My Bizarre Relatives 08

Fang Ruoruo nodded: "I washed them very clean, don't worry, Auntie."

Fang Yu forced a smile: "Good, good. You put them away first, I'll wash them."

Fang Ruoruo carried the plates toward the kitchen.

"Fang Zhiyi! You worthless piece of trash!"

Fang Zhiyi felt his eardrums might burst: "What?!"

"Your daughter is slaving away in someone else's home, and you just sit there like a lump?!"

"Auntie, what's wrong?" A flustered Fang Ruoruo came running back, her face full of tension.

Seeing her, Fang Yu immediately swallowed her anger: "It's nothing, I was just talking with your dad. Go play for a while, sweetheart."

Fang Ruoruo glanced at her father, who waved her off, so she lowered her head and walked away.

"You think I want this? The custody battle is lost—what else can I do? If they make her wash dishes, should I sue them for abuse?"

"I'm going to tear that bitch's mouth apart!" Fang Yu fumed, pacing in circles. "And your wife—pah! That brain-dead woman!"

"Save your breath. Just give me more time. I have things to handle. When Ruoruo grows up, things will change."

"What could you possibly—"

"Auntie, I finished washing the bowls. Where should I put them?"

Fang Yu turned, her face red with suppressed rage twisting into a strained smile: "Anywhere you like, sweetheart."

"Auntie, why is your face so red?"

"I'm happy. I'm happy you're here." Fang Yu exhaled deeply. "Come visit me every week from now on, okay?"

Fang Ruoruo looked at her father, but Fang Yu turned her face back. "Don't look at him."

Fang Ruoruo nodded.

Fang Zhiyi smirked. A girl ought to be fierce—it kept her from being bullied. His sister might not be a saint, but at least she knew her place as "Auntie."

"Do they think the Fang family has no backbone? How dare the Li family push us around like this?" Fang Yu gnashed her teeth.

The Xu brothers, Jiaqing and Jiayuan, had been feeling more at ease lately—the homework bandit had disappeared. But their lies were exposed, and rumors about them spread through the school, even becoming a joke among classmates.

Just when they and Li Xue thought it was over, the bandit struck again—ambushing them, tearing up their homework, and vanishing, this time even taking the shredded pages. The Xu brothers were devastated.

When questioned by their teacher, they opened their mouths to explain but remembered their past humiliation. Defiantly, they jutted their chins: "We didn't do it!"

The teacher was furious. "You didn't do it, yet you act so proud?"

Both were punished.

From then on, the homework bandit struck intermittently. Xu Jiaqing eventually devised a solution: actually not doing the work. If no one believed him anyway—not his teachers, parents, or classmates—why bother?

On the day they paid "protection money," Xu Jiaqing proposed joining the bullies, even stealing Li Xue's money to "offer tribute."

Younger brother Xu Jiayuan also grew disillusioned with school, though he lacked his brother's boldness—he just zoned out in class, lost in thought.

Their odd behavior drew attention from school and family. Unsurprisingly, Li Xue failed to intervene this time either. Xu Li hung both sons up and beat them mercilessly, leaving Fang Ruoruo wide-eyed in shock while neighbors gathered to watch.

Li Mei stepped in to mediate, but Li Xue snapped at her within seconds.

"Who asked for your fake sympathy? Can't even handle your own mess, yet you come to laugh at mine?"

Li Mei looked stunned. "Elder Sister, I—I wasn’t..."

"Just seeing you two makes me sick!" Li Xue vented her rage on Li Mei and her daughter.

"Don’t yell at my mom!" Fang Ruoruo stood up. Li Xue glared, but Li Mei reacted faster, yanking her daughter back. "How dare you talk back to your aunt? Behave!"

Fang Ruoruo stared at her mother’s furious, humiliated face, speechless.

Outside, Fang Zhiyi and Fang Yu arrived right on schedule. Seeing Fang Ruoruo’s arm gripped by Li Mei, Fang Yu lunged forward, even more incensed than Fang Zhiyi. She wrenched them apart. "Are you insane? What kind of mother are you? Trying to strangle your own daughter? You—" She glanced at Fang Ruoruo and swallowed the rest.

Fang Zhiyi understood completely. Though Fang Yu hadn’t appeared in the original plot, he knew from memory that if she unleashed her full fury, ten Li Meis wouldn’t stand a chance.

"Auntie..."

Meanwhile, Fang Zhiyi smirked at the two dangling boys. "What’s this? Slaughtering pigs out of season?"

"Fang, what are you doing here? I’ll sue you for trespassing!" Li Xue snarled.

"We’re here to audit the books. Just an audit."

"Audit my ass!" Li Xue spat. Fang Zhiyi’s expression darkened. "Not yours—my child support records. If I find even a penny missing from Ruoruo’s expenses, I’ll drag you to court every single day."

The room fell silent.

"Hand over the ledger." Fang Zhiyi reached toward Li Mei, who hesitated, unprepared for his demand. After a long delay, she produced a notebook—just a school exercise book.

Before Fang Zhiyi could take it, Fang Yu snatched it away.

"Wow, a hundred bucks for one meal? Ruoruo, I never knew you could eat a whole pork leg by yourself!"

Fang Ruoruo hung her head.

"Oh-ho! What’s this? New clothes? Ruoruo, let me see these fancy outfits." Fang Yu’s eyes darted toward Li Xue. "Or was this money spent feeding pigs?"

"You—!" Li Xue lunged, but Fang Yu was ready. She’d come looking for a fight, and Li Xue paid the price instantly.

Xu Li finally snapped out of his daze and moved to intervene, but Fang Zhiyi blocked him.

Picking up a brick, Fang Zhiyi split it with one chop. "Think carefully. If you throw the first punch, my retaliation is self-defense."

As for the other relatives, Fang Zhiyi knew they were just a mob of cowards—no chance they’d unite against him.

Only when the old lady shrieked about calling the police did Fang Yu finally relent. Li Xue howled, rolling on the floor in a tantrum, a sight so absurd Fang Yu couldn’t help laughing. She stepped back, flicked her wrist, and spat.

"Fang Zhiyi, take your sister and daughter and get out of my house." The stone-faced ex-mother-in-law finally spoke. Fang Zhiyi almost chuckled—this old woman had watched her daughter get beaten without lifting a finger. How pragmatic.

"I’d love to, but she won’t let me." He pointed at Li Mei, who stayed silent.

Suddenly, Li Xue sat up, shrieking: "Out! All of you out!" She jabbed a finger at the easiest target—Li Mei. "You too! Get out of my house!"