Early the next morning, despite Grandma’s repeated attempts to persuade her to stay, Ye Jin insisted on leaving.
Standing at the entrance of the village, Grandma wiped away her tears as she watched her go.
“Jinjin, if that vicious woman dares to bully you, make sure you come back and find Grandma!”
Ye Jin nodded heavily. Tears also welled up in her eyes as she turned and walked away.
The moment she entered the village, it was as though a spotlight had been switched on above her. The villagers working in the fields all raised their heads in unison.
“You’ve harmed your sister this badly and you still have the nerve to come back?”
A rotten cabbage came flying toward her. Ye Jin tilted her head and avoided it.
Her icy gaze swept across the face of Aunt Wang, who was leading the troublemaking. Aunt Wang’s eyes flickered nervously, and she did not dare meet her gaze.
“Your mother treats you so well. Is this really something a human being would do?”
A rotten egg flew toward her. Ye Jin calmly reached out and caught it in her right hand. Immediately afterward, a tattered straw sandal came hurtling toward her face.
“Our Ye Family Village has no place for an ungrateful dog like you!”
The crowd became increasingly agitated. They advanced step by step as more and more objects were thrown at her.
Ye Jin picked a direction, aimed carefully, and threw the rotten egg back with perfect accuracy.
With a loud splat, the rotten egg exploded across Aunt Wang’s face.
“Have you all said enough? If you’re done, then let me say a few words!”
Ye Jin raised her voice under the crowd’s stunned gazes.
“There are so many elders present. Since when is it your turn, a junior, to act so outrageously?”
Afraid that Ye Jin would reveal the truth, Aunt Wang immediately tried to cut her off.
“This is Ye Family Village! Since when does an outsider with a different surname get to interrupt me? You’re so afraid of me speaking because you’re Wang Fengqin’s distant cousin!”
A sharp light flashed through Ye Jin’s eyes.
Aunt Wang shuddered from head to toe.
The villagers who had been about to interrupt became intrigued by her words and waited eagerly for what came next.
“My elder sister Zhang Duo only damaged one cornea. That cornea still has a little vision left. Even without a transplant, she wouldn’t go completely blind.”
“I’m still so young. If I give her my cornea, how am I supposed to survive in the future? I have no education and no job.”
Ye Jin’s calm gaze swept across the crowd.
Everyone she looked at lowered their heads uncomfortably.
“If it were you, who would willingly give your own cornea to someone with no blood relation to you?”
Her voice grew louder with each sentence.
Every word felt like an interrogation of their souls.
The people who had been arrogantly condemning her moments ago fell completely silent.
Seeing Ye Jin twist the issue while the crowd actually seemed convinced, Aunt Wang spat on the ground and shouted,
“Pah! You ungrateful little wretch! Your mother and sister treat you so well. They’ve always treated you like their own daughter!
You agreed to the surgery at first, then changed your mind after getting onto the operating table. Because of you, your sister’s eye is completely blind now. Is that something a decent person would do?”
The villagers seemed to awaken from a dream.
No matter how they looked at it, what Ye Jin had done did seem unfair. How could someone back out of a promise at the last moment?
“I agreed? When did I ever agree? Why should I agree?
Besides, even if I ran away, wasn’t Wang Fengqin there with her two brothers? Since Zhang Duo is her precious daughter, why didn’t she give her own cornea to Zhang Duo?”
Ye Jin’s gaze was as sharp as a blade.
Aunt Wang felt as though she were being roasted over burning oil.
“You’re young. Your cornea is better. Of course it should be yours!”
“Oh, now you remember that I’m young? I’m only eighteen years old. Why should I become blind for someone else’s sake?
Besides, what’s the difference between me losing one eye and Zhang Duo losing one eye? If I can go blind, why can’t she?”
Aunt Wang was rendered speechless.
After a long pause, she finally squeezed out a response.
“Your sister attended technical school. She has a promising future. You’re uneducated. What do you even need eyes for?”
