Chapter 42: A Slap to the Face Delivered

"Damn you, Li Aiguo! You little brat, how dare you bully me! I'll sit on you until you're dead!"

Jia Zhangshi never expected Li Aiguo to strike back. Waving her "Nine Yin White Bone" (her hands), she lunged toward him.

Just as she reached him, a flash of black light streaked across her vision.

*Slap!*

She took a solid, heavy slap to the face, and a searing pain erupted on her left cheek.

"Talking pure filth. Just because others don't bother with you doesn't mean I'll indulge you!" Li Aiguo slowly withdrew his hand.

Jia Zhangshi hadn't expected Li Aiguo to actually lay a hand on her. Her eyes widened, and she let out a howl.

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

By now, her eyes had turned bloodshot. Like an enraged sow, she charged forward.

The surrounding neighbors all took a collective step back; Xu Damao had already retreated five meters away.

*Slap!*

Just like last time, before Jia Zhangshi could reach him, she took another massive slap.

This time, it was the right cheek.

Two bright red palm prints appeared symmetrically on her bloated cheeks. Well, symmetry is a form of beauty.

This time, Jia Zhangshi snapped to her senses instantly. She knew she was no match for Li Aiguo, who could make Shazhu look foolish.

However, Jia Zhangshi had her own specialty.

She rushed into the house like a whirlwind and emerged quickly, clutching a picture frame in her arms. The male comrade in the photo seemed to look somewhat helpless, perhaps due to appearing in so many scenes.

"Old Jia, you died so early, leaving us a widow and an orphan!"

"Now these people are all bullying me."

"Remember them clearly. Tonight, go find them for a good chat."

"If you take a liking to any of them, why not take them down with you for a private talk?"

Jia Zhangshi slumped to the ground, wailing and crying, her voice shrieking at the top of her lungs.

In the sweltering summer heat, a sudden chill wind blew, making the onlookers shiver.

In the past, if Jia Zhangshi performed her "undead summoning," Yi Zhonghai would definitely have stepped forward to stop her. But today, he stood there with his arms crossed, quietly waiting to see Li Aiguo get into trouble.

The thought of "Old Jia" coming for a chat tonight made the other residents not dare to step forward either. How creepy.

Peering through the gaps in her fingers while crying, Jia Zhangshi felt extremely smug. If Li Aiguo apologized today, she wouldn't get up!

Li Aiguo watched her quietly for a moment, then shook his head in disappointment. "Old woman Jia, just wailing like this is a bit unprofessional."

"???"

Jia Zhangshi froze, nearly forgetting to cry. Realizing something was wrong, she hurriedly resumed her loud wailing: "Old Jia! There's a bad man named Li Aiguo!"

Li Aiguo crouched down and smiled. "You should have had Jia Dongxu find you a drum so you could cry and dance at the same time, and have Qin Huairu act as your spirit medium. That would be professional."

"Li Aiguo, what nonsense are you talking about? Isn't that just performing a shamanic ritual?" Sensing something was off, Yi Zhonghai stepped forward to intervene.

Li Aiguo chuckled. "Isn't Jia Zhangshi summoning Old Jia right here essentially performing a shamanic ritual?"

His expression turned serious as he pointed at Jia Zhangshi. "First Uncle, I want to report Jia Zhangshi for engaging in superstitious activities!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the onlookers gasped in unison. Engaging in superstition was a serious offense; at best, one would be sent to a "study class," and at worst, they'd end up behind bars.

Jia Zhangshi's crying stopped abruptly. Her mouth hung wide open, her expression blank—she looked utterly ridiculous.

Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat. He quickly shot a look at Jia Dongxu. "Dongxu, hurry up and help your mother up. Making such a scene in the courtyard in broad daylight—have you no sense of propriety?"

Jia Dongxu responded and grabbed Jia Zhangshi's arm.

Jia Zhangshi was initially reluctant, but after receiving a glare from Yi Zhonghai, she obediently stood up, her old face drooping, standing there in silence.

Yi Zhonghai turned his gaze back to Li Aiguo. "Aiguo, Jia Zhangshi's false accusation deserves punishment. What do you think would be a reasonable penalty?"

