Chapter 73: This Trick Doesn’t Work

Li Meng’s mother was furious. “You wish! Are you out of places to reason with people? Didn’t you say someone from the commune was coming? Let the commune handle it. This isn’t how things are done.”

Fang Yuan was much tougher than Li Meng’s sister-in-law. “I’m telling you, I’m not talking to the commune. Whoever comes, it won’t change anything.”

Li Meng’s sister-in-law, fuming, pointed at Fang Yuan’s nose. “You’re being unreasonable!”

Fang Yuan shot back, “You came all this way just to reason with me?”

Everyone around burst out laughing. You’re a rascal yourself, and you want to talk about reason? What a joke.

Lu Chuan watched Fang Yuan put Li Meng’s sister-in-law in her place, his eyes full of admiration for her.

Of course, she was firmly blocking Li Meng’s eldest brother, not letting him get involved in the women’s quarrel.

Lu Chuan had already said, “If a man gets physical, do you think you’ll get the upper hand? Just stay out of it, don’t get involved, and we won’t lay a hand on you either.”

Gong Er and Zhang Xiaole both stepped forward, scaring Li Meng’s eldest brother so much that he plopped down on the ground.

Everyone laughed. “This guy’s useless. No wonder he lets his wife make a scene.”

Li Meng’s eldest brother regretted coming with so few people. Surrounded by the men of the village, all waiting to teach him a lesson, he didn’t dare make a move. He totally chickened out.

Lu Xiaosan broke free from Li Meng’s sister-in-law and wheeled over the bicycle. “Sister-in-law, here it is. Don’t worry, I’m watching it. No one’s taking it.”

Fang Yuan nodded. Not bad, the bike was worth a bit of money. “Give me the money, or leave the bike. Take your pick.”

Li Meng’s sister-in-law definitely hadn’t come all this way to give gifts. She’d never met someone as shameless as Fang Yuan. “Where’s your village secretary? Where’s the secretary? There are bullies here. Doesn’t anyone care?”

The village secretary had been watching the commotion for a while and thought there was nothing wrong with it. If it weren’t for someone like Fang Yuan, the Lu family might have been bullied by these people again.

Like the saying goes, it takes a scoundrel to deal with a scoundrel. Serves them right.

He simply retreated to the back of the crowd and didn’t step forward.

In a village like this, everyone knows each other, but not a single person mentioned the village secretary was there. They all gathered around to watch the show.

Seeing no one was stepping in, Li Meng’s sister-in-law started crying and lunged for the bike, wailing, “You’re robbing us!”

Lu Chuan sighed. When dealing with unreasonable people, you need someone even more unreasonable, like Fang Yuan. This is called fighting fire with fire.

Li Meng’s mother, not daring to go after Fang Yuan, started pulling at Li Meng instead. “It’s all your fault, you worthless thing! Look at the mess you’ve made, just standing there watching your whole family get bullied!”

Li Meng dodged and argued, “Mom, what are you talking about? If you hadn’t listened to my sister-in-law and insisted on coming here to make a scene, would any of this have happened?”

The mother and daughter pulled at each other while the villagers watched, thoroughly entertained.

Fang Yuan nodded. “She’s right. You didn’t raise your daughter well—how did she end up so worthless?”

The whole village laughed. Li Meng realized she’d become a laughingstock—she’d never be able to hold her head up in the village again.

Li Meng’s sister-in-law could tell she wasn’t getting any money from the Lu family. This woman was even more ruthless than her.

She grabbed Li Meng. “Get the bike back for me! You’ve brought us right into a den of thieves!”

Li Meng was annoyed. “I told you, she’s a tough one. I told you not to come, I can’t handle her.”

Li Meng’s mother snapped, “You’re siding with outsiders! Did you plan this with her to set us up?”

Li Meng was exasperated. “If you weren’t trying to take advantage, would you have been set up?”

Fang Yuan said, “Your mess is your own to sort out—don’t drag me into it. I could say you planned this whole marriage thing as a scam, too.”

Li Meng’s sister-in-law spat, “As if I’d want anything to do with a poor, broken family like this.”

Li Meng was furious, especially with Lu Laoda (the eldest Lu brother) listening nearby. “Sister-in-law, do you even want the bike anymore?”

Did she ever consider how she’d get by in the Lu family, talking like that?

Li Meng’s sister-in-law immediately shut up. She’d never been extorted before—this was a first.

Li Meng, feeling sorry for herself, whined, “Brother Feng, you see what my family’s like. When it comes to getting engaged or breaking it off, I never had a say. I ran away to find you, Brother Feng, just to escape this misery.”

