Bang—
Zhou Yue had just cracked the door open when she panicked and slammed it shut, bolting it immediately. The moment she saw Zhou Chenglong, her mind went completely blank.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“You wretched girl, open this door now!”
Mother Zhou’s curses and the pounding on the door echoed loudly through the quiet morning, reverberating down the entire alley.
“Third Sister, hurry up and open the door! I’m starving to death,” Zhou Chenglong shouted even louder. “Mom and I traveled all this way to see you, and you’re going to lock us out? After all Mom’s worry about how you’re doing in Haishi, afraid you might be getting bullied!”
Mother Zhou plopped down on the ground without a care, wailing and lamenting, “Ungrateful wretch! You stole the family’s money and ran away, nearly starving us to death. Why did I ever give birth to such a debt-collecting demon!”
Zhou Yue bit her lip hard, her body sliding down against the door until she sat on the floor. Memories of childhood oppression flooded back uncontrollably, and tears streamed down her face. She thought she had escaped her past, but how had the Zhou family found her? What should she do? What could she do?
People gradually emerged from the alley to watch the spectacle—some with bedhead brushing their teeth, others holding cups of soy milk, munching on steamed buns… With an audience, Mother Zhou and Zhou Chenglong performed even more vigorously, one weeping and complaining, the other persuading and pleading, their voices rising in competition.
“I’m Zhou Yue’s mother. You have no idea how wicked this wretched girl is! She eloped with someone and stole all our family’s money. During the poor harvest, we almost starved with no money for food. Her father went up the mountain in heavy rain to dig for roots to eat, fell down, and we had no money for the hospital. Now his left foot is crippled… Oh heavens, wuuu~”
Zhou Chenglong quickly helped Mother Zhou up. “Mom, get up. The ground’s cold. Don’t make yourself sick with anger.”
Zhou Mu peeked through a crack in the window, seeing Zhou Yue crying and hearing Mother Zhou and Zhou Chenglong outside. Her animal-like intuition told her this wasn’t good news for her, so she covered her ears and hid under the bed.
The cursing outside grew increasingly vulgar. Zhou Yue dug her nails into her palm, forcing herself to calm down. She couldn’t let them ruin her reputation any further. Many people already disliked her because of how she treated Zhou Mu. If she allowed Zhou Chenglong and the others to twist the truth, her life would become even harder.
Calm down!
Calm down, Zhou Yue! Don’t panic!
She opened the door and, with tears streaming down her face, cried out, “Mom, I did run away from home, but wasn’t it because you wanted to sell me off to a forty-something old widower? His first two wives were beaten to death by him. If I hadn’t run, would I have survived? Why should I resign myself to that fate?”
“You’re still slandering me even now! I only took the money I earned from gathering and selling herbs. I never touched the family’s money.” Zhou Yue spoke with bitter anguish. “Why won’t you let me go? I’ve already left you all behind.”
Whoa! What an interesting drama! But everyone was just an overworked drudge scrambling to make a living, with jobs to get to, so they had to leave reluctantly. Still, with this framework, they could imagine a spectacular family ethics saga.
As the crowd dispersed, Mother Zhou and Zhou Chenglong seized the chance to squeeze into the courtyard where Zhou Yue rented.
Zhou Chenglong followed his nose into the kitchen. “Oh, cooking, huh? Perfect timing—I’m starving.”
His grimy hand reached directly into the steamer and grabbed a bun, hissing from the heat but refusing to let go. “Mom, come eat! Third Sister made meat buns!”
“Let me see!” Mother Zhou responded, barging in and shoving Zhou Yue aside at the doorway.
The mother and son frantically stuffed the buns into their mouths, ignoring how scalding hot they were. After three days of travel, they had been too frugal to buy food along the way. The few steamed buns they brought from home were gone as soon as they got off the bus. With prices being high in Haishi, Mother Zhou hadn’t eaten since noon yesterday, only buying a small bowl of wontons for Zhou Chenglong.
“How did you find me?” Zhou Yue stared coldly at the two, having completely regained her composure. Her initial panic had been nothing more than instinctive fear, but she had dared to resist before and wouldn’t submit now.
Mother Zhou’s sharp eyes gleamed from their triangular shape. “How dare you ask! If not for Old Yang’s fourth son spotting you while working in Haishi, we’d still have no idea you were hiding here.”
Old Yang’s fourth son?
Zhou Yue had almost no memory of this person. Since escaping Xiaoxigou, she had been trying hard to forget her past.
“Children’s clothes?” Zhou Chenglong suddenly noticed Zhou Mu’s clothes hanging in the yard and asked suspiciously, “Third Sister, are you married? Did you have a useless girl? Where’s my brother-in-law? Why isn’t he home?”
“Married?” Mother Zhou exclaimed before searching the entire house. “Where is he? Doesn’t he come out to greet his mother-in-law?”
“I’m not married,” Zhou Yue replied, her voice dripping with impatient disgust.
“What? Not married!” Mother Zhou rushed forward and slapped Zhou Yue. “Have you been doing shameless things? How dare you give birth to a bastard! You’ve completely disgraced our Zhou family!”
Zhou Yue wasn’t one to take beatings and insults passively. She caught Mother Zhou’s hand, but in the struggle, her headscarf was torn off, revealing the long scar on her face. Mother Zhou froze in shock.
Zhou Chenglong was equally stunned. “Third Sister, your face…”
His third sister had been the most beautiful girl in their entire town. How had she become like this?
Covering her face, Zhou Yue glared with hatred at Mother Zhou and Zhou Chenglong. They had stripped away her last shred of dignity!
She had fantasized countless times about returning home in glory, appearing proudly before the Zhou family, making them grovel at her feet, forcing them to regret how they’d treated her and beg for forgiveness…
Their unexpected arrival today had already been a shock, but she could still comfort herself that after all these years in Haishi, she was no longer the same as the village women and farmers from Xiaoxigou. But now… their astonished eyes felt like a thousand cuts to her.
She could almost see the mockery in their eyes, as if saying: Look at you! You stole money and ran away from Xiaoxigou, and now you’ve gotten your punishment! Even your only valuable asset—your beauty—is ruined. What use are you now?
“Get out! Both of you, get out of here!”
“Oh, so you’ve grown wings, have you?” Mother Zhou lunged at Zhou Yue. Years of farm work had made her strong. “You dare tell us to leave?”
She hit Zhou Yue while screaming, “Fine! We’ll go! Just pay back double—no, triple—the money you stole! Then settle mine and your father’s living expenses! We’ll leave immediately!”
“You think we want to step foot in this place? Who knows how many men you’ve entertained here? It’s disgusting! Spit!”
Zhou Yue’s mother’s cursing grew increasingly vulgar, even beginning to threaten her: “If you don’t give it to me, I’ll go to the police station and report you! I’ll report you for being unfilial to your parents, and for prostitution! The second daughter of the Luo family in the neighboring village was arrested for prostitution—that’s something you can go to jail for! Think carefully!”