The surroundings fell silent. Aunt He was taken aback: "What's wrong?"
The woman pointed behind her.
Aunt He turned around. Her pupils shrank instantly, and the winnowing basket on her lap almost tumbled to the ground. She looked completely flustered as she stammered, "F-Fang... Young Fang."
Fang Zichen stood with his arms crossed, looking down at her with an expressionless face.
He didn't speak, so Aunt He felt somewhat intimidated by him. But then, as if remembering something, her expression eased slightly. She smiled and stood up: "You're not working today? Is it a rest day?"
Fang Zichen didn't reply.
Aunt He tried to make conversation: "Here to get some sun too, Young Fang? Come, sit over here. There's a stool right beside me. You know, our winters here are bitterly cold! It rains so often, sunny days are really rare. Today's an exception. Make the most of it and get some sun, otherwise it'll start getting cold again tomorrow or the day after."
Seeing Fang Zichen standing motionless, just staring intently at her, his deep amber pupils devoid of any emotion, and still not uttering half a word in reply, with people around watching her, her face couldn't help but show some awkwardness: "Young Fang, what are you looking at?"
Fang Zichen lifted his eyelids slightly and replied: "At your tongue."
"..." Aunt He asked instinctively: "What's so good about a tongue?"
Fang Zichen gave her a sweeping glance. "I just wanted to see how long it actually is, since you spend the whole day chattering away everywhere, spreading rumors and gossiping about people."
That glance seemed ordinary, carrying no apparent aggression, yet Aunt He felt a sudden chill run down her spine.
Fang Zichen's face showed no expression as he asked: "What were you saying just now?"
Under his gaze, which held almost no emotion or warmth, Aunt He stammered, "I..."
"You said Zhao Ger is an adulterer," Fang Zichen took half a step toward her. "Go on then, tell me. Who did he fool around with? Tell me everything, detail by detail, and make it perfectly clear."
Aunt He took two steps back, not daring to look at him: "I, I don't really know!"
"You don't know?" Fang Zichen held his forehead and suddenly let out a short laugh. "You don't know, yet you go around spreading damn rumors about him? You've been at it for nearly half a month. Did it feel good?" He kicked over the bamboo basket Aunt He had brought for the peanuts. The peanuts inside spilled everywhere, scattering across the ground.
His outburst was completely without warning, his entire bearing turning cold and terrifying.
Several nearby women were so startled they stood up. The commotion was big, and the men rushed over, asking what happened.
Someone explained in a small voice.
The men looked at Aunt He, thinking she had become foolish in her old age.
With the precedent of Liu Laizi, everyone knew Fang Zichen protected Zhao Ger as if he were the apple of his eye—no one could hit, scold, or touch him. Yet here she was, not even keeping her gossip to herself at home, but instead insisting on coming out here to spout it. Wasn't that just inviting trouble?
Aunt He saw the peanuts she had spent half a day sorting now all rolled in the mud and cried out in distress.
"Aiyo, my peanuts! Young Fang, what are you doing?!" She went to hit Fang Zichen. Fang Zichen caught her hand. She struggled but couldn't break free, and began to shout, seeming so angry she wasn't afraid anymore: "What's wrong with me saying a couple of things? If he's no good, am I not even allowed to say so?"
Fang Zichen asked coldly: "In what way is he no good?"
"He is just no good," Aunt He said.
"Oh. He's no good, so you're the good one?" Fang Zichen threw off her hand. "Aunt He, do you just have too much free time every day? So full from eating with nothing better to do than go around saying this person is no good, that person is no good? What, does that mean you think you're the only decent one in the whole world? If you're so wonderful, why did you marry Uncle He back then and not the Jade Emperor? Surely only the Jade Emperor would be worthy of you."
[Jade Emperor: the celestial ruler of all heavens, earth, and the underworld, governing gods, spirits, and human fate]
He didn't speak loudly, but the surroundings were very quiet, and everyone heard him.
Someone in the crowd couldn't hold back and let out a snort of laughter.
Aunt He's face flushed red with anger, and her wrist still throbbed faintly with pain.
"How dare you speak like that! Aren't you afraid I'll go back and tell the village chief?"
"What am I afraid of?" Fang Zichen stood utterly fearless, planting his hands on his hips with an almost contemptuous sneer. "You old hag, I'm telling you. Sure, I'm only in my teens, but I've weathered my share of storms. I studied martial arts up on Wudang Mountain, I've endured the grind in coal mines, I've sweated on assembly lines, I've mined in Iraq. What kind of trouble haven't I seen? You think I'd be scared of an old woman like you, scared of some village chief?"
[Wudang Mountain: the legendary birthplace of Tai Chi and a center for Taoist philosophy, martial arts, and monastic practice
Seeing him stand his ground, looking completely unconcerned, Aunt He could hardly believe it. "What did you just call me? You said I was—"
Fang Zichen cut her off: "I said you're an old hag."
Aunt He and the Village Chief were born of the same mother. In the village, aside from the Ma family, everyone held a certain degree of fear and respect for the village chief. Moreover, the He surname was a major clan in the village. Almost no one in the village had ever dared to speak to Aunt He like that.
Fang Zichen was the first, and the only one.
She had originally noticed that Fang Zichen was rather distant toward her and didn't show her much regard. But she assumed he might be a young master from a wealthy family, raised in luxury and pampered since childhood, so it was perhaps inevitable that his temper would be a bit hot-headed.
His conditions were truly excellent. Having a fiery temper wasn't a major flaw—after all, he didn't live with her. Her ambition was simply to become the mother-in-law of a xiucai.
She knew about Fang Zichen beating up Liu Laizi. She also knew how protective Fang Zichen was of Zhao Ger.
Originally, she hadn't dared to speak ill of Zhao Ger. But what else could she do if she didn't speak?
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