Chapter 30 Old Lady Wang Comes to Ask for a Fight

They had no choice. Even though they didn’t want to move into the grass hut up the mountain, their whole family had nowhere else to go—after all, that was the only option.

“Mom, are we really going to live in that grass hut on the mountain?” Ye Dazhu came over to ask Old Lady Wang, looking utterly reluctant. He truly didn’t want to live in that so-called house.

“If we don’t live there, then what do you suggest we do? You got a house for us to move into?” Old Lady Wang snapped, furious at her son’s question.

“Enough. Since we’ve decided to live in the grass hut, then let’s get moving. The village chief is right—what’s done is done. What else can we do?” said Wang Dagen, the head of the family, with a dark expression.

Soon enough, Old Lady Wang led the entire Ye family to the other hut on the mountain. Compared to the one Ye Wuyou lived in, this one was even more dilapidated. Before they even stepped inside, a damp, moldy stench hit their noses.

“Ugh~~ I don’t want to live in such a stinky place. Waaa~~ it’s so gross, I don’t want to!” Little Ye Dawei nearly threw up before they even entered, then burst into tears. Normally, Old Lady Wang would at least go over to comfort him or scold him, but today—after everything that had happened—she had no patience for a child’s whining.

Stepping inside, they saw how ruined the place really was. There was a table, but one leg was broken. There were four or five stools, but several had been gnawed by rats until their legs were half gone. It wasn’t just Dawei who wanted to cry—even Old Lady Wang herself was on the verge of tears. What sin had their family committed to deserve this?

Since the fire had destroyed everything, they had nothing left to clean with. Everyone stood around helpless in the yard until finally Wang Dagen sighed and told them to borrow tools from the village to tidy up. The hut wasn’t very big—just a few people could clean it—so he left the task to them while he went off to work. After all, they had nothing left at home. If he didn’t earn more work points to exchange for supplies, what would the family eat in winter?

Meanwhile, Ye Wuyou had been watching since the previous night’s fire, wanting to know where that family would end up. When she heard they’d been assigned to the broken-down hut near hers, she was overjoyed. Everything she’d hoped for was coming true.

Ling Yu, however, didn’t ask why, and Ye Wuyou didn’t explain. After looting Old Lady Wang’s house, she had dumped everything into her space. The next morning, once Ling Yu went off to work, she finally went inside to take stock.

There were quite a lot of supplies, though scattered. First, she noticed bags of potatoes and sweet potatoes—several full sacks. Then some dried vegetables, clearly stockpiled for the winter. Next, she spotted a huge sack of rice. That rice had been set aside especially for Old Lady Wang’s precious grandson Ye Dawei and her pampered daughter-in-law Ye Xiaodie, neither of whom did a lick of work yet always demanded rice instead of thin porridge, often insisting on meat as well.

Thinking back to how the original host had been forced to gnaw on rock-hard cornbread in their house, Ye Wuyou felt completely satisfied. She wanted to see how they would now feed their two spoiled darlings.

And speaking of Ye Xiaodie, Ye Wuyou suddenly remembered their unsettled score. After all, the original host had died because of her.

Looking over the bolts of cloth she had taken, Ye Wuyou figured she could ask someone to sew clothes for her. She couldn’t bring out modern clothing from her space. In her memory, cloth ration tickets were incredibly scarce—families often had to save for three to five years just to piece together enough for one set of clothing. When she had lived with Old Lady Wang, the clothes on her back were always hand-me-downs worn by countless others before reaching her.

Because of what had happened the night before, Ling Yu’s impression of Ye Wuyou had changed. Before, all he’d heard was that she was timid, weak, always trying to please her abusers. But her recent actions—striking her cousin, venturing deep into the mountains alone, even setting fire to Old Lady Wang’s house—one by one proved she was not the person people had described.

“Useless girl, open the door! Hurry up and get out here! What kind of nonsense is this, shutting yourself in the house in broad daylight?”

It was Old Lady Wang. After tidying up the hut and realizing they had nothing, she thought of Ye Wuyou. Since the girl was still her granddaughter, she figured she ought to hand something over. Better yet, she wanted to pin the fire on her and force her to pay compensation. Even if Ye Wuyou had no money, her soldier husband surely did.

Hearing the furious pounding on the door, Ye Wuyou’s lips curled into a mocking smile. She knew exactly why the old hag had come. Worried the door would be broken down and they’d have to repair it, she stepped out of her space and opened the courtyard gate.

“You little slut, do you think just because you got married I can’t control you anymore? Let me tell you, even if you’re married, you’re still my granddaughter, and I’m still in charge of you! You’ll never escape the palm of my hand—”

Smack!

Before she could finish, as she reached out with her usual move—trying to grab Ye Wuyou’s arm—Ye Wuyou slapped her hard across the face.

The slap rang out, and suddenly the world fell silent. Old Lady Wang froze, mouth still open mid-sentence, but no words came out. She stared at Ye Wuyou in disbelief, shocked that the girl had actually dared to hit her.