Chapter 39

Beating Up the Li Sisters 

Zhang Shiye looked at Li Yu’s mismatched outfit and couldn’t help but twitch his lips. At that moment, he finally understood—he had been set up. 

Li Yu tried to imitate Xia Wanyao’s smile and gave him a big grin. However, since she had cried so hard in the morning, her eyes were still swollen, and her smile only made them disappear into her face. 

Zhang Shiye turned around and started to leave. It was just too much to bear. 

“Brother Shiye, don’t go! I have something to tell you. Come inside, please?” she pleaded, reaching out to grab his arm. 

Zhang Shiye quickly dodged to the side. “What’s wrong with your head? You’re a grown woman—how can you be so shameless?” 

Hearing this, Li Yu felt utterly humiliated, her heart pounding in her chest. 

Zhang Shiye was about to step out the door when Li Yu, realizing that this was her only chance, clenched her teeth and decided to go all in. 

“Brother Shiye, I like you! I’ve liked you for years, ever since I first laid eyes on you. Can’t you leave Xia Wanyao and be with me instead?” 

“I can do farm work, and I don’t need any bride price. Xia Wanyao is from the city—marrying her will cost you a lot of money, and you’ll have to take care of her. But if you marry me, it’ll be different. I can cook, clean, and do farm work. However many children you want, I’ll give you!” Li Yu spilled all her thoughts, feeling an unexpected sense of relief. 

Zhang Shiye cast her a cold, disdainful glance. His voice was icy, each word cutting like a blade: 

“What do you think you are? How dare you compare yourself to Wanyao? Get out of my sight. If you dare say this nonsense again, don’t blame me for what happens next.” 

“Brother Shiye, why are you so obsessed with her? Aside from a pretty face, what does Xia Wanyao have? She’s only been here a short time and already latched onto you. Isn’t it obvious she just wants your dad to assign her easier work? She’s using you—don’t you see it?” Li Yu shouted, growing desperate. 

But Zhang Shiye wasn’t about to argue with someone who refused to see reason. He strode toward the door. Seeing him leave, Li Yu panicked and quickly blocked his path, arms outstretched. “If you leave, I’ll scream!” 

With that, she began unbuttoning her shirt, loosening her braided hair, and deliberately messing it up. In an instant, she made herself look like someone who’d been taken advantage of. 

Zhang Shiye sidestepped her, opened the door, and walked out. Li Yu, tears brimming in her eyes, watched his retreating figure and yelled from the courtyard, “Brother Shiye, are you just going to leave after taking advantage of me? If you don’t take responsibility, I’ll report you to the authorities!” 

Hearing this, Zhang Shiye turned back, walked straight toward her, and without a word, delivered a swift kick to her stomach. 

“You shameless thing! I hate being threatened the most. How dare you try to set me up? Who gave you the courage—was it Li Ling?” 

Even after kicking her once, Zhang Shiye felt unsatisfied and raised his foot again. But before he could strike, Li Ling, who had been hiding nearby, rushed out in a panic. 

“Fourth Brother, what’s going on? Why are you at my house?” 

Zhang Shiye turned to look at Li Ling, then kicked her squarely in the chest. 

“Li Ling, are my words just hot air to you?” 

Li Ling spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot. Seeing Zhang Shiye take another step toward her, she scrambled back in fear. 

“Fourth Brother, I’m your sister-in-law, the mother of your nephew and niece. If you kill me, they’ll be motherless, and your third brother will never forgive you!” 

Zhang Shiye’s lips curved into a mocking smile, as if ridiculing her naive assumptions. 

In a quiet yet menacing tone, he said, “Li Ling, after all these years in the Zhang family, you’ve learned nothing. You don’t even truly understand my third brother.” 

Hearing his words, Li Ling’s heart sank. Zhang Shiye’s smile felt like a death sentence, filling her with dread. 

She widened her eyes, staring intently at Zhang Shiye while glancing at the open door out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly, she let out a sharp scream: “Help! Accountant Zhang is trying to kill someone! He’s going to murder his sister-in-law!” Her voice echoed throughout the courtyard. 

