"Auntie," Lin Yuan eased her tone, giving Li Feng'e a big smile.
Li Feng'e was a bit stunned; Little Disaster Star had always been terrified of her, and sometimes just a glance could make her shiver. How come she dared to smile at her today and even sweetly call out to her?
Li Feng'e first frowned and observed her for a while before beginning to fear the worst. Could it be that trying to seek death earlier had really made her stupid? If she was really stupid and couldn't be sold, what could she do then?
Li Feng'e, looking at the woman with the large round face, started to calculate in her heart. Since it happened in her house that she became stupid, she had to take her in, whether she wanted to or not, and get the silver one way or another. She was planning to buy a new pair of silver bracelets, and her two little rascals at home were waiting for their sweet cakes!
Lin Yuan, seeing her sly and pleased look, knew this brash woman was scheming something good again, and she had no intention of letting her succeed. Since this family wanted to buy her to bless their son, then their son must have caught some incurable disease. If that was the case...
Lin Yuan's eyes flickered, and she tugged on Li Feng'e's sleeve, raising her blood-covered little face innocently and asking, "Auntie, am I the smartest girl in the village? I don't know why. Everyone calls me Little Disaster Star, umm..."
Li Feng'e was still fantasizing about her wonderful plans when she suddenly heard Lin Yuan bring up Little Disaster Star. She briskly covered Lin Yuan's mouth, but Lin Yuan was prepared and still spoke her mind.
"What? Little Disaster Star?" The madam, who was all set to find joy for her precious son, reacted sensitively to these three words. She rushed forward, grabbed Li Feng'e's hand, and demanded urgently, "You wicked woman, you actually brought a Little Disaster Star! Are you trying to bless my son or curse him to death? Pah, pah! I knew it, just entering the door and bumping into the wall to see blood, there must be someone trying to curse my lineage with a broom star! Five taels of silver, hmph, I wouldn't want your broom star even if you gave her to me for free!"
Indeed, as soon as the round-faced woman heard the three words Little Disaster Star, she jumped up, tightening her grip on Li Feng'e's hand, causing her pain but she didn't dare to talk back. After all, this was someone else's home, and there were still Five taels of silver to be considered. For the sweet cakes for her two sons and her own silver bracelets, she had to maintain the lie no matter what.
"Big sister-in-law, what are you even saying? I admit that my niece isn't very bright, but she's certainly not any kind of Little Disaster Star or broom star. The girl must have been stunned from the bump, she spoke nonsense..." "Auntie, how could I speak nonsense?" Lin Yuan, leaning against the wall trying to stand up, but still feeling a bit weak, her vision suddenly darkened and she swayed. This was not good timing; her hand accidentally brushed against a jar on the shelf next to her, and with a snap, the jar fell to the ground, spilling out a lot of blackish substance all over the floor.
After a moment, Lin Yuan managed to stand, looking at the pool on the ground that resembled an overly fermented sauce. Her small nose wrinkled, tears threatening to fall: "Auntie, I've made another mistake, I turned over the master's jar, will they still want me as a Helper? I don't want to go back to the village to be scolded."
The woman, who had been considering Li Feng'e's words and pondering driving down the price further, turned her head only to see Lin Yuan breaking the jar. The round face paled instantly as she staggered towards her, bellowing, "Oh my heavens, still saying she's not a Little Disaster Star—she's just overturned my son's medicine! This broom star is a life-hunting ghost, she's come for my son's life! Master, won't you come out? This woman is going to ruin our lineage!"
While speaking, a middle-aged man suddenly burst into the small courtyard next to the house like the wind, holding a hoe in his hand, with yellow mud still on his feet; it was clear that he had been working in the fields and had rushed home upon hearing the commotion.
Lin Yuan saw the strong man's face filled with anger, and her heart trembled sharply. She looked at Li Feng'e with some sympathy.
Li Feng'e was already pale as a ghost. Now, both the husband and wife were together against her, and this man looked like the kind who would unreasonably take his wife's side; those paw-like fists, if they landed on her, would surely be extremely painful!
"Sister-in-law, Little Disaster Star didn't do it on purpose. I, I'll compensate, I'll compensate you with silver! Ah, Big Brother, let's talk this out, please, no need to get violent, ow, hey!"
The man was hell-bent on catching the wicked woman who had cursed his son. The large-faced woman was egging her husband on, spicing things up as she encouraged him to beat up the other. The three of them chased from inside the house to outside, with the entire courtyard filled with the noise of shouting and calling for a beating. Lin Yuan could faintly hear the sound of urgent coughing coming from the inner room; it must be their sick child. The coughing carried a wheezing breath that sounded like asthma, suggesting that the child's days were probably numbered.
Lin Yuan looked at the medicine on the ground, which clearly wasn't concocted from herbs, and mourned for the doomed child for a second. With such a superstitious mother, perhaps death would be a relief for the child. However, this family wasn't good people, taking a child so casually to suffer here; naturally, they couldn't just let it go without consequences.
Lin Yuan ran to the courtyard and saw Li Feng'e running back and forth, crying and calling for her parents, having already lost track of where the main gate was. Her originally clean floral jacket was now stained with a lot of grassroots, especially around the trousers and arms, where there was dirt and mud. She had also lost a shoe. The three of them continued to chase and shout; the village gate was blocked by villagers who had come to watch the spectacle. Lin Yuan sneered, followed behind them pretending to break up the fight, and, while chasing, kicked open the door of the chicken coop in the yard. Inside, more than a dozen hens, already terrified, clucked nonstop amid the chase, some flying straight over the low wall, while others were snatched away by villagers looking to pluck and cook them promptly, and some got under the man's feet in their panic, causing him to stumble.
There was also a rack of some dried goods in the courtyard that got knocked over by a Little Disaster Star, leaving the dried vegetables either trampled or eaten by a few shrewd hens.
"Oh, my chickens!" Seeing her chickens flying off and escaping, the large-faced woman's eyes reddened even more. She cursed the scourge while chasing chickens all over the yard, even forgetting about Li Feng'e.
Finally, Li Feng'e saw her chance as the couple stopped chasing her, and she squeezed her way through the gate without even daring to go back for her lost shoe. Lin Yuan naturally wouldn't fall behind; after all, she didn't know the way back home.
Fortunately, the villagers at the gate were put off by the smell of chicken droppings on Li Feng'e and quickly dispersed, otherwise she really wouldn't have been able to leave. However, what Li Feng'e didn't notice—but the sharp-eyed Lin Yuan did—was that the silver hairpin she had deliberately worn while going out was now lying in someone else's courtyard. Now Li Feng'e had truly lost both Madam and Helper.