My Wife, So Fierce! - Chapter 3

Zheng Yao stood out with her striking presence her attire and appearance made it clear she wasn’t from the village. When she fixed her gaze on someone, it carried an invisible pressure that forced the man to freeze mid-action.

“Where the hell did you come from?!” the man snapped, his face flushing with anger. “This is a family matter none of your damn business!”

Zheng Yao had no intention of meddling in the Shen family’s affairs, but she couldn’t just stand by and watch a child being bullied by a group of adults especially not in front of Bai Yuanzhu’s memorial altar.

She lifted her head, her cold eyes landing on the two large portraits hanging on the wall. Her voice was icy. “Shen Sanguang’s body isn’t even cold yet. Aren’t you afraid he’ll come for you at night?”

The group stiffened.

In these remote, superstitious backwaters, such words carried weight.

The two women pinning Shen Baiyi down immediately withdrew their hands awkwardly. The older one turned to Zheng Yao, her shrewd eyes flickering with calculation. “You wouldn’t happen to be that little vixen’s daughter, would you?”

Zheng Yao’s gaze darkened.

Before she could respond, Shen Baiyi now freed snapped furiously, “Auntie! How could you say that about Aunt Bai?!”

So, these were the people who raised Shen Sanguang?

No wonder. The Shen family was rotten to the core. Just look at these people disgusting.

“Since you’re here, perfect!” The woman shoved Shen Baiyi aside and stormed up to Zheng Yao, spittle flying as she ranted, “Pay up! That vixen mother of yours swindled so much money from our Sanguang! And now she’s gone and gotten him killed, what kind of justice is this?! Hand over the money!”

Zheng Yao laughed.

It was sudden, unexpected.

Zhang Cui, who had been raging just moments ago, faltered. She instinctively took a big step back.

Was this woman insane?

“Pay you?” Zheng Yao tilted her head, her smile laced with mockery. Her voice was soft. “You don’t actually know, do you? It was your precious Sanguang who sweet-talked Bai Yuanzhu into abandoning her husband and daughter. The money they ran off with? That was my father’s.”

She waved her phone. “I’ve kept track of every cent. I was just lamenting that with Shen Sanguang dead, I had no one to collect from. But now, Oh, how fortunate. Since you claim he’s your family, Auntie.”

Before she could finish, the woman spat a thick glob of phlegm on the ground. “Bullshit! You shameless little trying to pin this on us?!”

Her bluster was weaker now.

“Mom,” the younger woman interjected, lowering her voice. “We still haven’t gotten the funeral expenses.”

Zheng Yao’s gaze shifted to her.

She wore glasses and looked refined, but her face was full of hidden schemes.

Tan Bin, Shen Sanguang’s uncle, immediately chimed in, “You’re the daughter from his first wife. The funeral arrangements should’ve been your responsibility.”

Zhang Cui wiped fake tears from the corners of her eyes. “You show up late, leave us to handle everything these past few days, and now instead of thanking us, you come demanding money? What kind of daughter are you?!”

The barbed words didn’t faze Zheng Yao. Her reaction was indifferent. “So you were just pressuring Shen Baiyi for money?”

Then, as if struck by realization, she added, “Ah. You’re trying to profit off the dead?”

“Nonsense! How dare you!” Tan Bin roared.

If the reputation of devouring a family’s last heir spreads, how can their family still hold their heads high? How can they expect to find wives for their sons or marry off their daughters?

“Hmm? Was I mistaken? My apologies then.” Zheng Yao nodded. “Indeed, who would dare to devour a family’s last heir these days? That would earn them nothing but scorn from the entire village.”

With that, she stretched lazily: “Alright, there’s no need for you all to fuss about. Shen Sanguang’s daughter is here, and so am I. Why are you meddling in matters that don’t concern you?”

Instead of getting the money they wanted, they were accused of unnecessary meddling. Zhang Cui flushed with anger: “What does an outsider like you, a mere slip of a girl, know? Do you even understand how to arrange a funeral?”

“How could I not?” Zheng Yao’s tone was eerie. “Your Shen Sanguang lured Bai Yuanzhu away, and they spent every day swiping my father’s credit card to eat, drink, and be merry. My father died of sheer rage because of them. I handled his funeral all by myself back then, I’m quite familiar with the process.”

The room fell silent.

Finally, Tan Bin’s youngest daughter reacted quickly: “Our family spent a lot of money these past few days arranging the funeral, ensuring your uncle and aunt had a grand send-off. As your aunt’s daughter, shouldn’t you at least cover the costs?”