"Yi Zhonghai, if you dare punish me, I'll knock you dead with my elbow..." Jia Zhangshi, not expecting Yi Zhonghai to backstab her, jumped up and down in rage.

Yi Zhonghai's forehead darkened with frustration. This old woman was simply too stupid. The situation was clear: if he didn't punish Jia Zhangshi, Li Aiguo would surely cling to the "shamanic ritual" charge.

Ignoring her, Yi Zhonghai continued, "Aiguo, look..."

"I recall the courtyard's cleaning duties are divided into zones."

Li Aiguo said with a smile, "Then swap the area assigned to me with Jia Zhangshi's."

A while ago, in order to win the "Advanced Courtyard" award, the residents had decided to clean the entire courtyard. Yi Zhonghai had divided the areas inside and outside the courtyard into small plots and assigned them to the residents to maintain.

At the time, Li Aiguo had been bedridden and unable to move, so his assigned area was the latrine and the road leading to the main gate. Not to mention the latrine was filthy and stinking, and the road was over thirty meters long and five meters wide. Cleaning it all would take at least two hours. It had been Auntie Liu and the Zhang Gangzhu couple who helped him.

The Jia family had been assigned the flowerbeds in the backyard. There were four flowerbeds in total, filled with vegetables planted by the residents, so there was no real need to clean them.

Hearing that she had to clean the latrine, Jia Zhangshi panicked and screamed, "Damn you, Li Aiguo! Don't even think about it!"

"Sister, shut your mouth!" Yi Zhonghai snapped at her impatiently. He took a deep breath and looked up at Li Aiguo. "Aiguo, I agree!"

"Then it's a deal!" Li Aiguo chuckled, pushed his bicycle, and walked toward the backyard.

Jia Zhangshi opened her mouth to curse again, but Yi Zhonghai had Jia Dongxu cover her mouth and drag her back into the house.

Once inside, fuming with rage, Jia Zhangshi bit Jia Dongxu's arm hard.

"Mom, why are you acting like a dog?" Jia Dongxu looked at the teeth marks on his arm with a miserable face.

Jia Zhangshi ignored him and glared at Yi Zhonghai. "Old Yi, are you trying to work this old woman to death just so you can steal my son?"

Having his intentions poked, Yi Zhonghai's expression remained unchanged. "Sister, would I really harm you? You were indeed careless today, and Li Aiguo caught you red-handed. If he actually reports this to the sub-district office, you'll be in big trouble."

"He wouldn't dare..." Jia Zhangshi was tough in words, but she lacked confidence in her heart. If it were the old useless version of him, she would have been confident she could handle him. But the current Li Aiguo was as hard as a steel nail.

Yi Zhonghai gave Qin Huairu a look.

Qin Huairu quickly poured a cup of tea for Jia Zhangshi and handed it over. "Mother, we have a long life ahead of us; we shouldn't fight over small things today. Besides, now that Li Aiguo is a train driver, his salary must be very high. He won't be able to spend it all by himself; there's no need to fall out with him."

Jia Zhangshi's expression softened slightly. "I didn't expect you to have such insight now."

"That's all thanks to your teaching," Qin Huairu muttered, secretly curling her lip.

Jia Zhangshi looked up at her. "Good daughter-in-law, you know Mother has aching waist and legs; I can't do heavy labor at all. Leave the cleaning to you."

Qin Huairu's expression froze, her brows furrowing. She wanted to refuse, but seeing Jia Dongxu's cold face, she could only nod and agree.

*Sigh.* If she had known, she would have stopped Jia Zhangshi from causing trouble earlier. She had intended to make Li Aiguo suffer, but instead, she was the one who ended up unlucky. What a mess!

Seeing that Jia Zhangshi had stopped making a scene, Yi Zhonghai stood up and said, "Shazhu will be released tomorrow. He's suffered grievances in there. I'll call Liu Haizhong, and we'll go pick him up together."

Jia Zhangshi curled her lip. "That fool Shazhu? Does he even know what a grievance is?"

Yi Zhonghai gave a bitter smile and left the room with his hands behind his back. Looking up at the clouds in the sky, he sighed inwardly: *Jia Zhangshi takes painkillers all day long; how has her body not collapsed yet?*