The Leisurely Life of a Peasant Woman in the Tang Dynasty

Her wrist was tightly grasped, and the sharp pain made Tang Youyou almost breathless, but she endured it without crying out. She looked directly into Mr. Liu's greedy eyes and said word by word: "Mr. Liu, you're forcing people to buy and sell. Aren't you afraid that if this gets out, people will laugh at you?"

As if he had heard something funny, Mr. Liu burst into laughter, causing the onlookers to join in the fun. He released Tang Youyou's wrist and said in a contemptuous tone, "Scorn? In Qinghe Village, what I, Liu, say is the rule! You, a little widow from another place, dare to negotiate terms with me?"

The people around were pointing and whispering, most of them were afraid of Mr. Liu and sympathetic to Tang Youyou. Tang Youyou felt powerless, but she knew that if she backed down today, there would be no chance of recovery in the future.

"Mr. Liu, I respect you as the elder of the village, so I have been trying to persuade you kindly. However, these vegetables of mine are grown with my sweat. Five cents a pound, you are going to kill us orphans and widows!" Tang Youyou said, her eyes red, but she still straightened her back and refused to give in.

Tang Wan and Tang Jin saw their mother being humiliated, and their young faces were filled with anger. Tang Wan held her brother's hand tightly to prevent him from acting impulsively, while Tang Jin's eyes were red and his fists were clenched tightly.

When Mr. Liu saw that Tang Youyou dared to contradict him, he immediately became furious: "If you don't accept my toast, you will be punished! I tell you, you have to sell these vegetables today, whether you want to or not! Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude to you!"

"How do you mean rude?" an old voice called from outside the crowd. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw the village elder Li, leaning on a cane, slowly approaching. He was so respected in the village that even Mr. Liu had to give him some respect.

"Uncle Li, why are you here?" Mr. Liu put on a hypocritical smile and his tone became a little more polite.

Uncle Li ignored Mr. Liu and walked straight to Tang Youyou. He carefully looked at the vegetables in her basket, then looked up at Tang Youyou's red and swollen wrist and asked in a deep voice, "Child, what's going on?"

Tang Youyou seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw and told Uncle Li everything that had happened. Uncle Li's face turned very ugly after hearing this. He turned his head and stared at Mr. Liu with sharp eyes...

Uncle Li's sharp eyes swept over Mr. Liu, making him feel uneasy. The villagers who were watching the excitement around him gradually quieted down. They all wanted to know how Uncle Li would deal with this matter.

"Mr. Liu, you are already in your forties. Why are you still doing this kind of forced buying and selling?" Uncle Li's voice was not loud, but it carried an aura of majesty that made Mr. Liu dare not look directly at him.

"Uncle Li, you misunderstood. I am..." Mr. Liu wanted to argue but was interrupted by Uncle Li.

"Misunderstanding? I saw it with my own eyes, how could it be false?" Uncle Li pointed at Tang Youyou's red and swollen wrist, "Look at what you have done! This child is a widow, and it is not easy to raise three children. How could you bully her like this?"

Mr. Liu was speechless after being told this by Uncle Li. He could only stand there awkwardly, his face turning red and white. The surrounding villagers also began to whisper and express their dissatisfaction with Mr. Liu's behavior.

Tang Wan and Tang Jin, who were hiding behind Tang Youyou, were delighted to see that the usually arrogant Mr. Liu was like a child who had done something wrong in front of Mr. Li. Tang Wan's eyes were shining with admiration. She was proud of her mother's bravery, and at the same time, she was more determined to protect her mother and her younger siblings.

Although Tang Jin was young, he understood what had happened. He clenched his fists tightly and vowed to study hard and protect his mother from being bullied.

Tang Youyou looked at Uncle Li who stood up for her, her heart filled with gratitude. She knew that in this strange era, Uncle Li was like a mountain, protecting her and the children from the wind and rain.

"Uncle Li, thank you." Tang Youyou choked up and said, "I just want to make money to support my children with my own abilities. I don't want to be bullied by anyone."

Uncle Li patted Tang Youyou's hand and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, kid. With me here, no one can bully you. You can do business boldly. If anyone dares to cause trouble for you, come to me."

Tang Youyou nodded gratefully. She knew that with Mr. Li's support, her future life would be much better.

"Uncle Li, what do you mean by this? Are you going to go against me for a stranger?" Seeing that Uncle Li was defending Tang Youyou so much, Mr. Liu was dissatisfied and his tone became tough.

"Oppose?" Uncle Li sneered, "I just can't stand you taking advantage of your power to bully others! Mr. Liu, I advise you to be careful and don't think that just because you have a little money, you can do whatever you want!"

After saying this, Uncle Li no longer paid attention to Mr. Liu. He turned to the surrounding villagers and said, "Fellow villagers, we all live in the same village. We see each other every day. We should help each other instead of oppressing each other. It's not easy for Youyou, a woman, to raise three children. We should help her instead of kicking her when she's down!"

