Li Xiangli yelled sternly, "What? Your son can play the robber, but no one is allowed to discipline him? Truly, the world has gone mad when people like you can stand tall!"
Wei-shi's face flushed red. She knew full well that her son often bullied the other children in the village, but she had always turned a blind eye, refusing to discipline him. Now that Li Xiangli had called her out so plainly, she felt utterly humiliated.
"What do you mean by that? Did you see with your own eyes that my son took your son's things? Kids fight all the time. You're an adult, yet you take this seriously? Picking on a child—what kind of person does that? Stop bullying my Bao'er!" Wei-shi retorted shamelessly, not even bothering to blush.
This was her usual tactic whenever other parents came to complain about her son bullying their children. She would dismiss it as harmless play, accusing others of overreacting.
However, such tricks were useless against Li Xiangli. How Wei-shi chose to raise her son was her business, but Li Xiangli would never allow anyone to hurt her children, Xiaozhu and Le'er.
"I call you Second Sister-in-law out of respect, but let's not pretend here. You know perfectly well whether your son took something or not. Think I'm overreacting? Fine, then look at what your son tried to steal. Do you know how expensive this fried pork crackling is? This isn't bread or coarse buns, this is crispy pork crackling made from rendered pork fat! Just one bowl of it is worth an entire day's ration for most families in this village! And you still think I'm overreacting?" Li Xiangli raised her voice, determined not to back down.
"You little wretch!" Wei-shi screamed, seething with rage. "I was giving you some face, but now you're acting like you're something special! Do you even know who Bao'er is? He's the eldest grandson of the Guo family! Your two little brats being bullied—so what? Just wait until I tell Mother, she'll beat you senseless!"
Li Xiangli sneered. "What? You think I owe you something just because I call you Second Sister-in-law? Let me tell you this, I have nothing to do with the Guo family anymore. Guo Bao means nothing to me! A thief is still a thief!"
Wei-shi was utterly flabbergasted, trembling with fury. "You... You say that again! I'll tear your mouth apart!"
"Hah! Is there no justice left in this village? Guo Bao openly tried to steal my children's food, and you still want to tear my mouth apart? What, is the Guo family now the kings of this village? Do you even care about the village head or the rules anymore?" Li Xiangli shot back with an icy resolve.
Wei-shi faltered, realizing that Li Xiangli wasn't the same pushover she used to be. On top of that, Li Xiangli was no longer part of the Guo family, even if she brought the Guo matriarch into the matter, it wouldn't help. If Li Xiangli insisted on escalating the situation, her son Bao'er didn't stand a chance.
Wei-shi glared fiercely at her son, clearly frustrated by the mess he had created.
Nearby, Tie Zhu's wife, a known busybody, saw the commotion and couldn't resist adding fuel to the fire. "Oh my, it seems our village has a bold little robber! And look at that—caught red-handed by the victim's mother! How shameless to steal and still act so righteous about it. Shouldn't we inform the village head about this?"
"You shut your mouth!" Wei-shi snapped, jabbing her finger at Tie Zhu's wife. "Who says my Bao'er is a robber? Just because Li Xiangli says so? Who knows what really happened?"
Tie Zhu's wife wasn't about to back down. "Oh, so we're all blind, are we? Plenty of people saw your Bao'er take their food. Now you want to deny it? Pathetic."
Wei-shi puffed up her chest indignantly. "Nonsense! That pork crackling is ours! Those little brats of hers stole it from us! My Bao'er was just trying to take back what's rightfully ours. Her kids are the real thieves!"
Li Xiangli was livid. "Wei-shi, do you have any shame at all? Your son steals from mine, and instead of teaching him a lesson, you accuse my children of being thieves?!"
Guo Bao chimed in smugly, "Who's lying now? I saw Guo Zhu and Guo Le'er steal it from our house with my own eyes! I was only trying to get it back. Your kids are nothing but little thieves!"
The crowd was stunned, unsure of what to believe.
Xiaozhu was trembling with anger. "I did not steal anything! I didn't!"
Wei-shi pressed her advantage. "Oh, really? You expect us to believe your family can afford pork crackling? Ha! With how poor you are, you're more likely to be eating wild vegetables! What's more likely—that you bought ten pounds of pork fat, or that you stole it?"
Guo Bao took the opportunity to gloat, pointing at the pork cracklings scattered on the ground. "Thieves! Thieves! You'll have to pay for these now, too!"
He shouted loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear, clearly hoping to humiliate Xiaozhu in front of everyone.
The smugness in his tone infuriated Li Xiangli. Some people, she realized, just didn't deserve a single ounce of patience. If you gave them an inch, they'd take a mile. Enough was enough.
"We bought the ten pounds of pork fat ourselves," Xiaozhu declared angrily. "It's not stolen!"
Wei-shi's eyes lit up with greed. If this poor family could afford such luxuries, it was worth taking advantage of. She smirked and said, "Ah, so that's where our missing pork fat went! You little thief, how dare you steal from us and then brag about it!"
Xiaozhu's face turned red with fury. "That's not true! My mother bought it herself! We didn't steal anything!"
"Hah! Who are you fooling? Someone like you buying pork? You'd be lucky to eat wild herbs and roots! Ten pounds of pork fat? Dream on!" Wei-shi scoffed.
Disclaimer:
I am not the original author of this work. This is a translated version of the original text, shared for reading and reference purposes only. All rights to the original content belong to the original author. I do not claim ownership of the original work or its characters. This translation is intended solely for informational and entertainment purposes.