Wenxi turned around and walked toward Madam Zhang, who was still crouching on the ground.
Madam Zhang had been frightened witless by one shocking turn of events after another. As she watched Wenxi approach step by step, the look in Wenxi’s eyes was terrifyingly cold.
She instinctively shrank backward, bracing her hands against the ground as she scooted away. Putting on a brave front despite her fear, she shouted, “Wenxi! What are you trying to do? I’m your Second Aunt! I’m your elder! How dare you hit me? Aren’t you afraid Heaven will strike you with thunder and lightning?”
Wenxi said nothing. When she reached Madam Zhang, she grabbed her hair bun in one swift motion.
She seized Madam Zhang by the hair and jerked her hard upward. Madam Zhang cried out in pain and was forced to tilt her head back.
Wenxi swung her arm and slammed her violently onto the ground.
“An elder?” Wenxi sneered as blow after blow landed. “So now you remember you’re my elder? Where was all that talk of seniority when you bullied my mother? When you ground your foot into her hand?
“Hm?” Every time she struck, she asked another question. Her voice was not loud, but every word carried a chill.
Clutching her head, Madam Zhang rolled back and forth across the ground, howling in pain. She tried to crawl away, but Wenxi reached out, seized her ankle, and dragged her forcibly back.
“Did I let you run?”
The people gathered at the doorway to watch the spectacle stared with their eyes wide. Every time Wenxi struck, their eyes blinked along with the blow. They even forgot to discuss what they were seeing.
Madam Liu, Madam Zhang, and Wen Jinzhu had all been beaten until they lay on the ground, unable to get back up. Every one of them had swollen, bruised faces and looked utterly wretched.
Wenxi finally stopped and shook her slightly aching wrist.
The original body was far too weak. Even this amount of exertion was somewhat taxing.
But that was all right. She could recover slowly.
The original owner had accumulated more than a decade of pent-up rage, and at last most of it had been released. She felt immensely satisfied.
Only then did the crowd at the doorway erupt. A buzzing wave of discussion surged through them all at once.
“Oh, heavens! Wenxi must have been driven mad, hasn’t she? She even dared to beat her Grandma and Second Aunt! She’s far too vicious—what utter disrespect for her elders!”
“Mad? You wouldn’t go mad if it were you? If she hadn’t fought back, that old woman would have beaten her to death! I say she did well! That mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have always bullied the widowed mother and orphaned children of the eldest branch. Today, they finally kicked an iron plate!”
“Exactly! That shoulder pole nearly killed someone just now. Was she supposed to stand there obediently and let them hit her? If it were me, I’d fight back too!”
“That may be true, but they are still her elders… It would sound awful if word got out.”
“Awful? Why didn’t they think about how awful it was when they were bullying people?”
The crowd argued noisily, their voices blending into a chaotic uproar.
Wenxi paid no attention to the idle gossip at the doorway.
She turned around and walked back to Li Cuihua and Wen’an. Then she crouched down and took each of their hands.
Li Cuihua’s hand was cold and still trembling. Wen’an’s little hand was clenched tightly as well, his palm covered in sweat.
Wenxi looked up at Li Cuihua. Her eyes were far gentler than before, and her voice was very soft. “Mother, can you leave the Wen family with your daughter?”
Li Cuihua stared at her blankly, looking at this daughter whose temperament had suddenly changed completely.
Her face was still smeared with blood and dirt, yet her eyes were astonishingly bright. She was utterly different from the timid, submissive girl she had been before.
For a moment, Li Cuihua felt dazed, as though she were in a dream.
Wenxi applied a little pressure and squeezed her hand.
Li Cuihua suddenly came back to herself. Her eyes reddened at once, filled with both distress and heartache.
“Xiaoxi, with the three of us in our current state, leaving the Wen family would mean certain death. We have no money, no food, not even a place to stay. Mother doesn’t want you and Xiao’an[1]Xiao’an (小安): An affectionate nickname for Wen’an. Xiao (小) means “little/young” and is often used as an endearing prefix with someone’s name. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3453647_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3453647_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); to suffer with me…”
It was not that she did not want to leave. She simply did not dare.
