"You, you!" Old Su was so enraged by Su Qing’s words she was half-dead. Her finger trembled as she pointed shakily at Su Qing, speechless for a long moment.

Su Tao and Tian Aixiang stayed in the woodshed, not daring to come out. The mother and daughter had just been beaten by Old Su and were seething with resentment. Now, hearing Su Qing scold Old Su, they couldn’t help but cheer silently in their hearts, despite their dislike for Su Qing. They had wanted to curse her out long ago but simply lacked the courage.

"Erya, you’ve gone too far," Old Su said angrily, looking at Su Qing with displeasure.

"WAAAH—" Old Su flopped onto the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing, "This is outrageous! A granddaughter cursing her own grandmother! Is there no justice in this world?"

Just then, Su Shengli returned with Su Lihui from a doctor’s visit in the city. Before they even entered the courtyard, they heard Old Su’s furious cries. Once inside, they saw her sitting on the ground weeping, while the other Old Su’s face was terrifyingly dark. Su Qing, meanwhile, was perched on top of the wall, calmly observing the scene in their family’s yard.

Su Shengli immediately spoke to Su Qing with disapproval. "Erya, you’ve gone too far. No matter what, you shouldn’t curse your grandmother. She’s your elder. This is unfilial."

"You’re the unfilial one!" Old Su shrieked, pointing at Su Qing. "You damned girl, may you be struck by plague!"

"An elder first has to act like one. Third Uncle, do you think Grandma is acting like an elder?" Su Qing retorted. "If you don’t act your part, don’t demand it of me. Go cool off somewhere else. I’ve said it before, I’m not the same Su Qing you can just beat and scold anymore. Try to bully me again, and you’ll find I’m not to be trifled with." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Finished, Su Qing turned to the other Old Su. "Grandpa, you haven’t forgotten what I said the other day, have you? If you don’t restrain the people in your Old Su Family, who knows, one day I might curse them until they’re drowning in it. They might even get a beating, you know."

Hearing the word "beating," Su Lihui pointed at Su Qing and fumed, "You’re the one who hit me the other day! Don’t you dare deny it!"

"Where did I hit you? Show me the wound, then," Su Qing said, raising an eyebrow.

"You just did!" Su Lihui was furious. He’d been in pain for days, but it had suddenly vanished yesterday. Now that he was perfectly fine, where was he supposed to find a wound to show Su Qing?

Emboldened by the number of family members present, Su Lihui looked around for a stick to hit Su Qing with.

Su Qing snorted and shot a look at Old Su.

Old Su gritted his teeth and roared, "Enough! Stop all this fussing! Everyone, get back to what you were doing."

"Now that’s more like it." Su Qing’s lips curled into a smile. "Grandpa, if you restrain the family a little more in the future, they’ll spare themselves a few curses, right?"

With that, Su Qing ignored the colorful, enraged expressions on the faces of the Old Su Family and hopped down from the wall, humming a tune.

Immediately, furious scolding from Old Su erupted from next door, interspersed with a few pained cries from Su Tao and Tian Aixiang. Su Qing raised an eyebrow. ’Well now, looks like she’s taking her anger out on them.’

Su Qing’s mood improved even more. She continued humming as she went to prepare lunch for herself.

The scolding from next door went on for a long time. With her enhanced hearing, Su Qing could naturally tell it was all directed at Su Tao. She figured Su Tao must have been getting hit, too, as she could even hear the sound of slapping.

Seeing how miserable Su Tao’s life in the Old Su Family had become, Su Qing was so happy that she ate an extra bowl of wild vegetable and sweet potato congee. Of all the people in the Su Family, the first one she planned to deal with was Su Tao. That girl had not only ruined the original owner’s face but was also the main culprit who had indirectly caused her death. She would absolutely not let her off. However, she needed to find the right opportunity or wait until her superpower grew stronger. After all, this wasn’t the apocalypse where you could just go around killing people. She had to live in this village, so she needed to maintain a basically decent reputation.

Right now, she had separated from the family. When the Old Su Family came to bully her and she fought back, she would earn the villagers’ sympathy and support. But if she were to retaliate openly, the villagers would only see her as aggressive. After all, in everyone’s eyes, the Su Family was still her blood kin, no matter what. It was fine for her to separate from the family after being abused, but to do anything more would be crossing a line.

Therefore, any revenge had to be carried out secretly.

After lunch, Su Qing looked down at the Bagua Pool in the palm of her right hand. After being nourished by the green mist these past few days, especially the mist she absorbed from that tree yesterday, she could feel her body had improved significantly. Her foundation had been replenished. The most obvious change was in the Bagua Pool in her right palm—its capacity had increased, and the colors of the green and gray mists had become richer.

Seeing the changes in the Bagua Pool, Su Qing’s spirits soared. This Bagua Pool and her Wood Ability were the foundation of her confidence for living in this era. The stronger her foundation, the better her life would become.

For the next few days, things at the Old Su Family’s home were much quieter. It was unclear if Old Su had said something, but in any case, the family members now acted as if they didn’t see her when they went to work. Even Tian Aixiang, who loved to pick fights with her, kept her mouth shut.

"Well, look at that. Have the people from the Old Su Family had a change of heart? They’re not even rolling their eyes anymore," Aunt Tao said with a look of surprise. Today, Su Qing was working in a group with Aunt Tao and two other women from the village.

Usually, whenever Tian Aixiang and Su Tao saw Su Qing, they would always glare at her. But for the past few days, they’d practically been walking in circles to avoid her, not even sparing her a glance. Aunt Tao found it truly remarkable.

Su Qing smiled and said, "Isn’t that a good thing? It saves me the trouble of having them in my sight. It’s an eyesore."

"You’re not wrong there. A real eyesore," Aunt Tao agreed wholeheartedly. Suddenly, she seemed to make a new discovery. "Oh my, Su Qing, have you put on a bit of weight on your face? And... it looks like you’ve gotten a little fairer, too."

Hearing this, the other two women they were working with hurried over. "Let me see, let me see."

"Well, I’ll be," one of the women said with a laugh. "This girl Su Qing really has filled out a bit. And she’s fairer, too. My, that’s just not fair! We’re all shucking corn under the hot sun, so how did this girl Su Qing manage to get fairer?"

Su Qing smiled without saying anything. In the past few days, whenever she had free time, she would go to Baihua Mountain to absorb the green mist. Every day or two, she would even roast a wild pheasant or a rabbit in the mountains to eat. After all this time, how could she not have filled out a bit?

She had been so sallow and thin before that even a slight bit of weight gain and a fairer complexion were very noticeable.

However, the women didn’t imagine that Su Qing had been improving her diet in the mountains. Aunt Tao said, "If you ask me, now that this girl Su Qing has moved out on her own, her mood is better and she can eat better than before, so of course she’s going to put on some weight. Gaining weight is good; she was much too skinny before. This still isn’t enough. If you ask me, she needs to put on some more!"

The other two women quickly agreed, "That’s exactly it."

Su Qing didn’t explain, letting the women come up with their own reasons. The four of them chatted and laughed, and soon it was time to stop work for lunch. Su Qing didn’t go home. Instead, she headed straight for Baihua Mountain. She was craving meat again and planned to have her lunch in the mountains today.