Chapter 204 - 192: War
Chapter 204: Chapter 192: War
Tang Yaxuan’s heart felt as if it had plummeted into a bottomless pit. Unmoored and terrified, she could only watch as her life spiraled toward a dead end.
She scanned the dilapidated, filthy little courtyard. Chicks scurried about, shitting everywhere. The short, stout woman from the house next door led a cow into the yard to feed it, all the while hurling loud, veiled insults. As the cow ate, it also urinated, its hide already smeared with fresh dung. With a flick of its tail, Tang Yaxuan felt something warm splash onto her face. She tried to retreat back into the house, but the doorway was blocked by several creatures she was told were her younger siblings. Their eyes burned with hostility, their expressions making it clear they saw her as an enemy.
Then she thought of the night to come, when she would have to share a bed with Liu Fengying, sleeping on a mattress that gave off a strange odor. Her skin began to itch at the mere thought. She remembered being jolted awake in the middle of the night by Mo Xiaoqiang’s bizarre shrieks, followed by Mo Xiaofeng’s wails. Just when those two monsters finally quieted down, rats would emerge to fight under the bed while others gnawed on the wooden beams and corn cobs overhead, making a constant SCRITCH-SCRATCHING sound. Then came the sound of someone weeping—a miserable, hair-raising cry that Liu Fengying had tried to dismiss by comforting her, "That’s just a cat..."
Tang Yaxuan’s skin crawled and her scalp tingled. She didn’t want to stay in this godforsaken place for another second!
She went to find Liu Fengying to ask for the money her father had left for her. Liu Fengying looked surprised. "School doesn’t start until tomorrow. What do you need money for? A kid like you can’t hold onto money properly. You’ll just lose it for someone else to find!"
"I want to go back to Wancheng!"
"Oh, now... I’ve already told you, you can’t go back for the time being."
"Stay out of it! Give me back my money! Even if I can’t go back to Mom and Dad, I refuse to go to school in your countryside! I’ll go to the county middle school. Mom and Dad won’t really abandon me. They’ll send me money!"
Liu Fengying’s eyes darted back and forth. She softened her voice and cooed, "Now, now, good girl..."
"Cut the crap and give me my money!"
Mo Xiaozhi rushed over and threw a punch at Tang Yaxuan. "What right do you have to ask my mom for money? I don’t even get to go to school, so why should you? You’re not allowed! Stay home and do some work!"
Tang Yaxuan shot Mo Xiaozhi a contemptuous glare. "That’s my money. My dad left it for me!"
"Your dad? Your dad is my dad, so his money is my money, too! If you go to school, I’ll go to school, and I won’t do any more work!" Mo Xiaozhi shoved Tang Yaxuan.
"My dad from the city has nothing to do with you! Do you think you deserve a father like him? You lunatic!"
Tang Yaxuan fought back, shoving Mo Xiaozhi hard. Enraged, Mo Xiaozhi grabbed a bowl of freshly poured hot rice water from the table and hurled it at her. Luckily, it was winter and her clothes were thick, so she wasn’t scalded. But her pale yellow corduroy jacket, with its delicate sprout-patterned embroidery, was now splattered all over with thick, white rice water. ’This is absolutely disgusting!’
Tang Yaxuan held out her hands, staring blankly at her beautiful jacket. She wanted to cry, but it felt as though she had been through a lifetime since yesterday. She understood now. ’Crying is useless!’
’It’s better to fight back. At least then I can vent all this anger and resentment!’
Tang Yaxuan lunged at Mo Xiaozhi, grabbing her by the hair and slamming her head against the wall. She kneed Mo Xiaozhi hard in the stomach. She, Tang Yaxuan, was not to be trifled with. She had visited Brother Shaojun’s military unit once, and he’d had the female soldiers teach her a few moves. ’I’m just not strong enough. Otherwise, I’d beat these little grasshoppers to death!’
