Li Yuzhu rolled her eyes without hesitation and then spat on the palm of the woman who had extended it.
"Pah!"
Seeing that more and more people were gathering to watch, the woman suddenly changed her strategy and started to play the victim.
She raised her hands high and slapped her thighs, wailing, "Everyone, come and judge for me!"
"She was originally my daughter - in - law. But she thought my son was good - for - nothing and ran away with another man. Fine, if she wanted to run, she could. But when she left, she even stole our family's ancestral ice powder recipe. Now she's openly doing this ice powder business!"
"How am I supposed to live like this!"
As she wailed, she actually shed a few tears.
"Yes! It's him! She ran away with this man!" The woman suddenly caught sight of Xiaodai who was busy nearby and pointed at him, shouting.
The onlookers who didn't know the truth started to point fingers at Li Yuzhu and Xiaodai.
"Ha?!" Li Yuzhu let out a cold laugh.
Sure enough, when a person is extremely angry, they tend to want to laugh. Not to mention that this woman was making up such a preposterous story right in front of the people involved.
Li Yuzhu ignored the woman first and walked over to Xiaodai. She whispered a few words in his ear, and Xiaodai then drove the donkey cart away.
"You said I ran away with someone else. I need to clarify this. First of all, he's my younger brother. The people doing business around here can testify for me." The peddlers around all nodded.
The old woman selling noodles even shouted at the top of her voice, "Xiaodai is really Yuzhu's younger brother."
"Secondly, it wasn't that I ran away from your family. I was almost dying of illness in your house, and you didn't treat me. Instead, you had me carried back to my home when I was on my last legs. The neighbors all saw it."
Now the onlookers' fingers started to point at the woman.
The woman's face turned ugly. She looked around at the crowd, clawed at the air with both hands, and shouted excitedly, "Don't talk nonsense to me. You're a stinking woman who never tells the truth. I'm too lazy to argue with you. Give me back our family's ice powder recipe!"
The woman was spitting as she shouted. This time, instead of reaching out her hand to ask for it, she put her hands on her hips, stretched her neck, and stared fixedly at Li Yuzhu.
Li Yuzhu frowned and let out a cold laugh. She threw the rag heavily on the table. "Fine! Then let's get to the bottom of this ice powder business."
"Since you say this ice powder recipe is your Liu family's ancestral one, then simply tell us how to make ice powder."
The woman first looked flustered, and then she raised her head with a matter - of - fact expression and said, "I'm illiterate! Naturally, I don't know how to make it."
"Are all the people in your family illiterate?" Li Yuzhu asked with a half - smile.
The woman straightened her back. "Of course! We're rural folks. It's normal not to be literate, right?"
Li Yuzhu nodded in agreement. "Of course it's normal. Since all your family members are illiterate, why did you write down the ice powder recipe? Wouldn't it be better to teach it face - to - face?"
The onlookers nodded in agreement. "Yes! Illiterate but still write it down."
"This woman must be lying."
At this point, the woman started to panic. She tried to raise her voice to drown out the mocking laughter of the crowd. "We like it! It's none of your business!"
"Fine! You can't make it, but you must have eaten it, right? Tell me what ice powder tastes like."
"I... Of course I've eaten it. It's not delicious!" The woman waved her hand and pouted.
Li Yuzhu wasn't angry. She said with a smile, "Even if it's not delicious, it still has a taste."
The woman got angry. "Don't talk so much nonsense to me. Give me the ice powder recipe. I'm in a hurry to go back and do some work!"
"Sister Yuzhu! I'm back!" Xiaodai gasped as he ran towards Li Yuzhu.
Seeing a group of familiar people following Xiaodai, Li Yuzhu took a deep breath and said seriously to the woman, "Fine! No more nonsense!"
Then she said to the onlookers, "Folks, I've asked my younger brother to invite Aunt Liu's neighbors. Let's hear what they have to say."
The onlookers became restless. Aunt Liu started to look uneasy as the people approaching her got closer.
"Stinking woman, give me back my chicks!" The leading woman rushed forward and was about to grab Aunt Liu's hair.
Seeing that the two were about to fight, Li Yuzhu quickly shouted, "Aunt Li, let's be reasonable. Don't fight, or we'll lose our ground."
Mainly because if the two fought, it would probably be impossible to sort out the ice powder matter today.
Hearing this, Aunt Li pushed Aunt Liu hard, gave a loud "humph", took a few steps back, stood beside Li Yuzhu, and smiled at her. "Fine! Aunt will listen to you."
Aunt Liu staggered and finally managed to stand still. She patted her wrinkled clothes in frustration, then snorted. "Shrew!" and rolled her eyes.
Li Yuzhu then stepped forward and stood between Aunt Liu and the villagers. She said to everyone, "Aunt Liu says this ice powder recipe is her family's ancestral one. I've invited you all here today to be witnesses and prove that this ice powder recipe really belongs to Aunt Liu's family."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this.
Aunt Liu was only shocked for less than two seconds, and then she put on a smug expression.
"Has anyone here ever eaten ice powder made by the Liu family?" Li Yuzhu asked.
"No."
"Has anyone seen the Liu family making ice powder? Or heard of ice powder before I set up my stall?" Li Yuzhu continued to ask.
The villagers recalled and answered one after another, "No."
"I didn't even know there was such a thing as ice powder before I came here." A woman said.
"Me neither."
"The Liu family is really shameless. That old man just knew how to drink all day. He was probably drunk and unconscious for eleven months out of twelve. Making ice powder? She really has a nerve to come up with such a story." Aunt Li sneered.
"Yes, that old man Liu died of over - drinking."
"Aunt Liu, you should have a conscience. Your family treated that little girl so badly back then. It's already good that she didn't cause trouble for you, but you even bite the hand that feeds you."
"Yes, that little girl was badly bullied by your family back then. I heard they almost killed her."
"Your family claiming to have an ancestral ice powder recipe is really a joke. With that old woman's show - off attitude, if your family could make ice powder, she would have carried it around and shouted it to the whole village!"
Everyone laughed when they heard this. After all, when Aunt Liu's mother - in - law picked up a wild chicken while chopping firewood in the mountains, she carried it around the village for a whole circle just to show off.
"Your family has done a lot of sneaky things. Last time, your eldest son sneaked into my house to steal chickens at night. My dog chased him so hard that he rolled and crawled all the way back, howling."
"My ducks were also stolen by their family."
Everyone started to accuse Aunt Liu one by one.
Aunt Liu stamped her feet in anger. She wanted to refute, but her voice was drowned out by the crowd.