Chapter 4: You Have to Slap the Face That's Delivered to Your Doorstep

True to prediction, people generally sympathize with the underdog. Lady Zhao already had a poor reputation in the village, and now with Su Yu's accusations, everyone started to point fingers at her.

"Aunt Zhou, haven't you gone too far? Ziling is well over twenty, and even though you haven't bothered to arrange a marriage for him, now that you have a good girl willing to sincerely be with him, you still treat her like this…"

"Exactly! Everyone knows how since they were young, you made the brothers Changping and Ziling work like oxen and horses. And now that they can no longer do heavy labor, you just kick them out. What kind of elder acts like that!"

"Thinking about other people's belongings even after splitting the household, where on earth is there such reason!"

The villagers took turns scolding Lady Zhao until she was left speechless and stormed into the house, slamming the door shut with a "bang".

Su Yu sneered disdainfully, "Is that all?"

Then she quickly wiped her tears and deeply bowed to everyone, "Thank you all for speaking out on my behalf. Please continue to look out for me in the future. You may all return home now."

Jiang Ziling watched as Su Yu changed her demeanor in an instant, his expression complex: This woman's ability to change face was faster than flipping a book.

Xie Xinghua, on the other hand, looked up to the woman who had just entered the house and put Lady Zhao in her place on the very first day with admiration.

Facing their surprised looks, Su Yu chuckled, "A taste of their own medicine!"

It was only after the crowd dispersed that Lady Zhao's daughter-in-law Fang Qin came out cradling her baby, sneering sarcastically, "Wow, the second sister-in-law sure is impressive. Even on her first day in, she's made the mother-in-law lose face in front of everyone. It's just a broken bowl of fish soup, was it worth it? Didn't your parents teach you to respect your elders at home?"

In Fang Qin's eyes, Su Yu was nothing more than a wild girl from outside who was carelessly promised to a cripple. She couldn't possibly have any skill.

Moreover, in the past, if Jiang Ziling ever had anything good, they were the first to enjoy it. Now they didn't even get a bowl of fish soup—outrageous!

Su Yu coldly glanced at this plump woman and cursed inwardly: She's got a face as thick as a city wall, hiding away when everyone was arguing earlier, and now that everyone has left, she comes out to enjoy the drama!

Lucky her, someone's just asking to be scolded, so she shouldn't blame Su Yu for what comes next.

"I should have known, how could the mother-in-law have the cheek to fight with the eldest uncle for food? Turns out, it was the greedy worm in your stomach making all the noise…"

With her sore spot hit, Fang Qin immediately bristled and retorted with her voice raised, "You, you're spouting nonsense…"

However, she quickly steadied herself, assuming a pose of moral high ground, "I'm just standing up against an injustice suffered by the mother-in-law, that's all!"

Su Yu glanced at her sideways and mercilessly uncovered the truth, "Oh? You're so concerned about the mother-in-law, yet when everyone was criticizing her just now, I didn't see you stepping forward. Now you're playing the part of the righteous defender!"

"If you are that devoted, why don't you go catch some fish in the river to nourish the mother-in-law yourself, instead of throwing your weight around here?"

"And looking at the shape of sister-in-law number three, so round and stout, I'm afraid you'd get out of breath just walking a few steps, let alone catching fish."

Su Yu covered her mouth and chuckled softly, while Fang Qin fumed with rage, clutching her child and rushing at Su Yu, threatening viciously, "I'll tear your mouth apart!"

The child, frightened by the commotion, began to cry loudly, and Lady Zhao, who had been eavesdropping inside the house for a long time, couldn't bear it any longer and rushed out to take her grandson and soothe him:

"Oh my dear grandchild, don't be afraid, grandma is here!"

After the child stopped crying, Lady Zhao turned to Fang Qin and scolded, "Enough, go back to your own room, look how you've scared the child!"

Fang Qin shot Su Yu a resentful glance and took her child away, aggrieved.

Lady Zhao then shouted at the onlooking Xie Xinghua, "You've got a lot of free time, huh? Why are you standing around here? Is the rice cooked yet? Have the clothes been washed? Or do I have to personally chop the firewood?"

Xie Xinghua backed away, scared, "No, mother, I'll go do it now."

Su Yu muttered under her breath, "Wicked old witch!"

She sat back to watch how the situation would unfold, curious to see what tricks Lady Zhao had up her sleeve.

Glancing at Su Yu, Lady Zhao turned to Jiang Ziling with a sarcastic tone,

"You're really something, marrying such a shrew."

"I'm flattered," Jiang Ziling responded lightly, as if he didn't catch the mockery in her words, prompting Su Yu to let out a snicker.

Lady Zhao was at a loss for words, not expecting the usually submissive Jiang Ziling to talk back to her.

She snorted coldly, "You've got a long life ahead of you. You, a cripple with neither land nor wealth, living in a dilapidated house and taking care of a mute child, let's see how you will feed your family. You'll have your day of tears!"

Noticing Jiang Ziling's spirits dim, Su Yu quickly retorted,

"You needn't worry about us. As long as no one shamelessly comes to snatch our food, even if we have to catch fish in the river every day, we'll get by!"

Seeing Lady Zhao continue to ramble, Su Yu picked up a broom and started sweeping.

"Oh my, where is all this dirt coming from? No matter how much I sweep, it never seems to disappear."

She followed closely behind Lady Zhao, vigorously swinging the broom. Dust billowed up, covering Lady Zhao's shoes and the bottom of her trousers.

Lady Zhao asked angrily, "Are you doing this on purpose?"

"How could I! I just can't stand dirt!" Su Yu replied nonchalantly.

After this series of events, even someone as shameless as Lady Zhao couldn't stay any longer. Cursing and slapping the dust off herself, she left:

"Wild girl, just you wait..."

Chapter Five: Only One Bed

No sooner had Lady Zhao left than Su Yu put down the broom and said to Jiang Ziling, "Don't believe her nonsense. People like her never say anything nice." Jiang Ziling replied with a bitter smile, "What she said is actually true."

"Truths can change. Come on, let's go inside. Let me check on your leg," Su Yu said, briskly picking up Xixi and heading inside.

Seeing Jiang Ziling still looking dejected, Su Yu offered words of comfort, "Look at you, despite being handicapped without land or wealth, and just having this rundown house, you still saved Xixi and cared for her till she grew up. When you think about it, you're much stronger than them!"

Jiang Ziling felt comforted by her words and warmth filled his eyes as he gratefully said, "Thank you, Miss."

Su Yu laughed heartily, "I'm just telling it like it is. And stop with all the 'Miss' this and 'Miss' that. I have a name, I'm Su Yu."

"Oh, Miss Su," Jiang Ziling corrected himself.

Feeling helpless with this clueless guy, Su Yu said, "Forget it, just call me Ah Yu."

"Ah, Ah Yu..." Jiang Ziling found the name too intimate, his face flushing with an uncertain blush.

Once inside, Su Yu put Xixi down and motioned for Jiang Ziling to take off his pants.

Jiang Ziling's face turned even redder as he stammered, "Then, then could you turn around?"

"Alright!" Su Yu agreed, turning her back along with Xixi and warned, "Don't peek, or you'll get styes." Xixi covered her eyes, looking amusingly obedient.

Su Yu affectionately patted her head, "Such a good girl."

"I'm ready!" It was only after Jiang Ziling's voice came from behind that Su Yu turned around.