Tang Yaxuan was fighting for her life, and as expected, Mo Xiaozhi was no match for her. Mo Xiaozhi shrieked and cried. Liu Fengying moved to stop Tang Yaxuan, but a log fell from the small stove. She hurried to deal with the fire first, afraid it would ignite the nearby woodpile and burn down the house. Mo Xiaoneng and Mo Xiaohua ran into the kitchen and saw Tang Yaxuan pinning Mo Xiaozhi to the ground, beating her viciously. They immediately sprang into action. Mo Xiaohua lunged forward and clawed at Tang Yaxuan’s face, while Mo Xiaoneng grabbed a small stool and—WHAM!—smashed it against the back of Tang Yaxuan’s head. Tang Yaxuan’s eyes rolled back as she collapsed. The world went silent.
Soon, Liu Fengying’s shrill curses rang out. Before her whip could land on him, Mo Xiaoneng had already fled.
Tang Yaxuan had only been out for a moment. The back of her head was cut and bleeding slightly, and a large lump was already forming.
To comfort her, Liu Fengying viciously whipped Mo Xiaozhi and Mo Xiaohua right in front of her. Tang Yaxuan remained expressionless, but the two little girls only hated her more.
Mo Xiaofeng was up as well. For once, she was quiet, rummaging through the junk piled in the corners of the main room as if looking for something.
Liu Fengying tried to wipe Tang Yaxuan’s face and hands with a greasy, blackish-yellow towel. Tang Yaxuan shoved her away in disgust and resumed her demands. "Give me my money! Are you trying to get me killed by leaving me in this house?"
"They’re your real brother and sisters. They’re just a little mischievous, they won’t really hurt you."
"Stop with the nonsense and give me my money!"
"Um, Xuanxuan, listen to me... the money your dad from the city left... some of it has been spent."
"It was over a hundred! Just give me a hundred, you can keep the rest!"
"Child, our family had some debts. You saw them last night—that couple, the parents of the fake Xiao Man. Uncle Wu took the fake Xiao Man away and she hasn’t been sent back yet, so they rushed over for the money... And your eldest aunt’s family ran into some trouble, your other aunt’s child got sick and they urgently needed money, and we’d borrowed from them before... The whole hundred-plus was split among them. Only thirty is left. This morning, your dad took ten to pay for medicine from a folk doctor in the next village. There’s still twenty left. That’s for your tuition. You can go to the commune’s middle school; twenty is enough to cover room and board!"
Tang Yaxuan was stunned. "What? You spent all of my money?"
"Er, I told you, there’s still twenty left, enough for school..."
"I don’t want it! I don’t want to go to a countryside middle school! I want to go back to the city! I want to go back to the city!"
Ignoring the pain in her mouth, Tang Yaxuan burst into tears and wailed.
But no matter how much she cried, the money wasn’t coming back. Knowing she had wronged her daughter, Liu Fengying guiltily slipped away to the backyard to feed the pigs and ignore her. Mo Xiaofeng, Xiao Zhi, and Xiaohua gathered around, clapping their hands and gloating.
"Yay! Yay! Look at the fallen phoenix!"
"You rotten bitch! You cursed demon! Serves you right!"
Mo Xiaozhi even sang a taunting little tune, "Look at you being so arrogant! Look at you being so wild! Look at you going so crazy you could fly!"
Tang Yaxuan was speechless.
’I really wish I could kill these awful kids!’
’They’re still wearing the old clothes I sent them. They were practically new, but now they’ve worn them until they’re filthy and ragged. It makes me sick with hatred!’
When Liu Fengying came back from feeding the pigs, she took a bowl of steamed pickled vegetables from the pot and called for the other children to ladle out some congee. She herself scalded a bowl and chopsticks clean, then coaxed Tang Yaxuan to finish a bowl of congee as if she were waiting on a young mistress.
The children at the table couldn’t stand Liu Fengying’s favoritism and launched another round of vicious insults and accusations against Tang Yaxuan.
