Chapter 19: I Must Get Half of It!

If this weren’t the only road out of the village, Xiang He would never have taken it.

Now look—just great. They were surrounded, unable to move even a step.

“He girl, how did you hunt it? This is one big tiger!”

“Aiyo, I can see the pelt is completely intact! You could sell it for a lot of silver!”

“This tiger must’ve been hard to hunt, huh? You’ve really got skills!”

“Can she even hunt with that small body? Don’t tell me it was stolen…”

All these nosy aunties and uncles chattered non-stop, speculating where the tiger came from and who had hunted it.

He Suian instantly understood why she insisted he come along—so that if anyone raised suspicions, she could drag him into the story too…

“Yah! Isn’t that the young scholar from the city? What’s he doing in our village?”

See, someone noticed him right away.

He Suian responded with a gentle smile, “I came looking for herbs and got injured. Miss Xiang happened to pass by and saved me.”

He Suian was a fairly well-known young scholar in the city—a successful candidate in the provincial exams. He ran a private school, and families from surrounding towns and villages all hoped to send their children to study under him. He accepted students regardless of their talents, though he only took a fixed number each year, and his fees were much more reasonable than other teachers.

No one had expected such a person to show up in their remote village, so the crowd’s attention instantly shifted to him. Xiang He hurried to tug the cloth back over the tiger’s head.

Fourth Aunt and Mrs. Su stood on either side, guarding the cart to keep anyone from pulling the cloth away again.

Xiang He grabbed the cart handle and gave it a push. “Please make way, everyone—we need to escort the young scholar back to the city!”

But of course, no one was going to let her off that easily. They were desperate to dig up every last detail.

Being blocked like that, Mrs. Yu soon came rushing over with Mrs. Li in tow—Mrs. Li was even carrying a firewood cleaver, looking like she was ready to brawl.

Xiang He had already rolled up her sleeves. Fourth Aunt, seeing them arrive, also got fired up and rolled up her sleeves as well. “These old crones won’t let a single thing slip past them. That old hag stares at your family all day long.”

“Exactly.”

The two of them weren’t speaking quietly. Mrs. Li ran up with the cleaver raised, shouting curses. “Who are you calling names! He girl, you’re the younger one—how dare you speak of your elders like that!”

“I said ‘old hag,’ but I didn’t say it was you.”

“You—!”

Seeing that her anger was directed elsewhere, Mrs. Yu quickly tugged on her clothes and said, “Mother! That tiger!”

Mrs. Li glared sharply at Fourth Aunt, then reached out with the cleaver to lift the cloth—but Xiang He slapped her hand down hard.

“Grandma, what are you trying to do?”

“What? It’s all in the family. Can’t I take a look?”

Xiang He rolled her eyes and sneered coldly. “Pretty sure we already split the household, right? Besides, this is mine. It has nothing to do with your family.”

Seeing her obvious annoyance, Mrs. Li curled her lips in mockery. “So what if we split? You still carry the Xiang family blood, you still have the Xiang family name. What’s with this ‘your family, my family’? Your grandma’s household can barely keep the pot on the stove—you, as her granddaughter, shouldn’t you be offering some help?”

Xiang He spread her hands. “That’s easy. Since my family’s short on food and money, how about Grandma helps us out first?”

“My family can’t even get food on the table! How can I help you!” Mrs. Li said with an exaggerated look of helplessness. “Your granny hasn’t had a bite of meat in two days. Just give me half that tiger, we’ll call it filial piety.”

As she spoke, she actually reached out to grab the cloth again—only to get slapped by Xiang He. The crisp smack echoed, and all the noisy chatter suddenly went quiet. Everyone turned to watch the drama unfold.

He Suian remained calm. Just from a glance, he could tell this grandmother was no easy person to deal with. No wonder the family would rather live in a broken-down thatched hut than stay with her. There had to be some messy entanglement behind it.

Seeing Mrs. Li act like she was entitled to it all, Xiang He could only admire her shamelessness.

With a look full of disdain, she sneered, “Grandma, I really can’t give you half the tiger—because it’s not entirely mine, either.”

