"Qing'er, don't be afraid. As long as Fifth Uncle is here, anyone who dares mess with you will have to go through me!"
Yang Ruoqing didn't reply, but she gave Yang Huazhou a grateful look before turning and walking into the room shared by Yang Huazhong and Sun Shi.
"Hey Old Five, did a door slam your brain or something? Look at that dumb look on her face—her shoes are even on the wrong feet—and you're wasting your breath on a fool like that? You think she understands you or appreciates your so-called good heart?" Yang Hua'an sneered mockingly from the side.
You couldn't exactly blame him. The moment he caught a glimpse of Yang Ruoqing running over earlier, the ever-germaphobic Yang Hua'an immediately turned his head away and covered his mouth and nose in disgust.
He had only heard what Yang Huazhou said to her but completely missed the grateful expression in Yang Ruoqing's eyes.
Yang Huazhou shot him a cold glare and gave a heavy snort.
"Busybody rat!"
"Eh? Is that how you talk to your elder brother? I'm your big brother—like a father to you! You want me to beat some respect into you?"
"Go ahead, hit me! You think I'm scared of you?" Yang Huazhou rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight.
Just then, Old Man Yang's voice rang out from the east wing:
"What are you brawling for? It's early morning—why aren't you all out in the fields harvesting rice? If this autumn rain hits and the rice goes moldy, you'll all be left eating dirt!"
Yang Huazhou let out another snort, turned without another word, picked up the sickle and carrying pole on the ground, and strode off toward the front yard.
Behind him, Yang Hua'an scrambled to save face, giving a smile to Old Man Yang as he explained:
"I heard Third Brother woke up, so I rushed over to check on him, but ran into Old Five talking back to Mother. I dragged him out here to give him a scolding, but he just refused to admit he was wrong—what can I do with him..."
Old Man Yang's dark face remained stern. He gave Yang Hua'an, who was still tattling, an impatient look.
"I've got ears and eyes, I don't need you to add to the mess. Get on with your work."
Yang Hua'an flushed bright red. Hugging the straw rope used for bundling rice, he dragged his pudgy body away with a sour expression.
Old Man Yang's deep-set eyes now turned toward the noisy west wing. His dark face was full of gloom, and with his hands clasped behind his back, he too headed toward the west room.
Inside the west wing, as soon as Yang Ruoqing stepped into the room, she was hit with a strong and pungent medicinal smell. On the ground near the bed, a medicine bowl lay shattered into pieces, its yellowish-black contents spilled all over the floor.
Tan Shi stood just outside the puddle of spilled medicine, her feet turned outward as usual. One hand slapped her thigh, while the other pointed angrily at the bed.
She shrieked,
"…Twenty copper coins a dose! That's medicine money scraped together from the gaps in everyone's teeth! And you go and waste it like that! Heartless beast—defying your mother for the sake of a stupid girl! You unfilial thing! May lightning strike you down!"
Yang Ruoqing followed the direction of Tan Shi's finger and saw Yang Huazhong lying on the bed. One hand was pounding the bed frame repeatedly with a dull thump, thump, thump. His other hand, wrapped in bandages, hung stiffly across his chest. His face was purple from the effort, his eyes bloodshot, and his lips pale and trembling. He seemed to be trying to speak, but Tan Shi's torrent of curses gave him no room to interject. Having just awoken from a serious injury, Yang Huazhong couldn't even get a word in.
At the bedside, Sun Shi was crying as she wiped up the spilled medicine with a rag. Yang Ruoqing's sharp eyes spotted that one side of her mother's face was badly swollen, a vivid handprint visible. Her hair was a tangled mess, and near her temples, a clump had been yanked out, exposing a red patch of raw scalp the size of a coin.
Yang Ruoqing's small fists clenched tight. A rush of violent fury and killing intent filled her chest.
She almost rushed forward to beat the hateful old crone senseless. But then, a flicker of calculation crossed her eyes, and she suddenly grinned.
"Hee hee… bowl… play house…"
Tan Shi was still ranting when she suddenly heard a silly laugh from the doorway. She turned and saw a round, plump figure charging toward her at full speed, arms flailing and feet stomping—a manic momentum, like a deranged bull.
Her beady eyes instantly caught sight of the shattered bowl pieces on the floor, and they lit up.
Tan Shi stood frozen at the edge of the spilled medicine. When she saw Yang Ruoqing rushing over like that, she instinctively tried to dodge backward.
This chubby girl was known to be both foolish and wild—she didn't even look where she was going when she walked! If she crashed into Tan Shi's frail old body, it'd be a disaster.
Tan Shi stumbled back in a panic, but just as she moved, something strange happened to her ankle—it suddenly went numb and weak.
Before she could even scream, one leg gave out like cotton, and she fell face-forward into the spilled medicine. Her palm landed directly on a piece of the broken bowl—cutting her hand and drawing blood instantly.
"Aiyo—!"
Her scream was pig-like and ear-splitting, shaking the roof and scaring everyone in the room.
Sun Shi instinctively moved to help her, but just then—
"Wah—!"
A wailing, tearful cry echoed through the room.
Halfway across the floor, Yang Ruoqing froze, as if terrified. Her mouth opened in a breathless sob as she pointed at the bloodied Tan Shi.
"Blood… scared… scared…"
She forced herself to cry harder, trying to sound as genuine as possible—though inwardly, she was gleeful.
Those two leftover stir-fried soybeans she ate last night had worked—she'd managed to hit Tan Shi's nerve cluster right at the ankle!
At the bedside, Sun Shi heard her daughter crying like that and panicked. She instantly turned away from helping Tan Shi and rushed to scoop Yang Ruoqing into her arms.
"Don't be scared, Qing'er, Mama's here… Mama's here…"
"Aiyo, you venomous woman, only care about your stupid daughter and let your mother-in-law lie dying on the ground?! You'll get your retribution! Third son, you ungrateful wretch, look at your wife—"
Tan Shi sat on the floor, shivering from pain, her voice now hoarse from rage.
"What are you screaming for? It's just a scratch! You trying to gather the whole neighborhood to watch us make a fool of ourselves?"
Old Man Yang entered the room with a thunderous face. He didn't even glance at Sun Shi and Yang Ruoqing. He walked straight over and pulled Tan Shi off the floor.
Tan Shi stood up, and immediately kicked off her shoe and hurled it toward Sun Shi and Yang Ruoqing, her curses still flying:
"Black-hearted idiot girl! Do you dare push me? If I don't skin you alive today, my name ain't Tan!"
Sun Shi quickly shielded Yang Ruoqing behind her, panicked and crying as she pleaded:
"Mother, please calm down! How could Qing'er dare push you? She never even got close!"
(End of Chapter)