Zheng Yao was taken aback: “You went out of your way to arrange someone else’s funeral, what does that have to do with me?”

“That was your mother!” Zhang Cui shouted.

“Ex,” Zheng Yao added slowly. “She divorced my father didn’t she abandon both husband and daughter? Are you all suffering from dementia? How hard is it to remember a few simple words?”

“And besides,” Zheng Yao tilted her head. “I never asked you to spend a single penny. Who told you to? My father’s funeral was simple. Why should those two get a lavish send-off? What right did they have?”

“…”

Zheng Yao’s barrage of questions left Tan Bin gasping for breath, pounding his chest in frustration.

Zheng Yao’s eyes were full of disdain.

For someone so big and strong, he was surprisingly useless.

She hardened her expression and delivered the final blow: “Moreover, Bai Yuanzhu and Zheng Sanguang never even registered their marriage. She was never a Shen. Yet you went ahead and cremated her with Shen Sanguang without my consent as next of kin. I could sue you for this.”

“What’s all this talk about suing? We don’t understand any of that!” Zhang Cui was clearly panicking now. She pointed at Shen Baiyi, who had been silent all this time. “It was all her doing! It has nothing to do with us!”

With that, the group forgot all about demanding money and fled as fast as they could.

Finally, peace.

“I’m sorry.”

Just as Zheng Yao was about to turn back to her room, Shen Baiyi’s unmistakable voice rang out. Zheng Yao looked up to see Shen Baiyi with red-rimmed eyes, her hands clenched tightly, her whole body trembling clearly nervous and afraid.

“I was so scared and confused back then. They said they said the bodies were fused together, beyond recognition. Cleaning them up was too difficult.”

Zheng Yao clenched her fists and cut her off coldly: “I don’t want to hear it.”

The accident had made the news, how could she not know? A cement mixer truck had overturned, crushing the couple in the backseat of their car beyond recognition. The scene had been too gruesome to look at.

Bai Yuanzhu, who had always cared so much about her appearance in life, didn’t even leave behind a complete corpse in death.

The horror of her death left Zheng Yao with nowhere to direct her hatred.

“Miss Zheng?”

A voice sounded outside the door. Zheng Yao looked up to see yesterday’s driver standing there.

Of course, he wasn’t just a driver, he was a local with plenty of experience handling funeral arrangements. Entrusting the follow-up matters to him was the best choice.

After giving the driver her instructions, she quickly freshened up, grabbed her things, and headed out.

“Miss Zheng.”

Shen Baiyi called out to her again.

Zheng Yao frowned and turned back. “What?”

Shen Baiyi wore an expression of confusion and unease. “Aren’t you coming with me?”

At that, Zheng Yao let out a soft laugh. The fact that she had come at all was already the biggest concession she could make.

“You might not know this,” she said, looking at Shen Baiyi. “But in order to be with your father without any ties, Ms. Bai gave me a severance letter, it’s still framed on my wall at home.”

Back then, her father had tried to win Bai Yuanzhu back, even using her as an emotional bargaining chip. Who would’ve thought Bai Yuanzhu would be so ruthless as to write a severance letter?

Though it held no legal weight, the message was clear enough. And she had her pride, too.

Seeing that Shen Baiyi had nothing left to say, Zheng Yao turned and walked away.

It had rained all day yesterday, but today was merely overcast. Scanning her surroundings, she stopped a child who had been eyeing her curiously and asked, “Do you know how to get to that mountain?”

The little boy nodded timidly.

Zheng Yao rummaged through her bag, about to pull out some cash, when she caught a few watchful gazes from the corner of her eye. Pausing, she instead handed him a few packets of snacks. “Take me there. Be my little guide, and I’ll reward you more later.”

The boy accepted the snacks, grinning to reveal a missing front tooth.

Along the way, the child didn’t speak much. Zheng Yao asked a few questions and learned his name was Xiao Hui, that his parents worked away from home, and that he lived with his grandmother.

The mountain path was slippery, but they took it slow. Xiao Hui knew the way well, and Zheng Yao wore hiking boots, so neither of them fell.

The mountain wasn’t very high.

From the summit, Zheng Yao squinted as she surveyed the village below. It wasn’t large mostly farmland and though it was still early, many people were already busy working in the rice paddies.

She pulled out the remaining coins from her bag and handed them to Xiao Hui. “Alright, you should head back now.”

“Aren’t you coming back, sister?” Xiao Hui asked blankly.

