My humble days in ancient times

Wang Guiyun was an expert at quarreling, and she wasn't about to be outdone. She put her hands on her hips and spitted as she said, "I didn't expect you, a little girl, to be so sharp-tongued. You're not that old, but you've already learned how to quarrel. According to seniority, you should call me sister-in-law. Why are you yelling at me so disrespectfully?"

Xu Ruyi sneered and said, "How funny! You're such an adult, yet you're still arguing with a child. You're so shameless! I'm ashamed of you. Aren't you embarrassed? I don't have a sister-in-law like you."

Xu Ruyi imitated Huang Guiyun, put her hands on her hips, looked up, and angrily said to Huang Guiyun, "My brother passed by your door, and you stopped him. What do you mean by that? Do you think my brother and sister are young and easy to bully? If you passed by my door and we stopped you, what would you think? Or do you have the ambition to promise not to pass by my door again?"

Huang Guiyun looked at Xu Ruyi, who showed no fear of her at all. Her little mouth was much more aggressive than her mother, He, who was a softie. She had never noticed this little girl was so aggressive.

Huang Guiyun was furious. She stomped her foot on the ground and pointed at Xu Ruyi, "You ugly girl, you really need some discipline. You're so sharp-tongued, aren't you afraid of not being married in the future? You've learned to argue at such a young age, you're really capable!"

Xu Ruyi hated being pointed at the most, so she followed her example and pointed at Huang Guiyun: "You're so talented and yet someone's married to you, what should I be afraid of? Look, aren't you afraid of affecting your own son? Besides, I'm so beautiful, even more beautiful than you, what should I worry about?"

Huang Guiyun was so angry that she stamped her feet. Xu Shi came out at this moment. He dragged Huang Guiyun to the yard. While holding Huang Guiyun tightly, he said, "Why are you, an adult, arguing with a little girl?"

Xu Shi originally thought that Huang Guiyun would stop arguing after a few words, but he didn't expect the two to argue more and more fiercely. From the sound of her voice, she was still a little girl. So he hurried out of the house to see what was going on.

He knew the character of his partner best. She was unforgiving even when she was right, and equally unforgiving even when she wasn't. Whenever he tried to break up a fight, she'd hit him before she'd vented her anger. Sometimes, her fingers were so long they'd scratch his skin. Scratches would form on his neck, arms, and even his face. Sometimes Xu Shi had to turn a blind eye.

Huang Guiyun ignored Xu Shi. Even though Xu Shi held her tightly, she still said harshly: "You stinky girl who no one wants to marry, bah!" After that, she spat on the ground.

After Xu Ru saw Huang Guiyun leave, he took his younger brother and sister home.

On the way, Xu Ruyi was worried that they would suffer losses as they were still young, so she reminded them to avoid Huang Guiyun in the future and stay away from her as much as possible, and also stay away from her son Erhu.

Huang Guiyun was pulled back into the house by Xu Shi, who slapped him in the face and then punched and kicked him. Xu Shi was so angry after being slapped that he pushed Huang Guiyun, and Huang Guiyun fell to the ground. She had never thought that Xu Shi would treat her like this, and a look of disbelief flashed in her eyes. Huang Guiyun was immediately furious, pointing her finger at Xu Shi and said, "You heartless man, you actually pushed me, are you still a man? Why didn't I see you so strong before? When did you become so bold?"

Xu Shi didn't want to get entangled with her: "You're always looking for trouble. Think about it carefully. It's better to forgive others when you can. Why are you causing unrest and chaos at home every day?"

After Xu Shi finished speaking, he left the room.

Huang Guiyun stood up, dusted herself off, and slumped down on the bed in anger. She was furious just thinking about Xu Ruyi, and even angrier when she thought about Xu Dagui and his wife: They were coming out to laugh at her.

No, I have to piss off Xu Dagui and his wife, or I won't be able to swallow this anger. Huang Guiyun's brain was working rapidly, and soon her fingers snapped: Got it.

The next day, Xu Dagui and his wife were weaving straw sandals in the yard when a group of children passed by. They kept saying, "Is Xu Dagui expensive? Is Xu Dagao tall? Is Xu Dapang fat? Is Xu Daqiang strong?"

