending them off the ground.

Now the two women were scared. Although not very high up, falling would leave them bedridden for days!

Mrs. Li, furious and desperate, pounded Xiang He with both hands. “Let go! If I fall, your whole family won’t have a good life!”

Xiang He laughed angrily, her eyes narrowing with disdain. “If you fall and die, I’ll compensate Grandpa. If you don’t die, I’ll cripple you for life—so you’ll have to eat, drink, and use the toilet in bed, and won’t be able to come bothering my family every day…”

She tilted her head. “Not bad, that’s a good idea.”

As she spoke, she really loosened her grip a bit, which terrified the two ruffians.

Mrs. Yu, most afraid of dying, clasped Xiang He’s wrists tightly. “Don’t… don’t throw me down! It’s my… my mother who sent me!”

“You, Mrs. Yu!” Mrs. Li ground her teeth and glared fiercely at Xiang He. “Even if I’m bedridden, you’ll have to take care of me! What a bargain!”

Unexpectedly, she was still so stubborn at the end. Xiang He relaxed her grip a little more. “Fine, I’ll take good care of Grandma. If she pulls any stunts in bed, I’ll give her a good scolding when no one’s around, if she complains to Grandpa, I’ll shut her up.”

“That’s another good plan—let’s do it that way.”

The people below felt sick hearing this, especially the two villains being threatened.

“You… how dare you!”

Xiang He flashed a brilliant smile and loosened her hands even more. “At this point, what wouldn’t I dare?”

“Wait!”

Xiang He ignored them and straightened her arms. They looked down, seeing there was nowhere to step below.

Now Mrs. Li was scared too. After all, this damn girl even dared to resist her—what if…

“Let go! We’ll go back right now!”

“Go back? I have conditions—I’m not letting you go that easily.”