Tian Jinhua had just scuffled with two people for quite a while and was already out of strength; moreover, getting hit with a stick is far more painful than a slap, especially in the summer when clothes are thin—that truly hurt a lot. Therefore, she couldn’t help but start howling out loud.
But Liang Xiaoyu had gained the upper hand, so how could she let her go so easily? Especially since she had been doing manual labor since she was young, combined with her youth, she had considerable strength and stamina. The force of her swings grew heavier with each blow as she cursed while hitting: "I’ll teach you to spread rumors, I’ll teach you to spread rumors... You aim to ruin me with your slander, don’t you? Today, I’ll beat you to death before I go jump in the river..." She was of marriageable age now, and Tian Jinhua was clearly trying to destroy her.
At first, some of the onlookers felt that Xiaoyu’s actions were somewhat inappropriate—how could a child lay hands on an elder? But after hearing Liang Xiaoyu’s words, they fell silent. After all, many had seen Ma Gouzi fooling around in the woods and straw stacks, while the children of both Liang’s and Yang’s families were well-behaved. Whenever something happened, the couples Liang Youcai and Yang Zhenli would do everything possible to help out.
Particularly Little Liuzi, the young man was spirited and warm-hearted, often volunteering to help anyone he saw carrying something on the road—that was a decent lad that many families kept their eyes on. Now, to have such slander poured onto him, even a clay Buddha would spark three points of anger.
Having good relationships paid off at this moment.
Some even started to cheer Xiaoyu on: "Exactly, such a malicious tongue deserves a beating. Wait until later to talk to Ma Laifu, he should really keep his wife in check..."
"Xiaoyu, hit her hard. If I weren’t a man, and it wasn’t inappropriate for me to hit a woman, I would’ve wanted to beat up that foul woman myself. She’s just a rat dropping, messing everything up. Last time her dog snatched a cake from my Shuanzi, and that foul woman even said it served him right..."
Tian Jinhua, being beaten and howling miserably, knew that if she continued like this, she would definitely not come out on top. She could only hurry to run away. If she didn’t run, she worried that the other party might not stop before beating her to death.
Of course, at this time, at the riverbank outside the village, Ma Gouzi was also getting a thrashing from Little Liuzi and Tie Dan, and the poor chap didn’t even know why he was getting beaten, only able to cry and go back to find his dad.
"Tian Jinhua, don’t let me see you again; otherwise, I’ll beat you every time I do..." Liang Xiaoyu shouted at Tian Jinhua’s retreating figure, then spat fiercely, "I just can’t believe it—slandering others and still thinking you’re in the right?"
Tian Jinhua, covered in bruises from the beating, stumbled in her rush, nearly falling over, one shoe flying off. She quickly picked it up and ran off barefooted.
Liang Xiaoyu finally let out a sigh of relief, but when she turned around, she found many people staring at her, and her face immediately turned a deep red. However, since she was already flushed from the exertion of hitting someone, it didn’t make much of a difference.
"Sister Xiaoyu, well done." Sanni was the first to jump up in support. "These people deserve a beating. From now on, if anyone dares to bully us, just hit them straight away. My sister said, if you can use your hands, there’s no need to bicker—bickering too much gets annoying anyway." She even gave the folks from the old residence a sweeping glance.
Yang Ruxin’s lips twitched a bit, thinking, you little girl, selling me out like this, do you really think that’s good?
But Sanni didn’t see anything wrong with it. In her eyes, her big sister was powerful. Following her big sister meant no one dared to bully her. Look, the people from the old residence didn’t even dare to come closer. This feeling was truly wonderful.