At least in the Wen family, they had scraps and leftovers to keep them alive. Once they left, how could three weak, sick, and disabled people survive?
Wen’an did not see it that way.
The sight of his sister beating them had filled him with nothing but satisfaction.
He nodded his head vigorously, his determination extraordinary. “Sis, I don’t want to stay in the Wen family! Let’s leave! I’m not afraid of going hungry!”
Wenxi looked at Li Cuihua, her gaze steady. “Mother, believe me, all right? With me here, I won’t let you or Xiao’an go hungry or suffer from the cold. Staying in the Wen family is what truly means certain death.”
Li Cuihua’s misty gaze moved from Wenxi to the son beside her. The siblings’ eyes were equally firm, equally bright.
Suddenly, she was no longer afraid.
That was right. If they stayed in the Wen family, they would endure beatings and abuse day after day. Any mishap involving Jinbao would be blamed on them, and sooner or later, they would be beaten to death.
Since death was the only outcome either way, they might as well take a chance and fight for their lives with her daughter.
She gritted her teeth and nodded firmly, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Yes! Mother will listen to you.”
Wen’an quickly nodded along. “I’ll listen to Sis too!”
Wen Jinbao, who had been sleeping in the inner room, was awakened by the commotion in the courtyard.
Rubbing his bleary eyes, he shuffled to the doorway of the main room in his slippers and gazed outside in a daze. “Mother, Grandma, why are you all lying on the ground? You’re so noisy. I couldn’t sleep at all.”
At twelve years old, he wore a clean fine-cloth shirt and had been pampered into a fair and chubby boy—the apple of the Wen family’s eye.
His eyes were not even fully open yet, and he had not seen the situation in the courtyard clearly at all.
The moment he finished speaking, he felt the back of his collar tighten.
The next instant, both his feet left the ground.
Wenxi lifted him by the back of his collar, raising him like a chick.
With her other hand, she pressed her fingertips against his neck and looked toward Madam Liu and Madam Zhang, who were lying on the ground and rolling in pain. “If you don’t want anything to happen to your precious darling, go call that old thing and the Village Chief!”
“Wenxi! What are you trying to do?” Madam Liu scrambled up from the ground, her eyes widening as she fixed them on Wenxi’s hand, terrified that she might really tighten her grip.
That was the Wen family’s only male heir, their precious treasure. Not a single hair on his head could be harmed!
Madam Zhang looked as though her eyes might split with fury as well. Bracing herself against the ground, she tried to lunge forward, but she did not dare truly approach. All she could do was shriek, “Wenxi! Don’t you dare touch my son! If you hurt even a single hair on him, I’ll fight you to the death!”
“If you don’t do as I say, I’ll kill him.” Wenxi slowly increased the pressure of her fingertips.
Wen Jinbao had still been dazed, but when his neck suddenly tightened, pain instantly made him kick and struggle. He shouted, “It hurts! It hurts! Mother! Grandma! Save me!”
The harder he kicked, the greater the pressure around his neck became. Before long, he could no longer draw breath, and his face turned red from the strain.
Madam Liu panicked immediately. She no longer dared to act tough and hurriedly waved her hands in surrender, her voice twisting out of shape. “Wenxi! Let go! I’ll do as you say! I’ll do as you say, all right?”
She abruptly turned toward the spectators at the doorway and roared, “Have you watched enough? What are you standing around for? Hurry up and get someone! Go call the Village Chief! Then go to the fields and bring Wen Mancang back! Hurry!”
The people at the doorway were also afraid that someone might truly die. They did not dare delay any longer and quickly sent two of their number away.
One ran toward the Village Chief’s house, while the other ran to the fields to call Wen Mancang, who had gone out to work first thing that morning.
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