After breakfast, Tang Yaxuan needed the toilet. She refused to enter the stinking latrine, so Liu Fengying took her to the vegetable garden out back to squat between the beds. Mo Xiaozhi and Mo Xiaohua followed them and stood nearby, shouting, "Come and look! Xuanxuan has no shame! Such a big girl, not using the latrine pit, just shitting and pissing out in the open!"
Sure enough, someone in the next yard was peering over the fence. It was Mo Laoer’s sons, Mo Xiaobao and Mo Xiaogui. They joined Mo Xiaozhi in her loud mockery. "We see it! We see it... HAHAHAHA!"
Tang Yaxuan was so ashamed and mortified she wished she could burrow under the vegetable leaves to hide.
When Tang Yaxuan got back to the main room, she grabbed Mo Xiaozhi again, and another fierce war broke out among the siblings.
Once again, Tang Yaxuan was defeated.
Although Mo Xiaoneng was as skinny as a monkey, a country boy used to running wild was surprisingly strong. While Tang Yaxuan was tangled in a brawl with Mo Xiaozhi and kicking at Mo Xiaofeng and Mo Xiaohua, Mo Xiaoneng stood outside, pelting her with rocks and clumps of dirt. Provoked, Tang Yaxuan let go of the three girls and ran after him. Mo Xiaoneng pulled a string, and a bag full of dirt mixed with chicken shit fell from above the main door, landing right on Tang Yaxuan’s head. Chicken shit and dust coated her hair and face. Tang Yaxuan was so disgusted she retched until she thought she would die, while Mo Xiaoneng, Mo Xiaofeng, and Mo Xiaozhi roared with laughter.
Liu Fengying rushed over and took her whip to the children, giving them a thrashing. Naturally, the blame for this was also laid at Tang Yaxuan’s feet.
Liu Fengying heated water for Tang Yaxuan to wash her hair and bathe. At that moment, even though she hated Liu Fengying immensely, Tang Yaxuan knew in her heart that she couldn’t leave her biological mother for the time being. The money was all gone. She could only accept the arrangement and go board at the commune’s middle school. ’I can’t stay in this house a moment longer!’
After her bath, Liu Fengying dug out a set of Tang Yaxuan’s old clothes for her to change into. Tang Yaxuan wanted to cry but had no tears left. ’My closets at home in the provincial city are stuffed full of new clothes. My old room at the Wancheng Prefectural Committee compound is still there, with several sets of clean, respectable clothes in the closet... Have all of those gone to that Mo Xiaoman now?’
The thought of Mo Xiaoman brought another wave of hatred to her heart. ’If it weren’t for her, I would never have fallen this low!’
After getting clean, Tang Yaxuan didn’t dare let her guard down. She stuck to Liu Fengying like glue, resolutely refusing to let those other children get near her.
But Liu Fengying had work to do. Since Tang Yaxuan clung to her and wouldn’t let go, she had no choice but to skip work for another day, forgoing the work points from the production team. She would stay home with her biological daughter and deal with it after taking her to school tomorrow.
While Liu Fengying fed the chickens and tidied the courtyard, she moved a stool under the eaves for Tang Yaxuan to sit on, then gave her two roasted sweet potatoes to slowly peel and eat.
Around noon, a young man walked in through the courtyard gate. It was none other than Mo Xiaosu’s cousin, Huang Baoshan.
Mo Xiaosu had relied on Huang Baoshan’s introduction to finally meet the "Big Brother." She had then paid a hefty price to get this "Big Brother" to take care of Mo Xiaoman for her. Who knew the plan would backfire, getting her caught in the mess instead. That day, Huang Baoshan’s father had dragged him into the mountains to haul logs, so by a stroke of luck, he had escaped the disaster.
He was here today to visit Mo Xiaosu. The militia had thoroughly intimidated Mo Laoer, telling him that even though Mo Xiaosu was a minor, her association with a criminal gang meant she would still go to jail. As her guardian, he would have to go with her, and he’d also have to pay compensation and fines!
In his fury, Mo Laoer had grabbed a thick stick and beaten Mo Xiaosu until her head was split open and she fell unconscious. She was still in bed recovering.