When the second son of the Cheng family saw his older brother’s miserable state, his eyes turned red. He raised his chopping knife and lunged at Xi Qingyue, scaring the villagers who had gathered to watch, who quickly moved to stop him.
Before they could even run forward, the second son of the Cheng family suddenly slipped under his feet, fell forward, and landed flat on his face, hitting his forehead on a small mound of dirt. He instantly passed out.
The villagers, who had halted in their tracks, were stunned. They hadn’t even made a move yet, and he had knocked himself out?
Seeing this, Cheng Dingxiang cried even more bitterly. She pointed at Xi Qingyue with a venomous gaze. “You wicked girl, what are you up to? Digging such malicious traps in your own yard, and that wooden fence of yours—does that look like an ordinary fence? That’s clearly a lethal weapon! What are you trying to do by setting these things up in the village? Are you trying to kill the people here?”
“You’re the wicked one! Your whole family is wicked! Don’t you dare curse my big sister!”
Everyone turned to look. Xi Weilan was standing on a chair inside the house, one hand on her hip and pointing at Cheng Dingxiang, holding chopsticks in her other hand. She looked fierce, but the greasy stain around her mouth was more amusing than threatening.
When the villagers saw the food on her table, a few of the men grew unsettled—this was really good food, no wonder the Cheng family had set their sights on them.
Xi Qingyue stood in the yard, sizing up the gathered villagers. Some of them frowned disapprovingly when they saw Cheng Laoda’s miserable condition, perhaps thinking she had been too ruthless.
She didn’t care about their opinions at all. If she wasn’t ruthless this time, the Cheng family would cling to her like sticky plasters in the future, just like Xi Erniu had, repeatedly trying to harm her.
It was better to make the villagers fear her than to let them try to scheme against her. All she wanted was to live in peace.
Cheng Dingxiang pointed at Xi Qingyue and stumbled backward, her eyes filled with disbelief. “Who are you? You’re not Daya. Daya would never be this vicious. Daya was always obedient.”
Xi Qingyue sneered. “Obedient? Obedient enough to listen to you and go without eating for days after my mother passed away? Obedient enough to let you sell my little sister? Or obedient enough to let you sell me? The Daya you knew, the obedient one, died the moment you sold Lan’er and knocked me unconscious. From now on, if anyone dares to bully us sisters, this will be their fate.”
As she spoke, she pointed at Cheng Laoda, who lay motionless on the ground in a pool of blood, his condition unknown.
“I set up that wooden fence to guard against people like you. If someone had no bad intentions and came to my door normally, they wouldn’t have been hurt by the trap. This serves you right.”
The other villagers had been wondering about Xi Qingyue’s sudden change in demeanor, but her words made them understand immediately. Being too obedient wasn’t good—sooner or later, you’d end up sold by others.
Cheng Dingxiang glanced at her two older brothers and nearly passed out from anger herself.
The village head looked at Cheng Laoda, who had fainted from pain, and Cheng Laoda’s second brother, who had also knocked himself out. He shook his head helplessly and had people carefully carry them away.
When they tried to lift Cheng Laoda, a few burly men looked terrified—this was no ordinary injury.
They cautiously lifted the blood-soaked man, still stuck with wooden spikes and brambles, from the pit. The blood had stained the yellow earth red.
Cheng Dingxiang was seething with rage, but since both of her brothers were unconscious, she knew she had to find a doctor first and not waste any more time. She didn’t dare linger and merely shot Xi Qingyue a vicious glare as she left.
Cheng Laoda was carried away, and the villagers sighed and shook their heads at the trail of blood dripping along the road one by one.
The village head didn’t leave. Xi Qingyue asked, puzzled, “Elder Village Head, is there something else? Please, have a seat.”
She pointed to the rocking chair, and the village head sat down without ceremony.
“Yue’er, the Cheng family isn’t from Willow Tree Village. They don’t answer to me, and they won’t listen to me either. Erniu is dead now, and Cheng Laoda doesn’t look like he’ll make it. I’m worried that people from the Cheng family village will come looking for trouble later.”