Lu Chuan and Lu Xiaosan heard this and couldn’t help but smirk. This woman was really trying to play the victim.

Fang Yuan glanced at Li Meng and Lu Feng, then said to Lu Chuan, “That trick might work on your brother, but it doesn’t work on me.”

Lu Chuan couldn’t help but laugh at the wrong moment. He whispered, “It doesn’t work on me, either.”

But Lu Feng really did feel sorry for Li Meng. He’d let go of the past, blaming her mother and sister-in-law for all the trouble. He believed Li Meng truly cared for him.

Li Meng pleaded, “Brother Feng, talk to your parents and let them go. We’ll keep our distance from now on. I never want to see them again.”

Lu Feng was swayed and turned to Lu Chuan. “Second brother, they’re still relatives. What’s the point of all this? Tell your wife to let it go.”

Lu Chuan was amused. When Lu Laoda spoke up, did he ever consider that the whole village was watching? If they let it end like this, how would the Lu family be seen in the village?

He didn’t even bother to look at Lu Laoda. “When they smashed up our house, did they think about being relatives? Did they care about appearances?”

Lu Feng still tried to act like the big brother. “How am I supposed to get along with my in-laws after this…”

Fang Yuan threw a broom at him. “Who do you think you are? Why should I care about your future? If you want them to leave, fine—pay for them yourself. Do you think our family is a free-for-all? Where do you get the nerve to talk like that? What a disgrace. If I were your parents, I’d cut ties with you right now.”

Lu Feng wanted to say, “Even if the deal falls through, we should part on good terms. You don’t have to be so hostile.”

But thinking of how unreasonable Fang Yuan could be, he didn’t dare say a word. Still, the look he gave Fang Yuan was complicated.

Lu’s mother also wanted to cut ties with her eldest son. Who was he pleading for? If it weren’t for Fang Yuan today, their family would have been in trouble again.

Besides, saying this in front of everyone—how would those who stood up for their family feel?

Because of the look Lu Feng gave Fang Yuan earlier, Lu Chuan’s face darkened immediately.

The engagement was off—what was with that complicated look? Lu Chuan was sure Lu Laoda had ulterior motives.

Just as Fang Yuan said, he wasn’t a good person.

Since talking to Lu Chuan didn’t work, Lu Feng turned to his mother. “Mom, say something. With all this fuss, how’s Li Meng supposed to go back to her family?”

Lu’s mother was furious. “When her mother-in-law and sister-in-law came to make trouble, did they think about our family? Do you think money grows on trees? You know me, I’m a pushover. I’ve been living under your second brother’s wife’s roof. I can’t handle this.”

Lu Xiaosan, standing nearby, said bitterly, “Big brother, do you know why Mom listens to second sister-in-law?”

Why else? Because he and Li Meng had been inappropriate, and the Lu family was in the wrong with Fang Yuan.

Even his own brother’s engagement was ruined—Lu Laoda really had no face left to speak.

Thinking of the past between Fang Yuan and himself, Lu Chuan didn’t feel any better.

Li Meng was watching Lu Feng with hopeful eyes, but after hearing this, she gave up on any ideas.

Li Meng was truly afraid of Fang Yuan—she was too unpredictable, and Li Meng didn’t dare cross her.

But she hated seeing Lu Laoda and Fang Yuan interact. Without anyone saying a word, just seeing the two of them standing there filled Li Meng’s mind with love and hate.

She felt insecure and guilty, worried that her future as a rich wife wasn’t guaranteed and might be snatched away."

"**Chapter 74: It’s Not So Easy to Take Advantage**

Li Meng hurried over. “Fang Yuan, I’m your sister-in-law. Whatever happened in the past, let’s put that aside. I’m your sister-in-law now, and at least we’re family. How can you act like this?”

Fang Yuan replied, “You might be family to them, but you’re not family to me. I haven’t even acknowledged your brother as my husband—what kind of sister-in-law are you supposed to be? Am I supposed to recognize you just so I can embarrass myself with you all, or so your whole shameless family can come over and try to take advantage?”

Watching the commotion from behind the fence, Sister-in-law Sun couldn’t help but mutter, “She’s got way more bite than I do.”

Brother Sun said, “It’s not just talk—she acts, too. You don’t want to mess with her.”

Sister-in-law Sun had seen it herself—Fang Yuan didn’t hesitate to use her fists. “I’m never going to provoke her again, don’t worry.”

Hearing this, Brother Sun was genuinely relieved. Otherwise, with his wife’s sharp tongue, who knows when Fang Yuan might teach her a lesson.

No matter how much Li Meng pleaded, Fang Yuan ignored her. Anyway, they weren’t getting that bicycle back.

