Volume One, Chapter Eleven: The Fight

Xia Nannan quickly gained fame from just one battle. Not only did the people of Yonghe Village know about it, even residents of several nearby large villages had heard that Wang Cui had a formidable cousin. On her very first day, she had dealt a blow to Wang Cui’s notoriously cruel mother-in-law and sent the village troublemaker Li Ergou, who had long been a headache for the community, behind bars.

Because of this, Yang Xiangxi's wedding was called off, and Li Meihua, furious, cursed every day in the direction of Wang Cui’s house. Though she never named names, everyone knew exactly whom she was cursing. Some advised her to stop, telling her she was meddling in matters that weren’t hers, likening her actions to a dog trying to catch mice. Gradually, people learned to watch from a distance and enjoy the spectacle.

“What are you going to do?” Wang Cui saw Xia Nannan grabbing a firewood stick and stepping out of the courtyard. Startled, she set down her bowl and hurried to pull her back, giving her a warning look. “Li Meihua is shameless. If you confront her, she might latch onto you and cause trouble.” She didn’t want Xia Nannan to get dragged into her family’s disputes—they already owed each other too much.

Seeing the stick left by the door, Xia Nannan realized there was some truth in Wang Cui’s caution. She had been impulsive earlier. After comforting Wang Cui, she slammed the main door shut and returned home to continue eating.

Li Meihua, thinking herself invincible and feared by others, stood proudly at the gate with her hands on her hips. However, her day of pride was short-lived. Late that night, a terrible incident shook the village—her house’s kang bed-stove exploded, causing her and her husband to flee the burning home like miners escaping a cave-in, nearly frightening their youngest daughter to death.

At first, everyone thought it was a mere accident. But as time passed, a pattern emerged: whenever Li Meihua dared to cause trouble at Wang Cui’s doorstep, her own household would suffer bizarre mishaps that very night. Each incident was different—sometimes someone dumped manure in her yard; other times, the gate was mysteriously locked from outside.

What intrigued everyone most was how Li Meihua’s small floral underpants were stolen and then hung conspicuously on the village’s main courtyard fence and the big tree at the village entrance.

“Anyone seeing that would think it belonged to some young girl!” one woman laughed.

“Who’s got panties that loose and full of holes? Haha!” another chuckled.

A group of women sat under the sun mending shoe soles, laughing until their stomachs hurt over the recent events.

At the village’s edge, Yang Panzi’s mother, Hou Aixiu, spat on the ground while stitching a shoe sole. “She’s gotten exactly what she deserves. If she hadn’t spread those lies about Wang Cui’s pregnancy—that it wasn’t her husband’s child—and accused her of meeting some strange man in the cornfield, Meifeng wouldn’t have died. I say, maybe it was Li Meihua herself or some bachelor from the neighboring village who went into the cornfield!”

“I agree. How could she just happen to see that?” another added.

Unbeknownst to them, Li Meihua, carrying a bamboo basket to gather firewood nearby, overheard the conversation. She dropped the basket and stormed toward the group, cursing fiercely.

“You’re full of crap! How dare you accuse me like that—see if I don’t rip your mouths apart!”

She grabbed Hou Aixiu’s hair with one hand and reached to slap her face with the other, but before her hand could strike, Hou Aixiu jabbed her with the shoe needle, drawing blood from the back of Li Meihua’s hand. The crowd watching the scene gasped and scrambled away to avoid getting caught in the chaos.

Pointing the needle at Li Meihua, Hou Aixiu shouted, “Come on, bring it on! You shameless dog! You’ve already made your sister-in-law sick and now want to drive out your nephew’s wife and child. Trying to claim that house for your son-in-law to live in—aren’t you afraid your in-laws will come haunt you at night and choke you to death?”

Years ago, when Hou Aixiu had been married for several years without bearing children, the two sons of Li Meihua mocked her in the village as a hen that couldn’t lay eggs. Now, her grandson was old enough to run errands, while Yang Xiangdong and Yang Xiangxi still had no wives.

This was a classic case of “what goes around comes around.” Good deeds beget good rewards, evildoing invites retribution—just a matter of time.

Li Meihua refused to accept defeat. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed a stool from the ground and hurled it at Hou Aixiu. Luckily, Hou Aixiu’s quick footwork allowed her to dodge the blow; otherwise, the stool would have cracked her skull.

“Help! Someone’s trying to kill me! Li Meihua’s gone mad! Help!”

From afar, Hou Aixiu saw the village chief approaching with Gu Nanzhou and a few others, holding something. She grabbed her shoe sole and ran toward them, shouting for help.

She ran ahead with Li Meihua chasing behind, stool raised high. Just as the stool was about to strike, someone swiftly pulled Hou Aixiu aside. The wooden stool crashed firmly onto the village chief’s instep, causing him to jump in pain.

When people saw who had been hit, they sucked in their breath and fell silent.

Yang Jianshe’s blood pressure soared upon recognizing Li Meihua as the assailant. If it weren’t for the soldiers nearby, he would have liked nothing more than to smash her with a brick.

“Since you’ve got so much strength, you won’t be getting the wild boar meat that Captain Gu brought for the villagers!”

He then ordered others to call the rest of the villagers to the brigade courtyard. The meat was to be distributed evenly—two pounds per household, regardless of family size. Any leftovers would be given to Wang Cui to help her recover, especially since Yang Zhuzi had died saving villagers.

“All right, I have no objections. I’ll inform Wang Cui’s cousin,” Hou Aixiu said loudly as she stepped forward.

No one else objected. The meat was a gift from the army; being able to share it was already a blessing. No one wanted to cause trouble.

“This year’s New Year celebration will finally have meat to eat.”

Just as everyone happily lined up to receive their share, Yang Xiangxi suddenly returned from town. Upon hearing that the army had brought a wild boar, he sprinted toward the brigade courtyard as if his feet were on fire. Reaching the gate and learning his family would receive none, he exploded like a lit firecracker.

He strode into the crowd, glaring viciously at Xia Nannan as she queued, threatening, “If my family doesn’t get this meat, neither will yours.”

After the threat, he rolled his eyes and strutted toward Yang Jianshe, who was organizing the line, looking every bit the street gangster.

“Uncle Yang, this isn’t fair! The fight happened days ago; the public reprimand was given. You can’t punish my family by withholding meat. Besides, this meat was sent by the army—it’s not your call to make.”

Yang Jianshe restrained his temper, patted Yang Xiangxi’s shoulder, and gestured for him to calm down so as not to disrupt the distribution. But Yang Xiangxi ignored the gesture, flinging his hand off and growing angrier.