Just then, the gate of the neighboring courtyard creaked open. Su Tong turned to see a frail girl carrying a basket on her back—it was her cousin Wu Qiuyu, apparently heading out to cut pigweed.
Wu Qiuyu spotted Su Tong standing outside the wall and seemed startled, freezing in place as she stared fixedly at her.
Her lips twitched a few times as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, no words came out. Clutching her basket, she fled as if running for her life.
Su Tong withdrew her gaze and calmly pushed open her own courtyard gate.
The timing seemed perfect. As the gate swung open, a dark object came flying out accompanied by curses.
Su Tong sidestepped to avoid it. The object hit the doorframe with a loud “thud—” before bouncing to the ground and spinning in circles—it was a water dipper.
Wu Dongling had been hunched over, preparing to dash outside, but the moment she saw Su Tong, she hastily pulled back and shrieked toward the house:
“Mom—Wu Tong is back!”
Wang Guilan stood in front of the main room, hands on her hips and face dark with anger, originally intending to scold Wu Dongling.
But the moment she saw Su Tong, mother and daughter immediately united, finding a common target for their attacks.
Wang Guilan snatched up a carrying pole nearby and cursed:
“Well! You shameless, ill-omened creature! How dare you come back! You ruined three marriage proposals and even brought other people’s parents to our door to curse us! Why didn’t you just die out there? How dare you show your face here!”
As she swung the pole toward Su Tong, she didn’t forget to instruct Wu Dongling, “Close the courtyard gate! Let me teach her a lesson today—she must not know how many eyes Lord Ma has!”
Su Tong thought to herself, How straightforward—straight to fighting as soon as I step in, skipping the opening remarks entirely.
Wang Guilan swung the pole at Su Tong with all her might, holding back none of her strength. Su Tong waited until the pole was about to hit her head before sidestepping to avoid it.
The pole swung through empty air, and Wang Guilan, unable to stop her momentum, staggered several steps before barely regaining her balance.
Once steady, she erupted in curses:
“Well! A few days away made you bold, huh? How dare you dodge when I’m teaching you a lesson! You wretched, cursed trash! You actually think you’re something! You even had the nerve to get me hauled to the police station for a lecture! Let’s see if you’re still this stubborn when you’re at death’s door!”
With that, she swung the pole again.
Su Tong’s heart turned cold.
Hurtful words were one thing, but Wang Guilan was aiming for the head with that pole. If it had hit the original owner, a single blow could have been fatal.
No need for others to bully her—her own mother could send her straight to the grave.
What kind of cold-blooded family was this, treating their own child with such cruelty, without a shred of affection?
Wang Guilan’s swings were wild and uncoordinated, making it easy for Su Tong to dodge.
After several rounds, Su Tong remained unharmed, while Wang Guilan was left panting and exhausted.
In one uncontrolled swing, the pole struck several pickle jars in the corner. The jars cracked open, spilling pickles all over the ground.
In the past, whenever Wang Guilan beat “Wu Tong,” “Wu Tong” would always bow her head and cower in the corner, taking the blows without resistance.
But today, not only did she dare to dodge, she avoided every strike effortlessly, leaving Wang Guilan exhausted without even grazing her skin.
Wang Guilan’s absolute authority was being challenged, and she flew into a rage. Throwing down the pole, she grabbed a dull knife used for chopping pigweed and charged at Su Tong.
Though this blunt knife wasn’t as sharp as a kitchen knife, its back was thick and heavy—enough to cripple someone even if it didn’t draw blood.
This time, Su Tong didn’t dodge. She reached out and clamped onto Wang Guilan’s knife-wielding arm, staring coldly at her arrogant, vicious face as she asked, “What? Trying to kill me now?”
Wang Guilan shuddered. There was something utterly off about “Wu Tong” today.
The hand gripping her arm felt like an iron clamp, rendering her completely immobile. She couldn’t even bring herself to meet “Wu Tong’s” eyes—they were like frozen ice, sending chills through her entire body.
Wang Guilan’s courage began to falter.
Her grip loosened, and the heavy blunt knife fell straight down, landing squarely on her own foot.
“Ah—!” she screamed in agony, wrenching her hand free to clutch her injured foot as she wailed. “Help! Murder! My own daughter’s trying to kill me!”
Seeing this scene, Wu Dongling seized the opportunity to stir up trouble. She hurriedly pulled open the courtyard gate and began shouting, “Someone help! Save us! My sister’s trying to kill our mother!”
Watching the mother and daughter’s escalating performance, Su Tong felt nothing but contempt.
Calmly, she walked toward the side rooms.
Three thatch-roofed side rooms stood there: one kitchen, one woodshed, and the original host’s bedroom.
Inside lay a wooden plank bed stuffed with straw, a thin quilt, and in the corner stood a table, a cabinet, and a trunk—all the original host possessed.
The cabinet had a broken leg propped up with earthen bricks, having been swapped from Wu Dongling’s room.
It held a meager stack of clothes, most so faded from washing their original colors were unrecognizable.
In the trunk’s corner sat a few well-preserved middle school textbooks, old but neatly pressed—evidence of the original host’s care.
Su Tong felt a weight in her chest. This dim, dilapidated room had contained the brief life of a girl in her prime.
Silently, she pulled out a cloth bundle, intending to pack some belongings.
Given the mother and daughter’s theatrics outside, staying here peacefully tonight was clearly impossible.
But after searching through everything, she found nothing worth taking and set the bundle aside again.
Empty-handed, Su Tong entered the west room of the main house, ignoring Wang Guilan’s dramatic wailing and thigh-slapping in the courtyard.
The west room housed the original host’s grandmother, Old Wu. If there was any place in this household where the original host had felt familial warmth, it was only with Old Wu.
In her youth, Old Wu had been notorious in the village for her fierceness and stubbornness, surpassing even Wang Guilan.
Wang Guilan had been thoroughly suppressed by Old Wu until she bore a son and Old Wu’s health declined into partial paralysis, allowing Wang Guilan’s dominance to grow until she became the household’s decision-maker.
Fortunately, though Wu Dashan was often timid, he retained some filial piety. During intense conflicts between his mother and wife, he’d dare to shout at his wife. Thus, under Old Wu’s insistence, the original host had been able to study through middle school’s second year—until Old Wu became completely bedridden. That very day, Wang Guilan burned the original host’s schoolbag and forced her into farm labor.
Truthfully, Old Wu shared traits with most rural elderly: favoring sons over daughters, selfishness, and superstition. Before bearing a son, Wang Guilan had likewise been ground down by Old Wu until she couldn’t hold her head up.
Naturally, this was also what puzzled Su Tong…