The siblings both gritted their teeth with hatred at the sight of Su Yun.
But neither Qin Xiao nor Qin Jiao dared to step forward and provoke Su Yun.
One reason was fear of being beaten, and another 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, she would have a miserable life.
A life a hundred times worse than that crippled Xiao Yuan.
Qin Jiao didn’t understand what this meant.
But Qin Xiao knew—it meant their father was going to deal with Su Yun.
Just wait, he thought. When that bitch Su Yun quietly dies at home, he would definitely go to her doorstep and set off firecrackers for three days and three nights.
The siblings’ expressions, as if they wanted to devour her, made Su Yun curl the corners of her lips.
She chuckled and said, “Looks like you’re not hurting anymore and want another beating, huh?”
Qin Xiao’s face instantly turned green.
Qin Jiao shouted, “Su Yun, you bitch! Don’t get too cocky! My dad said—”
“Jiaojiao!”
Qin Xiao scolded Qin Jiao, stopping her from saying more.
Qin Jiao instinctively shut her mouth.
Su Yun had no intention of paying attention to the siblings.
As long as they didn’t come looking for trouble in front of her, she wouldn’t deal with them for now.
She crossed her arms and turned to leave.
Behind her, Qin Jiao’s insults rang out, “Shameless bitch! You abandoned my brother for a cripple. Do you think he’s still a soldier? He’s just a dead cripp—”
Before she could finish the word, a small stone flew toward Qin Jiao.
She couldn’t dodge in time and was squarely hit in the mouth.
Su Yun, who had been facing away from the siblings, had already turned around, sneering coldly as she glared at Qin Jiao.
Qin Jiao covered her painfully throbbing mouth, unable to believe what had just happened.
Her palm felt warm.
She opened her hand and found it covered in blood and broken teeth!
“Su… Yun… you…”
“Say that again, let me hear it.”
Su Yun’s shoe nudged another small stone as she looked at Qin Jiao with a mocking smile.
“Say one more word, and this stone will be aimed at your dog eyes.”
The first stone knocking out one of Qin Jiao’s teeth was just a small warning.
Qin Jiao shut her mouth.
She tightly covered her mouth with both hands, staring at Su Yun in terror.
Qin Xiao also looked at Su Yun in shock.
Was this really the same Su Yun from the old Su family—the one who endured everything and worked like an ox without complaint?
Why did she exude such an overwhelming sense of pressure?
“Brother…”
After Su Yun had walked away, Qin Jiao called out to Qin Xiao angrily, “I got beaten up, and not only did you not teach her a lesson for me, you didn’t even say a word. What’s your problem?”
Qin Xiao glanced sideways at Qin Jiao, who was missing a front tooth. “Am I a match for her?”
“Didn’t I get beaten up yesterday?”
His private parts still hurt when he peed this morning. How could he dare to confront her?
Qin Jiao was furious.
She glared resentfully at Su Yun’s retreating figure, unwilling to let the matter go.
Her eyes fell on the dilapidated courtyard next door, and Qin Jiao got an idea.
“I’m going to find that dead cripple and reason with him!”
Qin Xiao didn’t care what Qin Jiao did.
After all, he didn’t consider Xiao Yuan his older brother.
He was quite happy to see him suffer.
Xiao Yuan sat in the courtyard, carving wood with a knife.
Qin Jiao pushed the door open aggressively. “Dead cripp—”
Xiao Yuan slowly lifted his eyelids, his gloomy gaze falling on Qin Jiao.
Qin Jiao trembled in fear. "You… you… what kind of look is that?"
Xiao Yuan coldly spat out a single word. "Scram."
Qin Jiao shrank back in fright.
Unable to enter the house yet unwilling to leave, she caught sight of Xu Dongmei stepping out from the corner of her eye.
Her eyes darted, and she immediately began to cry.
"Wah, wah, Mom, Mom, someone is bullying me, someone is bullying me…"
Hearing her daughter's cries, Xu Dongmei hurried over.
As she drew closer and saw Qin Jiao missing a tooth and the bloodstains in her palm, her heart nearly broke.
"Jiaojiao, what happened to you? How did you lose your tooth?"
"Mom…"
Qin Jiao deliberately avoided explaining and instead stomped her foot, turning her gaze toward Xiao Yuan, who was whittling wood in the yard.
Xu Dongmei followed her line of sight and saw her disabled son slowly carving a wooden stick. She paused before speaking.
"A-Yuan, what happened to your sister's tooth?"
"Mom, he's the one who bullied me."
Qin Jiao tattled.
Xu Dongmei's brows furrowed tightly.
Her tone grew even more displeased. "A-Yuan, your mother is asking you a question. Didn't you hear?"
The ridiculous title "mother" made Xiao Yuan lift his eyes.
He looked coldly at Xu Dongmei. "How many more times do I need to say it for you to remember?"
"My mother is dead."
His tone held not a trace of warmth, causing Xu Dongmei's heart to tremble.
"A-Yuan…"
"Scram."
Xiao Yuan's patience was limited.
Xu Dongmei was shouted at until her eyes welled with tears.
Qin Jiao still wanted to speak, but Xiao Yuan sneered. "Do you not want those dog eyes of yours anymore?"
Qin Jiao retreated several steps in fear, then turned and ran home.
Seeing her daughter leave, Xu Dongmei still wanted to say a few words to Xiao Yuan, but he unceremoniously issued an order to leave.
"Scram."
"A-Yuan…"
"Scram!"
Xiao Yuan forcefully threw the piece of wood in his hand, and it landed firmly at Xu Dongmei's feet.
She dared not move recklessly and could only repeatedly wipe her tears. After casting one last reluctant glance at Xiao Yuan, she turned and left.
"Close the door."
Xiao Yuan barked coldly.
Xu Dongmei closed the door again.
Su Yun arrived at the commune.
She first went to the purchasing station to sell her hair.
Her originally waist-length hair was cut to shoulder length, earning her five yuan.
After pocketing the money, she went to the commune hospital to have the doctor prescribe some medication for external injuries.
"Do you want mercurochrome? Iodine?"
"Is there nothing else besides these?" Su Yun asked.
The doctor nodded.
"For external injuries, these are the only medicines available. Otherwise, you could try the folk method—dig up some soil ash and apply it to the wound."
Su Yun…
"Please give me a bottle of iodine."
"Alright, fifty cents." The doctor prescribed the iodine, and Su Yun took it before leaving the hospital.
The hospital had very few supplies nowadays.
If she wanted to treat Xiao Yuan's leg, Western medicine was out of the question.
She could only rely on traditional Chinese medicine.
After leaving the hospital, Su Yun carefully observed the streets of the commune.
She remembered from the book that after the female lead came from the city to the Qianjin Brigade as an educated youth, she earned her first bucket of gold in the black market.
The Hongqi Commune had a black market.
Su Yun carefully recalled the contents of the book and, following the hints within, found the black market located in an abandoned feed factory.
She headed straight for the dilapidated courtyard behind the feed factory.
This was the territory of the black market boss described in the book.
"What do you want?"
As she approached the courtyard, someone stopped her.
Su Yun halted and looked up at the person approaching. "I'd like to see Third Brother."
"Third Brother?"
Xu Qiang sized up Su Yun, as if judging the truth of her words.
"How do you know Third Brother?"
"Third Brother has plenty of good stuff. Anyone who wants to live well knows him, right?"
Su Yun's gaze was frank.
Xu Qiang thought for a moment—she was just a weak woman, what could she possibly do?—and stepped aside.
"Go in."
"Thank you."
Su Yun pushed open the door before her.