When Xia Wanqing reached the entrance of the Xia residence, she saw a crowd gathered outside.
“Waaah—waaah—” loud wailing came from inside the Xia house.
“What happened?” Xia Wanqing asked quietly.
“Zhou Huiping’s family doesn’t want Xia Jiayao anymore. They’re dumping him back here. Xia Jiayao refuses to accept it and is crying and throwing a fit.”
When the crowd saw it was Xia Wanqing, they immediately parted to make a path for her.
A fat, big-eared man—Zhou Qiang—was gripping Xia Jiayao by the neck and pointed at Xia Wanqing.
“Remember this—you are his real family. If anything happens, come looking for her!”
Xia Jiayao was chubby and ate a lot.
Xia Yiyi had taken all the money and didn’t even care about Zhou Huiping, who was locked up in the police station.
She hadn’t given the Zhou family a single cent either, so naturally, the Zhou family had no interest in raising this little fatty.
All eyes turned to Xia Wanqing, waiting for a good show.
Surely she would get into a big argument with them.
Unexpectedly, Xia Wanqing remained calm. She crossed her arms, her voice cold and clear.
“This is my home. Get out.”
“Fine, we’ll go!” Zhou Qiang’s face flushed red with anger, his molars grinding loudly. He flung Xia Jiayao aside and strode toward the exit. “Move! Don’t block the way!”
“Waaah… Uncle!”
Xia Wanqing stretched out her arm to block Zhou Qiang, lifting her chin toward Xia Jiayao.
“Take the trash with you.”
Of course, Zhou Qiang had no intention of taking Xia Jiayao with him. He had come precisely to dump this burden.
Relying on his large build, he didn’t take the slender Xia Wanqing seriously at all. He rammed his shoulder into her, trying to walk past.
“He’s called you ‘sister’ for so many years. How could an outsider like me be closer than you?”
“Your dad didn’t give birth to a son. Sooner or later he’ll have to adopt one to take care of him in old age and handle his funeral. Xia Jiayao has been raised for so many years already—there’s feelings involved. You might as well just keep raising him.”
But the moment his shoulder hit Xia Wanqing, it was as if something suddenly stabbed into his thigh.
Immediately afterward, his left leg went weak, and he dropped straight to his knees.
With a slight curl of her fingers, Xia Wanqing retrieved a thin, long silver needle back into her space.
Zhou Qiang tried to stand, but for some reason his left leg was completely numb.
He struggled several times, but couldn’t get up at all.
“You want me to raise a child for the Zhou family? You must be dreaming. Looks like Heaven couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to give you a little punishment.”
Zhou Qiang was somewhat superstitious. Whenever something happened, his first thought was to pray to the gods.
Hearing Xia Wanqing say that, cold sweat broke out across his back.
Could this really be divine punishment?
“First of all, I have nothing to do with Xia Jianye anymore. Second, this child isn’t even Xia Jianye’s seed—it’s Zhou Huiping’s child with some wild man.”
“If you count relations, he has half the Zhou family’s blood. If you don’t raise him, I’m afraid this leg of yours will be completely ruined.”
Some of the neighbors chimed in.
“Raising the child should be Zhou Huiping’s and that wild man’s responsibility. What does it have to do with Xia Wanqing?”
“They just see that her mother died early and bully her as much as they can.”
“That fox Zhou Huiping angered Xia Wanqing’s mother to death. Sooner or later she’ll be struck by lightning and dragged down to hell!”
Zhou Qiang’s leg was still numb, and fear crept into his heart. He was afraid that if he really abandoned Xia Jiayao, his leg would be crippled for life.
Gritting his teeth, he finally relented. “We’ll raise the child.”
Anyway, they’d just give him a bite to eat. Whether he lived or died would depend on his own fate.
Not long after he spoke, Zhou Qiang felt another sharp prick in his leg. Sensation quickly returned.
It really worked.
Zhou Qiang stood up and grabbed Xia Jiayao by the neck, dragging him away.
“You little bastard, come with me!”
