Ye Xiaohua was foolish and disliked by the Ye family, which the villagers had long grown accustomed to. However, a slap or a kick was one thing; the wound currently on her head was exceedingly severe, and if left untreated, it could very well claim her little life.
Ye Xiaohua cheerfully displayed her wound to the crowd, enjoying Old Madam Ye’s helpless and flustered state. As for Old Madam Ye’s explanation, one look at the expressions of the crowd made it clear—no one believed her.
After all, a fool lacked the cleverness to lie. What came out of her mouth had to be the absolute truth.
Xiaodou was completely of one mind with Ye Xiaohua. Although he was afraid, he still chose to speak up, “It was Grandma and eldest cousin who beat her. Eldest cousin even said he would skin Sister alive. I won’t go, and I won’t let Sister go either. If we go, we’ll be beaten to death.”
“Ungrateful wretch,” Old Madam Ye scolded with glaring eyes. However, realizing that now was not the time to unleash her fury, she could only brace herself to smooth over the situation. “You child, you only know that I hit your sister, but why don’t you mention why I hit her? Isn’t it because she was disobedient and caused trouble? You didn’t see how severely she bit your eldest cousin.”
As Old Madam Ye spoke, she gestured to the people around her, “Right in this spot, she bit him so hard the bone was showing. If she had used a bit more strength, the meat would have come right off. If you don’t believe me, you can all go look. Fortunately, she bit a member of her own family who won’t hold it against her. If she had bitten someone else’s child, that would be a disaster. Children won’t learn their lesson without a beating.”
Old Madam Ye even admired her own eloquence; she could turn black into white. Her beating the girl was merely to prevent her from going out to cause trouble, done entirely for her own good.
“Alright, if you behave yourself from now on and stop biting people, Grandma promises not to hit you.”
Ye Xiaohua sneered in her heart. If she actually left with the old woman right now, her skin would be torn to pieces before noon. If anyone came to ask later, the old crone would undoubtedly tell them it was because she had been disobedient.
She must not give her this opportunity. Ye Xiaohua concealed the craftiness in her large eyes, doing her best to project a foolish demeanor. “Okay, okay! Grandma won’t hit me anymore, and Grandma won’t sell Dou’er either.”
Sell Xiaodou?
What was going on?
The crowd turned their gazes back to Old Madam Ye. Old Madam Ye’s heart, which had just settled back into her stomach, instantly leaped back up. Having it go back and forth like this a few more times, she feared she wouldn’t be able to handle it.
The dead girl was clearly a half-wit, yet the words coming out of her mouth were somehow harder to deal with than those of a clever person.
The buyer had already been contacted, and Xiaodou was meant to be sent over within the next few days. Old Madam Ye knew this matter couldn’t be hidden forever and would come to light sooner or later. Since it had been brought up, she might as well speak openly to avoid leaving behind any fodder for gossip. After all, she still had to live here, and being pointed at by others wouldn’t be good.
Old Madam Ye let out a couple of dry laughs, furrowing her brows as she feigned anger, “You child really are foolish. Didn’t I already tell you? It’s not selling, it’s giving him away. There’s a wealthy master and master’s wife who have never been able to have children, and they want Xiaodou to be their son, to be raised with good food and drink.
Although I am reluctant, their family’s circumstances are good. Xiaodou is going there to enjoy a life of blessings.”
Old Madam Ye wiped away her tears, wailing and crying, “I really cannot bear to part with him. But the family’s land produces no grain, we don’t make much money throughout the year, and with so many mouths to feed, we truly can no longer afford to raise him. This foolish girl looks like she’ll have to be supported at home for the rest of her life.”
She was actually twisting it to make it look like it was all their fault. Ye Xiaohua had no intention of bearing this infamy. This time, she wouldn’t give Old Madam Ye any room to catch her breath.