“I will, but not yet.” Zheng Yao didn’t plan to explain too much to a child, but for safety’s sake, she added, “If I don’t return by afternoon, tell.”

She hesitated mid-sentence, suddenly realizing she didn’t know the driver’s name.

“Tell who, sister?” Xiao Hui tilted his head, waiting for an answer.

“Shen Baiyi,” Zheng Yao replied smoothly. “Tell Shen Baiyi to send someone to look for me.”

Of course, she wouldn’t let it come to that.

But accidents happened, and she had to plan ahead otherwise, she might die without anyone knowing.

Xiao Hui soon left, leaving her alone on the mountain. Zheng Yao spread a waterproof sheet on the ground and sat down before opening her writing software. With the chirping of birds in the background, she began typing.

This kind of environment was perfect for her new book.

–

It wasn’t until her stomach growled again that Zheng Yao noticed the sky had darkened with thick clouds another rainstorm seemed imminent.

Though she had brought an umbrella, a thunderstorm was no time to be lingering on a mountaintop. If it really started pouring, the descent would be treacherous.

She had no choice but to pack up early and prepare to descend the mountain.

As the saying goes, going up a mountain is easier than coming down. No matter how careful Zheng Yao was, she inevitably slipped halfway down. Fortunately, she wasn’t seriously injured, though her pants and palms were covered in mud.

She had to stop by the small stream at the foot of the mountain to clean up.

Just as she turned to wipe the mud off her back, she suddenly heard footsteps. Her movements froze, and the next second, a heavily accented voice rang out: “Whose daughter are ya, girlie?”

Zheng Yao frowned and looked up.

The man before her looked particularly disheveled. He was quite old, with greasy, matted, and unwashed gray hair. His face was deeply wrinkled, but what was even more unsettling was the lecherous expression in his eyes.

The air around him reeked of a foul stench. Zheng Yao stood up, her face stern as she tried to step around him.

Unfortunately, despite his age, the man’s lust hadn’t faded. Seeing Zheng Yao about to leave, he blocked her path with a swift step, flashing what he must have thought was a kindly smile. “Don’t be in such a hurry, girlie. Uncle’s got money.”

“…”

At his age, was his brain still ruled by what was between his legs?

“Uncle,” Zheng Yao’s gaze lingered on him, and when his face lit up at the term of address, she scoffed. “If you’ve got money, you should first treat your incontinence problem. The smell is overwhelming.”

The old man’s expression darkened, and he immediately reached out to grab her.

Zheng Yao took a leisurely step back, but her hand moved swiftly she sprayed something directly into his eyes.

The old man let out a piercing scream.

Pepper spray still packed a punch.

Not wasting a second, Zheng Yao turned and left while the man was blinded.

When traveling alone, who would dare wander around without some means of self-defense?

–

“Miss Zheng, you’re back!”

Seeing Zheng Yao, Shen Baiyi’s worried expression eased slightly.

Zheng Yao ignored her and instead called the driver over to ask about the morning’s arrangements, this time specifically inquiring about his name.

The driver, Wang Yong, was efficient, the funeral arrangements had gone smoothly.

Toward the end, Wang Yong hesitated. “It’s customary here to host a banquet for the villagers. Miss Zheng, how would you like to handle it?”

“A funeral feast, I get it.” Zheng Yao nodded. “Arrange it as it should be. Money isn’t an issue.”

Only after Wang Yong left did Shen Baiyi timidly approach.

Her lips were red, her teeth white, and her eyes dark and bright she truly looked like a little enchantress. Remembering the lecherous old man from earlier, Zheng Yao couldn’t help but study Shen Baiyi a bit longer.

Zheng Yao refused to believe that old man hadn’t known what Shen Baiyi looked like. Back when Shen Sanguang was alive, he might have held back out of caution, but now that Shen Sanguang was dead, who knew what would happen in the future?

Without the ability to protect herself, beauty seemed like a curse.

Her gaze lingered too long, making Shen Baiyi visibly uncomfortable. “Do you have something to say to me?” she asked cautiously.

Zheng Yao withdrew her gaze. “No.”

As Zheng Yao turned to head inside, Shen Baiyi quickly called after her, “Miss Zheng, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? There’s still warm food in the kitchen.”

Zheng Yao paused, then turned back, her beautiful face icy. “I told you, don’t meddle in my affairs.”

The door slammed shut once more.

The hurt on Shen Baiyi’s face gradually faded as she suddenly noticed movement at the door. She turned her head.

The old man who had been standing at the doorway observing immediately flustered and dodged to the side.

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