Chapter 76: The Widow Who Defeats Men

When Wei Xiaojian first started exploring the idea of setting up a stir-fry stall at the market, she heard all sorts of rumors and gossip, but she gritted her teeth and persevered.

Life wasn’t too bad, but it was certainly better than the tight existence she had after her husband passed away, living alone with her child and barely scraping by.

People in the village originally spread rumors that she had a “husband-killing” fate.

Seeing her stall set up, gradually becoming more established, working early and late every day, they even spread rumors that she was out flaunting herself, claiming she was a serious person.

She had endured all this for a long time.

Yet her distant relatives secretly pulled her mother aside and bitterly gossiped, saying she should uphold her role as a wife and care about the family’s honor, insisting she should kneel at the ancestral hall or drown herself!

Now that she thinks about it, what exactly did she do wrong? Did anyone catch her making any mistakes?

None at all!

Those people simply envied her, a widow who relied on her own strength to earn money that made them green with envy. They were unhappy to see her life improving.

In their eyes, a young woman whose husband had died should be crying and grieving all day, locked away, living like those gaunt, old women in the village, completely wearing away all her former brightness and becoming just one of them.

Having realized this, Wei Xiaojian felt a surge of emotions.

For so long, she had fought and endured, avoided and dodged.

Did those around her who claimed to have her best interests at heart truly sympathize and understand her? Not at all.

They hated her so much that they wanted to pull her back and trample her down!

Fine then, since they were so eager to see her struggle to improve her life, she would work hard to earn money and live better than anyone else with her own hands!

She was stronger than those bitter and spiteful people who kicked others when they were down!

What’s wrong with wanting to make money?! In this day and age, the government encourages everyone to work hard and get rich; the more you labor, the more you earn. She earned her money honestly, and even if she was a widow, she had every right to be proud!

Wei Xiaojian thought about a lot, but she didn’t expect that a single sentence would evoke such a mix of feelings, stirring her emotions.

After a night of sleep, she started to learn skills from Xia Li in earnest the next day.

When they set up the stall to fry dishes, Xia Li would come early to simmer two types of meat soup, trying to sell them at the stall.

Wei Xiaojian was indeed eager to learn, and she quickly got the hang of it. Xia Li watched beside her, helping to adjust the flavors, and soon it was looking quite good.

The business at the stir-fry stall was getting better and better.

Wei Xiaojian’s unique secret medicinal soup quickly gained some fame, which also related to the weather getting colder as winter approached.

In cold weather, who among the men working in the fields and laborers wouldn’t want a hot bowl of soup and rice? When passing by, the aroma wafting from afar made their stomachs growl!

Moreover, there were still people lining up to buy; it was said that they made about two pots a day, and those who came late often couldn’t buy any, so they rushed to secure their spots!

Xia Li also worked hard every day.

The soup was selling better than she had imagined, perfectly in sync with the season.

They made two to three pots daily, selling each bowl for fifty cents. Although that was slightly expensive for the villagers, people still bought it.

After all, it was soup with meat, nutritious medicinal soup, paired with a bowl of white rice—what a delicious meal! The soup base was even scraped clean!

In just a short two weeks, after roughly calculating their earnings, they had actually started to break even.

Xia Li and Wei Xiaojian had agreed that she would be a “technical partner,” and since she had also invested eighty yuan in various ingredients and supplies at the beginning, Wei Xiaojian would contribute her labor and the stall space, meaning their net profits would be split fifty-fifty.

After working hard these past few days, she had already earned back the initial investment.

Xia Li not only recouped her costs but also made nearly thirty yuan profit.

Wei Xiaojian closed her account book, her face a mix of joy and confusion: “We’re starting to make money? Really making money? It feels like a dream…”

She had secretly hoped to earn money, but she never expected to break even so quickly!

Moreover, the number of people coming to the stall for soup was continuously increasing; it was so busy that she added three more tables, yet it still wasn’t enough. Just thinking about how much profit there would be in the future was exciting…!

With her pigtails bouncing, Sui’er ran over and hugged Xia Li’s leg, her big eyes blinking shyly: “Sister Li, give me some candy.”

As she spoke, she reached out to hand over a colorful object.

During this time, Xia Li often came to Wei’s home, and she had developed a good relationship with Sui’er.

Sui’er was a bit timid; at first, she didn’t dare to talk to Xia Li, but now she was much better.