Among the crowd stood a scholar. For every New Year and festival, every household’s spring couplets were written by him. A literate person naturally understood much more than the average villager. Ye Xiaohua tilted her face upward and asked innocently, “Seventh Uncle, what is a catamite? Is it edible?”
Upon hearing those two words, Guan Qiu’s brow furrowed tightly, sensing that something was deeply wrong. These were not words a child should ever have heard.
When Xiaohua’s father was alive, he had once saved Guan Qiu’s life. Hearing that Xiaohua’s mother had run away, he had also come out of concern for the children. However, since Old Madam Ye was the children’s biological grandmother, it wasn’t fitting for him to interject, so he had been listening from the side all along.
Yet the more he listened, the more incorrect it felt. He grabbed Ye Xiaohua’s arm and asked urgently, “Who did you hear those two words from?”
“What’s wrong, Old Seventh? What did Xiaohua say? Why don’t I understand?”
Guan Qiu was a scholar. Thinking of the filthy business behind those two words, his face flushed red with shame and anger. But he knew that these were words even the adult villagers didn’t know; a foolish girl like Xiaohua wouldn’t have spoken them without reason.
There must be some shameful, underhanded transaction involved here.
Ye Xiaohua knew her memories hadn’t failed her. In the past, whenever the original owner was beaten and scolded, it was always this Seventh Uncle Guan who pleaded for her and Madam Li, occasionally sneaking her some food. If it weren’t for him, the original owner would have died long ago.
Guan Qiu shook his head in disappointment at Old Madam Ye, then squatted down, “Xiaohua, don’t be afraid. Tell Seventh Uncle, who did you hear those two words from?”
Ye Xiaohua tilted her head and smiled foolishly. Only amidst the impatient urging of the crowd did she speak up slowly, “Grandma Wang told my grandma. She said Xiaodou is going to be a catamite for someone. Seventh Uncle, Grandma said Xiaodou is going to enjoy a life of blessings. I want to be a catamite too.”
“What catamite? I don’t understand! What does a fool like you know? Brother Seventh, don’t listen to her wild nonsense, there’s no such thing.”
If Old Madam Ye truly treated these two children well, Guan Qiu wouldn’t say anything, since they were blood relatives after all. But Old Madam Ye had gone too far.
“Aunt, Xiaodou is your biological grandson! How could you harm him like this? A catamite is meant to be a… a plaything for wealthy men!”
The crowd was struck dumb with astonishment, turning their gazes toward Old Madam Ye one after another.
At this point, even if Old Madam Ye grew a hundred mouths, she couldn’t explain herself. In the end, she could only resort to playing shameless, “I… I really didn’t know! Old Madam Wang told me it was to be someone’s son, I thought it was a good thing! Look… I… I was deceived too! See if I don’t go settle the score with Old Madam Wang, that old hag who lost her conscience, isn’t she ruining me?”
Deeply afraid that she would be drowned in the spit of the crowd if she walked too slowly, Old Madam Ye found a gap in the crowd and fled.
Ye Xiaohua looked at the man who was half-squatting, his gaze meeting hers. She knew he had already understood her meaning, but this person was too kind-hearted, still wanting to save some face for Old Madam Ye.
Being kind-hearted is a good thing, but being kind-hearted toward someone like Old Madam Ye was no good thing at all.
Guan Qiu paid no heed to the whispering crowd, saying calmly, “Disperse, everyone. There’s nothing left to see.”
Only then did the crowd leave reluctantly. However, even if Old Madam Ye used the excuse of her own ignorance, she could not escape the fate of being cursed by everyone.
Guan Qiu gazed at Ye Xiaohua for a moment, affectionately stroking her head while carefully avoiding her wound. “Well now, Xiaohua has become clever.”
Ye Xiaohua’s heart tightened, wondering if her disguise had been seen through by him. But even if it had been seen through, she wasn’t afraid. She had long prepared her explanations; besides, she couldn’t remain a fool forever.