Chapter 15: Doing Bad Things

By the time Li Xiangbei returned to the Li household, it was already dark.

In the main room, only Zhang Cuihua and Li Jianguo (his parents) remained.

Seeing her youngest son return, Zhang Cuihua quickly asked, “Xiangbei, how did things go with Xiao Su?”

Li Xiangbei said nothing and walked straight toward the kitchen.

Seeing this, Zhang Cuihua hurried after him, muttering, “I’m talking to you, Xiangbei. Did Xiao Su get upset?”

Li Xiangbei stopped and looked directly at Zhang Cuihua, his face full of helplessness and frustration. “Mom, what does it mean to be a family? I’m already twenty years old. But my sister-in-law tried to ruin my engagement just so she could get money for a job. Given how good Yueyue is, she could easily marry into a better family. If I miss my chance with her, what kind of wife do you think I can still find? Are they hoping I’ll stay a bachelor for life?”

Zhang Cuihua opened her mouth, then sighed. “Xiangbei, you should have a proper talk with Xiao Su. After all, it’s not like you’re going to spend your life with your sister-in-law.”

A cold, sarcastic smile crept onto Li Xiangbei’s lips. After filling a bucket with water, he stormed toward Li Xiangdong’s room. When he reached the door, he suddenly kicked it open and hurled the entire bucket of water onto Li Xiangdong, who was lying in bed.

Screams instantly erupted from inside. Liu Lanxiang shrieked, “Li Xiangbei, are you crazy?!”

Li Xiangbei threw the bucket hard into the room. “Let me tell you again — if you try to make my life miserable, then no one’s going to have a good time!” He gave the couple a fierce glare and stormed off.

Their kids, Li Xiaoxue and Li Weibing, started wailing in fright.

Zhang Cuihua and Li Jianguo rushed over. Seeing the soaked mess of the room, Zhang Cuihua groaned, “What kind of sin have we committed to deserve this?”

Li Xiangdong, furious, turned to their parents. “Dad, Mom, aren’t you going to do something about little brother? You’re really just going to let him behave like this?!”

Li Jianguo’s face darkened, and he barked, “Enough! No more arguing. Everyone has work tomorrow. If you don’t sleep, the neighbors still need to. Clean this up. Now.”

…

Meanwhile, Su Yue pulled a flashlight from the Youlan Courtyard, checked her wristwatch — it was 1:30 AM.

In a flash, she entered the secret courtyard, quickly changing into the black stealth outfit she had prepared. After a few warm-ups, she returned to the dorm.

She climbed onto the window ledge and jumped down silently. A few agile steps along the wall, and she was on the ground, sprinting toward the steel factory’s residential complex.

In her previous life, Su Yue had been sickly since birth. Years of malnutrition meant she could never practice martial arts.

Her stepmother, knowing this, sent martial arts manuals to her every month just to mock her. With nothing else to do, Su Yue read every manual front to back — learning all the styles, techniques, and characteristics in detail.

In this life, she had a healthy body. Determined to make up for past regrets, she secretly began training at age three.

Not long after, Su Yue reached the west side of the steel factory, where many two-story private homes were located. She didn’t know exactly where Deputy Director Qin lived, so she began searching house by house.

She leapt into the yard of a house on the edge. After surveying the area, she spotted an open window on the second floor. A few steps, a bounce off the wall, and she was at the window.

Carefully peeking inside, she saw a bedroom — and on the bed lay Deputy Director Qin.

Su Yue smirked and pulled out a sleep-inducing incense stick from the Youlan Courtyard and lit it.

After waiting a bit, she deliberately made a few subtle noises. When the people on the bed didn’t react, she crept out of the room.

After checking, Su Yue confirmed that there were seven people living in the house — including Qin Mingyue.

Once everyone was unconscious, she moved all items from the house into the Youlan Courtyard — even the beds they were sleeping on, sparing only the blankets covering them and the bathroom.

She then found a safe hidden under the floor in the study.

Before leaving, she even took all five bicycles from the courtyard.

Though she had planned to go straight to bed, she suddenly had the urge to check on Li Xiangbei, so she headed to the Li family home.

Arriving in the backyard, she didn’t expect to see Li Xiangbei doing some mischief of his own.

Peeking over the wall, Su Yue saw Li Xiangbei wearing a demon mask, standing at the window, shining his flashlight onto his face, and calling out in a creepy voice, “Li… Xiang… Dong… Liu… Lan… Xiang…”

Soon, terrified screams came from inside. Li Xiangbei quickly shut off the flashlight, threw something into the room, and ran toward the next window, climbing in with practiced ease.

More screams followed — louder and messier this time. Neighbors started stirring from the commotion.

Su Yue slipped away silently, barely able to contain her laughter. Once she was back in the Youlan Courtyard, she let out two hearty laughs.

After all this, she wasn’t sleepy anymore. So she began sorting through everything she had collected from the Qin household.

The last time she’d hauled this much stuff into the Youlan Courtyard was five years ago.

Back then, unwilling to see people starve, she sold food at low prices to black market traders, under the condition they resell it at state-run prices.

At first, the black market boss praised and flattered her. But after receiving the goods, he refused to pay — and even demanded more.

She couldn’t stand that kind of betrayal. She beat the whole gang unconscious and dumped them at the police station, looted their warehouse and the black market boss’s home.

Now, Su Yue had finished sharpening her axe. City living was expensive — even firewood cost money. With all the furniture she took from the Qin house, she wouldn’t have to worry about fuel for a while.

She took the axe and started chopping Deputy Director Qin’s bed.

A few swings later, there was a loud crack — revealing rows of hidden gold bars (nicknamed “little yellow fish”) inside the bed.

“Well, no wonder that guy acts so arrogant — he’s been literally sleeping on gold!” she muttered.

Su Yue fetched a sack and began loading the gold bars.

While cleaning out the nightstand, she also found rolls of large-denomination bills.

Now more curious than ever about the contents of the safe, she walked over and examined it — it needed a key.

Despite rummaging through everything — she found cash, vouchers, jewelry, even their household registration book and ration book — the key was nowhere to be found.

Glancing at her watch — 5 AM. Time for her daily workout.

Grabbing her long knife, she began hacking away at the safe.

Sparks flew, blades gleamed. After an entire hour, the safe was completely mangled.

Afterward, she fetched two buckets of water from the well, boiled a large pot, and took a long, satisfying bath.

Clean and refreshed, she dressed and left the Youlan Courtyard.

Grabbing her washbasin and toothbrush, Su Yue headed to the water room.