All those little tricks Li Meng’s sister-in-law tried were useless in front of Fang Yuan. She was stubborn—no money, no bike.

The whole village was just standing around watching the show. Word had even spread to neighboring villages, and people came over to see the spectacle.

The show’s title: “The Tigress Deals With the Old Scoundrel.”

It wasn’t until people from the commune arrived that Li Meng’s sister-in-law and mother rushed over to them like they’d seen their saviors, hugging them and crying that they’d been robbed by bandits.

Everyone was stunned. The Lu family had called the commune officials, not these freeloaders.

Fang Yuan, on the other hand, was calm. “You can’t just listen to their side,” she said, pointing at the two women crying and complaining. “How could I have dragged them into my house? They practically delivered themselves to my door to be robbed—I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The commune officials were left speechless. This girl didn’t sound reasonable at all.

That’s when Lu Chuan stepped up. He told everyone not to leave and asked them to stay as witnesses, then explained everything that had happened from start to finish.

Only then did he let the crowd disperse and invited the commune officials and the village head inside to sort things out.

Lu Chuan’s commanding presence caught the attention of both the village head and the commune officials. Anyone could see this young man was someone to watch—he handled things so well.

Of course, it would have been even better if things had been handled before the commune officials arrived.

And looking at someone like him, it seemed he couldn’t even handle his own wife’s affairs.

The commune officials were muttering to themselves: How did he end up with such an unreasonable wife? “A good man has no good wife”—maybe the old saying was right.

With the village head helping as a witness, Li Meng’s family couldn’t make much of a fuss.

But Fang Yuan demanding compensation and holding onto the bicycle wasn’t really justified, either.

The commune officials tried to reason with Fang Yuan, but she wouldn’t budge—she insisted on compensation, or they weren’t getting the bike back.

Her house wasn’t a place people could come and go as they pleased.

The commune officials tried their best to persuade her, but all they could do was morally condemn Li Meng and her family for their behavior. But holding onto the bike wasn’t right.

They kept trying to talk Fang Yuan into it, and by the time they were done, the officials had drunk two ladles of cold water.

It was a real ordeal. In the end, it took the village head to step in before Fang Yuan finally relented a little.

Honestly, even the village head hadn’t realized he had so much sway—he was quite proud.

Li Meng’s sister-in-law hadn’t expected that even with the commune officials there, Fang Yuan still wouldn’t back down. She’d really run into a tough one this time.

In the end, Fang Yuan finally let up, saying she’d accept her losses for now. But as for the Lu family’s house being smashed up last time, they’d reported that to the commune, and that couldn’t just be let go—they had to pay compensation.

Li Meng’s face turned green. Her sister-in-law was never one to part with money, and if they actually managed to squeeze money out of her, it’d be a miracle.

Li Meng herself didn’t care much about a hundred or so yuan—she knew money would be worthless in the future anyway.

But now, after two months of hard times, she understood that a hundred yuan determined her current standard of living. It wasn’t easy to earn.

She really didn’t want to cough up the money.

The village head nodded—Fang Yuan’s demand was reasonable.

Lu Chuan secretly nodded, too. Well said. You have to hold your ground somewhere. If Li Meng’s family never suffers a loss, they’ll never learn.

Li Meng’s sister-in-law had never suffered like this before and refused to accept it. “Breaking off an engagement—who does it nicely? So we smashed things up, so what?”

Who wouldn’t frown at that? Who’d want to deal with people like this?

Lu Chuan said, “It was your family who wanted to break off the engagement, and now you’re here making trouble? Lu Laoda, say something.”

Lu Laoda couldn’t hide this time—it was his wife’s family, after all.

Li Meng tugged at Lu Laoda, pleading. He looked at Li Meng, then at her mother and sister-in-law, and finally forced out, “Let’s just let it go.”

The village head almost spat in disgust. Easy for you to say—now you’ve dragged your whole family, and even me as the village head, into this mess.

Lu Chuan didn’t want to meddle in family affairs, but today he couldn’t just let it go. He had to stand up for Fang Yuan and see things through for her.

Lu Chuan stepped forward. “Let it go? How? If this woman wants to date someone from the commune, that’s her business—we can’t control that. If she wants to fool around with someone, that’s up to her, too. But her family smashing up our house—that can’t just be let go. The house doesn’t belong to you alone.”

He laid it out clearly, though he threw Lu Laoda under the bus.

If Lu Laoda cared a bit more about his family, Lu Chuan wouldn’t have had to push him like this.

When Fang Yuan had said this earlier, Lu Laoda and his wife weren’t around, so things could have been glossed over. But now, with everyone present, there was no hiding.

