As soon as the words left Wang Baozhu’s mouth, Zhu Rong and Sang Hong were stunned.
On the other hand, Feng Qingxue was mentally prepared. Upon noticing the discrepancy between the way Wang Baozhu treated her sons and her daughter, she knew Wang Baozhu was no pushover, ringing true to the Chinese stereotype of favoring boys over girls.
Zhu Hongling’s swelling was due to starvation.
This kind of disease usually occurred during the three years of hardship and was rarely seen in the past two years.
In this era, unless someone was as fat as Wang Jiao and Xibao, a person appearing fat was not from eating too much but from starvation. Under these circumstances, being thin was actually healthier, a sign that one wasn’t on the brink of starvation.
"Baozhu, what nonsense are you spouting?" Zhu Rong snapped back to reality and rebuked, feeling his face burn up.
Unimpressed, Wang Baozhu raised her brows, hands on her hips and retorted, "What nonsense did I say? What nonsense did I say? Zhu Dasao. Didn’t she say to voice out if we need any help? So when I do, it’s suddenly nonsense? We, my mother and I, are in need of clothes and food! Look at them, eating so well, growing so plump, dressing like city folks! Just look at what your wife and children are like, Zhu Dasao!"
"You!" Wang Baozhu pointed arrogantly at Feng Qingxue, her triangular eyes gleaming with avarice. "Quick, take off your woolen coat and give it to me. Then I’ll believe you truly want to help me!"
In the highlands, where the temperature difference is relatively large, Feng Qingxue wore a woolen sweater under her rough woolen overcoat.
This black and red plaid woolen overcoat, a wedding gift from Guo Xiuying, was something she had yet to wear since she already had a woolen coat before marriage. She thought wearing too many new clothes in the countryside would attract unnecessary attention, so today was the first time she actually wore it.
The temperature had risen and she had opened her overcoat, holding Xibao in her arms.
But to her surprise, Wang Baozhu was eagle-eyed and recognized it was a new piece of clothing.
As soon as Wang Baozhu made her unreasonable demand, Sang Hong quietly moved to Feng Qingxue’s side, ready to protect her.
Seeing that Wang Baozhu was lunging over to tear off Feng Qingxue’s overcoat, Sang Hong was just about to intervene when Feng Qingxue, still holding Xibao, instantly kicked out. Her foot shot out at a tricky angle, sending Wang Baozhu tumbling to the ground before she even had time to react.
She was wearing Blue Begonia leather shoes, of superior quality indeed!
Scarcely could one find another person in the entire country who, like Feng Qingxue, had the opportunity to eat well and maintain a balanced diet every day. Everyone assumed that she was delicate and couldn’t even hold up Xibao, who weighed over thirty pounds. However, she was actually quite strong, having never neglected her self-defense skills learned in preparation for the apocalypse, and she even learnt a few more from Lu Jiang later on for self-protection purposes.
Wang Baozhu’s physique could not compete with Feng Qingxue’s, and it probably never crossed her mind that Feng Qingxue would retaliate, given the common perception of Feng Qingxue being a kindly and harmless woman.
Now, Feng Qingxue – seemingly delicate and defenseless – was securing her foothold in the situation with a single kick. Sang Hong was left standing there, mouth agape in surprise!
Good lord! She was wearing pointed leather shoes!
"Oh dear, I apologize, Comrade Wang Baozhu. Was my kick a bit too fast for you?" While Feng Qingxue was apologizing, her face did not display any regret. "In rural places like here, where families live together, conflicts arise among neighbors fairly often. There are all sorts of people, so I had no choice. I had my husband Ajiang teach me a move, specifically for dealing with unreasonable shrews and troublemakers!"