"It's not right, isn't it?" Old Li's daughter-in-law felt like this was not right.

"Yes." Old Wang's daughter-in-law nodded.

Madam Guo laughed. "You didn't know. The little fool is no longer a fool anymore."

"What? What? She's not a fool anymore? Really?" This was big news. The woman from the Li family was so shocked she pricked her finger with the needle.

Madam Guo took the chance to tell them more. "Really. I'm not fibbing. Not only that, but she wanted to break off all relations with her family. She plans to survive by herself and take care of her three children at the same time."

The woman from the Yang family was speechless. 

Madam Guo sighed. "We went over to take her home, but she was screaming and insisting on breaking off relations with my father-in-law! Seeing that she's no longer a fool, and that she's insistent, Father and Mother-in-law had no choice but to sign the agreement to break off relations with her."

Old Yang's daughter-in-law asked, "Is she really no longer a fool?"

Madam Guo added fuel to the fire. "Not only that, she was able to catch more than a dozen fishes by herself! She's like a normal person now." It was actually the scholar who caught the fish, but who cares? Madam Guo thought of herself as a very clever person. She attributed everything to Qi Qingyao and made it seem like she was like a normal person. When Qi Qingyao would freeze to death, it would be seen as a plausible consequence. 

The women chatted for more than four hours on Qi Yuancheng's bed-stove before having to leave.

On the way back, they came together and started to gossip about what Madam Guo had said before.

"You heard what Old Qi's daughter-in-law said just now."

"She's good at lying. She said that Qi Qingyao's no longer a fool!"

"We can't take what she said seriously. You'd be the fool if you took her words to heart!"

"Yes, yes. What's with the Qi family? They tried all sorts of ways to break off all relations with Qi Qingyao. Now that they've finally made an agreement, they told everyone that it was Qi Qingyao who wanted to break off all relations with them. Look at them lie! They really think of us as fools!"

"They've always wanted to dispose of the fool. Now that they've finally found a reason, they tell us that the fool has become intelligent again! This is the funniest joke I've heard all year!"

The women became more excited as they chatted.

This was what the women living in a village were like. They had nothing to do during the winter, so they gossiped about other families, laughed at the funny things they had done. This is what everyone liked to do.

The fool from the Qi family had been the butt of their jokes for years.

She was often what the villagers talked about after finishing their meals. 

As they chatted excitedly, Old Yang's daughter-in-law stopped speaking, and Old Wang's daughter-in-law paused as well. Old Li's daughter-in-law was speechless at their antics. She asked the two of them, "Why are you standing here like that…"

Old Li's daughter-in-law's back was facing the other side, and so Old Yang's daughter-in-law said dazedly, "Look there…"

Old Li's daughter-in-law turned to the other side, baffled. When she saw the entourage of three, she asked, stupefied, "What's that?"

Old Yang's daughter-in-law scratched the back of her head as she tried hard to describe the scene unfolding in front of them. "Qi Qingyao is leading the way for two men, who are carrying a wild boar on their backs…" Was this an illusion?

"This…" Old Wang's daughter-in-law did not know what to say. 

Old Li's daughter-in-law said with difficulty, "Or is what Madam Guo said just now real?"

Old Yang's daughter-in-law asked, "What did she say?"

Old Li's daughter-in-law said seriously, "She said that Qi Qingyao's not a fool anymore! And that she plans to live on her own!"

Everyone was speechless. Really?

As the truth unfolded in front of them, the three of them turned tail and headed to Qi Yuancheng's home.

Seeing them turn back, Madam Guo wanted to ask them what had happened when Old Yang's daughter-in-law said excitedly, "Madam Guo, guess what we saw just now?"