Chapter 15

Yu Tuanjie immediately dodged and shouted, “Little sister, go inside quickly, I’ll talk to him!”

But Yu Li didn’t go inside. She stood up and shouted at Gao Daliang: “You can hit me all you want, if you injure me, you’ll have to pay for it, if you cripple me, you’ll go to jail, and if you kill me, you’ll be shot!”

Gao Daliang, furious, glared at the Yu siblings: “I’m not wasting time with you! Hurry up and get my sister out! Or I’ll destroy your Yu family!”

Yu Tuanjie took a deep breath and tried to explain: “Brother-in-law, what happened that day was really Xuelian’s fault. You don’t know, she went to find that Liu Maokeng…”

But Gao Daliang didn’t listen to any explanation, continuing to shout loudly.

Yu Li watched coldly, suddenly feeling an odd sensation.

This Gao Daliang didn’t look like Gao Xuelian, but the bench was very much like him—both had squinty eyes and were ridiculously overweight!

They say that a nephew looks like his uncle, but this was a bit too much!

As Gao Daliang continued to shout, another woman entered, Gao Daliang’s wife, Ma Yufen.

Ma Yufen pulled him aside and scolded, “What are you making a scene for! Gao Xuelian was arrested by the police, why are you causing trouble for the Yu family?”

She whispered a warning, “You don’t know, but Yu Li is engaged to a police officer, right? Liu Maokeng’s already been taken away, are you trying to get locked up too?”

Gao Daliang grumbled, “I don’t care about that! Yu Tuanjie, listen to me, if you don’t bring out fifty yuan for an apology, I won’t let Xuelian come back to your Yu family!”

After saying that, he turned and left. Just then, the bench, which had finished playing, came back, and Gao Daliang took it with him.

Yu Tuanjie tried to stop him, but the bench rolled its eyes at him and said, “I don’t like dad! I only like uncle!”

Standing together, the bench and Gao Daliang looked even more alike.

Yu Li’s mind was racing, and she couldn’t believe it!

No, no, she must have been overthinking!

Ma Yufen, somewhat reasonable, came over to apologize to Yu Li: “Yu family girl, don’t hold it against him! Gao Daliang’s like this, I’ll have a good talk to him when I get home!

We really didn’t know about Xuelian and Liu Maokeng. Xuelian has always been spoiled by her family, and sometimes she doesn’t know how to measure things. She’ll probably learn her lesson this time and live more peacefully in the future…”

Yu Li gave a faint smile: “Brother Gao really spoils my sister-in-law.”

Ma Yufen, who had barely met Yu Li, found herself struck by the young girl’s beauty, which was stunning enough to bewitch anyone. No wonder she had just broken off her engagement with an officer and could easily find someone else.

She knew she couldn’t offend someone like her.

So, she spoke to Yu Li warmly, “Yes! My mother-in-law never had a daughter and always envied people with a little ‘cotton-padded jacket’ (a term for a beloved daughter). She was so happy when she finally adopted Xuelian. Isn’t she treating her like a treasure?”

Yu Li froze for a moment, thinking deeply, then smiled lightly: “They’re not real siblings, but the bench and his uncle look quite similar.”

Ma Yufen paused, her eyes flickering, then laughed: “Maybe it’s because both the bench and his uncle eat a lot!”

They didn’t say much more. Ma Yufen quickly left, her expression slightly off.

Yu Tuanjie sighed, feeling dejected. “Little sister, I’ve made you see a joke again. Honestly, breaking off your engagement with Wu Guohua was the right choice. Marrying someone unsuitable is sure to make you unhappy for life!”

When he married Gao Xuelian, it was because he had accidentally saved her when she fell into the water.

A woman’s reputation was important, and the Yu family was an upright family. Plus, Gao Xuelian had been gentle and demure at the time, so the Yu family agreed to marry her.

Not long after, Gao Xuelian became pregnant.

At first, her character was fine, but after she gave birth to the bench, her temper became worse and worse.

Yu Tuanjie felt miserable but didn’t know what to do.

If they got divorced, where would Gao Xuelian go? What would happen to the rest of her life? And the bench would be left without a mother—how pitiful! He couldn’t do that.

If they didn’t divorce, though, no one could tolerate this kind of daily chaos.

Otherwise, the only option might be to split the family…

But in this era, splitting a family was considered disgraceful, and there were very few families in the village that did so.

Yu Tuanjie thought about it and his head felt even bigger.

Yu Li advised him, “Big brother, focus on thinking about ways to make money. People need to have a career in order to stand tall.”

Indeed, Yu Tuanjie agreed with Yu Li’s words.

He thought carefully and, encouraged by Yu Li, decided to go to the river workers’ place tomorrow to sell flatbreads!

When they were young, their parents worked in the fields, and since Yu Tuanjie was the eldest, he was responsible for cooking meals for his younger siblings. His cooking skills were quite good.

Yu Tuanjie prepared everything needed to make the flatbreads, and then in the yard, he built a small stove out of clay. When he baked the flatbreads on the dried clay stove, they turned out crispy and delicious!

When Chen Ailan came back from the vegetable garden and saw this, instead of criticizing her child for being mischievous like other parents, she actually thought it was a great idea!

The three of them worked hard, and that evening, they tried baking a batch of flatbreads.

The scallion crispy flatbreads were delicious, and even Shiliu, who usually didn’t eat much, couldn’t resist finishing a whole one.

Chen Ailan looked at Shiliu and became worried again: “The doctor said Shiliu might have been poisoned, which is why she’s been sick. We still haven’t figured out what caused the poisoning, and I’m really uneasy.”

They had already checked everything in the house.

There was almost no problem with anything.

Yu Tuanjie, worried about his niece, turned to her and asked, “Shiliu, tell Uncle, did you eat anything strange?”

Shiliu shook her head, her voice soft: “Uncle, Shiliu didn’t eat anything strange. I only ate the good stuff.”

Chen Ailan sighed helplessly, “What good stuff can you eat?”

Usually, the good food was taken by the bench and Gao Xuelian.

Shiliu pursed her lips and stayed silent. Yu Li, keenly observing, realized that she was probably lying!

Even children lie, but if you look closely, you can tell the difference.

Since the rest of the family had gone to sell pears and hadn’t returned yet, and it was already dark, Yu Tuanjie quickly finished his meal and started preparing things for the first day of flatbread selling with Chen Ailan.

Yu Li was tidying up the main room, and Shiliu followed her to wipe the table.

Taking advantage of the little girl’s good mood, Yu Li teased her, “Shiliu, now that so many people are not at home, do you miss them? Who do you miss the most?”

Shiliu seriously extended her short little finger: “I miss Mama, Papa, Grandpa, Brother Bench, and I also miss Auntie.”

Yu Li was surprised: “Why do you miss Brother Bench and Auntie? Didn’t they bully you and take your food?”

Shiliu shook her head and stayed quiet.

Yu Li took a piece of candy from her pocket: “Shiliu, tell Auntie secretly, this is our secret, okay?”

Shiliu hesitated, swallowed her saliva, and struggled for a while.

Yu Li added, “Auntie will never tell anyone! This is our secret!”

The little girl finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and whispered in Yu Li’s ear, “Brother Bench and Auntie secretly give me cookies to eat and don’t let me tell anyone, or they won’t give me any more in the future.”

Yu Li’s heart skipped a beat!

Given Gao Xuelian’s character, she wouldn’t easily give Shiliu any treats, so those cookies must be problematic!

Yu Li couldn’t wait a second longer. She immediately grabbed Shiliu and rushed to find her big brother and mother.