Chapter 102 : Only when a needle sticks into your body can you feel the pain

The captain had left, but the villagers stayed behind they felt the drama wasn’t over yet. With Yun Siying’s personality, someone who never accepted a loss, how could she so easily agree to pay Wang Xiutao? There had to be more to come.

“Wait, I’ll go inside and get the money for you,” Yun Siying said with a smile as she walked into the house.

Some villagers were puzzled. Yun Siying was being so agreeable now. One yuan for a slap? Some even thought: ‘If that’s the deal, maybe I want her to slap me too.’

A moment later, Yun Siying came back out and handed one yuan to Wang Xiutao right in front of everyone. “Fellow villagers, please be my witnesses. I’m giving Wang Xiutao one yuan in medical compensation, right here and now.”

“Don’t worry, Yun Siying we all saw it. She can’t deny it.”

“Thanks, everyone,” Yun Siying said, her smile widening. “Now for something fun. From now on, if any of you say something bad about Wang Xiutao, I’ll pay you ten cents per insult. Say two bad things, get twenty cents. And so on. The more you say, the more you earn.” As she spoke, she pulled out a thick stack of bills and sat down on a chair.

“Yun Siying, are you serious?” several older women immediately asked, completely ignoring the darkened expression on Wang Xiutao’s face. After all, who could resist money? But they still worried, what if the Wang family caused trouble later?

“I always keep my word. Everyone gets one chance. How much you can come up with depends on your creativity. And if the Wang family dares to retaliate, come to me. I’ll back you up.” Yun Siying’s voice was calm but sharp. She wasn’t going to be a pushover. If she didn’t hit back hard now, people would keep testing her. After this, she wanted to see who still had the nerve to act superior in front of her.

As a line of aunties and grannies started forming, Wang Xiutao was so furious she could barely stand. She snapped, “Yun Siying, how can you just let people slander me like this?!”

“Auntie,” Yun Siying replied with a sweet smile, “they’re just saying a few things. Why are you taking it so seriously?” Her tone was light, but sharp as a needle only the one being poked knows the pain. And she intended for Wang Xiutao to feel every bit of it.

“Hahaha…” The villagers had never seen anyone handle things like this before. No one wanted to leave. Some even went home to grab their own stools and came back munching sunflower seeds, eager to watch the show.

Then, one auntie stepped up. “Wang Xiutao never washes her face in the morning, never washes her feet at night. She even likes to sniff smelly socks and drink other people’s foot-washing water…” She started laughing so hard her face turned red and couldn’t come up with anything else. The crowd roared with laughter, some people were bent over, laughing so hard they couldn’t straighten up.

The aunt looked a bit shy, but her eyes glanced toward Yun Siying with anticipation. Yun Siying got the message right away and handed her 40 cents. “Auntie, that was four sentences. Here’s 40 cents. Keep it.”

Once they saw she was actually paying, the aunties got excited. Yun Siying quickly stepped in to maintain order. “Aunties, please line up. No cutting the line, cut the line, no money!”

“Wang Xiutao is a shrew. All she knows is yelling and screeching. Like an overgrown baby who never weaned, runs to her mother’s family with every little thing…”

“Wang Xiutao is stingy and sneaky…”

“She’s always sneaking off into the woods with men. Word is, none of her five sons have the same father…”

The aunties and grannies unleashed all sorts of outrageous gossip. The villagers were delighted, listening with glee. The aunties collected their coins with beaming smiles. The biggest earner of the day took home one yuan and twenty cents, a massive haul for just speaking their minds.

Wang Xiutao stood there, face like thunder. But under Yun Siying’s fierce presence, she didn’t dare stir up trouble. Her five sons were fuming and ready to fight, but one cold look from Yun Siying made them freeze. Helpless, they could only back down. For the first time in their lives, they felt truly humiliated.

After handing money to the last aunt, Yun Siying turned to everyone and said. “Dear villagers, it was wrong of me to ask you to make up stories about someone today. Even though it was a last-resort counterattack, spreading false rumors is never right. In the future, don’t fabricate things about others, if you come across someone like me, who holds grudges and isn’t easy to deal with, it’ll only bring you misery.”

Then she looked directly at Wang Xiutao and added.

“Wang Xiutao, if you dare to spread false rumors about me again, I won’t just hit you I’ll also pay thugs from nearby villages to go around and spread slander about you everywhere. I’m not short on money. If you want to find someone to back you up, go ahead. I welcome them. But I won’t go easy on them. If one of your relatives ends up with a broken third leg, they’ll just have to deal with it. After all, it’s just self-defense.”

“Alright, everyone disperse,” Yun Siying said to the villagers who still hadn’t left, clearly not ready for the excitement to end.

“Yun Siying, if you’ve got anything like this again, remember to come find me!” the aunties gathered around and said. The money had come too easily, they were all eager for another round.

“Of course, aunties. I’ll definitely come to you next time I need help. You’re my strongest support.” Yun Siying didn’t get upset, she replied with a smile.

The crowd finally began to leave, albeit reluctantly. What a night it had been better than a movie. They had a real powerhouse living among them, and they’d be bragging about this evening for the next six months.

“Today was truly satisfying. Didn’t the Wang family always act like bullies just because they had so many sons? This time they finally met their match. Even reattaching their arms is going to cost them a lot.”

“I remember your brother-in-law is the only one around here who knows how to do that. You should tell him. Even if he charges just two cents per person, that’s a decent income.”

“Hahaha, you’re right. I’m going to their brigade tomorrow to spread word of the Wang family’s ‘glorious deeds.’”

“Now that you mention it, I realize I haven’t visited my in-laws in a while. I’ll go see them tomorrow.”

Some of the men had different thoughts. One of them said, “What do you think, if we take Yun Siying with us for the winter hunt, don’t you think we’d catch a lot more prey?”

“That’s a great idea. Let’s bring it up with the captain when the time comes.”

“I wonder if she takes apprentices?”

“At your age, you still want to practice martial arts? Please. You should just go home and sleep, you can dream about it there.”

“What are you talking about? I meant, if she takes apprentices, maybe my son Xiaojun could learn from her.”

“Now that you say that, I think my son isn’t bad either. He might have a knack for martial arts, he could be a natural talent.”

“Then let’s ask Yun Siying another day.”

“Sounds good. I’m not expecting him to become as strong as her, but if he picks up a few moves, he could join the army and maybe even become an officer.”

The other educated youths looked at Yun Siying with a mix of admiration and fear. Those who feared her were busy recalling whether they had ever offended her. This woman was truly terrifying. It became clear, they couldn’t afford to make her an enemy but being her friend didn’t seem safe either.