Be Careful or I'll Hit You

Yindou's anger finally dissipated, and her mood improved. The way she looked at Lingdang was full of admiration.

"Alright, alright, let's go home!" Lingdang exhaled and blinked at Su Li standing by the door, thinking to herself, "The mission to help the kid get back at someone is finally done."

Yindou happily took Lihua and Guyu home, while Lingdang glanced back at Zhang Zhaocai.

She didn't dare leave him piled in the snow for too long. After all, he was just an ordinary mischievous kid. If he froze to death, it would be a huge deal in this small village.

So Lingdang kicked Zhang Zhaocai out of the snow pile with one foot, towering over him and said, "You, get lost quickly, and don't bully my Yindou anymore."

Zhang Zhaocai stared at Lingdang, his face flushing bright red. He rolled over in the snow, got up, and dusted off the snow on him. "You... you're Lingdang? I've never seen you before."

Lingdang said, "I'm new here, Mrs. Su took me in as her apprentice."

Zhang Zhaocai made an 'oh' sound and scanned Lingdang up and down. Seeing that Lingdang was about eleven or twelve, a year or two older than him, and a bit taller.

Lingdang frowned impatiently when he didn't leave and shook her fists, "What are you still standing there for? If you don't leave, watch out, I'll hit you!"

Only then did Zhang Zhaocai snap out of it, stumbled backward, and after estimating he was out of Lingdang's snowball throwing range, he shouted back, "Lingdang, I'll remember you!"

"Ptooey! You pesky kid! Get lost!" Lingdang casually picked up a snowball and threw it at Zhang Zhaocai.

Zhang Zhaocai yelped, hit by the snowball again, jumped a few times in the snow, and without wasting any more words, quickly ran away, thinking to himself, How far can this girl throw snowballs? I'll never play snowball fights with Lingdang again.

Zhang Zhaocai ran home in a flash. Inside, Tang Shi was warming herself by the fire. Seeing Zhang Zhaocai come in, she grabbed his ear, "Did you go bother Su Li's family again? Don't you see how miserable the Su family is after crossing Su Li? I'm still a servant of the Su family. If she decides to punish me, and you don't behave, she might send me to the black coal mine to dig coal for life. If your father remarries, you'll know what real suffering is!"

This time, Zhang Zhaocai unusually didn't talk back to Tang Shi. Instead, he sat down sullenly by the fire, drying his snow-wet clothes.

Su Li was cleaning up the Su family and making an example in the village, which scared Tang Shi. These days she kept her tail between her legs, afraid of getting into trouble, and had become much more obedient.

Tang Shi warmed herself by the fire while nagging Zhang Zhaocai not to mess with the Su family.

Zhang Zhaocai got annoyed and suddenly said, "Why do you say so much? Just sell your vegetables properly."

Tang Shi clicked her tongue and shrank back, "It's so cold, what vegetables can I sell? I'm not selling any."

Zhang Zhaocai pulled a long face, "If you don't sell vegetables, how will the family save money for me to get a wife? Starting tomorrow, you better sell vegetables properly. If you slack off again, I'll tell my dad to deal with you!"

Tang Shi panicked at the mention of Zhang Zhaocai telling his dad, Zhang Zhuzi would definitely beat her again. She hurriedly replied, "Alright, I'll go sell vegetables tomorrow. Ugh, having you, a debt collector, is just like your dad. Such a curse!"

Zhang Zhaocai lay on the bed silently, closed his eyes, but couldn't stop picturing Lingdang with her hands on her hips, feisty as ever. He even forgot about his plan to harm Yindou...