Chapter 42: A Slap in the Face Delivered

"Damn you, Li Aiguo, you little runt! How dare you try to bully me? I'll sit on you until you're crushed to death!"

Mrs. Jia never expected Li Aiguo to turn the tables on her. Waving her hands like claws, she lunged straight at him.

Just as she closed the distance, a dark flash crossed her vision.

*Crack!*

She took a solid, resounding slap right across her left cheek, a searing wave of pain instantly following.

"Spewing filth out of your mouth. Other people might let you get away with it, but I certainly won't indulge you!" Li Aiguo slowly withdrew his hand.

Mrs. Jia hadn't expected Li Aiguo to actually strike her.

Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she let out a shrill shriek.

"Li Aiguo, I'll fight you to the death!"

At that moment, her eyes were bloodshot.

Resembling an enraged sow, she charged forward at full speed.

The surrounding residents instinctively took a step back, and Xu Damao had already scurried five meters away.

*Crack!*

Just like before, before Mrs. Jia could even reach Li Aiguo, she received another resounding slap.

This time, it was her right cheek.

On her two swollen cheeks, bright red handprints now bloomed symmetrically.

Well, symmetry is a form of beauty.

This second blow instantly snapped Mrs. Jia back to reality.

Since Li Aiguo had managed to humiliate Silly Zhu, she was clearly no match for him.

However, Mrs. Jia had a specialty of her own.

Like a whirlwind, she dashed into her house and burst right back out, clutching a framed photograph in her arms.

The male comrade in the picture seemed to wear a look of helpless resignation, perhaps from having to make too many appearances.

"Old Jia! You died so early, leaving us orphans and a widow!"

"Now all these people are bullying me!"

"Keep their faces in mind, and tonight you come and have a nice little chat with them."

"If any of them catches your eye, feel free to take them down below with you for a private conversation."

Mrs. Jia plopped herself down onto the ground, howling and weeping bitterly at the top of her lungs, shrieking with all her might.

...

In the scorching heat of summer, a sudden, chilly gust of wind swept through, and the onlookers couldn't help but shiver.

In the past, whenever Mrs. Jia launched her spiritual summoning ritual, Yi Zhonghai would have immediately stepped in to stop her.

However, today he stood quietly with his arms folded across his chest, watching silently and waiting for Li Aiguo to get knocked down a peg.

The moment they imagined Old Jia coming over for a chat tonight, the rest of the residents also lacked the courage to step forward.

How utterly chilling it was.

Weeping behind the gaps of her fingers, Mrs. Jia caught sight of this reaction and felt immensely triumphant.

If Li Aiguo didn't apologize today, she wasn't going to get up!

Li Aiguo quietly watched Mrs. Jia for a moment, then shook his head in disappointment. "Old Mrs. Jia, you're just howling here like this—you're hardly dedicated to the performance."

"???"

Mrs. Jia froze for a moment, almost forgetting to cry.

Realizing something was amiss, she quickly widened her mouth and resumed her wailing: "Old Jia! There's a bad guy named Li Aiguo..."

Li Aiguo crouched down, smiling. "You should have asked Jia Dongxu to find you a drum so you could cry and dance to the beat, and then have Qin Huairu play your shaman medium. Only then could you call it a professional performance."

"Li Aiguo, what are you talking about? Doesn't that sound just like a god-dancing ritual?" Sensing something was wrong, Yi Zhonghai hurriedly stepped forward to block him.

Li Aiguo chuckled. "Mrs. Jia summoning Old Jia right here—isn't that exactly a god-dancing ritual?"

His expression turned stern as he pointed at Mrs. Jia. "First Elder, I am formally reporting Mrs. Jia for engaging in feudal superstitious activities!"

As soon as these words dropped, the surrounding residents collectively drew in a sharp breath.

Engaging in feudal superstitious activities was a serious offense; at the very least, one would end up in a study class, and at worst, behind bars.

Mrs. Jia's crying abruptly cut off.

Her mouth hung wide open, her expression completely vacant, looking as ridiculous as one could possibly be.

Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat, and he hastily shot a glare and a hand gesture at Jia Dongxu. "Dongxu, why aren't you hurrying up to pull your mother up? Crying and making a scene in the courtyard in broad daylight, what kind of behavior is this?"

Jia Dongxu acknowledged the order and grabbed his mother's arm.

Mrs. Jia was initially somewhat reluctant, but after receiving a sharp glare from Yi Zhonghai, she obediently struggled to her feet, drooping her aged face and standing there in absolute silence.

Yi Zhonghai shifted his gaze back to Li Aiguo. "Aiguo, Mrs. Jia falsely accused you, so she certainly deserves to be punished. What kind of penalty do you think would be reasonable?"

"Yi Zhonghai, if you dare to penalize me, I'll use my elbow to knock the life right out of you..."

