Damn it! Li Yifei cursed silently to himself, deciding not to sleep any longer. Instead, he sat up cross-legged, since he was about to leave, he started cultivating to restore his True Qi.

No words were exchanged all night. The next morning, Li Yifei and Chen Junxiao woke up. The weather outside was great, but the two didn’t have to go fishing today, so they seemed a bit idle. The little girl didn’t know what to do, she used to skip breakfast, but now she felt hungry if she didn’t eat. So she made breakfast, ate with Li Yifei, and then Chen Junxiao took a small bucket to go fetch water from a neighboring elderly household while Chen Junxiao tidied up the house, sweeping the floor with a broom made of bundled grass.

As Li Yifei walked back with the water, he heard a sharp voice ring out. He looked up at the stone house dozens of meters away. He wasn’t unfamiliar with the voice; it was Chen Junxiao’s aunt. He only heard her loudly say, "Aunt is here to tell you something. You should come to Aunt’s house later. The boyfriend Aunt introduced to you a few days ago, his family is coming over today with the betrothal gifts. Your uncle has already gone to find the village head to witness it. We’re going to set the date today!"

"Aunt, I am not getting married. I won’t marry that person!" Chen Junxiao’s tone today was much firmer than previous days, and she seemed to have gained some confidence, so she straightforwardly refused.

The woman expected her to refuse, so she said, "What, are you determined to go against me and your uncle’s wishes? You think just because you say no, it won’t happen? Your uncle and I have already settled the matter. The other party is coming over soon, and you think you can just say no? Little girl, are you wishing for death!"

"Aunt, I respect you both, but I’m still young, I can’t get married, and I certainly can’t marry someone I’ve never met!" Chen Junxiao stepped back two paces and replied. She had been hit by her aunt before, so she feared the aunt might act physically.

"Oh, you think you’re so clever. I’m telling you, it’s out of your hands!" the woman replied sharply.

"Aunt, you’re too much!"

"I’m too much? I haven’t said anything yet. A young girl, taking in an adult man, alright, but seeing you want to live with him? You’ve even bought household items!" The woman said harsh words, but directly acknowledged yesterday’s affair, adding, "Alright, these years you’ve secretly saved up quite a bit of money. You’re really generous for a man, spending so much money at once."

"Aunt, was it really you who stole it?" Chen Junxiao was still hard to believe despite hearing it directly from her.

"Is that stealing? Damn it, weren’t those expenses covered by the money I gave you? I didn’t expect you, little wench, to secretly save that much money over the years!" The woman said resentfully.

Listening to her aunt’s foul speech, Chen Junxiao felt the aunt was extremely ugly at that moment. But this was obviously just the beginning, as the aunt continued to curse, "You ungrateful thing, jinx, my husband and I raised you for so many years, and you still play tricks on us. What, did that wretch you saved promise you something? So now you have the nerve to go against me?"

"Uncle didn’t say anything. But Aunt, what you’re doing is really not right. The money isn’t mine, it’s Uncle’s. Those items were bought by Uncle. Aunt, return the money to me. I don’t care about the small change; it was indeed earned from fishing. I thought I’d buy gifts for your birthdays!"

"What nonsense! He’s just a wretch, where would he get money? You jinx still dare to lie!" The woman didn’t believe it at all and cursed, "You’re driving me mad; you jinx, colluding with a wretch trying to rebel. I’m telling you, whether you agree or not, you’re going to agree today!"

"Aunt, I won’t agree. I will repay your and Uncle’s kindness when I grow up and start earning money, but I won’t agree to this matter!" Chen Junxiao insisted. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"You’re driving me crazy, I’ll hit you!" The woman had never expected the little girl to stand up to her like this, so hearing those words, she couldn’t help but raise her hand to slap Chen Junxiao.

"Stop right there!" Li Yifei put down the water bucket and rushed forward in two steps, pushing the woman away to shield Chen Junxiao. Li Yifei used force, so the woman was directly sent flying, landing five or six meters away.

The fall left her dazed, and after a long while, she cried out, "Oh, ouch, it hurts so much. You wretch, dare to lay a hand on me, I’ll make you pay!"

Li Yifei held Chen Junxiao’s hand, transmitting strength, while coldly looking at the woman, saying, "You better watch your mouth; I haven’t settled the account with you for stealing yesterday, yet you come on your own today."

"I stole? Pah, what the hell are you, wretched brat? This is my house, everything here is mine, I’ll take whatever I want." The woman climbed up from the ground, shouting, but there was a hint of external bravado despite internal fear, as she was now alone and worried about Li Yifei, especially as he revealed fit muscles through his vest.

