Dare to shirk responsibility? This adorable little one will tear down your military district!

The air in the main room seemed to freeze.

The large black pottery jar was suspended in mid-air, about half a meter off the ground.

The surface of the jar gleamed with a cold, hard glaze, and it was packed full of two hundred catties of pickled vegetables, which were the hope of the Meng family of more than ten people to get through the long winter.

Meng Yaya stood at the bottom of the vat, her small body barely reaching its height. She supported the bottom of the vat with both hands, as if supporting a ball of cotton, her little face rosy, not even panting.

"Put it down!" Wang Guifen screamed, her voice splitting into two, like a quack whose neck had been stepped on. "You little beast! You dare smash my jar? I'll skin you alive!"

Meng Yaya tilted her head and flicked her wrist slightly.

The large vat, weighing over two hundred pounds, swayed in the air, producing a muffled gurgling sound as the brine inside rattled. A few drops of murky pickling brine splashed out, landing on the dry ground of the main house, leaving a small, dark stain.

"Oh my god!" Meng Jingui was so frightened that he threw the quilt on his shoulder to the ground, his hands outstretched in mid-air as if to catch it, afraid that the vat would fall. "Mother! That's our whole family's food supply! If it breaks, we'll starve this winter!"

Meng Jianjun was still clutching a White Rabbit milk candy in his hand, his face ashen. He wanted to rush over but didn't dare. His broken nasal bone was still throbbing.

"Ya Ya..." Lin Wanrou stood at the door of the east room, her hands empty, tears welling up in her eyes. She wanted to call her daughter back, but was afraid of startling her daughter and hurting herself by hitting her.

Meng Yaya didn't look at Lin Wanrou; her clear black and white eyes were fixed on Wang Guifen.

Didn't you hear what I just said?

She took a step forward.

"Thump."

The moment her small feet touched the ground, Wang Guifen's heart skipped a beat.

"Put down that bag of flour in your hand." The childish voice, though sweet and innocent, carried an unyielding firmness.

Wang Guifen clutched the bag of flour tightly, her fingernails digging into it. This was good flour, only five yuan a bag! Enough for several tables of food for Jianjun's banquet! How could she spit out something that was practically in her grasp?

"I won't let go!" Wang Guifen retorted, her gambler's mentality taking over. "You little brat, you dare to smash it? That's public property! Even if you smash it, you won't get a bite! I refuse to believe I can't teach you a lesson today..."

Before he could finish speaking...

Meng Yaya released one hand.

The huge black pottery jar tilted to the left in an instant, and looked like it was about to lose its balance and crash.

"Ah—!" Wang Guifen was so frightened that she was scared out of her wits and instinctively closed her eyes.

"Bang!"

There was no sound of pottery shards breaking.

Meng Yaya gently patted the side of the vat with her loosened little hand, and the vat spun half a circle in the air before coming to a steady stop.

"Ouch!" Wang Guifen hugged her foot and jumped around on the spot, sweating profusely from the pain.

"My hand slipped." Meng Yaya blinked her big eyes innocently. "Next time it might be the vat that slips. Grandma, do you think if this vat breaks, the salt water inside could flood your whole room?"

She paused, then added, "I heard that land soaked in pickled vegetable water will never grow grass again, and the foundations of houses will rot."

Wang Guifen's face twitched with pain. Looking at the rickety vat, her greed was finally crushed by fear.

That brat is insane! She really dares to smash things!

"Give it back to her! Give it all back to her!" Wang Guifen roared in despair, throwing the flour sack in her arms hard to the ground.

The flour sack landed with a "plop" on the threshold, raising a puff of white smoke.

Meng Yaya didn't move, her gaze shifting to Meng Jingui and Meng Jianjun.

"And you all."

Meng Jingui quickly placed the brand-new quilt on the flour bag and thoughtfully patted off the dust.

Meng Jianjun gritted his teeth and threw the candy in his hand over with a pained expression.

"Is everything ready?" Meng Yaya asked Lin Wanrou.