“Hahaha! Hahaha!
What do I need eyes for? They’re my eyes. I’ll use them however I want!
Since you’re so blind yourself, why don’t you dig out both your corneas and give them to Zhang Duo?”
Ye Jin nearly laughed herself to tears at such shameless logic.
Quite a few villagers chuckled as well.
“You… you…”
Aunt Wang was tongue tied.
Just as she was about to lose the argument completely, Wang Fengqin pushed her way out from the crowd.
“Daughter, you’ve finally come back. You have no idea how worried I was after you ran away yesterday.”
Wang Fengqin warmly linked arms with Ye Jin and tried to lead her home.
“Really? Weren’t you chasing me with your two brothers yesterday?
Didn’t you want to pin me to the operating table and forcibly dig out my cornea?
What happened? It’s only been one day. Have you already forgotten everything, Mother?”
The moment Ye Jin spoke, every villager pricked up their ears with interest.
“That’s not what happened at all. The anesthetic wore off during your procedure. I was worried something might happen to you, so I wanted to bring you back for another examination.
Who knew you wouldn’t listen to a single word I said and just kept running?
Could it be that you’ve been possessed by evil spirits?”
Wang Fengqin asked with feigned surprise.
Ye Jin’s reputation in the village had never been particularly good, and Wang Fengqin deserved much of the credit for that.
“Yes, I must have been possessed.
Otherwise, how could I have gone to sleep perfectly fine at home and then opened my eyes in the village clinic?
My dear mother, could you please explain that to everyone?”
Ye Jin immediately fired back.
Wang Fengqin’s expression changed dramatically.
The villagers looked at her with intense curiosity, as though they had discovered a whole new world.
“This girl hasn’t been right these past few days. She might be having another episode.
She’s talking nonsense. Don’t take her words seriously.”
Wang Fengqin tightened her grip on Ye Jin’s arm.
Ye Jin forcefully shook her off.
“Let go of me!
I’m making this clear today. I will not donate my cornea!
If I ever lose a cornea someday, all of you uncles and elders must stand up for me!”
“My mother died early. My father remarried. No one loves or protects me.
But I’m still a member of Ye Family Village.
Surely you can’t just stand by and watch outsiders bully me, can you?”
Ye Jin softened her tone and looked at everyone with tearful eyes.
The villagers who had been enjoying the spectacle suddenly found themselves recalling old memories.
Many turned their heads away, unable to look directly at her.
The mockery in their eyes gradually transformed into sympathy.
“Fine, don’t donate it if you don’t want to.
You don’t have to donate it.
There are so many people watching. If family matters spread outside, won’t we become a laughingstock?
Come on, be a good girl and come home with Mom. I’ll cook something delicious for you.”
In front of outsiders, Wang Fengqin always maintained the image of a kindhearted woman.
She dragged Ye Jin toward home.
As she was pulled away, Ye Jin kept looking back.
Her tear filled eyes and pitiful little face softened everyone’s hearts completely.
“This child isn’t nearly as hateful as Wang Fengqin always claimed.”
“No matter what, she’s still one of our Ye Family Village children.”
“A stepmother can never compare to a real mother. From now on, we shouldn’t believe everything Wang Fengqin says.”
Hearing the villagers’ comments, Wang Fengqin was furious enough to feel smoke rising from all seven orifices.
She shoved Ye Jin all the way home.
The moment they entered the house, she pushed her hard between the shoulder blades, turned around, and slid the bolt across the door.
Out of habit, she grabbed a stick from the corner of the wall and swung it toward Ye Jin’s head.
“Little bitch! How dare you spread nonsense outside and ruin my reputation!
You even dared to run away instead of donating your cornea to your sister.
If I don’t break your legs today, my surname isn’t Wang!”
“You dare touch me and see what happens.”
Ye Jin neither dodged nor retreated.
She grabbed one end of the stick and replied coldly.