Mrs. Jia never imagined that Yi Zhonghai would stab her in the back, and she jumped up and down in fury, cursing.

Yi Zhonghai felt a vein throbbing on his forehead; this old woman was simply too foolish.

Today's situation was as clear as day.

If Mrs. Jia wasn't punished, Li Aiguo would undoubtedly refuse to let go of the "god-dancing" accusation.

Ignoring Mrs. Jia, Yi Zhonghai continued, "Aiguo, what do you think..."

"I remember that the courtyard's sanitation areas are all divided into sections," Li Aiguo said with a smile. "Just trade the section assigned to me with the one assigned to Mrs. Jia."

Not long ago, in order to qualify for the title of an advanced courtyard, the quadrangle administration decided to thoroughly clean the premises.

Yi Zhonghai had divided the indoor and outdoor areas into small zones, assigning them to the residents to keep clean.

At that time, because Li Aiguo had been bedridden and unable to move, his assigned zone happened to be the public latrine and the path leading to the main entrance.

Putting aside the fact that the latrine was filthy and stinking, that pathway was over thirty meters long and five meters wide.

To clean the entire stretch properly took at least two hours.

It was Mother Liu and Zhang Gangzhu's couple who had helped him clear it back then.

As for the Jia family, their assigned zone was the flower bed in the back courtyard.

There were four flower beds in total in the back courtyard, and they were crammed full of vegetables planted by the residents themselves, leaving virtually no need for any sweeping at all.

Hearing that she was going to clean the latrine, Mrs. Jia panicked and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Damn you, Li Aiguo, don't you even dream of it!"

"Old sister-in-law, shut your mouth!"

Yi Zhonghai snapped impatiently, taking a deep breath before lifting his head to look at Li Aiguo. "Aiguo, I agree to your terms!"

"Then it's settled!"

Li Aiguo chuckled, pushed his bicycle, and walked toward the back courtyard.

Mrs. Jia opened her mouth, intending to hurl more insults.

Yi Zhonghai gestured for Jia Dongxu to cover her mouth and drag her back inside the house.

Once inside, Mrs. Jia, consumed by rage, bit down fiercely on Jia Dongxu's arm.

"Mom, how... how could you act like a dog?" Jia Dongxu whimpered, staring mournfully at the deep tooth marks on his arm.

Without paying him any mind, Mrs. Jia glared at Yi Zhonghai instead. "Old Yi, are you trying to work this old woman to death so you can steal my son away?"

Though hit squarely in his hidden thoughts, Yi Zhonghai's expression remained completely unchanged. "Old sister-in-law, how could I ever wish harm upon you? You were truly careless today and let Li Aiguo catch you in a vulnerable spot."

"If he really reports this to the neighborhood committee, you're going to be in deep trouble."

"He wouldn't dare..." Mrs. Jia put up a tough front, but deep down, she lacked any real confidence.

If it were the spineless weakling of the past, she would certainly have been confident in her ability to manipulate him.

However, the current Li Aiguo was as unyielding as a steel nail.

Yi Zhonghai cast a meaningful glance at Qin Huairu.

Qin Huairu hurriedly poured a cup of tea for Mrs. Jia and handed it over. "Mom, there's still a long way to go, we shouldn't measure our strength by a single day's contest."

"Besides, now that Li Aiguo is a train driver, his salary must be quite high, and there's no way he can spend it all by himself. There's really no need for us to completely burn bridges with him."

Hearing this, Mrs. Jia's expression softened slightly. "I never realized you possessed such good sense."

"It's all thanks to your teachings," Qin Huairu muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes secretly.

Mrs. Jia looked up at Qin Huairu. "Good daughter-in-law, you also know that my back and legs ache terribly and I simply can't handle heavy labor."

"I'll leave the sanitation chores to you then."

Qin Huairu's expression stiffened, her delicate brows knitting together.

She wanted to refuse, but seeing Jia Dongxu's grim face, she had no choice but to nod in agreement.

*Sigh.*

If she had known better, she should have stopped Mrs. Jia when she went out to make a scene.

They had intended to humiliate Li Aiguo, but instead, they ended up bringing bad luck upon themselves.

What kind of mess was this!

...

Seeing that Mrs. Jia had finally quieted down, Yi Zhonghai stood up and said, "Silly Zhu is going to be released tomorrow, and he's suffered quite a bit of injustice inside."

"I'll call Liu Haichong, and the two of us will go together to bring Silly Zhu back home."

Mrs. Jia curled her lips in scorn. "That fool Silly Zhu—does he even know what injustice is?"

Yi Zhonghai offered a bitter smile, put his hands behind his back, and stepped out of the room.

He raised his head to look at the clouds drifting across the horizon, a sigh escaping his heart: *Mrs. Jia takes painkillers all day long, why on earth hasn't her body collapsed yet?*