Song Xiaoyu radiated a terrifying aura, causing Song Beihai and his wife to instinctively retreat several steps in fear.
“Mother, Xiaoyu isn’t lying. She really did catch those chickens herself. Besides, when we separated from the family, Chief Uncle and the clan elders thoroughly checked everything we owned.
“Mother wouldn’t even let our branch take a single grain of rice with us.”
Song Beichen gritted his teeth as he forced out the final sentence. Any lingering affection he had for his biological mother had long since frozen solid. From now on, he only wanted to lead his wife and children toward a better life.
Old Madam Wu felt a flicker of guilt after hearing her eldest son’s words, but the reason she had come tonight quickly pushed that feeling aside.
“Eldest Son, we’re still family in the end. Families are supposed to help one another. What household doesn’t live that way?”
Zhou Rong had heard these empty speeches countless times since marrying into the Song family. Now that her branch had established its own household, she had no desire to maintain any unnecessary ties.
“Mother, perhaps age is affecting your memory. Our branch has already separated from the family. In the future, aside from the thirty catties of white rice we provide each year as filial support, everything we earn belongs to our own household.”
Old Madam Wu glared venomously at her eldest daughter-in-law.
“You stupid, wretched woman! This isn’t your place to speak!”
She raised her hand and swung toward Zhou Rong’s face.
Before her palm could land, Song Xiaoyu moved like a flash of lightning.
Her hand shot out and seized Old Madam Wu’s wrist, twisting it sharply backward. The old woman immediately cried out in pain.
“Let go! Let go! Ah! You little idiot, let go!”
Old Madam Wu’s face turned purple from the agony.
Song Beihai instinctively stepped forward to help, but the moment Song Xiaoyu shot him a freezing glare, his feet felt nailed to the ground.
He couldn’t help recalling how she had force-fed muting medicine to their mother yesterday.
Who knew whether her mind had truly recovered or if she had simply become completely unhinged?
Though only fifteen years old, Song Xiaoyu spoke with the confidence of a seasoned street rogue.
“Old witch, this is my house. You don’t get to throw your weight around here. If you don’t leave right now, I’ll snap this hand off and feed it to the dogs.”
“Beichen! Are you just going to stand there and watch? Your daughter is attacking her own grandmother!” Old Madam Wu shrieked.
Song Beichen remained firm.
“Mother, Xiaoyu is not an idiot. She simply couldn’t stand by and watch her mother be bullied. Rong’er is the wife I married properly. I hope Mother will stop insulting her in the future.”
Old Madam Wu had never imagined that her obedient eldest son would openly defend Zhou Rong.
“Wonderful! Just wonderful! You’ve married a wife and forgotten your mother! You unfilial beast! I’ll pretend I carried a monster in my womb for ten months! Just wait for heaven’s punishment!”
She spewed every curse she could think of.
Song Xiaoyu frowned in irritation.
The noise was unbearable.
Releasing the old woman’s wrist, she lifted one foot and delivered a clean kick.
Caught completely off guard, Old Madam Wu tumbled forward and landed face-first in the dirt.
“Mother, let’s go home first,” Song Beihai hurriedly said as he helped her up. “If Brother Beichen doesn’t want to share the meat, then forget it. We can eat sweet potato porridge at home.”
“You spineless coward!”
Unable to vent her anger elsewhere, Old Madam Wu immediately turned her fury on her second son.
“You watched your elder brother’s family bully your own mother and didn’t even help! You and your wife are both useless fools!”
Still cursing, she stormed away with the others in tow.
At last, peace returned.
Zhou Rong reached out and gently touched her daughter’s forehead.
“Xiaoyu, my dear child, even if you’re protecting me, you shouldn’t always act so fiercely. Look at that pretty little face of yours. When you get angry, you look like a tigress.”
Song Xiaoyu immediately turned around.
“What’s wrong with being a tigress? That sounds like a compliment to me.”
In her eyes, a tigress was a powerful creature.
Women should have many different ways of living. If they were all forced into the same mold by tradition and expectations, then they would no longer be living people at all.