Xia Li rubbed Sui’er’s cheek and smiled curiously as she took it: “Sui’er wants to give her sister some candy?”

When she took a closer look at what was in her hand, she was stunned.

It was a piece of colorful broken glass, and from a distance, it did look like candy.

Her expression changed immediately, and she squatted down to ask, “Sui’er, sweetheart, have you eaten this kind of candy before? Who gave it to you?”

Sui’er mumbled, “Manzi, Manzi Gege gave it to me…”

Wei Xiaojian took the object and examined it, seeing that it was indeed a piece of crushed glass that looked very much like candy, clearly intended to deceive children.

She felt anxious, her heart sinking heavily, and she nervously pulled Sui’er closer, asking, “Did you eat it? Did you swallow it?! Quickly tell Mom!”

Sui’er didn’t understand what was happening; her mother suddenly seemed so fierce, and she started to cry.

Hearing her daughter repeatedly mention “Manzi,” Wei Xiaojian grasped her daughter’s hand tightly, frowning deeply: “Did Manzi give you this candy? Zhou Man?”

Sui’er pouted and timidly nodded.

Xia Li clarified the situation and was relieved to find that Sui’er hadn’t eaten the glass.

She thought it looked nice and didn’t want to eat it, only licking it a couple of times before hiding it under her pillow.

Wei Xiaojian lifted the pillow and indeed found a handful of the same colored glass pieces. Sui’er liked to hide her treats there, sneaking bites when her mother wasn’t paying attention.

If she hadn’t discovered this today, what if Sui’er had foolishly swallowed the “candy”? The consequences would have been unimaginable!

Wei Xiaojian was furious, feeling both guilty and heartbroken.

Manzi was just a half-grown boy! How could he not know this was a piece of glass?!

He must have deliberately given it to Sui’er!

At this moment, it was already getting late.

The Zhou family lived about half a road away from the Wei family, and the children here often played together.

Zhou Man was the oldest and tallest, clearly the leader of the group.

“Just make her swallow it all, let her get greedy! Let’s see her cry…”

“Lin Sui looks just like her mother, a sly fox. My grandmother said their family has been a bunch of sly foxes that bring misfortune to men for three generations. Her mother even sells meat for a living…”

“Selling meat? Does she even have pigs at home?”

“Tch!” A boy mocked, and in the village, some young boys learned from the adults to speak filthy words, saying something extremely disgusting, “She’s selling…!”

Now the other kids understood, and they burst into loud laughter.

“Lin Sui’s mother sells meat outside; when she grows up, she’ll definitely sell too, look at her chasing after Manzi Gege like that…!”

Wei Xiaojian arrived outside the Zhou family’s courtyard and happened to see a group of children playing with glass shards by the roadside, laughing loudly and openly discussing these disgusting things.

She trembled with anger and shot Xia Li a deep glance.

Handing the confused and red-eyed Sui’er to her, she walked over and slapped the smug boy who was saying “sell x” across the face with a loud “smack!”

The boy was stunned; he was still young, about seven years old, and immediately started to howl:

“Grandma! Wuwah… Grandma! She hit me! She hit me!!”

The other kids, around the same age, saw Wei Xiaojian rushing over with Sui’er and knew it was bad, so they all ran away in a hurry.

The boy’s cries quickly attracted the attention of the adults.

The boy’s grandmother happened to be visiting the Zhou family and had let her grandson play outside with Manzi. When she came out and saw her grandson crying with a faint red handprint on his face, she realized he had been bullied!

The old woman immediately rushed over to hug her precious grandson, her face looking as if she were about to eat someone, and she glared fiercely at Wei Xiaojian: “You little bitch! How dare you bully my Haozi!!”

The Zhou family came out, and seeing the commotion in front of their house, their expressions weren’t good either. They directly asked, “What’s going on? Manzi, who hit Haozi?”

Zhou Xiaoman had just been nearby and saw Wei Xiaojian’s actions; her expression unchanged, she pointed directly at Wei Xiaojian.

Haozi’s grandmother was furious, cursing as she approached, ready to hit her.

Xia Li frowned and quickly stepped back two paces while holding Sui’er to block her view.

Wei Xiaojian’s earlier impulse surged again, and she stepped forward, pushing against Haozi’s grandmother with a heavy shove!

