Just as Liú Xiǎomǎn carried the heavy rice sacks into the hut and hadn’t even had a moment to catch her breath, a chaotic, hurried sound of footsteps came from outside.
Her heart skipped a beat. Peering through the door crack, she saw Liú Dàbǎo leading the way, followed by the grim-faced Elder Tián, the spiteful Wang Jīnhuā, and the timid Liú Dàshān.
This crowd meant trouble.
Liǔ Xiùxiù’s face had just brightened at the sight of the sacks of white rice, but now fear replaced joy instantly. She instinctively pulled Liú Cōngmíng behind her, her body trembling.
In front of the hut, on one side were the three weakly returning family members, and on the other, the menacing, numerous crowd from the Liú family mansion. The air seemed to freeze; tension was palpable.
Elder Tián slammed her cane heavily on the ground with a dull “thud,” her cloudy old eyes fixed on the rice sacks. Her voice shrill but commanding:
“Liú Xiǎomǎn! I hear you’ve gotten rich? Growing wings, have you! I’m telling you, as long as your father is Liú, you belong to the Liú family! Money earned by the second branch belongs to the main household! Hand over all the money and goods now so I can distribute them properly!”
Wang Jīnhuā spat and added, her words flying like venom: “Exactly! You three have been eating and drinking from our house. Now you have money and think you can live separately? No way! Hand over the goods, or don’t think you’ll be safe today!”
Liú Xiǎomǎn shielded the trembling Liú Xiùxiù and Liú Cōngmíng behind her, her thin back straightening like a spear.
She lifted her head to meet Elder Tián’s greedy gaze. Before the villagers gathered around could be driven off, she spoke clearly and calmly:
“Grandmother, what you’re saying isn’t right.”
Her voice was quiet but like a stone thrown into a calm lake, drawing everyone’s eyes toward her.
“Back then, in front of the village chief and all the villagers, you personally signed the separation documents in black and white, clearly stating that the three of us were to leave the family empty-handed, left to fend for ourselves beside this burial ground.”
She paused and swept her gaze over the growing crowd of villagers. “So now that, with guidance from our father’s spirit, we’ve found a way to survive, you suddenly don’t recognize those papers?”
Her words were like a sharp blade, piercing through Elder Tián’s pretentious “for the family” facade and turning this internal family grab into a public trial in front of the entire village.
The village chief, summoned ahead by Liú Xiǎomǎn to witness the spectacle, now stood at the edge of the crowd with hands behind his back, frowning.
“Come on, I’ve got the performance down to a science. Today, I’ll rub your faces in the dirt until the whole village sees!”
She smirked inwardly, having already spent 0.1 of her 0.35 system points in the mall to redeem a newbie gift — a single “Misfortune Sticker”, just waiting for the perfect moment.
The next second, Liú Xiǎomǎn’s eyes reddened. Large tears streamed down her grimy little face, carving two clear streaks.
Her voice choked, full of grievance and sorrow, she cried out to the villagers:
“Uncles, aunts, you judge this! When we were separated, grandmother said we were cursed, giving us only half a bag of rice husks, not a penny, and left us to die here!”
“I was near death from high fever. When mother went begging for a bowl of porridge, my aunt said it was for the dogs! Now, with guidance from my father’s spirit, I dug up a medicinal herb to trade for some rice and flour, and they come to steal it! They’re trying to force this motherless, orphaned family to death!”
Her performance was vivid and heart-wrenching, successfully drawing sympathy from the villagers.
The crowd pointed at Elder Tián’s family, their murmurs swelling like a tide:
“This is outrageous. They were already separated, and now they come to steal!”
“Exactly, they were so heartless when they drove them out, now they’re jealous that they found a way to survive.”
“Elder Tián isn’t fair at all!”
Seeing the public opinion turning sharply against her, Elder Tián’s face stiffened. She resorted to her usual trick — tantrums and lies.
“Ah! No justice! My granddaughter is unfilial! She earned money and now turns her back on me! She wants to see me starve to death! I won’t live! I’ll die here today, and everyone will see how this black-hearted little wretch tries to kill her own grandmother!”
As she screamed, she crawled toward Liú Xiǎomǎn, her shriveled hands like chicken claws reaching for the bulging coin purse at her waist.
Now!
Liú Xiǎomǎn watched her theatrics coldly. Just as Elder Tián’s fingers were about to touch her, she seemingly recoiled in panic — but in an instant, with lightning speed, she slipped the transparent Misfortune Sticker from her sleeve and slapped it onto Elder Tián’s back.
The sticker dissolved instantly upon contact.
“Ah—!” Elder Tián’s hands grasped nothing, her overexertion causing her to lose balance.
Worse, as she rolled on the ground, she stepped on fresh dog feces left at the doorstep the previous night.
The slick, soft sensation made her feet slip!
In front of everyone, Elder Tián fell forward in a comically humiliating posture, face-first into the foul mess.
“Thud!”
The sound was heavy, accompanied by a spray of dust.
The scene froze for a second.
The once-shrieking Elder Tián now lay solidly face-down in the filth, her mouth full of it.
Time seemed to pause.
Then came a roar of laughter from the crowd — loud, unrestrained, full of mockery.
Villagers pointed at Elder Tián, rolling on the ground with laughter, tears streaming.
For decades she had ruled the village with an iron fist, but never faced such humiliation.
Her dignity and face were utterly destroyed by a pile of fresh dog feces.
Even the village chief blushed with embarrassment. He stepped forward, clearing his throat, pulled out the separation documents, and in a loud voice declared:
“Black on white, clear as day! Since the family has already split, the second branch’s property belongs to them alone, no longer linked to the main household! Elder Tián, you’ve caused enough trouble — go home and stop making a fool of yourself!”
Wang Jīnhuā and Liú Dàshān turned pale and tried to help Elder Tián up.
But Wang Jīnhuā tripped over an inconspicuous stone, screaming as she fell.
Liú Dàshān went to grab her, but overexerted, his old back snapped with a crack.
One covered in dog feces, one with a scraped knee, one clutching his waist, plus the dazed Liú Dàbǎo standing nearby — it was a live-action farce.
Amid the villagers’ laughter, they scrambled and fled back to the mansion, humiliated.
Before leaving, Elder Tián spat out the filth in her mouth, turned, and glared at Liú Xiǎomǎn with eyes full of venom.
That gaze was like a poisoned blade, seeming to want to tear her alive.
Liú Xiǎomǎn met it calmly, her heart icy cold.
She knew this grudge was now sealed.
With Elder Tián’s vengeful nature, they would never let this go.
Night fell. The evening wind blew through the broken holes in the west side of the hut, flickering the lamp flame.
Liú Xiùxiù and Liú Cōngmíng sat around the small table, happily eating fragrant white rice — their best meal in months.
But Liú Xiǎomǎn had no appetite.
She looked at the drafty, doorless hut, her gaze growing more determined.
They could not stay here.
This place could not withstand any form of malice — neither the Liú family mansion’s revenge nor the unknown dangers beside the burial ground.
They needed a new home.
A safe, hidden home, truly theirs.
Her eyes passed through the broken window, over the sparsely lit village, toward the distant deep mountains under the moonlight — dark, shrouded in mist, and nearly deserted.
There, danger lurked, but also infinite opportunity.
There lay the true beginning of their new life.