Chapter 108: Exposing the True Colors of the Yang Family
Juzhiwa Village. The Yang Family!
Li Yi stood with his foot on Yang Wenxi, pointing his finger at Yang Zhong, and glaring at the hundred or so villagers!
The reason he had beaten Yang Liushi and her daughter so brutally today, and had beaten Yang Wenxi to a pulp, was not merely because of the insults they had just hurled at him and his eldest sister.
It was to seek justice for his eldest sister from his past life—settling both old and new scores at once!
Just then, a man in his fifties with a goatee stepped forward from the crowd: “You Li family lad, my name is Yang Quan, and I’m the village party secretary of Juziwa. If the Yang family has wronged your Li family in any way, or wronged your sister, just speak up—I’ll settle this for you!”
“But if you can’t back it up with facts, don’t blame us for handing you over to the police!”
Li Yi glanced at him and said calmly, “I know you’re Yang Zhong’s cousin, but it doesn’t matter. If I, Li Yi, dare to stand here and fight today, it’s because I’m not afraid of you—justice lies in the hearts of the people!”
At that moment, Li Yi fixed his gaze on Yang Zhong, Yang Quan, and the others and said, “Setting aside what happened before, let’s just talk about what happened today. I traveled all this way to bring rice, flour, cooking oil, and all sorts of goodies to visit my pregnant sister. Is there anything wrong with that?”
Upon hearing this, the crowd fell silent. What could possibly be wrong with visiting family?
Especially since his sister is pregnant—that makes it all the more important to visit her. Not coming would be the real mistake!
Seeing that no one was speaking, Li Yi fixed his gaze on Yang Quan and asked, “Secretary Yang, do you think there’s anything wrong with this?”
“Well… that’s not wrong!” Yang Quan replied, frowning.
“Hmph, but do you know what I saw when I got here?”
Li Yi then pointed to the huge pile of dirty clothes under the eaves and said, “When I got here, my sister was sitting right there washing clothes. Those aren’t even finished yet—look at the ones hanging on the line; those are the ones she’s already washed!”
“So the whole Yang family went off to a banquet, and my sister was left here doing all the heavy lifting like some kind of maid or servant? And she’s already five or six months pregnant—is this even something you’d ask a person to do?”
As soon as he said this, the onlookers began whispering and murmuring among themselves!
Most people disapproved of the Yang family’s behavior. After all, every family has daughters, and if their own daughter were treated this way by her in-laws, they’d be furious too.
Seeing trouble brewing, Yang Zhong immediately tried to explain: “It’s not like that…”
“Then what is it?”
As he spoke, Li Yi walked over to the pile of dirty clothes, pulled out a few pairs of underwear filthy enough to be mistaken for trash, and said, “Whose underwear is this? I can overlook the clothes you wear on the outside, but my sister has to wash your underwear too? What’s the matter with you—don’t you have hands of your own?”
Then, Li Yi threw the filthy underwear right in Yang Wenjuan’s face.
These undergarments were clearly women’s—and barring any surprises, they belonged to this ugly hag!
Yang Wenjuan was so humiliated by Li Yi’s actions that she immediately covered her face with her hands. Now she’d really made a name for herself—a reputation for laziness!
Being in her twenties and still having her sister-in-law wash her underwear—people wouldn’t say the sister-in-law dotes on her younger sister-in-law; they’d say the younger sister-in-law is lazy.
And in this day and age, once a girl gets labeled as lazy, she’s truly finished!
It would be impossible for her to find a good husband in the future. Before proposing, suitors would certainly come to the village to ask around, and upon hearing this reputation, most would back out!
The other villagers stared at Yang Wenjuan as if she were some kind of strange creature. They all knew the Yang family’s daughter had been spoiled, but they never imagined she wouldn’t even wash her own underwear—that was simply beyond the pale!
Li Yi pointed to the clean clothes hanging on the line and said, “Look at those. There are so many pairs of underwear. I don’t think they’re all just my sister’s, are they?”
Yang Zhong was also provoked by Li Yi’s words. Flushed with anger and humiliation, he snapped, “She’s the daughter-in-law we brought into the Yang family. What’s wrong with her doing a little laundry?”
“What’s wrong with it? How can you be so thick-skinned?”
Li Yi continued, “What’s the matter? Just because you brought a daughter-in-law into the family, you think you’re some kind of feudal lord now? Why don’t you just go fly to the moon?”
“You…”
At that moment, Yang Quan immediately interjected, “It’s true that Yang Zhong’s family was in the wrong here, but you can’t beat someone up like this. That’s against the law, you know that, don’t you?”
“You want to talk about the law? Fine, let’s talk about the law!”
Li Yi continued, “I wasn’t planning on making a big deal out of this with these scumbags—after all, my sister still has to live with Yang Wenguang. But just as my sister and I were catching up, those two idiots showed up!”
“They walked in without even asking when this poor relative had arrived or if I’d had lunch. The moment they stepped through the door, they started yelling, accusing me of stealing their chicken cakes and stealing their stuff. They even called my sister a shameless woman right in front of me!”
“Whoosh…”
The moment those words were spoken, it was as if a depth charge had been dropped into calm waters, instantly setting off a massive wave.
No sooner had the words left her mouth than the villagers began whispering and murmuring among themselves once more:
“The Yang family is really acting out of line here. They’re visiting relatives—how can you treat guests like this!”
“I’ve heard they’ve been tormenting Wen Guang’s wife day in and day out. Now that her family’s here to settle things, they’ve finally met their match!”
“I’ve heard that Wen Guang’s brother-in-law is a thug who doesn’t hold back. This mess at the Old Yang household is probably going to end badly today!”
“You’re absolutely right. They’ve got what’s coming to them…”
…….
At that moment, Li Yi spoke up again: “It refers to the intentional fabrication and dissemination of false information sufficient to defame a person’s character and damage their reputation. In serious cases, the punishment is imprisonment for up to three years, criminal detention, surveillance, or deprivation of political rights.”
“You’re slandering me in front of all these people, accusing me of stealing from your house. That’s enough to meet the criteria for a criminal sentence!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Yang Wenjuan covered her face and screamed, “You did steal our sponge cakes! I saw you!”
“Are you sure those chicken cakes were yours?” Li Yi sneered.
“Yes, it’s definitely ours!” Yang Wenjuan shouted.
At that moment, Li Mei, who had remained silent until then, asked in surprise, “Juanzi, you can’t just make things up. When did our family ever buy chicken cakes?”
“We do! Mom goes to the supply and marketing cooperative every week to buy a pound!”
Seeing the bewildered look on his eldest sister’s face, Li Yi’s expression grew even colder.
He turned to his eldest sister and said, “Sis, go get the chicken cake I bought. Let’s show it to the villagers here!”
Li Mei was starting to get a little angry now. She had finally figured it out: the family did indeed have sponge cakes, and they bought them every week—she was just the only one who didn’t know!
Although she had a gentle disposition, she wasn’t stupid, nor was she without a temper.
Without another word, Li Mei turned and walked back into the house!