Chapter 8: Utterly Foolish

"Sanlang and Wuya are hurt! Eldest daughter-in-law, hurry back to the room and check on them, see if we need to call a doctor!"

Seeing that Old Lady Li had backed down, Old Man Li, who had been silent until now, spoke up. He urged Jin Yue'e with a face full of anxiety; anyone who didn't know better would think he was a doting grandfather concerned for his grandchildren.

A trace of sarcasm appeared at the corner of Li Wuya's mouth. Their grandfather was a typical "after-the-fact" person, someone who only ever appeared once the trouble had already subsided.

Jin Yue'e was worried about her son and daughter's injuries and couldn't be bothered to waste breath on the rest of the Li family. She nodded and quickly led the four children and the medicine chest back to the east wing.

The three rooms in the east wing had been built by Li Changsen specifically for his marriage. There was one main room and two side rooms; the middle room was where Li Changsen and Jin Yue'e lived, while the other two were occupied by Li Sanlang and Li Qilang in one, and Li Erya and Li Wuya in the other.

Back in the room, Jin Yue'e couldn't wait to check the injuries on Li Sanlang and Li Wuya.

Li Wuya quickly said, "Mother, I'm really not hurt. Go check on Brother; he was hit by an arrow in the shoulder."

Jin Yue'e ignored her, pulling Li Wuya over first to inspect her thoroughly. Only after confirming she was unhurt did she go to check Li Sanlang's wound.

"Mother, is Brother's injury serious? Do we need to see a doctor?" Li Erya asked worriedly.

Jin Yue'e looked at her eldest son's wound, which had already begun to clot, and her expression relaxed. "It's not serious. I can treat this wound myself." Saying this, she went to the cabinet to find medicine.

Li Erya let out a sigh of relief. Seeing Li Wuya covered in blood and Li Qilang looking filthy, she hurriedly took them to change their clothes.

Li Wuya felt sticky all over and pulled on Li Erya. "Second Sister, I want to take a bath."

Li Erya replied, "There isn't much water left in the house, so a bath is out of the question. But we can wipe ourselves down. Wait here, I'll go fetch some water for you."

"What's wrong with you?"

Li Wuya was finding clean clothes when she turned and saw Li Qilang pouting, looking very unhappy.

Li Qilang crossed his short arms over his chest and huffed, "I don't like Grandma. She's always scolding us and helping Second Uncle and the others steal our things."

Hearing this, Li Wuya fell silent.

In a family with many children like the Lis, parental favoritism was actually quite common. It was truly difficult to treat everyone with perfect equality.

But when the favoritism became too extreme, it was hard to justify.

Especially in the Li family's situation, where the entire family's livelihood relied almost entirely on her father, Li Changsen, yet Old Lady Li blindly favored the second and third branches.

Her grandfather, the head of the household, never really intervened, at most offering a few hollow, perfunctory words of comfort to the eldest branch after the fact.

People are naturally self-interested. Considering that Li Changsen provided for the family's survival, both of them should have valued the eldest branch more.

Yet, reality was the exact opposite!

Sometimes she really felt that Old Man Li and Old Lady Li were quite strange. Could it be that because her father had been on the battlefield and killed people, they were avoiding him?

Thinking of all the times over the years that Old Lady Li and Old Man Li had openly or secretly favored the second and third branches, she felt that these two were truly foolish to the extreme.

In a family, if some people are always giving and others are always taking, it doesn't take much thought to know that such a situation cannot last. Such a simple fact, yet the two of them didn't understand it.

By acting this way, weren't they clearly causing discord between the eldest branch and the second and third branches?

As long as they were alive, out of filial piety, everyone could barely manage to live under the same roof. But after they passed away, did they still expect the eldest branch to have anything to do with the second and third branches?

Truly, they were hopelessly stupid!

Li Wuya pulled Li Qilang to sit on the kang. "Qilang, let me tell you, Grandpa, Grandma, and Second Uncle are actually paper tigers—they'll break with a single poke."

