How high can a little kid jump? And how strong could they possibly be?
No one could have expected it. Yun Jiao, with her stubby little legs, leaped up and delivered a vicious flying kick straight to the stomach of Ma Po’s grandson, Yun Xuecheng.
Those little legs, which looked so powerless, actually sent Yun Xuecheng staggering back several steps, completely out of control. He then collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach and crying out in pain.
As he struggled to sit up, Yun Jiao ran up to him again and slammed her forehead into his.
With a loud THUD, Yun Xuecheng let out a howl and fell back, dizzy and seeing stars.
Yun Jiao’s forehead was red from the impact too, but she just rubbed it, unconcerned.
Hearing the miserable cries of their grandson and son, Ma Po’s family rushed over to see what was happening, each one of them overcome with distress.
"Yun Jiao! Yun Jiao, you little bitch, what do you think you’re doing? Let go of my grandson! Let go of him..."
Granny Yun landed two more sharp slaps on Ma Po’s face.
"You old witch! You old hag! You shameless, black-hearted monster! How dare you use such foul language on my Jiaojiao!"
Yun Jiao showed no mercy either. She drew back her little fists and rained a flurry of blows on Yun Xuecheng, not even sparing his face.
Her little fists were moving so fast they were practically a blur.
This was the "kitty-cat punch" she had learned from the village cats—fast and painful, but not deadly.
Yun Xiaowu yelled, "Go, sis! You’re doing great!"
Yun Xuecheng’s parents were absolutely beside themselves. Yun Hanzi, ignoring everything else, was about to attack Wang Mei.
"Yun Hanzi, you lay one finger on her and see what happens!"
Back home, Yun Linhai had felt uneasy, so he brought his sons and nephews over to check on the situation.
Who would have thought they’d find Ma Po’s house in a complete uproar, a chaotic mix of curses and screams filling the air.
Many of the neighbors had gathered to watch the spectacle.
Yun Linhai saw Yun Hanzi about to hit his sister-in-law and bellowed at him to stop. In that brief moment, Yun Chenxi and the others charged forward.
It was no empty boast that their family had a lot of men.
In this era, a family with many sons might be a bit poor, but when it came to fighting and settling scores, they were tough as nails.
Yun Hanzi was pinned down and beaten by Yun Linhai and his sons. After all, he was the only able-bodied man in his household, and Yun Xiaowu and the others would even jump in to help from time to time.
Wang Mei switched targets to help Shen Yunlian.
Ma Po’s family was getting the worst of it.
The crowd of onlookers watched the drama unfold while making half-hearted attempts to break up the fight.
"Isn’t Ma Po just asking for trouble? Why curse at Yun Jiao for no reason? She didn’t raise her own grandson right—he stole a chicken and ate it—but she blames Yun Jiao for it. It has nothing to do with her. Only Ma Po’s family would believe the lies coming out of Yun Xuecheng’s mouth."
"Hey, stop fighting! Someone’s going to get seriously hurt!"
"Don’t they know how much Yun Linhai’s family dotes on Yun Jiao? They’re really just making trouble for themselves."
"The village chief is here! Everyone stop fighting."
No one really dared to pull them apart. If you weren’t careful, you could get hit yourself, and then what?
Getting hit in a scuffle like this meant you got hit for nothing.
The party secretary and the village chief rushed over after hearing the news. The sight of the all-out war unfolding at Ma Po’s house made their vision go black.
On any other day, this might be forgivable, but today of all days, a leader from the higher-ups was visiting.
’These troublemakers!’
"Stop! All of you, stop right now!"
"What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and pull them apart!"
When the party secretary saw that little girl, Yun Jiao, ferociously pinning down Yun Xuecheng and beating him, he nearly fainted on the spot.
Wang Yi’s eyes went wide. "Dad, that little girl is surprisingly fierce!"
’She looked so well-behaved.’
Wang Jianlin patted his son’s head. "Don’t talk nonsense."
But he himself couldn’t help but glance repeatedly in Yun Jiao’s direction.
’Good heavens,’ he thought. ’A fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy is being pinned down and beaten by a three-year-old toddler, howling and unable to fight back.’
He felt secondhand embarrassment for the boy.
The village chief was so angry his beard was trembling.
"You... Every single one of you is just relentless!"
"Village Chief, you have to stand up for us! Their family is using their numbers to bully us! They came right to our door to beat us up! Look what they did to me, and to my grandson! Oh, why is our family so pitiful..."
The moment she was pulled away, Ma Po began to wail and lodge her complaint.
Granny Yun, holding a shoe in her hand, pointed it at Ma Po and cursed. She was also out of breath from the fighting, but her imposing aura hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
"Why don’t you talk about the fine mess you’ve made? Don’t think you’re in the right just because you’re loud and unreasonable. Your own grandson is a petty thief who stole your own hen and ate it, so why are you cursing my Jiaojiao for no reason?
"You’re an elder, yet you have no shame, abusing your seniority. When we got here, we heard this old witch calling my Jiaojiao a fox spirit, saying she corrupted your grandson! You’d better explain yourself! How exactly did my Jiaojiao corrupt your grandson? Otherwise, this isn’t over today!"
Shen Yunlian held Yun Jiao and cried, but her words were logical and well-reasoned.
"My Jiaojiao is such a good, well-behaved child. How did she ever provoke your family? You curse her and insult her for no reason. Your mouths were so foul when we arrived, I can’t imagine the horrible things you’ve said behind our backs. To do this to a three-year-old child... how venomous can your heart be, you old crone!"
Wang Mei, with her hands on her hips, let loose a torrent of curses, her voice even louder than Ma Po’s.
"And now you’re playing the victim? Ptooey! You shameless old hag! A few slaps from my mother-in-law and you still haven’t learned your lesson, calling her ’little bitch’ with every other breath. Did you eat shit? Your words stink so bad. What right do you have to cry? What right do you have to complain?
"You’re as disgusting as the warts on a toad! Your son and grandson getting beaten is your own fault, you old woman with a foul mouth that accumulates no virtue! Even in your old age, you can’t stop causing trouble for your family. Having an old woman like you is eight lifetimes of bad luck for your household!"
With the three of them—Granny Yun and her daughters-in-law—shouting and cursing, those who didn’t know what was going on were finally able to piece together the sequence of events.
At first, people had felt sorry for Ma Po’s family for being beaten so badly, but now they just felt that pitiful people must have their own hateful qualities.
"That Ma Po, she was a long-tongued gossip even when she was young. How many rumors in our village started from her mouth?
"She hasn’t settled down in her old age either, still talking about people everywhere. It’s one thing to do it behind their backs, but it got back to them this time. If it were me, I’d also go to her door and demand an explanation."
"Exactly. Just like Lin He’s wife said, it’s truly bad luck to have an elder like that. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for her foul mouth."
"The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree."
The village chief and the party secretary also understood now. The main fault for this incident lay with Ma Po.
They shot a fierce glare at Ma Po. ’What a troublemaker, never a moment of peace!’
"What are you lot standing around for? Get your mother back inside! Stop embarrassing yourselves out here! That mouth of hers is always running, criticizing everything, and now she’s targeting a child. She has no dignity as an elder!"
The village chief was truly mortified now.
And to be disgraced right in front of the visiting leader, no less.
Yun Jiao also spotted Wang Jianlin over there and immediately raised her little hand to greet him.
"Uncle Wang, are you here to see my big brother and second brother?"
Her eyes were sparkling and her smile was radiant. All traces of the fierce little girl who had been pummeling someone with her fists moments ago were gone.
Wang Jianlin nodded. "Indeed, I was looking for you all."