After hearing what Uncle Li said, the villagers all nodded in agreement. Seeing this, Mr. Liu knew that today's matter could not be resolved peacefully, so he could only leave in disgrace.

"Youyou, don't worry. I will call a meeting of the village elders tomorrow and will definitely give you justice." Uncle Li looked at Tang Youyou, his eyes filled with kindness and determination. "No one can deprive you of your right to do business!"

Uncle Li turned and left, walking firmly towards the village committee, leaving behind only a reassuring figure...

After Uncle Li left, Tang Youyou felt a surge of warmth in her heart, and her eyes couldn't help but become moist again. She knew that Uncle Li really wanted to help her. The surrounding villagers also cast kind glances at her, which made Tang Youyou feel extremely warm. She secretly made up her mind to work hard to do a good job in business and never let Uncle Li and the villagers down.

The next day, Uncle Li summoned the elders of the village and held a special meeting at the village committee. The meeting had only one topic, which was about Tang Youyou's business.

"My dear uncles and brothers," said Uncle Li, sitting in the main seat, in a loud voice, "I called everyone here today to discuss something. There's a new daughter-in-law named Tang Youyou who has come to our village. She's raising three children alone, and life isn't easy. To support her children, she made some tofu and went to town to sell it, but was forced to buy from Mr. Liu and suffered injustice."

As soon as Uncle Li finished speaking, a buzz of discussion broke out in the meeting room. The villagers knew that Mr. Liu relied on his wealth and power to oppress the people, but they didn't expect that this time he would bully an orphan and a widow.

"Uncle Li, you're right. Mr. Liu has gone too far!" Aunt Wang was the first to speak up, indignant. "It's not easy for Youyou to raise three children alone. We should help her. How can we let her suffer this kind of injustice?"

Aunt Wang's words resonated with the other villagers, and they all expressed their desire to seek justice for Tang Youyou.

"Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me." Grandpa Li raised his hand to signal for silence. "I know everyone sympathizes with Youyou's situation, but I think we can't just talk about it. We must take concrete actions to help her."

"Uncle Li, just say it, we will all listen to you!" the villagers said in unison.

"Youyou makes tofu well and her prices are fair. We should support her and let her run her business with peace of mind." Grandpa Li looked around and said earnestly, "I hope everyone will buy tofu from Youyou in the future and not from Mr. Liu's shop. I believe that as long as we unite as one, we can make Mr. Liu understand that oppressing the people will not end well!"

Uncle Li's words were powerful and won warm applause from all the villagers present.

After the meeting, Aunt Wang walked over to Tang Youyou, patted her hands, and said with a smile: "Youyou, just do your business with confidence, we will all support you!"

Tang Youyou nodded gratefully, her heart filled with hope. She knew that with the support of the villagers, her future would definitely get better and better.

However, what Tang Youyou didn't know was that Mr. Liu was hiding in the dark, glaring at her and the villagers with gnashing teeth, his eyes filled with resentment...

Tang Youyou took a deep breath, feeling the sincere warmth from the villagers, and her heart was filled with emotion and strength. She knew that Uncle Li and the villagers had done enough for her. Next, she had to rely on her own hands to build a new world for herself and her children.

As the days passed, Tang Youyou's tofu stall became more and more prosperous. The villagers kept their promise and only came to her to buy tofu, leaving Mr. Liu's shop deserted.

Seeing Tang Youyou's business booming, Liu Yuanwai was furious, but he could do nothing. Uncle Li was highly respected in the village, and the villagers all listened to him, so he didn't dare to offend him easily.

"Hmph, I don't believe I can't deal with a little girl like you!" Mr. Liu thought viciously as he sat in his yard.

A few days later, Tang Youyou went to the town to set up a stall as usual, carrying a load of tofu. As soon as she arrived at the town entrance, she was stopped by several fierce-looking men.

"Who are you? What do you want to do?" Tang Youyou asked warily, feeling a faint sense of unease in his heart.

"It doesn't matter who we are. You just need to know that someone doesn't like you and doesn't want you to set up a stall here." One of the leading burly men said in a rough voice.

As soon as Tang Youyou heard it, she knew it was Mr. Liu who was behind this, but she was not afraid at all. She straightened her back and said, "I'm doing business based on my ability. Who am I bothering? If you dare to mess around, I'll report it to the police!"

"Call the police? Just you?" The strong men laughed as if they heard some huge joke.

One of the burly men reached out to grab Tang Youyou's tofu basket, but Tang Youyou dodged it quickly and shouted angrily, "How dare you rob me in broad daylight!"

"Robbery? We are doing justice and teaching you a lesson!" the strong men said as they were about to take action.

Tang Youyou protected the tofu basket, dodging while shouting for help. Passersby around saw this scene and stopped to watch, but no one dared to step forward to help.

"Stop!" At this moment, a loud voice came from outside the crowd. The crowd automatically parted to make way, and a middle-aged man wearing a long silk gown and with a shrewd face walked in.

"Shopkeeper Zhao?" Tang Youyou's eyes flashed with surprise when he saw the person coming.