Chapter 30.1

“Li Nianqiu! Come out here right now!”

“Don’t think you can just hide in there and stay silent. If you have the guts to do bad things behind my back, then come out and confront me!”

“You two are such calamities! You’re a bad luck star! A disaster!”

“Hurry up and come out!!”

Old Lady Li’s voice was truly something else. Her shouting was so vigorous and powerful that it sounded nothing like it was coming from a nearly sixty-year-old woman.

The people inside the room froze in their actions.

The girls were particularly anxious and looked uncomfortable, instinctively shrinking back as if afraid of being seen.

Li Nianqiu was also somewhat puzzled. “How does Grandma know I’m here?”

“I don’t know,” Wen Yue said, also confused. Recalling her conversation with Lin Fang the previous day, she frowned and added, “Maybe it was Zhou Yao’s second aunt who said something. I forgot to mention it to you, she seemed to have overheard our conversation yesterday.”

Li Nianqiu raised her eyebrows slightly but remained calm and composed. “It’s fine. I’ll go handle it. You all keep working and don’t worry.”

After saying this, she put down what she was holding and left the room without showing any emotion.

When Old Lady Li saw Li Nianqiu come out, her squinted eyes instantly flashed with fierceness. She scolded even more harshly, “You wretched calamity, did you steal my money and give it to someone else?!”

“?”

Li Nianqiu was a bit disappointed and sarcastic, thinking Old Lady Li would come up with some clever scheme, but instead, she was just this. With a hint of disappointment in her eyes, she crossed her arms and said flatly, “You’re home all day, locking the door when you go out, like you’re guarding against a thief. Where would I steal your money from, in my dreams?”

“I sometimes forget things! Just a few days ago, I forgot to lock the door when I went out. With just you and your sister at home, it must have been you who stole it!” Old Lady Li’s eyes flickered, clearly just making baseless accusations.

Li Nianqiu nodded. “Alright, how much did I steal from you?”

“…Two or three hundred!” Old Lady Li hesitated for a moment. She initially wanted to say five or six hundred, but that sounded implausible, especially since they had spent nearly seven hundred on land last time. It was unlikely they still had that much left.

“Two or three hundred, huh.” Li Nianqiu nodded again, her expression unchanged, her tone still indifferent. “Alright then, you should call the police.”

Old Lady Li: “…Call the police?!”

Wen Yue, who was also at the door listening, was confused.

Li Nianqiu smiled faintly, “Yeah, didn’t you say I stole money? I stole two or three hundred yuan. Then you go call the police and ask the police to arrest me and put me in jail.”

Old Lady Li was stunned by Li Nianqiu’s unexpected response. She had planned to forcefully extract money from Li Nianqiu no matter what she said or how she explained. However, she never expected that Li Nianqiu would suggest calling the police!

“You, just give me the money back. After all, you’re my granddaughter. How could a grandmother call the police to arrest her granddaughter?” Old Lady Li was caught off guard, her momentum faltering.

Li Nianqiu replied, “When my parents had just died, you were willing to sell me and my sister off. Back then, you weren’t afraid of gossip. Now you are? Don’t worry, go ahead. I’ll be waiting here for the police to come. If there’s nothing else, you can leave for town now; you’ll make it back before lunch.”

This was the first time Wen Yue heard Li Nianqiu speak so much in one breath.

Li Nianqiu then turned and went back into the room, not caring about Old Lady Li’s expression or feelings, and closed the door behind her.

“What’s wrong? Why are you staring at me?” Li Nianqiu noticed Wen Yue looking at her and raised an eyebrow. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No,” Wen Yue said with a smile. “I just think you were really cool just now. I was wondering how you’d respond.”

Li Nianqiu replied, “No need. With someone like my grandmother, explaining or arguing is completely useless. She never gives up until she gets what she wants, unless the resistance is particularly strong, like last time with the land sale.”

Wen Yue pondered for a moment and asked, “So when you and Xiangdong go back, won’t she bully both of you?”