"These people rely on Father to live. People who reach out to beg from others have no backbone. As long as we stand firm, they can't do anything to us."

"If you don't want them to steal your things in the future, first, you must toughen up and not be afraid of them; second, you must find a way to become strong."

Li Qilang frowned, pouting in distress. "But I'm still small. What if I'm not as strong as them?"

Li Wuya said, "Then you have to find a way to make yourself strong. For example, every morning you have to follow me and run laps around the military colony."

"Like today, I hit Second Uncle. If he wanted to hit me back, I would just run away. As long as I run faster than him, he can't catch me."

Li Qilang nodded vigorously. "Fifth Sister, I won't be lazy anymore. I'll definitely get up early and run with you."

Li Wuya smiled with satisfaction. "That's a good boy."

Li Qilang sighed. "If only we could be like Little Gouzi's family and split from Second Uncle and Third Uncle."

Split the family?

Li Wuya shook her head helplessly. If they were anywhere else, they might actually be able to find a way to split the family, but this was the border, and the Li family were military households.

Military households were required to provide soldiers, one from each household.

As long as they didn't split, only Li Changsen had to serve in the garrison. If they split, Li Changlin and Li Changmu might both have to serve.

Old Man Li and Old Lady Li would never agree to that, even if they died.

"Splitting the family is impossible. However, as long as we are strong enough, Grandma, Grandpa, and Second Uncle won't be able to bully us."

At this moment, Li Erya walked in with a basin of hot water. Seeing Li Wuya resting her chin on her hands, lost in thought, she asked with a smile, "Wuya, what are you thinking about?"

Li Wuya sighed. "I was thinking about how we can get Old Man Ye the Lame to take us as his apprentices?"

Li Erya asked amusedly while scrubbing a cloth, "Why do you want to be Old Man Ye's apprentice so badly?"

Li Wuya replied, "Because he knows martial arts! The year before last, during the New Year, Qilang and I ran into a few starving wolves at the edge of the colony. It was him—'whoosh, whoosh, whoosh'—he used stones the size of thumbs to kill those wolves."

"I went to look, and those stones that hit the wolves were embedded deep in their bodies. Old Man Ye must know internal martial arts."

Li Erya looked at her sister with amusement and handed her the scrubbed cloth. "You even know about internal martial arts?"

Li Wuya lifted her chin. "Of course. Doesn't Father know external martial arts? If there's external martial arts, there must be internal martial arts." Saying this, she told Li Qilang to go out, then took the basin to a corner to wipe herself down.

After Li Wuya finished, Li Erya went to fetch water for Li Qilang.

By this time, Jin Yue'e had bandaged Li Sanlang's wound and wiped him down. Now, she was taking some herbs from the medicine chest to the kitchen to decoct them.

When Jin Yue'e returned with the medicine, Li Wuya nimbly climbed onto the kang and sat beside Li Sanlang. Seeing him lift the bowl to drink, she quickly reached out to rub his chest.

"Brother, drink slowly, there's no rush."

Li Sanlang looked at his little sister with some helplessness. "I'm not in a rush."

Li Wuya smiled without saying a word, continuing to rub his chest. In a place invisible to the naked eye, countless pale green specks of light were flowing from her hands into Li Sanlang's body.

Huyan He's palm strike had been quite heavy, causing Li Sanlang some internal injuries. It would have taken a long time to recover just by drinking herbal soup.

At this moment, Li Sanlang felt the pain in his body ease slightly, but he assumed it was just because of the medicine and didn't think much of it.

That night, when it was time to sleep, Li Wuya thoughtfully massaged Li Erya's sprained foot.

The next morning, when Li Erya woke up, she was pleasantly surprised to find that her foot didn't hurt as much when she walked. She hurriedly nudged Li Wuya, who was still sleeping, and said excitedly, "Wuya, you're actually pretty good at massaging feet. Help me massage it again tonight."

Li Wuya rolled over, turned her back to her sister, and continued to sleep soundly.

(End of chapter)