The pair of siblings, Qin Xiao and Qin Jiao, looked at Su Yun with teeth clenched in hatred.
But neither Qin Xiao nor Qin Jiao dared to step forward and provoke her.
One reason was fear of being beaten.
The other was their father’s repeated warnings not to mess with Su Yun.
Their father had said that as long as Su Yun remained in the Second Team, her life would be miserable.
Even more miserable than that crippled man, Xiao Yuan, a hundred times worse.
Qin Jiao didn’t really understand what that meant.
But Qin Xiao did.
It meant their father was going to deal with Su Yun.
Just wait—when that bitch Su Yun quietly died one day in her home, he would personally set off firecrackers at her doorstep for three days and nights.
The siblings’ expressions looked like they wanted to devour her alive.
Su Yun curved her lips slightly.
She said casually with a smile, “Looks like you’re not in pain anymore. Want another beating?”
Qin Xiao’s face instantly turned green.
Qin Jiao shouted, “Su Yun, you bitch! Don’t get too arrogant! My father said—”
“Jiao Jiao!”
Qin Xiao snapped at her, stopping her from speaking further.
Qin Jiao immediately shut her mouth.
Su Yun didn’t even bother paying attention to them.
As long as they didn’t come to her seeking trouble, she wouldn’t deal with them for now.
She folded her arms and turned to leave.
Behind her, Qin Jiao’s cursing voice rang out.
“You shameless bitch! You dumped my brother to cling to that cripple! Do you think he’s still a soldier? He’s just a useless—”
Before she could finish, a stone shot through the air toward her.
She failed to dodge in time and was struck squarely in the mouth.
Su Yun, who had been facing away from them, had already turned back around, looking at her coldly with a sneer.
Qin Jiao clutched her aching mouth in disbelief.
Warm blood filled her palm when she opened it.
Along with a broken tooth.
“Su… Yun… you—”
“Say another word,” Su Yun interrupted calmly.
She nudged another small stone with the tip of her shoe, smiling without warmth.
“Say one more sentence, and the next stone will aim for your dog eyes.”
The first stone knocking out a tooth was just a warning.
Qin Jiao immediately shut her mouth.
She held her face tightly, eyes filled with terror.
Qin Xiao also stared at Su Yun in shock.
Was this really the same Su Yun from the Su family—the obedient, hardworking, silent ox of a woman?
Why did she suddenly feel so oppressive?
“Brother…” Qin Jiao cried out once Su Yun had walked far away.
“I got hit! And you’re not even going to teach her a lesson? Not even say anything?”
Qin Xiao glanced at her missing tooth.
“Am I her opponent?”
“Did I not get beaten yesterday?”
His groin still hurt when he urinated that morning. How could he dare go up?
Qin Jiao was furious.
She glared at Su Yun’s retreating figure, unwilling to let it go.
Then her eyes landed on the shabby yard next door, and she suddenly had an idea.
“I’m going to complain to that cripple!”
Qin Xiao didn’t care what she did.
He didn’t even consider Xiao Yuan his brother.
Seeing him suffer would actually make him happy.
Inside the yard, Xiao Yuan sat carving wood with a knife.
Qin Jiao pushed the gate open aggressively.
“Cripple—”
Xiao Yuan slowly lifted his eyelids, his cold gaze landing on her.
Qin Jiao trembled all over.
“Y-you… what kind of look is that?”
Xiao Yuan coldly spat out a single word.
“Get lost.”
Qin Jiao recoiled in fear.
She wanted to enter but didn’t dare, wanted to leave but refused to. At that moment, she caught sight of Xu Dongmei stepping out.
Her eyes rolled, and she immediately started crying.
“Waaah… Mother! Mother! Someone is bullying me!”
Xu Dongmei immediately rushed over upon hearing her daughter cry.
When she saw the missing tooth and blood in Qin Jiao’s hand, her heart shattered.
“Jiao Jiao, what happened? Where is your tooth?”
“Mother…”
Qin Jiao refused to say anything, instead stomping her foot and pointing toward the yard where Xiao Yuan was carving wood.
Xu Dongmei followed her gaze and saw her disabled son working slowly with a piece of wood.
After a pause, she asked, “Yuan’er, what happened to your sister’s tooth?”
“Mother, he bullied me,” Qin Jiao immediately complained.
Xu Dongmei frowned.
“Yuan’er, I’m asking you. Didn’t you hear me?”
The word “mother” made Xiao Yuan slowly lift his eyes.
He looked at her with icy indifference.
“Do I need to repeat myself for you to remember?”
“My mother is dead.”
His tone was completely devoid of warmth.
Xu Dongmei felt a chill in her heart.
“Yuan’er…”
“Get lost.”
Xiao Yuan had no patience left.
Xu Dongmei’s eyes filled with tears from being shouted at.
Qin Jiao tried to speak again, but Xiao Yuan sneered.
“Do you not want your dog eyes anymore?”
Qin Jiao stumbled back in fear and ran home.
Xu Dongmei still tried to speak, but Xiao Yuan gave her a final warning.
“Get lost.”
“Yuan’er…”
“GET LOST!”
He threw the piece of wood in his hand. It landed precisely at Xu Dongmei’s feet.
She didn’t dare move again and could only wipe her tears while reluctantly leaving.
“Close the gate,” Xiao Yuan said coldly.
Xu Dongmei closed it.
Su Yun arrived at the commune.
She first went to the recycling station and sold her hair.
Her waist-length hair was cut to shoulder length and sold for five yuan.
She then went to the commune clinic and asked for medicine for external injuries.
“Red medicine? Iodine?”
“Do you have anything else besides these?” Su Yun asked.
The doctor shook his head.
“For external injuries, that’s all we have. Otherwise, you can use traditional methods—like applying ash from soil.”
Su Yun: …
“Give me a bottle of iodine.”
“Five mao.”
She paid and left the hospital.
Medical supplies were scarce at this time.
Western medicine couldn’t help much with Xiao Yuan’s legs.
She would need traditional medicine instead.
After leaving the hospital, she paid attention to the streets of the commune.
She remembered from the novel that the female lead earned her first fortune at the black market in this area after coming down to the countryside.
There was a black market in Hongqi Commune.
Following the clues from the novel, she found the black market located in an abandoned feed factory.
She headed straight to a shabby courtyard behind it.
This was the territory of the black market boss described in the book.
“What are you doing here?”
Someone stopped her at the gate.
Su Yun paused and looked up.
“I want to see Third Brother.”
“Third Brother?”
The man, Xu Qiang, sized her up.
“How do you know him?”
“Anyone who wants a better life knows him,” Su Yun replied calmly.
Xu Qiang considered this. She looked like a harmless woman and probably couldn’t cause trouble.
He stepped aside.
“Go in.”
“Thank you.”
Su Yun pushed open the door.