Soon, people passing by after work heard the commotion and gathered around. They saw Li Yu lying on the ground disheveled and Li Ling spitting blood. Quickly, they stepped in to block Zhang Shiye. “Accountant Zhang, what’s going on? How can you hit women?” 

Zhang Shiye gave a light shove and pushed Wang Danao, who was holding onto him, aside. “Get lost!” 

The crowd, seeing the murderous look in Zhang Shiye’s eyes, stood frozen in place, unsure of what to do. At that moment, Zhang Heping and Qiao Shuyun arrived, summoned by Zhou Yan. Aunt Qiao stepped forward to grab Zhang Shiye. “Fourth son, tell your mother what happened. Stop this at once!” 

Li Ling’s parents were also called back by someone. Li’s mother, without even looking at her blood-spitting elder daughter, scrambled toward her younger daughter. “Xiao Yu! Are you still alive? What happened? Everything was fine at noon! Zhang Shiye, did you bully my daughter? I’m telling you, I don’t care if you’re the son of a team leader or a county official. If you bullied my daughter, I’ll report you to the police and have you arrested!” 

Zhang Shiye sneered coldly. “Your two daughters plotted against me together. They used a three- or four-year-old child to lure me to your house, then stripped off their clothes to force me into submission.” 

The crowd gasped in shock at his words. My goodness, how desperate to get married could they be, to go to such lengths and even ruin their reputations? 

“Shanya, is your daughter so desperate for a man? How shameless!” Aunt Wang said gleefully. 

“Exactly, Shanya. If this were my daughter, I’d shave her head! She’s brought disgrace to her entire family!” Aunt Ding added, joining in the ridicule. 

“It’s obvious that the elder daughter of the Li family orchestrated this. I heard Accountant Zhang is seeing a new intellectual from the city. That girl is so elegant, her family’s well-off, and she changes into new outfits multiple times a day. Even her watch sparkles in the sunlight!” 

“Right? With such a high-caliber match, why would Accountant Zhang come to the Li family to bully Li Yu? Unless he’s blind!” 

Hearing everyone’s chatter, Li Shanya was so furious her nose seemed crooked. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, she shouted, “What nonsense are you all spouting? What’s wrong with my daughter? Zhang Shiye liked my daughter before; he was just too embarrassed to admit it because of family ties!” 

Aunt Qiao ran over and slapped Li Shanya across the face. She spat, “What rubbish are you spouting! Ever since your eldest married into my family, I’ve regretted it every day. Do you think I’m stupid enough to let your second daughter in too? Your daughter is even uglier than you, and you dare throw dirt on my son? I’ll beat you to death, you shameless old hag!” She slapped her again after saying this. 

Li Dafu, seeing his wife and daughter being hit, charged forward. “Let go of them! I’ll risk my life to fight you all today!” 

Zhang Shiye kicked Li Dafu aside as Zhang Heping took a deep breath and shouted, “Everyone stop!” 

As soon as he finished, Zhou Su led Xia Wanyang into the scene. Xia Wanyang ran straight to Zhang Shiye, scanning him up and down anxiously. “Are you hurt?” 

Zhang Shiye tightly grabbed Xia Wanyang’s wrist, glared at Zhou Su, and then said, “I’m fine. Why aren’t you resting properly? What are you doing here? Go back now! I’ll bring you food when I’m done here.” 

Hearing this, Xia Wanyang’s temper flared. She threw off Zhang Shiye’s hand and said, “Do you think I’m made of clay? It’s just a scrape. Why would I need to rest?” 

Seeing her temper, Zhang Shiye panicked. He quickly grabbed her wrist again and explained, “No, don’t be mad. I was just worried your wound might get infected. It’s my fault.” 

Zhang Heping watched his youngest son groveling and felt deeply embarrassed, while the onlookers were utterly shocked. Moments ago, Zhang Shiye had been a menacing figure, ready to kill. Now, he was humbling himself completely. The transformation was too dramatic to believe!