The village head looked much happier—this was the way to talk, with backbone. If you let it go this time, what about next time? They’d just come and make trouble again.

Li Meng’s face turned livid. “What are you saying? Who fooled around? Oh, I’m being slandered to death! I can’t live with this kind of accusation!”

If she wanted a better life in the future, she couldn’t let people dump this kind of dirt on her. Li Meng was desperate now.

She lunged at Lu Chuan. “My brother-in-law is trying to kill me!” She acted just like her mother—truly a chip off the old block.

Fang Yuan stepped in front of Lu Chuan and kicked Li Meng away. “If you don’t want to live, go die somewhere else!” She couldn’t let this woman mess with Lu Chuan.

Then she added, “Slandered? Nonsense! Who doesn’t know about your business except Lu Laoda? Did you think I wouldn’t check out your background before marrying into this family?”

Li Meng instantly fell silent. Of course, the Fang family would have looked into everything before the engagement.

Everyone understood—this wasn’t just made up; there was evidence.

Li Meng saw there was no way out and just closed her eyes, pretending to faint.

She felt so wronged—why was life so hard? Why was there always a trap, always someone ready to put her in her place?

If only she’d come back earlier, before the engagement was broken off—how much better things would have been. She was already thinking about how to win Lu Laoda back. As for her reputation, was there any hope left?

Lu Laoda’s mother sighed. “Second daughter-in-law, the eldest’s wife is siding with outsiders—she’s no good. Let’s just talk about how they’re going to compensate us.”

What else could they do? Things had come to this—she couldn’t just watch her eldest daughter-in-law’s reputation get trampled. There wasn’t much left of it anyway.

Fine, let’s talk compensation. No one cared about Li Meng and Lu Laoda’s drama anymore.

[End of Chapter 74]"

"**Chapter 75: The Pursuit of “Reasonableness”**

Fang Yuan nodded. “However it’s reported in the village, whatever damage was done to our family, calculate it in money and have her pay for it.”

She then looked at the village Party Secretary and asked very seriously, “Am I being reasonable here?”

The Party Secretary felt respected by this new daughter-in-law, who seemed very responsible. He turned to the commune official. “Isn’t this reasonable?”

The commune official nodded. “It’s reasonable enough.”

Then someone took out a notebook, did some calculations, and gave a number: “Five yuan.” In other words, Li Meng’s sister-in-law smashed up the Lu family’s house, and five yuan would settle it.

Fang Yuan really couldn’t stay calm. “How much?” Was it just because her family had no one to back them up that it was only five yuan?

The commune official quickly explained, “Five yuan isn’t a small amount. Only a few bowls were broken, the window paper was torn. The cabinet is still usable. Just paste new paper on the window and it’s fine. How much more do you want?”

This was really beyond Fang Yuan’s expectations—just like that, it was over.

Fang Yuan looked at Old Lady Lu and forced out a sentence: “With relatives like this, we’d better get some valuables for the house next time.”

It really wasn’t worth all this trouble.

Old Lady Lu nodded, and in front of the commune official and the Party Secretary, said, “I used to be narrow-minded, but from now on, I’ll listen to you.”

The commune official’s face twitched. He’d never seen a mother- and daughter-in-law like this. Did they want to get smashed up again or what?

Li Meng’s mother was getting anxious. “Pah! You’re trying to extort us? Some relatives! I’ll never set foot in your house again in this lifetime!”

The Party Secretary and the commune official both looked at Li Meng’s mother, thinking, “The money may not be much, but if you really never come again, they’ll probably think it’s worth it.”

With everyone staring at her, Li Meng’s mother felt aggrieved. “What are you looking at me for? I don’t have any money. I won’t say anything more. I really don’t recognize these relatives.”

Li Meng’s sister-in-law wouldn’t pay either. In the end, it was Li Meng herself who pretended to wake up and handed over the money. Otherwise, Fang Yuan wouldn’t have let it go.

As for the bicycle, it was only after much persuasion from the commune official and the Party Secretary that Fang Yuan finally let them take it away.

The commune officials all told Li Meng’s sister-in-law, “See? Don’t mess with people you can’t handle. If you try to extort someone like her, you’re just asking for trouble. Next time, steer clear.”

Li Meng’s sister-in-law thought, “You don’t need to tell me. I’ll avoid her for sure. She’s even more ruthless than I am.”

Li Meng looked at her sister-in-law and hated herself for not having Fang Yuan’s skills. Otherwise, her sister-in-law wouldn’t dare try to use her to get money for the family.