Lin Wanrou quickly ran over, checked everything, and nodded repeatedly, "It's all there! Yaya, put the vat down quickly, don't hurt your back!"

Meng Yaya nodded in satisfaction.

She looked at the three greedy adults in front of her, a cold smile curving her lips.

"From now on, don't covet the things in the east room."

After saying that, she let go of her hands.

The 200-pound vat fell straight down.

"No!" Wang Guifen screamed in agony.

Just as the bottom of the jar was about to touch the ground, Meng Yaya's little foot suddenly stretched out and gently hooked and cushioned the bottom of the jar.

The downward momentum of the large cylinder suddenly slowed down, and then it landed smoothly.

but.

"Click—"

A sharp, teeth-grinding crack.

The bluestone threshold at the main entrance, which had been in use for decades, suddenly cracked cleanly in the middle when it was gently placed down. The crack spread rapidly like a spider web, and finally, with a "crash," it shattered into a pile of fingernail-sized stones.

Wang Guifen's call was stuck in her throat, turning into a series of rapid hiccups.

Meng Jianjun took a step back, his back hitting the door frame. He looked at the shattered bluestone slab, then at his wrist, which hadn't fully healed, and suddenly felt a chill seep into his bones.

If that force were applied to a person...

Meng Yaya patted non-existent dust off her hands, walked over, picked up the 50-pound bag of flour with one hand, grabbed the corner of the quilt with the other, and turned to leave.

"Mom, come back inside for dinner. Grandpa Sun, close the door."

Lin Wanrou quickly picked up the candy from the ground and followed her daughter back to the east room.

Sun Shouzhen stood at the door of the east room, holding a fire poker, and witnessed the whole scene. The old man swallowed hard, glanced at the broken bluestone slab, and then at the small baby with her back to him.

"Goodness..." Sun Shouzhen muttered under his breath, "This isn't Shennong's bloodline, it's Xiang Yu reincarnated!"

He quickly retreated back into the house, closing the broken wooden door tightly. Not content with that, he even moved two more planks to prop the door shut.

Only Wang Guifen and her two children remained in the courtyard.

A night breeze blew, and Wang Guifen shivered.

Looking at the pickled vegetable jar she had recovered, then at the broken threshold and her empty hands, the fire in her heart burned up again.

Humiliation! Utter humiliation!

Wang Guifen had been a tyrant in Xiahe Village for decades. When had she ever suffered such a loss? She was completely controlled by a three-year-old good-for-nothing!

"Mother, are we just going to let this go like this?" Meng Jianjun clutched his aching stomach, his eyes filled with resentment. "That flour was enough for us to eat for two months! And that money... they definitely have more money!"

"Nonsense!" Wang Guifen slapped her thigh, wincing in pain. "I've never suffered such a loss in my life!"

"What can we do? We can't beat her in a fight." Meng Jingui squatted on the ground dejectedly. "That girl is incredibly strong. If we really started fighting, the three of us combined wouldn't be enough to withstand one punch from her."

Wang Guifen's eyes darted around quickly, and a sinister look appeared on her wrinkled face.

If force doesn't work, try a softer approach. These days, some things are more intimidating than fists.

"Jianjun." Wang Guifen lowered her voice and beckoned her youngest son over.

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"Go to the east end of the village right now and find your third great-grandfather," Wang Guifen said through gritted teeth, her voice forced out. "Tell him that that little slut Lin Wanrou is rebelling! She beat her mother-in-law and now wants a share of the family property! Disrespectful to her elders, unfilial and disobedient! Make him bring the family genealogy book over first thing tomorrow morning!"

Meng Jianjun's eyes lit up: "Go to the clan elders? That's a brilliant move! The Third Grandfather hates disobedient daughters-in-law the most. If he breaks the clan rules, even if he beats Lin Wanrou to death, the village secretary won't be able to handle it!"

In rural areas during this era, although clan power was suppressed to a great extent, the words of clan elders sometimes carried more weight than the law. In particular, the pressure of filial piety could break a person's backbone.