Song Wen immediately agreed.
“Little Sister is absolutely right. She’s a heroine who doesn’t lose to any man!”
Song Wu grinned and patted her shoulder.
“I think girls should have some spirit. That way, even when your brother Wu isn’t around, you can protect yourself. Then I won’t have to worry.”
Song Beichen nodded as well.
“Xiaoyu, Father only wants you to grow up happy. If anyone bullies you in the future, fight back. Even if the sky collapses, Father will hold it up for you.”
Warmth spread through Song Xiaoyu’s chest.
She had expected an old-fashioned family bound by rigid beliefs. Instead, these people genuinely cared about one another.
This new family was surprisingly wonderful.
That night, they boiled water in the iron wok and used it to wash their faces and feet.
After a full day spent moving and cleaning, everyone was exhausted.
Song Xiaoyu shared a bed with Zhou Rong, while Song Beichen slept with Song Wen and Song Wu.
Lying on the bed made from two wooden planks, Song Xiaoyu finally experienced just how poor they really were.
There was a huge gap running down the middle.
If she moved the wrong way while sleeping, half her body might slip through it.
What kind of bed was this?
It felt more like a balancing exercise.
Too tired to complain, she carefully lay on one side of the plank and closed her eyes.
The thatched hut leaked cold wind from every direction.
Their old quilt was patched so many times that icy drafts constantly slipped through the gaps.
Only by pressing close to Zhou Rong’s side could she stay warm.
No.
Absolutely not.
She refused to live like this forever.
As she drifted off to sleep, Song Xiaoyu silently made a vow.
She would earn silver.
Lots of silver.
She would live in a large house.
She would sleep on a huge, soft, warm bed.
The next morning, dawn had only just begun to brighten the sky.
The steady sound of chopping wood echoed outside.
Still sleepy, Song Xiaoyu rolled over, intending to steal a little more sleep.
Then disaster struck.
Her head slipped straight into the gap between the planks.
The sudden pressure around her neck nearly suffocated her.
Startled awake, she flailed wildly and finally managed to pull herself free.
All traces of sleep vanished instantly.
Walking outside, she found that Zhou Rong was already up, kneading dough to make shepherd’s purse flatcakes.
Song Wen was chopping firewood in the yard.
Song Wu had likely gone to fetch water.
As for Song Beichen, the bandages on his legs had already been changed. He was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, resting through the lingering pain.
“Xiaoyu, you’re awake. Come eat while the cakes are still hot.”
Song Xiaoyu rubbed her eyes and accepted the palm-sized flatcake Zhou Rong handed her.
The browned surface was dotted with bits of shepherd’s purse and carried a pleasant toasted fragrance.
Seeing her sniff it curiously, Zhou Rong smiled apologetically.
“Mother accidentally burned this one a little. You’ll have to make do.”
“It smells great, Mother.”
The flatcake contained no oil and no salt.
To be honest, it tasted rather plain.
But waking up to breakfast already prepared for her felt wonderful.
Back in the apocalypse, she had always been alone.
This kind of family warmth was something she had never known.
After finishing her meal, she grabbed her basket.
“Mother, I’m heading up the back hill.”
Unfortunately, the moment she reached the doorway, Song Wu appeared carrying two water buckets.
He blocked her path immediately.
“Little Sister, Brother Wen and I are coming with you today. We absolutely can’t let you wander into the hills by yourself anymore. Father and Mother nearly worried themselves sick yesterday and scolded us both.”
Song Wen set down his axe, grabbed a flatcake for himself, and joined them.
With no way to shake them off, Song Xiaoyu could only accept her fate.
Well, if they happened to hunt something large, having two free laborers around wouldn’t be a bad thing.
The three siblings headed toward the back hill together.
However, as they passed through the center of the village, two tall, broad-shouldered young men suddenly stepped in front of them and blocked the road.
“The little idiot from the Song family.”
One of them cracked his knuckles and sneered.
“We’ve finally caught you today. Hand over the medical compensation money!”