The boiling water was scalding hot. The gangsters scrambled to dodge, but some still got splashed and yelped in pain.

“Damn, damn, damn! It’s burning me!” Liuzi jumped up, clutching his scalded thigh.

“Get out! Get the hell out! Or I swear I’ll burn you little bastards alive!” Li Shuping roared, swinging her iron ladle full of boiling water like a weapon.

Zhou Cuilan clapped her hands and shouted, “Help! Somebody help! They’re robbing and beating people!”

“Fuck this,” cursed Brother Hu, leader of the gang. He didn’t believe it—there were so many of them, how could they not handle one old woman?

Braving the risk of more burns, he lunged forward, grabbed Li Shuping from the side, and kicked over her stove.

The big pot toppled, and boiling water gushed everywhere.

Li Shuping smashed her heavy iron ladle straight down on his head and stomped hard on his leather-shoed toes.

“Let go of me, you filthy bastard!” she cursed furiously, ladle clanging against his skull, feet stomping with force.

“Shit!” Brother Hu yelled in pain, head pounding, toes throbbing.

He shoved Li Shuping hard, knocking her to the ground.

“Ow!” Li Shuping fell back, her forehead slamming into her tricycle. For a moment, her vision blurred and her head spun.

“Smash it! Smash it all!” Brother Hu snarled, grabbing whatever was on the tricycle and hurling it to the ground.

Dumplings, bowls, iron basins, dumpling filling—all smashed into a chaotic mess.

“Help! Somebody help!” Zhou Cuilan shouted again, too afraid to step in.

Seeing her hard work ruined, Li Shuping’s eyes went red with rage.

She scrambled up, grabbed her ladle, and went at Brother Hu.

She struck him hard in the lower back, grabbed a fistful of his long hair, and rained blows onto his face with the iron ladle.

“Ahhh!” Brother Hu reeled back, his body yanked by his hair, feeling like his scalp was tearing off. The ladle hammered his face like a rainstorm.

“What the hell, you idiots—come help me!” Brother Hu shrieked, tears leaking from the pain.

Liu Yong recovered and rushed forward, kicking the back of Li Shuping’s knee.

“You old hag, let go of my bro!”

Her knee buckled, dropping her to one knee—but her grip didn’t loosen. She yanked out a handful of his hair.

“AHHHHH—” Brother Hu let out a blood-curdling scream.

“My hair! My hair!” He clutched his head, panicking at the bald patch.

“You damned old woman!” Brother Hu snarled, raising his hand to hit her—only to have her swing the ladle square into his groin.

“AAAHHH!” Brother Hu doubled over, face twisted in agony, legs clamped together.

Why the hell did this old woman know to hit a man right where it hurt most?

Li Shuping (thinking calmly): Of course—because I know exactly where men are the weakest.

“Brother Hu, people are coming out of the alley! We gotta go!” Liu Yong shouted, scooping up the iron cash box Brother Hu had smashed in his rage.

“Run, Brother Hu!” Liuzi yelled, clutching the dumpling-stuffed bag as he bolted.

Brother Hu glared at Li Shuping, who was kneeling on the ground, and spat out through gritted teeth, “Old bitch, you just wait.”

If he didn’t make her pay one day, he wasn’t worthy of the name Miao Hu.

Liu Yong tried to run with the cash box, but Li Shuping, ignoring her pain, lunged and grabbed his collar, bashing him repeatedly on the head with the ladle.

No way you’re getting away, she thought fiercely.

Liu Yong howled in pain. “You crazy old woman! Do you have a death wish?!”

He rammed into her, knocking her off balance, but she dragged him down with her.

“Yongzi, what the hell are you doing?!” someone yelled, pulling him up from the ground.

“Damn it!” Liu Yong spat, giving the fallen Li Shuping a hard kick before turning to flee.

Li Shuping lay on the ground, gasping for breath.

She didn’t chase—she didn’t have the strength.

But she thought coldly: You might outrun me today, but you can’t run forever. None of you little bastards will get away. You messed with Li Shuping—you just kicked an iron wall.

“Li-jie, are you okay?” Zhou Cuilan rushed over, helping her up.

Seeing her pale and trembling, she quickly pulled a White Rabbit candy from her pocket, peeled it, and popped it into her mouth.

Zhou Cuilan always carried candies—she had low blood sugar and would shake and break out in cold sweat when upset or hungry.

“Thanks,” Li Shuping mumbled, sucking on the candy.

By now, people who had heard the shouting were pouring into the alley.

“Oh no, what happened here? Why are all the dumplings smashed?”

“Damn it, wasting all this good food—heaven will strike them down.”

“Cui-lan-jie, what happened?”

Zhou Cuilan huffed angrily, “A bunch of punks came to eat dumplings. After eating, they threw flies into the bowls and claimed the dumplings were dirty, demanding fifty yuan. Li-jie refused, so they trashed the stall and beat her.”

Everyone around cursed. People hated these punks—they were jobless troublemakers who roamed the city, stealing, mugging, extorting, and harassing girls.

“Those damn thugs—they should all be thrown in jail.”

“But they ran off. Where can we catch them?”

“So what now? Are we just going to let this go? Poor Li-jie’s stall is ruined. Even the tricycle’s busted. That’s easily a hundred or two yuan lost.”

“What can we do? Call the police?”

Cui Juanzi, eyeing the wreckage and the pale-faced Li Shuping sitting on the ground, smirked and threw in a snide comment.

“They’re all gone now. Even if you call the police, they won’t catch them. Honestly, you only have yourself to blame—your dumpling stall was doing too well. Everyone knows you’re making money, so of course they targeted you.”

She had been on her way to the supply store when she heard the shouting.

She’d immediately guessed it might be Li Shuping’s stall, and sure enough—it was.

Serves her right, Cui Juanzi thought smugly.

Let her show off—now she’s been hit by gangsters, her whole stall wrecked, beaten up too.

The stall had only been running for a little over a week. She probably hadn’t even earned back what she’d spent on setup.

This was at least half a loss.

The others muttered that Cui Juanzi wasn’t wrong.

The stall’s success had drawn unwanted attention.

“True. Zhou’s tea stall has been here for over half a year and never had trouble. Li’s dumpling stall was barely two weeks old and already got hit.”

“Times are tough. But at the end of the day, it’s those damn punks who are the real problem.”

“Exactly…”

“Li-jie,” Cui Juanzi said with fake concern, “honestly, you should just go home, make up with your husband, and take care of your grandson. Why suffer like this out here?”

An old man chimed in, nodding, “A woman’s place is looking after the home. Those thugs only bullied you because you’re a woman. If you were a man, they wouldn’t have dared.”

Listening to all these so-called well-meaning but actually belittling remarks, Li Shuping let a cold, mocking smile curve her lips.

She had already been through death once. This was nothing. It wasn’t going to break her. And it sure as hell wasn’t going to make her back down.

“Help me up,” she whispered to Zhou Cuilan.

Zhou Cuilan helped her up and patted the dust from her clothes.

Li Shuping raised her head and started walking.

“Li-jie, where are you going?”

Li Shuping turned back and said calmly, “To call the police.”