After finally escaping the village, Li Feng'e saw that the couple hadn't chased after her and dared to take a detour on a narrow path to rest for a while. When she turned around and saw that Lin Yuan had followed her every step of the way, her anger surged, and she suddenly stood up, ready to twist her cheek.
"You little disaster star, such a loss, oh my!"
Slap!
Before Li Feng'e could touch Lin Yuan's face, she was hit back by a large wooden stick!
Clutching her reddened wrist, Li Feng'e looked at the little girl in disbelief. Was this the same Little Disaster Star she had scolded since childhood, the same little girl who would only cry secretly after being beaten or scolded? Since when did she dare to fight back with a wooden stick?
"Li Feng'e, don't think I'm really stupid." Lin Yuan held the wooden stick in her hand, pointed at the somewhat dazed Li Feng'e, and said with a cold and fierce face, "You just wanted to sell me off today, didn't you? Fine, go ahead and sell, but let me warn you upfront, if you take me to a family, I will curse them so bad they won't want me!"
Lin Yuan laughed lightly and slowly took a step forward, "How does it feel, getting beaten up like this today? Has my third uncle ever coddled you like this?"
Li Feng'e saw her smile colder than the December frost and felt a chill down her spine, her legs going weak. Why did this girl's eyes carry a breath of death, eerily chilling?
Lin Yuan waved the wooden stick in her hand, frightening Li Feng'e even more from coming closer. One could imagine how much a woman who had never been beaten could stand being hit repeatedly like this.
"I say, third aunt, that flowery jacket looks really nice on you. My grandma has never been willing to spend money to buy my mom new clothes."
Speaking of which, the Lin family hadn't yet separated their household, and the money earned by the three sons had to be handed over to the elders for safekeeping. Lin Yuan's eldest uncle, Lin Jiazhong, had gone to school for a few years, had a good head on his shoulders, and was now a Mr. Accountant for a rich landlord. Aunt Ma was a crafty one, seemingly impeccable on the surface but lazy and cunning behind the scenes. Moreover, she was greedy for money like no other, watching over the silver as if her life depended on it. Although there was a rule in the Lin family that the silver earned each month had to be contributed to the public fund, the eldest couple never did and justified it by saying they were facilitating relationships. Where the silver actually went, only this couple knew.
Lin Yuan's third uncle, Lin Jiaxiao, not to mention, had been spoiled rotten since childhood. His wife, Li Feng'e, too, was a pampered young lady, whose maternal aunt was a servant in the Madam County Magistrate's house. This third uncle would spend his days following his cousin getting into trouble, committing all sorts of petty thefts. His hands were always either full of silver or completely empty, and when empty, he would reach out to his father for more. But this couple could sweet-talk like no other, able to charm their way into the elders' good graces. Having given birth to twin sons, they had passed on their skills to their children, who could say one thing to one person and another to someone else. The old couple of the Lin family were particularly fond of them and, apart from the eldest grandson of the eldest son, these two boys were the most favored.
Lin Yuan's father, Lin Jiaxin, was the second son, an honest and decent man. He didn't have much education but was skilled with his hands, particularly as a Carpenter, and had earned quite a lot of silver for the Lin family over the years. His wife, Liu Xianshu, true to her name, was virtuous and well-behaved with a gentle temperament. Among the sisters-in-law, she did the most work but spoke the least, naturally not favored by the elders and almost daily subtly belittled by Old lady Yang because she kept giving birth to girls.
However, in the past when the Lin family's public fund mostly relied on the second son's carpentry to bring in silver, the elders didn't make life too difficult for the second son's wife. But since six months ago when the second son broke his leg and could no longer work in the fields, particularly Old lady Yang, had begun to endlessly find faults with Liu Xianshu. Lin Yuan remembered that last month, when the youngest son of the eldest family didn't have enough silver to start school, her mother, six months pregnant and cumbersome, stayed up for three nights straight to rush out some embroidery to sell for silver. And all this had been coerced by her grandmother who valued sons over daughters.
Thinking about how her father ended up with a lingering leg ailment because her grandmother was too stingy to spend silver on a good doctor, Lin Yuan's grip on the wooden stick tightened again and again. In the memories of her original self, her father was a foolishly filial man, but he was two hundred percent good to his wife and daughter. When he was able to work, he never allowed Lady Liu to pick up a needle and thread for embroidery. Her mother's embroidery was only meant for her husband and daughter. Who else deserved it?
And then there was her mother, Lady Liu, who had come to have health issues due to the grandmother's preference for sons over daughters and various partial prescriptions she was given. Even the long-awaited son that was finally born was weak and died young. When her father was in good health, her mother would have new clothes and shoes every season. Now that her father was sick, Lady Yang wouldn't even spare the silver needed for medicine and seeing the doctor—how could her mother dare to hope for new clothes?
And now the brazen woman before her, Li Feng'e, who had never done any work or earned any silver, was wearing such a beautiful flowered jacket and even wearing a silver hairpin. Why? Was it because she had a sweet mouth that could charm people? Or was it because she could bear children, suddenly delivering two sons?
A daughter, what's wrong with a daughter? Just because of being a daughter, she has to be considered inferior? Lin Yuan silently resolved, wasn't it just about earning money for the family? She would earn money with her excellent cooking skills.
Li Feng'e watched the suddenly dazed Little Disaster Star before her gradually step back, not daring to shout until she was far enough away: "You Little Disaster Star, daring to hit me! You're a loss to the family. If you dare to come home with me today, you'll see if my man won't skin you alive!"
"Say it again, who is a loss to the family?!" Lin Yuan gnashed her teeth. Being called Little Disaster Star was one thing, but a loss to the family, hmph!
Li Feng'e looked around for something to throw but only found some loose soil clods, which crumbled when squeezed and couldn't compare to the wooden stick in Lin Yuan's hand. Yet, her mouth wouldn't give mercy: "What's wrong, you don't like being called a loss to the family? You are a loss to the family, all three of you sisters are minor losses! Your mother is just good at producing major losses—oh, my tooth!"
Li Feng'e, terrified, spat out a mouthful of blood. A tooth, mixed with streaks of blood, fell to the ground, rolled twice, and picked up a thick layer of dirt.
Indeed, it was Lin Yuan who had knocked out that tooth.
"Dare to curse my mother again, and I'll beat you until you cry for your father and beg for your mother!"
"You, you, you Little Disaster Star! I'll have your Third Uncle sell your whole family, all of you! You lunatic!" Li Feng'e, covering her swollen face, didn't dare to argue further and turned to run.
Lin Yuan wasn't about to let her run away, reaching out to grab her clothes. However, Li Feng'e was too strong, and Lin Yuan, emaciated from half a year of hunger, was simply unable to hold on, so she had no choice but to clutch at her loose hair instead.
"What did you just say? Sold? Sell who?"
Lin Yuan smelled danger. Her Third Uncle, that very uncle who had suddenly returned home, that uncle who was always up to no good, who was he going to sell?