Ming Fei looked at the group distorting right and wrong with disgust. They only mentioned Xu Cuihua hitting someone, but completely avoided saying why Xu Cuihua hit them in the first place, didn't they?
Unfortunately, neither the original Ming Erde nor the current Ming Erde with a changed core were the type to listen to one-sided stories. Ming Erde wasn't unaware of what had actually happened.
"Is that so? But when I woke up yesterday, I heard that my wife was beaten until her head was bleeding, nearly beaten to death by you all? And that our Feifei, who was sick, was tricked by Jin Dan into going up the mountain and abandoned there?"
Originally, Xu Cuihua had wanted to take action upon hearing these people's nonsense, but she temporarily stopped after hearing Ming Erde's words. Crossing her arms, she sneered coldly at the group.
Zhao Xiulan hadn't expected Ming Erde to know the situation so clearly and immediately shrank back, though she still put on a fierce front, as if Ming Erde's presence gave her a sense of security.
In her view, Xu Cuihua didn't care about Jin Dan, but Ming Erde surely would. Moreover, Xu Cuihua had hit them—this was a slap in Ming Erde's face!
"Jin Dan and Yin Dan were just playing with Feifei. That mountain is so low, the children in the Dadui often go there to play. What could possibly happen? It was just kids playing around. Who knew this woman Xu Cuihua would come up and slap Jin Dan? Look at Jin Dan's face, Erde!" Zhao Xiulan pulled Jin Dan, who was hiding behind her, and pointed at his face for Ming Erde to see.
"Xu Cuihua was about to beat Jin Dan to death. We were just trying to stop her, and who knew she would fall? We didn't touch her!"
"That's right! Jin Dan is your own nephew. You'll be relying on him to take care of you in your old age. And this woman even hit your father and your mother! Ming Erde, if you're a real man, divorce this woman for me! Our Ming family can't keep such a vicious woman!"
Old Mrs. Ming thought about how others in the Dadui were pointing fingers at her and hated it to the core. Today, she had to make Ming Erde divorce Xu Cuihua, or where would her face be?
Ming Fei clenched her fists in anger. This group thought they had Ming Erde as their backer, believing that with Ming Erde around, Xu Cuihua wouldn't dare do anything to them.
If only she had some melon seeds, she would have loved to sit to the side, munching on them while waiting to see how her new dad and mom would deal with this bunch.
Just as she was feeling regretful, Xu Cuihua suddenly turned and stuffed a handful of peanuts into her pocket. "Feifei, snack on these for fun. Wait and see how your mom deals with them."
"Okay! Thank you, Mom. I'll peel them and share them with you and Dad!" Ming Fei looked up and said obediently.
Having returned from the Moshi, Ming Fei didn't have the habit of eating alone. Back then, whenever anyone had something good to eat, they would share it with the team. Everyone got a little—not much, but everyone had some. To her now, Xu Cuihua and Ming Erde were her new teammates.
Hearing this, both Xu Cuihua and Ming Erde felt a warmth in their hearts. In this era of scarcity, a child who understood sharing was rare. Of course, they couldn't blame other children for being greedy—survival was instinctual, and food was truly scarce at this time.
Ming Erde withdrew his gaze from Ming Fei and looked back at Old Mrs. Ming, Zhao Xiulan, and the others. The warmth in his eyes was gone. "The main reason I came today is that our Feifei was scared and wants to eat some meat. Mom, I think that hen you're raising looks pretty good."
"As for Cuihua's matter, Mom, you're so kind-hearted, surely you understand a mother's love for her child, right? Besides, Cuihua already knows she was wrong. As an elder, it's not proper for you to hold a grudge against a younger family member, or else people will say you're harsh on your daughter-in-law."
"What?!" Zhao Xiulan immediately bristled when she heard Ming Erde had his eyes on her family's hen.
She had originally thought that even if she couldn't make Ming Erde beat Xu Cuihua or divorce her today, she would still make them pay a price. She had also set her sights on Ming Erde's egg-laying hen, but Zhao Xiulan wasn't as ruthless as Ming Erde—she didn't plan to take the hen back to kill it, but wanted to keep it for its eggs.
What right did Ming Fei, a mere girl, have to eat eggs every other day? Her own Jin Dan hadn't eaten them as often, and she didn't even have the fortune for it—wasn't she afraid of eating herself to death?
"Have you gone mad? Xu Cuihua beat us up like this, and instead of helping, you want to steal your nephew's chicken? Are you even a man of the Ming family?!"
"Then let's call the police. Cuihua, let's go find the public security officers. We'll tell them Jin Dan deliberately abandoned a six-year-old child in the mountains to be fed to wolves, that he intended to kill someone—he's a murderer. We'll have the officers come arrest him."
Xu Cuihua cooperated perfectly. Hearing this, she turned to leave. Zhao Xiulan, forgetting her fear of Xu Cuihua in that moment, grabbed her arm. "My Jin Dan is no murderer! He was just playing with Feifei!"
"Go tell that to the public security comrades." Xu Cuihua sneered, shaking off Zhao Xiulan's grip and making as if to leave.
Though they wished they could beat Jin Dan to death, both knew it was unlikely. As for reporting it to the police, it would probably come to nothing in the end—as long as Jin Dan claimed he was just playing with Ming Fei.
"Mom, I just want a hen to nourish Feifei's health, that's all. The prettiest one. My Feifei is a girl; she should eat the most beautiful hen."
The prettiest hen was naturally the best cared for.
"Erde, are you trying to drive your mother to her grave? Xu Cuihua has already beaten Jin Dan like this, and now you come demanding a chicken? Is this how an uncle and aunt should behave? Look at your mother's face—are you blind?!"
