The 70s Novel: The Supporting Character Just Wants to Lie Down-Chapter 49: Brawling and Tearing, Spurned by All

By the roadside at the village entrance, Liu Yulan and Li Yinfeng were fighting fiercely. Despite everyone’s efforts to dissuade them, it was to no avail. Some people went to call the village head, Wang Baoxing, and Zhang Rongfa. It was the time when work ended for the day; generally, women would go home first to prepare dinner, while the men finished a bit later.

The noise of the quarrel drew everyone around, and more and more people gathered to watch the spectacle.

What Li Yinfeng had just said quickly spread, and the onlookers were all talking about it, almost unanimously against her.

"Yinfeng, she’s just sour grapes, isn’t she? She must be regretting it..."

"Of course, she’d regret it. Zhaodi married into the Zhu family without a dime of betrothal money. She’s practically giving herself away for free. Who knows what she saw in the Zhu family boy..."

"This is like dropping a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed. Of course she’d regret it..."

"She just said a few sour words. Yulan’s anger was too much..."

"How can you blame her for being angry? They brought trouble to her family. If it were me, I’d go up and tear that mouth apart too..."

The crowd chatted and laughed, making fun of the spectacle, not caring if the situation escalated...

"Alright, everyone stop, stop it." Village head Zhang Bingkun, holding a tobacco pipe, looked at the two fighting women helplessly. He shouted, but no one paid attention, making his beard bristle with anger.

"Fourth Uncle, what’s going on here..." Zhang Rongfa, having heard that his wife was fighting with a Wang Family woman, was angry enough to feel sick. This wife of his was getting more and more out of control, but he had to grit his teeth and come anyway, as she was his child’s mother.

"Go on, go and pull them apart. How can you let your wife embarrass us like this?" Village head Zhang Bingkun glared at Zhang Rongfa fiercely, and then angrily asked, "Where’s Baoxing? Is he here?"

Village head Zhang Bingkun and Zhang Rongfa’s father, Zhang Bingwen, were cousins. The ones causing trouble were from the Zhang Family, and he felt greatly embarrassed, thus he wasn’t kind to Zhang Rongfa either.

"I’m here, I’m here..." Wang Baoxing hurried over, worried his wife would be at a disadvantage. Seeing his wife entangled with someone, he anxiously moved forward to help, "Wife, wife, are you alright... You, Yinfeng, let go now..."

Seeing Wang Baoxing already moving to separate them, Zhang Rongfa also hurried forward, pulling Li Yinfeng. With the combined efforts of the two men, they finally managed to separate the two women after much struggle.

"Pah! Li Yinfeng, I, Liu Yulan, will not rest until you’re dead. If you don’t give me an explanation for today, I’ll go to Wang Zhaodi’s house tomorrow and ask her if she regrets marrying into the Zhu family, spreading such lies about her sister. You’ll destroy her reputation." Liu Yulan glared at her fiercely; she had hit hard today, giving Li Yinfeng a good beating.

Li Yinfeng, having heard the crowd’s discussions, knew she was in the wrong this time. She regretted it, shrinking back and bumping into Zhang Rongfa.

Seeing the situation, Zhang Rongfa understood everything clearly. His own wife must have started this trouble. Annoyed, he said, "What have you done now, causing trouble all day? Can’t you be quiet for a bit."

"I... I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut, just said a few sour words. Did you have to hit me so hard..." Li Yinfeng knew she couldn’t get past this without admitting fault, but she was unwilling to apologize directly, still stubbornly holding her ground.

Liu Yulan mocked, "That’s just your loose tongue. Alright, I’ll have a loose tongue too. Your daughter, Zhang Hongfang, is lazy and eats like a pig!"

"Liu Yulan, why are you slandering my daughter?" Hearing her venomous words, Li Yinfeng’s eyes reddened instantly.

"Ha, you can insult my daughter and son-in-law, but I can’t retaliate? Who do you think you are, Li Yinfeng?" Liu Yulan stared into her eyes, venomously saying, "Li Yinfeng, kind words warm you in the coldest winter, but cruel words hurt like frost in summer. When you spoke those cruel words about my Pandi, did you have any conscience as an elder? Heaven sees everything, what goes around comes around, and I’ll be waiting to see your fate... Baoxing, let’s go..."

"Eh..." Wang Baoxing helped Liu Yulan out of the crowd slowly, his eyes slightly red, feeling deeply guilty and sympathetic to her as he listened to her words.

Liu Yulan, having had a fight, vented her frustrations and felt much better. She had heard a lot of rumors in the village lately, but had found no opportunity to react. This time, Li Yinfeng just happened to provoke her at the wrong time.

She made a big scene, also to show the other gossipmongers in the village. Her last words were for the whole village, hoping they’d hear, and be a bit more restrained, speaking less gossip.

The crowd stood silently, watching them leave...

"Alas, let’s all disperse." Zhang Bingkun said earnestly, "You all, think hard when you go home if you’ve done anything regretful. In the future, be more restrained, leave some kindness with your words. Who among us doesn’t have our share of troubles? Just remember... what goes around comes around, it’s absolutely true."

Zhang Bingkun bent over slightly, with a hunched back, hands behind his back, and walked slowly away...

The excitement was over, and the crowd scattered in small groups.

Zhang Rongfa, with a darkened face, looked at Li Yinfeng and scolded, "Aren’t you going home yet, you disgrace." Then, not waiting for her, he walked away quickly.

At the Wang Family, Wang Baoxing helped Liu Yulan home, shocking everyone.

"Mom, what happened to you, how..." Wang Miaomiao went to get medicine for her injuries while saying to Wang Pandi, "Sister, bring a basin of water for Mom to wash up."

Liu Yulan, seeing this, smiled and said unconcernedly, "I’m fine, no need to fuss. Gangzi, you’re here, come sit."

Wang Miaomiao watched Wang Pandi carefully wipe Liu Yulan’s face, frowning, and said seriously, "How can it be nothing, the skin’s broken. Who knows if that person has rabies, we need to disinfect and sterilize, don’t be careless."

"Hahaha, right, she’s a rabid dog." Liu Yulan was amused by her daughter, and the previous melancholy was swept away.

Wang Miaomiao applied medicine to her. The medicine was left over from her last injury, some of which was used for Wang Pandi, and this time it was Liu Yulan’s turn.

"Yulan, Yulan, are you alright." Zhou Fengjuan, who hadn’t caught the excitement earlier, came as soon as she heard the news.

"Sister-in-law, come sit, I’m fine, just a bit of skin abrasion." In a good mood, Liu Yulan said proudly, "This time I seized the initiative and hit hard, she must be more injured than I am."

"You!" Zhou Fengjuan sat down, relieved only when she saw Liu Yulan was alright, "Fortunately nothing serious happened, otherwise how would the kids be? Too impulsive, you should have come to me, and I would have gone with you to teach her a lesson."

"I couldn’t hold back." Liu Yulan, thinking of the words defaming Wang Pandi, couldn’t help but get angry, "She was insulting Pandi and Gangzi, how could I let her off easily."