"If you keep speaking filth, what awaits you is not just a beating!" Li Yifei directly pointed at her and said.

"Pah, I’ll find my husband, then you’ll be beaten to death!" The woman’s momentum instantly faltered.

"Return the stolen money, and you can leave. Otherwise, you’ll stay here until you return the money, then you can leave!" Li Yifei said coldly.

Chen Junxiao bit her lip, surprised that things had escalated like this, but she really didn’t want to marry any man. She’s still so young, how could she get married, especially to someone she doesn’t even know.

The woman, upon hearing Li Yifei say this, flashed a hint of anger in her eyes and replied, "Why say that’s your money? Let me tell you, that’s actually my money, the money I spend every year to support her!"

"I sold fish yesterday, made over two thousand, after buying food and other things, this is what’s left, which you took away. And now you’re telling me, why say it’s my money?" Li Yifei’s tone was calm but already tinged with anger. The woman’s eyes darted, but she was still unwilling to admit fault, instead saying, "Nonsense, you can say whatever you want. Just catching a few fish, how could you possibly make over two thousand? Ridiculous, nobody would buy it for twenty!"

"Are you planning not to return it?" Li Yifei questioned.

"Return it to you? That’s my money!" The woman shamelessly pleaded.

Li Yifei looked at her with disgust, and said in a deep voice, "Don’t think I won’t hit a woman!"

"Go ahead, hit me! Am I scared of you?" the woman cursed, and upon finishing, she was still not satisfied, glaring at Chen Junxiao and continued to curse, "You little ****, enticing street rats to revolt? And dare to have him hit me!"

Li Yifei released Chen Junxiao’s hand and walked over to the woman, his pace slow. The woman showed a hint of panic in her eyes, but quickly pretended to be calm, glaring at Li Yifei, and said, "What do you want?"

"I’ll ask you one last time, my money, are you returning it or not!" Li Yifei looked down at her, this woman was probably under one meter sixty.

The woman was somewhat scared but still insisted, "No, not a single penny. That’s my money!"

"Smack!" Li Yifei raised his hand and slapped her, accurately hitting her face, causing her to tumble to the ground again.

"Uncle!" Chen Junxiao called out worriedly, not expecting him to actually strike, and the woman on the ground, slapped into confusion, also didn’t expect Li Yifei to hit her. The slap burning her face, half of her head spinning, she ignored her scraped hands and arms, got up from the ground and attacked Li Yifei like a mad dog.

Striking a woman is disgraceful, but it depends on the person. For normal women, it’s disgraceful, but for those who are unreasonable and foul-mouthed like mad dogs, Li Yifei never hesitates. So as she lunged at him, Li Yifei lifted his leg and kicked her in the chest, causing her to roll off the path to the ground.

"Taking my money and still so foul-mouthed, you deserved to be hit!"

"Help! Somebody’s killing me, help!" the woman didn’t care about the pain, crawled up from the ground and started running towards the village, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Li Yifei kicked a stone and it flew, hitting the woman’s leg, causing her to immediately fall face-first a few steps away. Her mouth full of dirt, she quickly raised her bottom and limped onwards.

"Uncle, you should leave quickly. Auntie will definitely call a lot of people when she returns, they will really beat you. The villagers are very united, if there’s such a thing, they will act!" Chen Junxiao’s face turned pale, evidently scared by what just happened, but in her heart, she didn’t think Li Yifei hitting someone was wrong. Auntie seems like she should be hit, but considering the consequences of hitting someone, the little girl quickly advised him.

Li Yifei patted her head, smiled slightly, and said, "It’s fine, Uncle won’t be in trouble!"

"No, no, many people will come!"

"Silly girl, if Uncle runs, you’ll be in trouble. Don’t worry, Uncle has regained his martial arts, no matter how many people come, they’ll be no problem!" Li Yifei said.

Chen Junxiao naturally didn’t believe him, but seeing Li Yifei so resolute, she sniffled, tears streaming down. Was she actually a jinx, why do those who are good to her always end up in trouble?

Li Yifei saw the little girl crying, quickly helped to wipe her tears, while hearing the woman still screaming in the distance, having gone to call for help.

Let her call, no matter the number, I’m not afraid. In the end, we’ll see who ends up embarrassed. Rural folks are more concerned about face, they surely know about Chen Junxiao’s situation in the village, but haven’t openly discussed it. If revealed, let’s see who can continue staying here with dignity!