Severed ties and living in a dilapidated house? No worries, the poor thing has a space.

"Impossible!" Bai Xiaoxiao staggered over and refused.

Fang Yu was half a head taller than Bai Xiaoxiao. She leaned slightly forward, looked down with sharp eyes, and smiled, "It seems we still have to ask the official to make the decision."

"You...!" Bai Xiaoxiao bared her teeth, but cold sweat was pouring down her back. Fang Yu seemed to be smiling calmly, but to her he was sinister and terrifying.

She was just talking nonsense from the start, never expecting that Fang Yu would actually report her to the authorities, who could arrest her mother with one hand...

Fearfully, Bai's mother tugged at Bai Xiaoxiao's sleeve: "Xiaoxiao, just apologize. I don't want to go to the government office; that's a place that eats people alive."

Bai Xiaoxiao was also in a dilemma. If she apologized, it would confirm that she had just lied, and she would lose all face.

Among the onlookers was a man who had been secretly watching the Fang family mother and her two daughters from beginning to end.

It was Lin Wu who arrived late. After learning the whole story, he regretted that he was late. He had initially looked down on Fang Yu, who was too thin and frail and looked like she was going to die soon. Although he had a bad reputation in the village, it wasn't too difficult for him to find a wife. He thought he might as well just let it go.

It wasn't until he saw her dragging a wild deer away on the mountain with her bare hands, and that she exuded an aloof and unapproachable aura, that he realized he had misjudged her.

Fang Yu now resembles a wild and untamed wolf, which has stirred up his desire to remarry her.

He was just worried that he was late, and now was the perfect opportunity. He pushed through the crowd and called out, "Fellow villagers, don't believe the rumors. Sister Yu hunted her own prey. I saw it with my own eyes."

The rumors were disproven on their own, and Bai Xiaoxiao and her mother's faces turned ashen.

Those who watch the spectacle are like weather vanes, swaying whichever way the wind blows, and they've started criticizing the Bai family mother and daughter again.

"I think they're just jealous, that's why they're making baseless accusations against others."

"That's right, that's right. With Yu-jie's strength, isn't it normal for her to be able to hunt prey?"

"Renyu doesn't want to marry, not because she thinks the dowry is too small. That's utter nonsense..."

Each person said one thing, and they were practically poking the Bai family mother and daughter in the back with their fingers.

The mother and daughter were forced to apologize by the crowd. Bai Xiaoxiao lowered her head so low that it was almost buried in the dirt, and her apology was so soft that it could hardly be heard.

"What did you say? Speak louder!" Fang Xin deliberately scratched her ear.

Bai Xiaoxiao took a deep breath, her eyes welling up with tears, filled with resentment and grievance. She closed her eyes and almost shouted, "I'm sorry!"

Just as Bai's mother was about to breathe a sigh of relief, for some reason, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her knees, and her legs went weak and she knelt down.

He knelt right in front of the mother and her two daughters.

Bai Xiaoxiao was initially furious, but upon seeing this, she froze, her voice choked with sobs: "Mother, why are you kneeling down?"

Mother Bai was terrified. She didn't want to kneel at all; she struggled to stand up, but she couldn't muster the strength. She grabbed Bai Xiaoxiao and said, "Quick, help your mother up! I can't get up!"

Her voice was very soft, but everyone around her heard it, which immediately caused a burst of laughter: "Is she getting her comeuppance?"

Fang Yu raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "We can't accept such a grand gesture."

Bai Xiaoxiao already felt embarrassed after apologizing, but now she has lost all face.

Bai Xiaoxiao deeply regretted her impulsive decision to slander the Fang family mother and daughters.

She forcefully pulled Bai's mother up, and the two of them ran home in a disheveled state.

The onlookers were all laughing loudly.

Back home, Fang Yu found some medicine and massaged Li's feet.

Madam Li pulled Fang Yu up, hesitant to speak, her voice filled with worry, "Yu'er..."

On the way back, Fang Xin had already quietly told her everything that had happened.

She knew that her mother was thinking of her short-lived father.

She felt that she hadn't taken good care of the two sisters, which was why she was so sad.

