“Little Aunt, what are you squatting here looking at?”
“Grandma is looking everywhere for you. How did you end up running out here? When Grandma went back and didn’t see you, she was so scared she kept crying out to the heavens.”
Wang Yanli squatted down beside Wang Zhaoming, following her gaze forward. Aside from a bunch of people, he couldn’t see anything special.
“Shh, don’t speak. I’m watching a show.”
Watching a show? Wang Yanli couldn’t understand what was so interesting about a crowd of people.
Thinking of his grandmother who was currently out looking for people, Wang Yanli looked at Wang Zhaoming with sympathy.
“Little Aunt, I think if you don’t go back with me right now, you might get beaten to a pulp later.”
The expression of watching a show on Wang Zhaoming’s face froze noticeably as she hesitated between going back and watching the drama.
What is there to be afraid of!
“What kind of dog farts are you spouting? I’m so big now, your grandma wouldn’t dare beat me.”
“Stop talking, watch the show quietly, or else get lost and stop annoying me here.”
Seven-year-old Wang Yanli let out a helpless sigh, mimicking Wang Zhaoming by squatting down with both hands supporting his chin, and looked over at the group of adults not far away.
“You thousand-slashers, you bunch of bastards! You mother and son belong in the eighteenth layer of hell, and you’ll die a miserable death!”
“Oh heavens, open your eyes and take a look at these beasts! A biological grandmother joining forces with a biological father to sell their own granddaughter! Strike down these two old bastards with lightning!”
Qi Chunchun sat on the ground clutching her unconscious daughter, crying hysterically as she denounced the beastly actions of the mother-son pair.
After she finished cursing, her eyes—red and swollen from crying—stared fixedly at the bound Song Jiangwu and Zhang Daju.
Her back molars were clenched tightly together, using immense willpower to keep herself from pouncing forward to tear the flesh off these two beasts.
Chen Guangbai, the village’s only doctor, was frowning as he took the pulse of her daughter, Song Menghua.
Cradling her daughter’s limp and motioneless body, Qi Chunchun had already made up her mind: the moment anything went wrong with her daughter, she would drag this mother-son pair down to hell with her in a mutual destruction.
At the same time, Qi Chunchun hated herself in her heart. Why hadn’t she discovered the beastly nature of these two earlier? Why hadn’t she listened to Wang Zhaoming sooner?
If she had taken action earlier and gone to find the village chief just like that girl said, wouldn’t her daughter have been spared so much suffering?
Qi Chunchun hated herself to the core.
Pinching the flesh on her thigh, her gaze grew tender the moment it landed on Song Menghua.
Song Xingjian, the village chief who had been summoned by Qi Chunchun, stood to the side in silence.
The strong young men of the clan he had brought with them were pressing down heavily on Song Jiangwu and his mother, stuffing rags in their mouths to prevent them from making any noise.
Attracted by the commotion, the villagers who gathered around had pieced together part of the truth from Qi Chunchun’s accusations and were discussing it loudly and without restraint.
“I thought Zhang Daju was just running her mouth behind Qi Chunchun’s back, complaining about her granddaughter and daughter-in-law. Who would have guessed her heart was this rotten, actually wanting to sell her own flesh and blood?”
“I heard they said Song Jiangwu hooked up with someone outside. That woman is from town, has a house in town, and her family does business. They probably wanted to ditch this mother-and-daughter pair and go live the good life with that woman.”
“I bet they just didn’t want to take Menghua with them, nor did they want to leave Menghua behind with Qi Chunchun, so they came up with selling her to get a sum of money. With the money from selling the daughter, they could go live high in town.”
“That woman must have had her eyes eaten by dogs. What on earth does she see in Song Jiangwu? Short, dark, buck-toothed, leaks soup when he eats, and his family is poor as a church mouse! She might as well have chosen me; at least I look much more presentable than Song Jiangwu!”
“Bah! You turtle’s son, don’t paste gold onto your own face. What’s so great about your looks either?”
“Still, no matter what, you shouldn’t harm your own daughter.”
“It’s not like he can’t have more kids. If this child is gone, he can just make another one with a different woman.”
The villagers discussing among themselves looked at the mother-son pair with eyes full of utter contempt and disdain.
A few jealous ones secretly cursed in their hearts, wondering why the person fancied by the town woman wasn’t them.