The couple looked at each other, angry and annoyed.

A group of children were running around the village, shouting nursery rhymes everywhere. Many villagers heard them and found them funny.

Xu Dagui and Liu had three sons: Xu Dagao, Xu Dapang, and Xu Daqiang. Xu Dagao wasn't tall, but he wasn't short either. Xu Dapang wasn't fat at all, and Xu Daqiang was thin and weak...

Xu Dagui was a typical commoner, a peasant who had earned little money in his life and lived a very tight life. Like many people in his village, he lived his whole life guarding a few acres of land. Although his name was Dagui, Xu Dagui knew that wealth and glory were only in his dreams.

The nursery rhyme was so simple and clear. Liu knew in her heart that someone was trying to make things difficult for her! Is that really the case? It was just to see who you were arguing with, but I didn't expect you to be so angry. Huang Guiyun, Huang Guiyun, you are so petty.

Liu was getting angrier and angrier as she thought about it. She and Huang Guiyun often argued, especially about Huang Guiyun's tendency to take over land, often planting vegetables from her garden on her own land. Even though there was a fence, she still tried to move it onto Liu's land, and even pulled it out.

Liu simply planted a tree at the intersection of the plots, but Huang Guiyun watered it with hot water every day, and the tree died not long after. That would have been fine, but Huang Guiyun went on to say that Liu had ulterior motives, saying that by not planting on her own land, the trees would provide shade once they grew, and that she was deliberately trying to prevent the vegetables in her garden from growing well.

Huang Guiyun often said all kinds of bad things about Liu behind her back. Of course, Liu knew all of this because someone would always tell her secretly afterwards.

Although Liu Shi was not as aggressive as Huang Guiyun, she was not afraid of trouble. That night, she picked up two buckets of manure and dumped them in Huang Guiyun's yard.

The next day, Huang Guiyun got up early and walked into the yard. She smelled a odor and looked at the ground. She saw some yellow filth and almost vomited out of nausea.

Huang Guiyun was furious, and the consequences were dire. Standing outside the courtyard, he began cursing at the Liu family for a full hour. "Do you think that if no one saw it in person, they wouldn't know it was you?"

After getting up, Xu Shi cleaned the yard and then made breakfast. He was eating in the main room at this moment!

Xu Shi was not in a hurry, as if nothing had happened, and ate calmly.

Huang Guiyun was furious, and didn't understand why Xu Shi wasn't angry. He glared at Xu Shi and said, "Eat, eat, eat! All you know is eat. The yard has been splashed with manure, how can you still eat?"

Xu Shi took a sip of porridge and said, "The sky isn't falling, so why should I be afraid? If you don't cause trouble, how can trouble find you? I've already scolded you, so just eat your meal in peace and let everyone be quiet for a while."

Huang Guiyun slammed the table in anger: "They've already thrown feces, and I can't curse them? At least the scolding will make her feel uncomfortable. It's all your fault. If we had a high wall at home, this wouldn't have happened."

"Alright, alright, let's eat. Even if I build a tall wall and people can't get in, can't I just throw the manure on the wall?"

"She even splashed it on the courtyard wall. Isn't she afraid of getting herself dirty? She can think of such a disgusting thing. Why doesn't she just eat shit?" Huang Guiyun couldn't help laughing when she thought of Liu having the feces splashed in her mouth. "She should have splashed it in her mouth. So disgusting, so disgusting."

Seeing their mother nagging, Dahu and Erhu took their bowls of rice and left the house.

"This kid really needs to be punished!" Huang Guiyun looked at the backs of the two children and saw Xu Shi's silly look. He said, "Earn some money and build a wall around the courtyard. It's disgusting. I'm such a jerk..."

Xu Shi was calm and collected. "Our fence is only half a man's height. You should be content that they didn't pour manure into the water tank. Be more tolerant and generous in the future, or it will never end."

Hearing this, Huang Guiyun was stunned for a moment, and suddenly seemed to remember something, threw down his chopsticks and ran out.