Chapter 79: The Cornfield Showdown

“Burn you to ashes!”

Li Fenghua chased after Jing Xi through the cornfield, determined to settle the score.

Jing Xi, however, simply ran whenever she was pursued—grabbing corn stalks along the way.

No matter how much Li Fenghua chased, it didn’t interfere with Jing Xi’s corn-picking in the slightest.

Before long, Li Fenghua was completely out of breath. She was getting old, after all, and couldn’t run like she used to.

She plopped down on the ground and wailed, “Oh, my dear mother! What kind of fate is this?”

“Why did I have to cross paths with this jinx?”

“I’m so unlucky!”

“Give me back my son!”

Jing Xi held a corn stalk in her hand and looked at Li Fenghua.

“You actually got it right. I told you from the beginning not to mess with me, but you wouldn’t listen. You provoked me at my house, kept setting me up over a temporary accountant job and money that wasn’t even yours to spend, and your son even tried to take advantage of me—no way! I’m returning everything to you, one by one!”

Li Fenghua cried even louder.

But it was all for show—lots of noise, not a single tear.

Jing Xi kept pulling up corn stalks while Zhou Wenwu stood at the edge of the field, repeatedly calling for Li Fenghua to get up. When she refused, he finally marched over, face dark as thunder, and yanked her up by the arm.

“Get up now! Aren’t you embarrassed enough?”

“Embarrassed? What do I have to be embarrassed about? My son’s already in jail—what’s left to lose?”

“Just stand up already!”

“I won’t! Look at what she’s done to the crops!”

“Get up! Go home and get some money—give it to her!”

Jing Xi’s ears perked up.

At the mention of money, Li Fenghua immediately yanked her arm free and plopped right back down. She was already overweight, and the moment she hit the ground, the soil beneath her sunk into a noticeable dent.

Jing Xi nearly burst out laughing.

Just as she was suppressing her grin, she suddenly heard a loud riip!

Everyone turned to look at Li Fenghua—only to realize her pants had split wide open.

Right at the crotch.

Jing Xi couldn’t hold back anymore. She threw her head back and laughed out loud.

Li Fenghua was beyond mortified. She frantically grabbed Zhou Wenwu to help herself up, but the moment she exerted force—riip! Another huge tear.

She froze on the spot.

Didn’t dare move.

She was terrified someone might see.

Jing Xi, on the other hand, had no such reservations.

She immediately started shouting, “Hey, everyone! Come take a look! Li Fenghua’s pants have split again!”

That did it.

All eyes turned toward her.

Li Fenghua felt like she was being stabbed from all directions.

“Zhou Wenwu! Take off your shirt and cover me!” she shrieked.

Zhou Wenwu, who was only wearing a thin undershirt, scowled. “If I take it off, I’ll be shirtless!”

“So you’d rather let everyone see my bare ass?!”

“I don’t care anymore! Figure it out yourself!”

And with that, Zhou Wenwu stormed off!

That’s right—he left her there.

Li Fenghua was completely dumbfounded.

Jing Xi stood to the side, openly mocking her.

But at this point, Li Fenghua couldn’t even argue back. Her reputation was ruined.

She didn’t dare move a muscle.

Jing Xi, finally tired from pulling corn, stopped to watch how Li Fenghua would get home.

In the end, Li Fenghua sat there in the field for nearly an hour.

Zhou Wenwu never came back for her.

She had no choice but to grab a bunch of leaves from the nearby trees, cover herself as best as she could, and shuffle away.

After this incident, Jing Xi became legendary.

From then on, no one in the village dared to mess with her again.

Meanwhile, Li Fenghua and Zhou Wenwu had a massive fight when she got home.

According to their neighbors, they broke quite a few plates in the process.

The noise was deafening.

Sigh, what a waste.

But in the end, Jing Xi’s cornfield wasn’t raided in vain—Zhou Wenwu was forced to go to the village office and pay her five years’ worth of rent.

Sitting in the chair that once belonged to Wu Jun, Jing Xi flipped through the records.

“Wait a minute… That’s still one year short!”

Zhou Wenwu’s eyes bulged. “You ripped out all my crops!”

Jing Xi shrugged. “How much did I really take? Fine, I’ll cut you a deal—give me another six months’ worth.”

Zhou Wenwu seethed. “You’re pushing your luck!”

Jing Xi: “You haven’t even seen my more extreme tactics yet!”

Zhou Wenwu: “…”

In the end, he reluctantly paid Jing Xi an additional six months’ worth of rent.

After counting the money, Jing Xi smiled in satisfaction—finally, she had enough to build her house!

“You can go ahead and pull out the rest of the corn in my aunt’s field. I don’t plan on growing corn here. Hurry up and clear it!”

Zhou Wenwu protested, “Didn’t I already pay you for another six months? At least let me finish this year’s crop!”

Jing Xi sneered, “Finish this year? Then you’ll need to pay for a full year! Zhou Wenwu, if you can’t do basic math, maybe you should take another look at your agreement!”

Zhou Wenwu: “…”

“Can’t you talk properly? Just because you’re the village accountant now, you think you have a little power and can boss people around?”

Jing Xi crossed her legs and smirked. “Boss people around? I like that phrase. Let’s start with bossing your family around, then!”

Zhou Wenwu sighed. “Forget it. I’m too old to argue with you. What if I get too worked up? My wife and I are too old to pull the corn ourselves. If you want it gone, do it yourself!”

Jing Xi shrugged. “Fine, then I’ll just leave the corn there.”

Zhou Wenwu was stunned. “Wait, we worked so hard to grow this, and now you’re just leaving it?”

Jing Xi smirked. “It’s my land. I’ll pull it out if I want to. How is that any of your business?”

Zhou Wenwu: “…”

With a flick of his sleeve, he stormed off.

Watching him leave in frustration filled Jing Xi with immense satisfaction.

The negative emotions she had bottled up during her days of hiding were completely gone.

She had reclaimed her land and her money—next up was building her house!

That evening, after finishing work, she went to check on the old house where Yuzhu and she had lived. The place was now a ruin—half the house had collapsed, and weeds covered the courtyard.

According to Zhang Rui, now was the best season for construction. The hot weather would help everything dry quickly, and there was less rain compared to July and August.

She decided to act immediately. But where could she find workers for the construction?

She figured she’d go back and ask Liu Jianchang.

As she walked back, she unexpectedly ran into Xia Lidong.

Seeing her looking well, Xia Lidong hurried over. “Xiao Jing! I just got back from out of town today and heard you made it back safely! I was planning to visit you—how are you? Everything okay?”

Jing Xi smiled. “Everything’s fine! And you? How’s Grandpa Xia?”

“We’re both doing great! But what are you doing here?”

Jing Xi quickly explained, “My old house is no longer livable, so I’m planning to rebuild on the land where my aunt and I used to live. I came to check on it and was about to look for a construction team.”

Xia Lidong glanced at the site. “No need to find a construction team. If you trust me, I can help you build it. In this village, who doesn’t know how to build a house? Just provide two meals a day, and that’ll be enough.”

Jing Xi realized he was right. She had planned to ask Liu Jianchang for advice anyway. If Xia Lidong said it could be done, it must be possible.

“Alright then, it’s late today. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the Liu family and discuss the details with you.”

Jing Xi felt a little embarrassed. “You’re helping me so much—I don’t even know how to repay you.”

Xia Lidong chuckled. “Repayment is easy. Once the house is built, open a steamed bun shop and let me finally rest my hands. The old man at home insists on eating steamed buns every day—my hands are getting calloused from kneading dough! Haha!”

Jing Xi nodded. “No problem! Steamed buns, unlimited supply!”