Families only ever thought of selling their sons or daughters during famine years when they truly couldn’t survive.
And yet, this was a time of peace.
These two wretches, however, had gone behind the daughter-in-law’s back to sell her own granddaughter and the family’s farmland just to run off with some woman of unknown origin.
Who knew what kind of soul-stealing soup that woman had fed them.
It was a pity that the men they sent to grab them had arrived a step too late, letting that woman escape.
Otherwise, they would have wanted a good look at what that woman looked like to make these two disregard everything and commit such a heaven-struck crime.
Qi Chunchun didn’t keep screaming curses at the mother-son pair endlessly.
A hint was enough; naturally, others would help her out.
Therefore, after cursing Song Jiangwu and his mother a few times in rage, she simply sat there heartbroken, silently holding her daughter and weeping.
The surrounding onlookers found the scene deeply unsettling.
If Qi Chunchun had been screaming and shouting wildly, everyone could have just treated it like a show to watch. But crying so soundlessly without a single word made people’s hearts ache.
“Old Chen, how is the child?”
Song Xingjian sighed and asked Chen Guangbai.
Everyone’s gazes snapped directly onto Chen Guangbai in unison.
Chen Guangbai spat heavily in the direction of the mother-son pair, his tone burning with fury: “These two inhuman pieces of trash! Why hasn’t heaven struck them down with lightning?!”
“They fed a whole packet of sleeping powder to the child. That dosage is enough to knock out an ox for three days!”
Gasps erupted from the crowd.
Qi Chunchun snapped instantly. She lunged toward the mother-son pair, raising her hands to unleash a flurry of combos on the man’s face.
Slapping, pinching, scratching.
Bound nearby, Zhang Daju began struggling wildly, trying to protect Song Jiangwu.
The look in her eyes as she stared at Qi Chunchun was practically murderous.
Two young men of the Song clan firmly stepped down on Zhang Daju, denying her any chance to harm Qi Chunchun.
A few women standing close by stepped forward under the guise of helping, but in reality, they used all their strength to pinch and twist the soft spots on Zhang Daju’s body, their facial features scrunched up from the effort.
Zhang Daju cried out in agony, struggling continuously, while the clan members stepping on her acted completely blind to it.
Enveloped entirely by rage and killing intent, Qi Chunchun didn’t notice the commotion behind her at all. Under her fierce beating, Song Jiangwu’s face and nose were soon bloodied.
Ignoring them, Song Xingjian asked Chen Guangbai, “Old Chen, can this child be saved?”
Chen Guangbai sighed. “She can be saved, but this child is going to suffer.”
“Chunniang, stop hitting them for a moment. Come hold your daughter and lay her on her side.”
“Everyone else stop gawking and get me some gleditsia pod powder along with a goose quill.”
“You come over here and lay the child on her side first.”
Stumbling over, Qi Chunchun arrived in front of Chen Guangbai. “Doctor Chen, what do I need to do?”
“Chunniang, you know the rules of my practice. I can guarantee I’ll wake your daughter up, but I can’t guarantee she’ll be entirely right in the head afterward.”
“The medicine has been down her system for a while now. I’m afraid it might have damaged the child’s internal organs and turned her into a fool.”
“You need to mentally prepare yourself.”
Tears streamed down Qi Chunchun’s face. “Uncle Chen, I know all the rules. Don’t worry, whatever the outcome of the treatment, I’ll bear it. At worst, the two of us mothers and daughters will drag these two beasts to hell with us!”
Chen Guangbai couldn’t help but sigh either. “Everyone, come lend a hand.”
Mimicking Wang Zhaoming’s posture on the tree, Wang Yanli squatted down, wrapping his arms bear-hug style around the trunk, and watched as Chen Guangbai slowly inserted a goose quill coated in gleditsia pod powder into one of Song Menghua’s nostrils.
He then had Qi Chunchun use her fingernails to forcefully pinch Song Menghua’s philtrum and the soles of her feet.
Before long, Song Menghua’s body arched, and she began to dry-heave.
Chen Guangbai immediately pulled out the goose quill, propped up Song Menghua’s upper body to lean forward, and began patting her firmly on the back.
Following a fit of violent coughing, Song Menghua let out a loud “wa” and began vomiting furiously.