Normally, she would absolutely avoid fighting and causing trouble, especially with an old woman; even if she was right, it would still be a loss.

But today, if this matter wasn’t made clear, what would her daughter Sui’er become in the eyes of this group of children?!

Was she still considered a mother?!

“Haozi’s grandma, your Haozi is really something! At such a young age, he’s already cursing and spreading rumors about me and my daughter right in front of the Zhou family’s door! Always talking about selling meat—did your ancestors do this kind of work to teach the kid so well?!”

“This child was originally a good kid, but his mouth is so filthy from learning bad habits from the adults. You’d think he was raised in a pigsty! How else would he spew such filth and talk back like that?”

“Don’t thank me, Haozi’s grandma! I’m scolding him for his own good; I’m educating your child!”

Wei Xiaojian’s face turned red with anger as she unleashed a torrent of words, leaving Haozi’s grandma stunned.

She was so furious that it brought out a fluency in her speech she never knew she had.

The Zhou family exchanged glances, their expressions a bit awkward, but they didn’t say anything.

The Zhou family’s daughter-in-law, who had a good relationship with Haozi’s grandma, sternly reprimanded Wei Xiaojian: “You can’t hit a child! Kids say whatever they think! How old is he? You’re being unreasonable!”

Haozi’s grandma, a little old woman with bound feet, was heartbroken that her precious grandson was being hit, and now she was being scolded by Wei Xiaojian.

With her wrinkled mouth, she cursed about the “bitch’s mother” and yelled a few times, rushing forward to fight back.

Although Wei Xiaojian was young and used to physical labor, she hesitated to use her full strength while pushing back, fearing that the old woman would try to pull a fast one on her.

As a result, during their scuffle, Haozi’s grandma managed to grab her hair, pulling it hard enough to make Wei Xiaojian cry out, “Ah!”

Despite the crowd watching with cold eyes, not a single person stepped in to break it up; in fact, some seemed to enjoy the spectacle.

Haozi, hiding behind his grandma, stopped crying and jumped up, shouting angrily, “Grandma! Beat her up! Kill her right now!!”

Under the chilling gaze of the crowd, Wei Xiaojian felt a wave of sadness, but thinking of her daughter, she, as a mother, could not back down or let them bully her.

She kept her face stern, her fists secretly clenched, and despite the pain, she struggled fiercely against Haozi’s grandma.

Whatever Haozi’s grandma pulled, Wei Xiaojian pulled back twice as hard!

But just as she exerted herself, Haozi’s grandma suddenly changed her expression, began to cry, and dramatically rolled her eyes, pretending to faint: “Oh dear! I’m an old woman…”

Before Haozi’s grandma could even slump down, Xia Li came over and stood behind Wei Xiaojian, suddenly exclaiming in surprise:

“Sister Xiaojian, what’s wrong? Oh no, Sister Xiaojian is going to be knocked out by Haozi’s grandma! This old woman is so ruthless! Is there no law or reason anymore?”

Wei Xiaojian quickly reacted, clutching her head and dramatically collapsing onto Haozi’s grandma, shouting, “Ah… I feel dizzy, I have a concussion, I’m going to collapse, I’m in so much pain!”

“Please pity me, a single mother, being bullied like this! Help! Haozi’s grandma is really going to kill me…”

Haozi’s grandma found this outrageous.

She jumped up, wide-eyed, pointing at her: “Pah! You, you, you’re talking nonsense!”

Was it just because she pulled her hair?! What was all this about? She was making things up! Trying to pull a fast one on her?!

As Wei Xiaojian sat on the ground trying to grab her clothes, Haozi’s grandma quickly stepped back, her face filled with disbelief as she angrily cursed:

“How shameless!!”

The onlookers stared at Wei Xiaojian as if she were a monster.

What was going on?!

That disheveled girl on the ground—was she really Wei Xiaojian?

The widow from the Wei family who brought misfortune to men?

When did she become so fierce?

She was completely different from before, unrecognizable!

They looked at her as if they had seen a ghost.

Wei Xiaojian knew just how embarrassed she was right now.

Before coming to the Zhou family, she never expected things would escalate to this point.

But now that she had shouted, fought, and made her case, she…

She felt exhilarated!

It seemed she had never been so fierce before; fighting with Haozi’s grandma had completely released her pent-up anger.

Wei Xiaojian felt that all her previous concerns