She gently comforted her, but didn't mention Fang Youfu's matter: "Mother, it's alright. You need to rest your feet for the next couple of days."

Li did not agree, but looked at the person in the courtyard who was wiping their face with water.

Fang Yu said, "Mother, you rest first, I'll go and apply some medicine to Xin'er."

Fang Xin acted as if nothing had happened. She dried her face and turned around, her slightly flushed cheeks revealing shallow dimples. "Sister, I'm fine now. I need to go to the river to get my clothes back. Those are the laundry jobs that Mother took on. I can't let them go to waste."

Fang Yu grabbed her and pressed her down to sit. He then dipped his fingertip in some ointment and gently applied it to her wound, saying, "Clothes are important, but we can't ignore your injury."

"hiss--"

"Did it hurt?" Fang Yu loosened her grip on her fingertips.

Although it hurt a little, Fang Xin grinned and said, "I only got a little pricked. If Bai Xiaoxiao's mother hadn't arrived quickly, I would have smashed her mouth to pieces!"

Fang Yu couldn't help but laugh at her, and instructed, "After you apply the medicine, you should rest well. I'll go get your clothes."

There was still a person standing by the river. Lin Wu had put away all the clothes and was standing guard, waiting for Fang Yu to arrive.

The crescent moon was already reflected in the water, shimmering in the sunlight.

Fang Yu walked over and glanced at Lin Wu briefly, then said calmly, "Thank you for your trouble."

She picked up the wooden basin full of clothes and was about to leave when Lin Wu chased after her: "Sister Yu, are your mother and sister alright?"

"They are all fine, no need to worry about them."

"Sister Yu!" Lin Wu called out to her, a blush rising beneath his bronze skin. "Women have it tough in this world. If there were a man in the family, something like this would never happen again..."

Fang Yu interrupted him the moment she looked up: "I won't trouble you with my family matters. Thank you for speaking up for me today."

After she finished speaking, she lifted her foot and walked forward.

Lin Wu stood there, his eyes filled with both disappointment and resentment.

Night completely enveloped Xishan Village, and the smell of cooking smoke dissipated in the darkness.

The family of three lay on the straw bed, with Fang Yu, who was sleeping in the middle, tossing and turning.

Li turned to her side and pulled the blanket up for her: "Yu'er, it's late, go to sleep."

Fang Xin's even breathing could be heard nearby.

Fang Yu rested her head on her arm and nodded.

When I woke up the next morning, there was no one beside me.

"Sis, you're awake. Wash your face and you can have breakfast."

Fang Xin brought in the hot water and put it down.

Fang Yu rubbed her sleepy eyes: "Xin'er, does your face still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore. I'm going to go up the mountain to dig for herbs later. Do you want to come, sister?"

After washing her face, Fang Yu took her calloused and withered hands in hers. These hands should have been used for embroidery, but now, for the sake of this family and for her sister, they had become like this.

"We won't go up the mountain today; we won't find any valuable medicinal herbs, and it would be a waste of time."

The two sisters walked hand in hand into the courtyard outside. Fang Xin asked in confusion, "Aunt Jiang only helps with this much laundry work. If we don't go up the mountain, how will we earn more money?"

As she spoke, Fang Xin blinked her eyes, which sparkled with boundless anticipation. Looking at the dilapidated courtyard, she was filled with excitement: "Sister, I want to earn lots and lots of money, and then build a big courtyard here. I want to make all the people who look down on us envious of us."

Fang Yu chuckled: "Okay, our Xin'er is the most capable. We will definitely earn lots and lots of money, and then build a big courtyard that everyone will envy."

Li heard clearly the two sisters' lofty ideals.

Mrs. Li came over with a bowl of hot porridge, her eyes smiling. "Alright, stop joking around and eat first."

There were half as many rice grains in today's porridge as yesterday, which means Mother must have taken my advice to heart.

Fang Yu took the hot porridge and pulled Li Shi to sit down: "Mother, your feet shouldn't be tired these two days. I'll take care of the rest."

After breakfast, Li was strongly urged by her two daughters to stay home and rest, and was not allowed to go anywhere else.