“Little Aunt, is Menghua-jie going to die?”
As Wang Yanli spoke, he couldn’t help reaching out to rub his own stomach.
*Slap.*
Wang Zhaoming delivered an unsparing smack to the back of Wang Yanli’s head. “The line waiting for King Yama is already packed. She doesn’t have a spot to cut in.”
This was the first time Wang Zhaoming had ever seen someone with such a dense aura of fortune; with a destiny like that, dying wasn’t so easy.
However, that didn’t mean she couldn’t die—she was facing a life-or-death hurdle right now.
If she passed it, her future had infinite possibilities.
If she didn’t, the underworld would just gain another resident.
Wang Zhaoming saw it all clearly: the contents of the scroll behind Qi Chunchun were shifting continuously.
Three different futures were tugging at one another.
One future showed Menghua dying, causing Qi Chunchun to snap completely. She would rush into the kitchen, grab a knife before anyone could react, hack the mother-son pair to death, and then end her own life to follow them.
The lives of the mother and daughter would come to an abrupt end.
Another future showed Menghua being saved, but the dosage of the sleeping powder given by Song Jiangwu was too strong, damaging her brain.
In her later years, Qi Chunchun would struggle through life raising a foolish girl.
The third timeline was obscured by heavy fog, leaving Wang Zhaoming unable to see clearly.
Usually, situations like this indicated that the mother and daughter would remain intertwined with her own fate in the future.
Wang Zhaoming sucked in a sharp breath.
No way!
She had merely eaten a piece of flatbread from the woman and compensated her with a fortune reading.
That shouldn’t warrant providing a lifetime of after-sales customer service!
Oh heavens, please be fair to a pious believer. When it came to other people’s good luck, you miss none of it; when it came to my good luck, not a single drop is left.
I’m still just a child!!!
To be honest, Wang Zhaoming wanted to run away right now, but the drama unfolding before her eyes kept her feet glued to the spot.
Oh well, whatever. Staying hidden here meant nobody would discover her, and this matter wouldn’t trace back to her anyway.
She had done everything she could; from here on out, it depended entirely on how much good fortune Song Menghua’s own destiny could bring her.
“Little Aunt, do you think Menghua will wake up safe and sound?”
Wang Yanli’s casual question instantly froze the amused, spectator expression on Wang Zhaoming’s face.
In a flash, an invisible thread of karma shot directly toward her, stopping right at her waist as if waiting for her reply.
After waiting for a long time without receiving an answer, Wang Yanli glanced sideways and saw Wang Zhaoming’s expression looking as though she had just seen a ghost. The mood for watching drama instantly evaporated. “Little Aunt, why are you making that face?”
“Don’t tell me you need to go to the outhouse? If so, let’s hurry home. Grandma said that fertile water shouldn’t flow into outsiders’ fields, and if she finds out you’re pooping outside, your ears are going to suffer.”
With that, Wang Yanli tugged at Wang Zhaoming, preparing to climb down the tree.
Wang Zhaoming didn’t budge. Gritting her teeth, she demanded, “Just where on earth did you get the idea that I needed to go to the outhouse?”
“You had that exact same expression earlier when you wanted to go but couldn’t speak.”
“Whenever Grandma sees you make that face, she drags you to the outhouse. Everyone in the family knows it.”
“Alright, shut your mouth. I don’t need to go. Squat back down properly and watch the show.”
“Oh.”
Observing Wang Zhaoming for a moment and seeing her expression return to normal, Wang Yanli squatted back down beside her.
“Little Aunt, you still haven’t answered my question. Is Menghua going to die?”
Wang Zhaoming—who had thought she could dodge the entangling threads of karma with the mother and daughter—was left speechless: (…)
Having you around is truly my bad luck!
“She won’t!”
Looking at Song Menghua’s face—where, even at such a tender age, a hint of future grace could already be seen—Wang Zhaoming spoke through gritted teeth.
The moment her words fell, Song Menghua began vomiting even more violently.
Vomit surged out from both her nose and her mouth.
Chen Guangbai closely monitored every shift in Song Menghua’s condition, terrified she might suffocate from her own vomit.
It wasn’t until Song Menghua finally stopped vomiting that a smile bloomed on Chen Guangbai’s face, despite the messy scene surrounding them.