Li Nianqiu smiled, “She doesn’t dare.”

Old Lady Li had made trouble before, but every time, Li Nianqiu had dealt with her effectively. Old Lady Li had only stopped after realizing she couldn’t gain anything from it.

“Then what if she really calls the police?” Wen Yue blinked.

Li Nianqiu replied, “Don’t worry, she wouldn’t dare. If Old Lady Li had that kind of courage, my sister and I wouldn’t be living well now.”

“Alright, let’s get back to work.” She gestured for Wen Yue not to worry and sat back down to continue her work, showing her strong psychological resilience.

Wen Yue leaned close to Zhou Yao and whispered, “Nianqiu is really impressive. If it were me, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

She was genuinely afraid of trouble and felt she wouldn’t be able to deal with such an outrageous relative. At that moment, Wen Yue began to feel relieved; if she had transmigrated into the female lead’s position or into a character with a lot of troublesome relatives, she feared she wouldn’t survive long.

“You have me.” Zhou Yao replied softly, his dark eyes fixed on her.

Wen Yue pressed her lips together, a small dimple appeared as she smiled sweetly.

Outside, Old Lady Li was still cursing loudly, repeatedly muttering about calamities and disaster stars. But no matter how much she yelled, there was no response from inside the house. Eventually, her voice grew hoarse, and she returned home in anger.

On the way back, she ran into Lin Fang, who rushed over with an eager expression. “So, Aunt Li, did you get the money?”

“Get what?!” Old Lady Li spat angrily, cursing, “That wretched girl told me to call the police on her! I told you my granddaughter is hard to deal with; are you sure she has a lot of money?”

Old Lady Li looked at Lin Fang suspiciously.

Earlier, Lin Fang had suddenly come to her house, claiming to have seen her granddaughter with a lot of money going to the Fang family.

Lin Fang’s eyes flickered. “Why would I lie to you? I heard it with my own ears! They said they get five or so yuans a day, and your granddaughter has been coming over every day lately.”

Old Lady Li asked, “But who did you hear say they were giving money?”

Lin Fang sighed, “Their sewing machine was constantly running; how could I hear that clearly? If I could hear clearly, I would have known what they were doing long ago.”

“You didn’t hear anything and still called me over. Are you trying to make me take the fall for you!?” Old Lady Li finally realized what was happening. Her vicious gaze landed on Lin Fang, revealing a fierce light as she raised her hand for a slap. “You wretched things, making me scout for you! I’ll kill you!”

Old Lady Li slapped Lin Fang quickly and viciously, leaving her dazed.

The sharp pain surged through Lin Fang, her expression contorting as she retaliated, “I didn’t force you to go! You went because you heard there was money, and now you’re blaming me! What kind of person are you?”

“You cheap little thing, daring to fight back!”

“Do you think you’re the Queen Mother? I can’t fight back? You old hag, you wanted to sell off your eldest son’s only two daughters, and I’m curious how you’re going to face your eldest son when you die!”

“It’s none of your business! I’ll do whatever I want; who can stop me?!”

The two women started fighting. At first, Old Lady Li had the upper hand, but she was older, and her stamina couldn’t match Lin Fang, who was in her prime. In the end, Lin Fang managed to pin Old Lady Li to the ground, tugging her hair and slapping her, causing her to cry out in pain.

Fortunately, there were people working in the nearby fields who heard the commotion. They came over to see what was happening and quickly separated the two.

Old Lady Li looked miserable, and Lin Fang was not much better off; their hair and clothes were disheveled, and Lin Fang had a bright red handprint on her face.

“What happened? Why are you two fighting?”

“Lin Fang, how could you hit someone almost sixty years old like this?”

“Exactly! Can’t you talk it out?”

Old Lady Li was so furious she was having trouble breathing, pointing at Lin Fang, her finger trembling. Then her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

“She fainted! Old Lady Li has passed out!”

“Pinch her acupoint! Hurry, wake her up!”

“Oh dear, what’s happening?”