"Aren't you afraid of spraining your tongue from speaking too much?"
"You don't have any money, do you? Did you come here just to act like a big shot?"
"Get out, and don't come back!"
The shopkeeper and two female assistants mocked Meng Yao. One of the female assistants even pushed Zhao Xiaohua to the ground.
Meng Yao felt it was not her territory since she was new there, so she decided to cause trouble. She picked her daughter up and dusted her off. Then she approached the female assistant who pushed Zhao Xiaohua.
"What are you going to do about it?"
Considering Meng Yao's demeanor, the female assistant felt scared. Meng Yao revealed a gentle smile and asked, "What do you think?"
Then Meng Yao quickly dislocated the female assistant's arms. The female assistant squealed like a pig as Meng Yao calmly held Zhao Xiaohua's hand and left.
The shopkeeper wanted to stop Meng Yao, but he dared not step forward when he heard her colleague's tragic cries. The customers hurriedly left in fear of getting into trouble.
Zhao Xiaohua was dumbfounded. "What did you just do, Mother?"
"The shop assistant pushed you, so I dislocated her arms," Meng Yao said smilingly.
Zhao Xiaohua turned to look at the female assistant's arm. "Will she be all right, Mother?" Zhao Xiaohua expressed her concern.
Although the female assistant was in pain, she would be okay.
However, Meng Yao's expression did not change. "Do you want me to cripple her?"
"N-No. Just leave her in pain so she'll remember to be nicer to others," Zhao Xiaohua said.
"What if she doesn't learn her lesson and still bullies you next time?" Meng Yao asked.
"I won't come here anymore. She can't bully me if we don't interact," Zhao Xiaohua said sternly.
Meng Yao held Zhao Xiaohua's hand and continued walking. Fortunately, the little girl was kind.
However, she didn't want to let the female worker off so easily. She wanted the female assistant to feel pain for a while longer so that she would learn from her mistakes.
Meng Yao led Zhao Xiaohua to a snack shop and picked a few of her favorite snacks.
"Mother, you don't have to buy so much. I'll eat less from now on." Zhao Xiaohua said.
"It's not like I don't want you to eat at all. I didn't buy much so we can take some home. Your brothers and sister-in-law can have some," Meng Yao said.
Zhao Xiaohua grunted, "Will I lose weight if I eat less, Mother?"
"Are you saying that because of what happened in Glittering Pavilion?" Meng Yao asked.
Zhao Xiaohua remained silent.
"It's okay to be chubby, but you must be disciplined. You should watch what you eat and exercise to lose weight," Meng Yao said gently. "You're just a little plump, that's all. I want you to be slim because I want you to be healthy, not because you don't look good in a dress."
"Some of the villagers told me that chubby girls are healthy," Zhao Xiaohua said.
"I think the villagers meant plump. You must understand, plump and fat are different things," Meng Yao said.
The villagers believed it was easier for women with big breasts and butts to get pregnant. However, they did not mean fat.
Hormonal and endocrine disorders led to diseases like ovary syndrome. Nonetheless, it was hard to say if Zhao Xiaohua could even get pregnant. Zhao Xiaohua might not understand if her mother explained the difference between being plump and fat.
"Do you want to walk around without hurting your legs? Don't you want Dahe to stop laughing at you for your snores? Do you want to catch up to your friends when you run with them?"
These were questions that bothered Zhao Xiaohua.
Zhao Xiaohua nodded frantically, "Y-Yes. I want all those things."
"So? You want to become slimmer for yourself, not anyone else, right?" Meng Yao asked.
"Yes, of course!" Zhao Xiaohua replied.
Meng Yao took that opportunity to advise Zhao Xiaohua, "You can't control what others say, but you can choose who you want to listen to. It's good to be kind, but not too much. I don't want you to initiate a fight, but if someone does, I want you to fight back."
"Mother, when did you learn to dislocate shoulders?" Zhao Xiaohua had forgotten about her sadness.
Meng Yao answered calmly, "Your father taught me."
"Is my father that capable?" Zhao Xiaohua was fascinated.
Meng Yao nodded. "He's truly amazing."
Meng Yao would use Zhao Ting as an excuse whenever she revealed her uniqueness. Nonetheless, Zhao Ting was dead, so no one knew what he could do. Meng Yao thought it was wise to use him as a metaphoric shield.
"Can you teach me, Mother?" Zhao Xiaohua asked excitedly.
Meng Yao never intended on raising Zhao Xiaohua to be a lady. She only thought a girl needed to have the ability to protect herself. "I can teach you, but it will be challenging. Can you bear the pain?" Meng Yao asked.
Zhao Xiaohua was delicate because of the original Meng Yao. She worried that Zhao Xiaohua could not bear the stress.
"If you could learn it, I can too! No one will dare bully me after that!" Zhao Xiaohua said sternly.
"Let's talk about it first. We won't stop once we start," Meng Yao said.
Meng Yao never stopped practicing.
"Promise me you'll teach me. You will turn into a dog if you don't!" Zhao Xiaohua mumbled.
Meng Yao indulged her and pressed her thumb against Zhao Xiaohua's. Zhao Xiaohua exclaimed, "It's settled. You can't break your promise, Mother!"
"I won't," Meng Yao replied.
"Let's hurry back, Mother," Zhao Xiaohua urged. She couldn't wait to go home and learn some self-defense skills from Meng Yao.
"There's still a lot of time before Mr. Niu leaves. Besides, we haven't gotten what we came for yet," Meng Yao said.
Zhao Xiaohua thought Meng Yao was talking about the dress, so she said, "I don't want that dress, Mother. Not until I lose weight."
'If I can't bring out the dress's beauty, I might as well not wear it.'
Zhao Xiaohua would beg her mother to buy her many beautiful dresses when she lost weight. She only wanted to look and feel pretty.
Meng Yao smiled. "Xiaoshu asked me for a favor before we left."
"What? How come I didn't hear that?" Zhao Xiaohua was confused.
"You already exited the house, and Xiaoshu's voice was soft," Meng Yao said calmly.
Zhao Xiaoshu never asked for Meng Yao's help, but she could tell he hesitated. She guessed Zhao Xiaoshu wanted to know if Ya'er was all right.
The Zhao Xiaoshu in Meng Yao's dream didn't harm Ya'er and her mother. He even settled down. Meng Yao knew Ya'er and her mother treated Zhao Xiaoshu well.
Since Zhao Xiaoshu went home, although he didn't say it aloud, he was unsure if Ya'er could bear the carpenter's rage.