Old Mrs. Ming didn't want Ming Erde to call the police, nor did she want to hand over her family's egg-laying hen. She threw herself on the ground, wailing and howling.
She couldn't understand—even though Jin Dan was mischievous, Ming Fei was fine, wasn't she? Besides, that shrew Xu Cuihua had already beaten them up like this, and they hadn't even asked for medical expenses. Why did Ming Erde act as if he couldn't see their injuries?
What she found most unbearable was that Ming Erde, her own son, remained indifferent to her beating. He hadn't been like this before—her face was utterly shamed!
An old village woman's unreasonable stubbornness was always hard to deal with. If it were the old Ming Erde, even if unwilling, he wouldn't have truly done anything to Old Mrs. Ming. But this Ming Erde was different.
He certainly wouldn't lay a hand on Old Mrs. Ming, but he had plenty of ways to handle her.
"Mom, you're right. Since that's the case… Cuihua, come here and drag Jin Dan and Yin Dan into the mountains. Just like with Feifei, take them to an unfamiliar part of the woods and let them find their own way back. Then, Mom, you, Sister-in-law, and Big Brother can come and reason with Cuihua." Ming Erde bent down, smiling as he looked at Old Mrs. Ming rolling on the ground. "That way, we won’t report this to the police, and we won’t take your chicken either. How about that?"
Ming Erde’s meaning was clear—the matter of Jin Dan abandoning Ming Fei in the mountains wasn’t going to be let off so easily.
A simple beating would heal in a few days, and they might not even remember it. But if their precious property was touched, that would be a different story—it would hurt every time they laid eyes on a chicken.
He knew all too well what mattered most to people these days.
So, choose.
Either report it to the authorities and make a big scene. Even if Jin Dan ultimately wasn’t locked up, his reputation would be ruined. In a few years, when it was time for him to find a wife, what decent family would agree to a match after hearing about this?
Or, Xu Cuihua could abandon the boys deep in the mountains, letting Jin Dan and Yin Dan experience the fear of being lost in the wilderness, alone and at risk of encountering wild beasts.
As for whether the brothers would be as lucky as Ming Fei, that would depend on their fate.
He was only asking for one egg-laying hen—was that too much to ask?
Of course, he never said that taking the hen would settle the matter.
A single hen could never make up for the suffering his Feifei had endured, nor for the lives of the original couple.
Old Mrs. Ming stiffened, looking up to meet Ming Erde’s cold gaze. With the bandage still wrapped around his head, he seemed to overlap in her mind with Xu Cuihua, who had wreaked havoc the night before.
"Jin Dan is your nephew!"
"Well, then there’s no other way. Cuihua, I think we should just toss Jin Dan and Yin Dan into the mountains after all. That way, we won’t take the hen, and we’ll call it even." Ming Erde stepped back to make room. Xu Cuihua shoved aside Zhao Xiulan, who tried to stop her, and rushed forward in a few strides, grabbing Jin Dan by the collar and lifting the twelve-year-old boy into the air.
As the Ming family’s precious treasure, Jin Dan wasn’t scrawny like other kids—he was solid and sturdy. Yet Xu Cuihua lifted him with ease.
Held and dragged by Xu Cuihua, Jin Dan’s fear finally erupted. He screamed and cried, "Mom! Grandma! Save me! She’s going to kill me! Save me, save me! Just give her the hen!"
Ming Fei sat on a nearby rock, shelling peanuts while watching the drama unfold with wide, attentive eyes. She thought her new parents were incredibly formidable, hitting all the right pressure points of this family.
She felt no sympathy whatsoever.
When Jin Dan had abandoned the original host—a sick little girl—in the mountains, he hadn’t shown any sympathy or concern for whether she would survive.
"Give it to her! Why won’t you give it to her? Do you want me to die?"
The shrill noise made Xu Cuihua frown. She raised her hand and slapped him. "Too noisy. Quiet down. Don’t worry, Auntie will take you somewhere you’ve never been before."
The crying stopped abruptly. Jin Dan didn’t dare speak again, but he glared with hatred at Old Mrs. Ming and Zhao Xiulan, who were trying to rescue him.
He didn’t dare hate Xu Cuihua, nor did he dare hate Ming Fei, because he knew that if Ming Fei hadn’t returned yesterday, Xu Cuihua truly would have beaten him to death.
Zhao Xiulan glanced around and headed straight for Ming Fei, who was sitting on the side watching the show, clearly intending to use Ming Fei to threaten Xu Cuihua.
How could Xu Cuihua give her the chance? She directly threw the golden egg in her hand. With a scream, the egg hit Zhao Xiulan, and then she stepped forward, grabbed the woman again, and kicked her.
Ming Fei tucked the pencil knife she had been clutching back into the deepest part of her pocket, raised her obedient little face, and clapped her hands to cheer her mother on. "Thank you, Mom! Mom is so amazing! Mom is mighty!"
After saying that, the little diplomat turned to Ming Erde on the other side and made her small request, "Dad, I was just scared, so frightened! I need to eat two chickens to feel better! I want hens—hens are delicious!"
Thinking of the taste of chicken soup, Ming Fei couldn't help but swallow her saliva.
At that time, each household could only raise up to three chickens at most. With one request, Ming Fei was asking for two egg-laying hens.
"Alright, alright, two it is!" Ming Erde said, then turned to Old Mrs. Ming, who was too afraid to move, still speaking gently, "Mom, your granddaughter wants two hens. You have two grandsons, so it’s not too much, right?"
Author's Note:
The smooth-talking Erde