Xi Qingyue shook her head calmly. “It’s fine. Let them come. Look at my yard—I’ll make sure they won’t be leaving.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” The village head’s beard bristled with anger. “If they trespass and get hurt, it’s their own fault. But if too many people die or get seriously injured, it’ll be hard to explain to the authorities. Don’t go around half-killing people like this. Just give them a good beating next time.”
Xi Qingyue waved her hand and interrupted, disagreeing. “Elder Village Head, I have to disagree. When Xi Erniu sold my sister, I only gave him a beating. And what happened? He went straight to the landlord’s house and told him exactly where I lived, just to send people to get revenge. Last night, he even tried to sneak into my yard.
And this Cheng family—they knew why Xi Erniu was hurt and why he died, yet they still wanted me to pay with my life. If I had just beaten them up, they’d probably still be causing trouble now. It wouldn’t have ended so quickly. Lan’er and I are just two kids. If I want to protect us, I have to be decisive.”
The village head was silent for a long time, not knowing how to dissuade her. It was too hard—if the girls were too soft, they’d be bullied; if they were too harsh, they’d be feared by the villagers and might attract even bigger trouble. He couldn’t help but sigh.
“Forget it. Just handle it with some sense.”
With that, the village head stood up and walked out. He stopped trying to advise her and decided to let nature take its course.
After he left, Xi Qingyue closed the yard gate again.
She took some large tree branches from her hidden space and gathered tools to start making arrows.
“Big sister, are you making a bow and arrow?” Xi Weilan pulled up a chair and sat beside her, watching curiously.
“Mm, I’m making a simple little bow for you. Later, I’ll make a straw dummy too. I’ll teach you how to shoot arrows. Once you get good at aiming, I’ll give you better weapons.”
“Great! I can practice archery too!” Xi Weilan jumped up and laughed.
Half an hour later, the straw dummy and the bow were ready. Xi Qingyue began teaching Xi Weilan how to shoot.
Since the yard was too small, she placed the straw dummy under the big willow tree outside and had Xi Weilan practice seriously.
She carefully explained each pose and movement to Xi Weilan. The little girl had strength—what she lacked was accuracy.
The small figure stood there with the bow, looking quite proper and serious, but the arrows she shot either veered left or right.
Xi Qingyue wasn’t worried. There was no rush, and Xi Weilan was still young. She could take her time practicing.
Just then, a carriage slowly came toward her yard, led by a child acting as a guide.
“That’s it. That’s Daya’s house.” The child pointed at Xi Qingyue’s yard and then ran off.
Manager Qian lifted the curtain and glanced at Xi Qingyue’s yard, surprised. How could someone who could afford a mule cart live in such a rundown thatched house?
Looking closer, he saw a scene in front of the gate—a three-year-old girl standing straight as a rod, holding a toy-like bow. Her posture looked surprisingly standard, which was really amusing.
He got off the carriage and walked toward Xi Qingyue, his confusion deepening.
“Manager Qian, why did you trouble yourself to come in person? You could have just sent someone to deliver it.”
Xi Qingyue smiled as she stepped forward to greet him. She had guessed that the carriage shop would deliver the deed for the mule cart in the afternoon, but she hadn’t expected that the person coming would be Manager Qian.
Manager Qian said with a cheerful grin, “I had nothing else to do, so I thought I’d come over and enjoy the scenery. Do you know how to shoot a bow?”
Xi Qingyue nodded with a smile, “Yes, a little. When I have free time, I teach my younger sister some basic self-defense.”
Manager Qian approved of this wholeheartedly. He took out two copies of the deed and handed them over. “The official deed is done. Take a look.”
Xi Qingyue accepted them and examined them. One was the private deed—the same one they had signed earlier. The other was the official deed issued by the government, stamped with a red seal. With this, the mule cart truly belonged to her.
She smiled at Manager Qian. “Thank you, Manager Qian. You must have had a tiring journey in this hot weather. Please come in for some tea and rest a while before you leave.”
“That would be lovely. I don’t mind imposing, then.”