“Mmm—mmm—Sister…” Xia Jiayao was still begging.
At this moment, he finally understood his situation. Right now, only Xia Wanqing—this sister—could help him.
This sister was his servant. Whatever he wanted, she would give him.
As long as he placated her, he could still live the same life as before.
But Xia Wanqing didn’t even spare him a glance.
In her previous life, when Xia Yiyi was being tortured, she had once gone to beg Xia Jiayao.
But Xia Jiayao ignored her completely—and even let dogs loose on her.
The vicious dogs tore into her flesh, ripping chunks from her right calf, exposing white bone, causing pain beyond endurance.
If not for a kind passerby who saved her, her throat would have been torn out by the dogs.
Yet Xia Jiayao had stood there watching, even filming with his phone.
“Sis, this bitch finally got what she deserved. Look how miserable she is—it’s so satisfying. I want to watch it a few more times.”
Even now, Xia Wanqing still felt a faint ache in her right leg.
What Xia Jiayao was suffering now was nowhere near enough compared to what she had endured back then.
And she knew Zhou Qiang well enough.
There was no way he would let Xia Jiayao have an easy time. Failing to dump the child and being publicly humiliated, all the rage in his belly was now vented onto Xia Jiayao.
“You wild bastard—I’ll beat you to death!” Zhou Qiang flung him hard, and Xia Jiayao was thrown to the ground like a dirty rag.
“Sister, save me!”
Irritated by Xia Jiayao’s crying, Zhou Qiang lashed out with his foot.
Xia Jiayao was kicked back and forth like a ball.
Suddenly, after a shrill scream, Xia Jiayao’s head slumped to one side, and he passed out.
Zhou Qiang panicked. He lightly kicked him again, his voice trembling.
“Xia Jiayao, get up—stop playing dead!”
But Xia Jiayao didn’t move at all.
“Don’t beat him to death!”
Someone stepped forward and pinched Xia Jiayao’s philtrum so hard that the skin broke, and a line of blood flowed out.
Xia Jiayao’s eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly came to.
He opened his eyes and looked around. When he saw Zhou Qiang’s face, he burst into tears with a loud wail.
He struggled to crawl away, only to realize he couldn’t use his legs.
He looked down in shock, pounding them with his fists.
“My legs! My legs—where did they go?!”
They were clearly still there—so why couldn’t he feel them?
Zhou Qiang’s face turned deathly pale. His eyes darted around in panic as he looked at everyone.
It seemed he had gone too far.
“Hurry and call the police! Someone’s been beaten into serious trouble.”
“Marrying a fox spirit into the family—this is karma!”
Xia Wanqing looked at Xia Jiayao, her fox-like eyes narrowing slightly.
She remembered that Xia Jiayao had once been diagnosed during a physical exam with occult tethered cord syndrome—abnormal traction on the spinal cord. One careless move could cause paralysis, leaving him confined to a wheelchair for life.
In her previous life, Xia Jiayao had been drag racing and crashed into a girl, breaking her leg.
He clearly had money, but deliberately delayed paying. Treatment was postponed, and the girl was dragged into permanent paralysis.
The terrified look on Xia Jiayao’s face now overlapped with that of the woman from her past life, who had leapt from a bridge in a wheelchair.
In this life, Xia Jiayao could finally experience what that woman had felt.
His face pale, his voice trembling, Xia Jiayao said, “Sister…”
“Shut up. I’m not your sister. Zhou Huiping has nothing to do with me. You only have one sister—Xia Yiyi.”
“Mmm—mmm—” Xia Jiayao’s eyes filled with hatred.
He had heard the adults say that it was Xia Yiyi who stole the family’s money and refused to leave any for him. That was why the family no longer wanted him.
Damn Xia Yiyi!
Hatred surged violently in Xia Jiayao’s eyes.
Far away, Xia Yiyi suddenly sneezed.
“Achoo!”
“Oh, you’re awake?” A man’s voice sounded. “Don’t make noise. This is the middle of nowhere—no one is coming to save you.”