Li Meng’s mother didn’t dare say anything to Fang Yuan, so she cursed at Li Meng as she prepared to leave.

Fang Yuan watched Li Meng hand over the money and said regretfully, “I really went too easy on her. That woman still has money left.”

Lu Chuan said, “Alright, just take it as Lu Laoda not being worth much.” As he said this, his heart ached.

If Lu Laoda was worth a lot, he’d be unhappy; if Lu Laoda wasn’t worth much, he’d be even more unhappy. These tangled feelings—Fang Yuan would probably never understand them in her whole life.

Fang Yuan also warned Li Meng’s sister-in-law, “Don’t mess with me. I’ve learned a lot today. Now I know the going rate for smashing up someone’s house. If you dare mess with me, I’ll smash up your place for five yuan. I can afford it—I have money.”

Li Meng’s eldest brother, his wife, and their mother all hurriedly ran off. Next time they saw this woman, they’d definitely avoid her.

The commune officials couldn’t just leave after hearing that. They earnestly told Fang Yuan, “You can’t do that. That’s against the law.”

Fang Yuan replied, “Then why don’t you arrest them when they break the law? I’ll accept the punishment too.”

Then she added, “Isn’t that reasonable?” She really had a thing for being “reasonable.”

The commune officials were left speechless. Talking to a girl like this was just so difficult. If everyone handled things this way, there’d be chaos.

In the end, the Party Secretary had Lu Chuan take Fang Yuan home and persuade her. People from their village couldn’t behave like this.

Otherwise, there’d be no reasoning with this stubborn girl. She was dead set on her principles.

The commune officials wiped the sweat from their brows as they left. This girl was really tough to deal with.

Meanwhile, Old Lady Lu, holding the five yuan, was overjoyed. She went around the village trading for vegetables, saying she’d invite everyone who helped today over for a meal. She was happy to spend that money.

For the first time, Old Lady Lu wasn’t stingy—she was downright generous.

Li Meng felt awkward. The people she’d called didn’t help her; instead, they’d driven away her own mother and sister-in-law. And then there was the question of who was actually hosting the meal.

For her, this meal was awkward no matter what—whether she ate or not, it was uncomfortable.

Li Meng’s face soured at Old Lady Lu. This mother-in-law never considered her feelings when doing things.

But Old Lady Lu really hadn’t considered Li Meng’s feelings. Back when Li Meng broke off the engagement with Lu Laoda, and after the Lu family’s house was smashed up by the Li family, the Lus just took it quietly. That resentment had been bottled up in Old Lady Lu’s heart until today.

Don’t look down on the five yuan—what Old Lady Lu really got back was the Lu family’s dignity.

Her family wasn’t weak. Even when they were bullied, they got some justice.

And when her family was in trouble, the villagers helped out. That’s what good relations are about. No matter whose pride was hurt, Old Lady Lu had to host this meal.

Otherwise, who’d help you next time? Why hadn’t the villagers helped out like this the last time they were smashed up?

Li Meng’s family had come to make trouble for the eldest before—why hadn’t the villagers helped then?

All this made Old Lady Lu think deeply.

Did she have time to worry about Li Meng’s feelings?

Her eldest son’s “let it go” was already enough of a loss of face for the family and the village.

As for Lu Laoda and Li Meng’s reputations, Old Lady Lu couldn’t care less.

When her eldest said “let it go,” did he think about his parents, his brothers, or the villagers who helped?

Lu Chuan naturally followed his mother’s lead, organizing people to sit inside, and called on Zhang Xiaole, Gong Er, and Zhu Xiaosan to help entertain the guests.

No one even thought about letting Lu Laoda handle this. What did it have to do with him? After all, it was his in-laws who caused the trouble.

Fang Yuan pulled Lu Laosan aside and whispered something. Lu Chuan glanced over and saw that Fang Yuan got along well with Xiaosan.

He thought, “She’s even a year older than me, but she gets along better with Xiaosan. Age really doesn’t mean much.”

Fang Yuan had Xiaosan take people to the township to buy things. Five yuan could buy a lot in the village, but it still wasn’t quite enough.

Since they were hosting, they had to do it right. This was their family’s time to shine in the village. Her father had always told her, “When it’s time to be generous, don’t be stingy.”

After saying her piece, she went to the kitchen with Old Lady Lu.

Fang Yuan knew it was time to step up as the lady of the house.

Old Lady Lu was busy in the kitchen. When she saw Fang Yuan, she said, “Second daughter-in-law, you don’t need to help here. Go keep the guests company with Lu Chuan. You’re the backbone of our family, not just someone who cooks.”

In Old Lady Lu’s eyes, her second daughter-in-law was truly on another level."