“Not yours, then whose would it be? Are you trying to hog it all and not give Grandma her share?”

Before Xiang He could reply, Mrs. Li began putting on a show, her sharp lips pressing into a thin line as she pounded her chest repeatedly, looking as if she wanted to cry but couldn’t.

“Grandma hasn’t had meat for days. This granddaughter of hers hunts such a good catch, yet wants to keep it all to herself, not caring a bit about Grandma’s survival. It’s just not fair! Isn’t that right, everyone?”

Mrs. Yu chimed in, “Exactly! Grandma hasn’t had a single bite of meat. They even took the last rabbit from their home, leaving Grandma hungry for several meals! So heartless!”

Their exaggerated pitiful expressions made Xiang He want to vomit. The villagers ignored their act, knowing what kind of peculiar characters they were. They just stood around watching the show, not joining in.

Xiang He was annoyed by their performance and pushed Mrs. Li away, saying, “Enough. I really don’t care anymore. What can you do about it?”

With things made clear like this, Mrs. Li lost all interest in the act. Her face instantly hardened, eyes fierce, and she lunged forward—clearly intending to snatch the tiger by force.

Xiang He wouldn’t let her succeed. She grabbed Mrs. Li’s hand holding the cleaver, then secretly used strength to pull her back, preventing her from getting near the cart.

“Let go! Half of this tiger belongs to me!”

Even the usually composed He Suian was stunned by Mrs. Li’s sudden change in demeanor. This Xiang family granny was truly… unreasonable…

But Xiang He was no pushover either. Without yelling, she spoke a few sharp words that cornered the granny further.

Still holding Mrs. Li’s hand, Xiang He tightened her grip, causing Mrs. Li to cry out in pain, “Let go! Let go!”

Mrs. Li thumped Xiang He’s hand while shouting in pain.

Xiang He refused to ease up, increasing the force until Mrs. Li could no longer hold the cleaver. Her grip loosened, and the cleaver almost slipped to the ground.

Quick as a flash, Xiang He caught the handle, pulled Mrs. Li’s hand back, and then released it.

Weighing the cleaver in her hand, Xiang He waved it before Mrs. Li’s face. “Thanks for the cleaver, Grandma. We still have to hurry to the city, so no more thanks.”

Well done, she got the cleaver.

Seeing that Xiang He was really holding the cleaver and about to push the cart away, Mrs. Li grabbed her sleeve, shouting, “Give me back the cleaver! And the tiger too!”

“Are you crazy?” Xiang He looked at her with pure disgust. “This tiger is half mine and half the gentleman’s. If you want it, ask him if he agrees.”

Finally, the words landed on He Suian. He felt helpless but still nodded, “Indeed, the tiger was hunted together by Xiang Miss and me. If Grandma Xiang wants a share, I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”

“Did you hear that? Then step aside—we still have to rush to the city.”

Mrs. Li didn’t expect someone else had a share, but she shamelessly persisted, pulling on Xiang He’s clothes, trying to grab the cart’s handle.

“Since the gentleman has half, then I want half too! Give me back the cleaver, I’ll cut it right here!”

He Suian: “…”

Xiang He’s mouth twitched. When you’re speechless, sometimes you just want to laugh…

This shameless behavior made Fourth Aunt clench her teeth in annoyance. “I’ve really seen it all now. So shameless! When the family split, they wanted to kick her out, and now they want to steal the good stuff. If you old hag weren’t a fraud in the city, what a waste!”

“You bitch, what did you just say!”

Fourth Aunt was sharp-tongued, and the two started exchanging verbal blows. Xiang He forcefully pulled her hand away, grabbed the cart handle again, and moved forward.

Seeing they were about to leave, Mrs. Li ignored everything and grabbed the slow-moving He Suian’s arm, “You promised me half! Where are you going!”

“Grandma, please let go first…”

But Mrs. Li refused to let go, and He Suian couldn’t do anything about it, so they were stuck like that.

Xiang He kept holding back her anger until she couldn’t anymore. Just then, a blue figure appeared beside her, two steps ahead, and yanked Mrs. Li’s hand away—

“Grandma, what are you doing? You must not disrespect the gentleman!”