A woman in her 70s marries a rough-looking man; her plump wife is too delicate and alluring.

"My man gave it to me." He Zhaoyang glanced at Sheng Yuze.

"He's been saving up his allowance for several months. Should I check it, Auntie?"

Aunt Liu's face flushed red instantly.

The heads of the houses next door peeked out again, and someone chuckled softly.

It seemed to be mocking her overestimation of her abilities.

Aunt Liu took a couple of deep breaths, pointed at He Zhaoyang, and said, "You're all talk! Since when did it become your place to make decisions about the Sheng family?!"

"Auntie," He Zhaoyang interrupted her again, "I'm a member of the Sheng family now that I've been married into it. Parking the car in front of my house won't bother anyone. If Uncle Wang's manure cart can't get through, I'll make way for you. But if you want to buy my car..."

She paused for a moment, then said, "Not for sale."

Aunt Liu's face trembled as she was silenced by her words. She pointed at He Zhaoyang with her finger, but couldn't say a word.

Finally, she flung her hand away, "Fine! Fine! So what if you're from the Sheng family! Let's see how long you can keep up your arrogance!"

After she finished speaking, she turned and walked away. When she reached the corner of the alley, she turned back and spat, "It's just a broken car. What's so great about it?"

Uncle Wang stood up and glanced at He Zhaoyang.

Without saying a word, he pulled up the manure cart and pushed it through the gap next to the green cart.

The manure cart passed by smoothly and without even being bumped.

He Zhaoyang stood there, watching Uncle Wang's manure cart creak and groan as it was pushed away.

She turned around, and Sheng Yuze was still standing behind her, leaning on his cane, looking at her.

She felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, and reached up to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. "Why have you been staring at me all day?"

Sheng Yuze did not respond.

He walked up to her with his cane, stopped, and stood half a step away.

Sunlight shone from behind him, and his shadow enveloped her entirely.

"Zhaoyang," he said.

"Um?"

"You just said that once you've married into the Sheng family, you're a member of the Sheng family."

He Zhaoyang was stunned for a moment.

She remembered that she did say those words just now, and they were meant for Aunt Liu; they just slipped out without her realizing it.

Now that he's brought her out exactly as she was, her ears are burning again.

She turned her face away from him, saying, "I told Aunt Liu."

He Zhaoyang looked down at her toes and heard Sheng Yuze chuckle softly above her.

"Let's go," he said, "home."

Aunt Liu angrily pushed open her courtyard gate, tripping over the threshold but not stopping. She plopped down on the stone bench in the yard, still cursing, "What kind of thing is she! A daughter-in-law from another family, how dare she talk back to me!"

Her husband, Li Dazhu, was squatting against the wall chopping wood. Hearing the noise, he looked up at her, then went back to chopping. "Who did you argue with this time?"

"Who else could it be? That daughter-in-law of the Sheng family!" Aunt Liu grabbed the fan on the table and fanned herself vigorously a few times.

"I told her her beat-up car was blocking the way and asked her to move it, and guess what? She talked back to me! She even said that her family spent over 500 yuan on fabric, while my 30 yuan could only buy one of her car wheels!"

Li Dazhu paused in his chopping of firewood. "Over five hundred?"

"Exactly! I don't know where she got this rich friend from, she's blocking the alleyway with her beat-up car, and she's telling me it's a public road. Why should her family be able to occupy public roads?"

Li Dazhu put down the axe, dusted off the sawdust from his hands, and said, "Why did you go and provoke the Sheng family?"

"Did I provoke her?" Aunt Liu's voice rose again. "That car was really blocking the way!"

Li Dazhu frowned. "That shouldn't be the case. The Sheng family isn't unreasonable."

Aunt Liu's mouth opened slightly, then closed, then opened again. "Anyway, that car is blocking the way!"

Li Dazhu glanced at her but didn't reply.

He picked up a pile of firewood from the ground and arranged it neatly. Suddenly, he asked, "Did you hear something from Zhao's wife again?"

Aunt Liu paused for a moment while fanning herself.

"You're such a short-sighted person, let me tell you," Li Dazhu said, his voice low. "So? You can't stand seeing people living a good life!"

Aunt Liu slammed her palm-leaf fan on the table. "What? What do you mean I can't live a good life in front of others?"

"To be honest, you don't like what I'm saying. Let me tell you, you better behave yourself lately and don't cause trouble for our son."

Li Dazhu stood up, dusted off his hands, piled the chopped firewood at the base of the wall, and turned his back to her.

"Whether someone's social class is high or low has nothing to do with us. If you go and provoke them, and word gets out that you're just a bully, will that look good?"

Aunt Liu fell silent. She sat on the stone bench, holding a palm-leaf fan in her hand, fanning herself twice before stopping.

Aunt Liu: "What's wrong! It's all because of this family. My son is getting married soon, and he's finally been chosen by a wealthy family. We have nothing, how can we afford to marry him? I just want to ask if he's selling that car or what?"

"You've gone mad! You've abandoned all shame for this. Let's see how you'll survive in this village!"

After Li Dazhu finished speaking, he went inside.

Aunt Liu was left sitting alone in the courtyard, clutching a palm-leaf fan in her hand, her expression shifting between pale and flushed.

She didn't move for a long time.

After a long while, he threw the palm-leaf fan he was holding onto the table, stood up, and walked towards the kitchen. As he reached the door, he muttered under his breath, "It's just a broken-down car. Who cares?"

But she walked a little faster than before.

midnight.

A shadowy figure crept into the Sheng family's residence.

Fortunately, the weather was getting colder that day, and many people stopped chatting late at night, which gave her an opportunity.

She pulled a fist-sized rock from her bosom, its edges sharp, and glared fiercely at the car in front of her.

"Who told you not to sell to me? Isn't that just looking down on me?"

After saying that, he took a stone and scratched several marks on the car. "Let's see if you'll sell it to me or not. I'll teach you a lesson for being arrogant. Can't you behave yourselves like other people who make mistakes? What makes you think you can live such a good life?"

She said through gritted teeth, her voice extremely low, almost squeezed out from between her teeth.

The last cut was the deepest, the sharp corner of the stone embedded in the sheet metal, and she pulled forward with all her might.

Then, as if realizing what he had done, he took a few steps back in fear and threw the stone to the ground.

The next morning, He Zhaoyang was washing up when she saw that Sheng Kaiyuan, who had just left, was now back.

"What's wrong, bro? Did you forget something?"

Sheng Kaiyuan looked at He Zhaoyang with a serious expression. "No, the car was scratched."

He Zhaoyang didn't even bother brushing his teeth before following Sheng Kaiyuan out the door.

Sheng Kaiyuan stood to the side and said in a low voice, "It wasn't there yesterday. Someone must have scratched it last night. Such deep marks must have been intentional."

"Hey, how did your car get scratched? Did you get your comeuppance?"

Aunt Liu arrived at the Sheng family's house early in the morning with sunflower seeds, gloating.

He Zhaoyang ignored her, stood up, dusted off his hands, and turned to Sheng Kaiyuan, saying, "Brother, it's okay, you can go ahead and get back to work."

Sheng Kaiyuan frowned. "What about the car?"

He Zhaoyang: "It's nothing."

Sheng Kaiyuan didn't say anything more and turned to leave.

Aunt Liu was standing at the alley entrance talking to a passing woman, deliberately raising her voice, "Oh, you don't know, some people just get their comeuppance. I don't know what wicked things they did, but their cars got scratched."